Page 64 of Begin Again, Part 2

George tried to take control of the meeting as he addressed Eden again in a much firmer tone this time. "Ms McBride, if you sign this, your son will live with his father full time. You'll have access to him on some weekends and—"

"I can read," Eden replied, her gorgeous eyes harder than Liam had ever seen them as she threw him a sidelong glance, and he knew he'd done and fucked up badly. He should have taken her up on her offer to settle this shit themselves without involving third parties. Now she was determined to jump headlong over the cliff and drag him with her.

"And you still want to go ahead with it?"

"Yes," she nodded and threw Whitman a blinding smile, but the anger in her eyes burned bright and hot.

The paralegal, whose name Liam couldn't remember, asked, "Why?"

Eden arched her brow. "Isn't it obvious? I want what's best for Aiden."

With that, she stood up, fixed her suit, and picked up her Louis Vuitton bag.

"Eden—" Liam sprung to his feet, ready to go after her.

But she gave him one hard look. "Don't you dare follow me! You wanted this. Now live with it."

No, he didn't want any of this, Liam thought as he plopped back in his seat and poured himself another drink. He wanted her to come home with their son.

Turning to Whitman, Eden continued, "you'll send me the finalised agreement. I'll sign it and send it back."

"Ms McBride, we're not done yet!" Whitman yelled.

"Oh, we are, Mr Whitman. Isn't this what you all wanted? To get the best deal for Mr Anderson with little resistance on my part? Didn't you want me to roll over like a good dog?" She didn't wait for him to respond. She threw Liam one final look before easing out of the room.

George and his team swiftly stepped into damage control mode as soon as the door slammed shut. They ran around the room, urgently looking through their documents for anything to help them salvage what was clearly an unsalvageable situation.

Liam reached for the bottle in front of him and poured himself another shot— his third, maybe fourth for the day, he'd lost count— and knocked it back in one go. He should stop drinking, especially with his annual medical check-up coming up. But drinking himself into a coma had proven to be the best medicine for his torn heart and frayed nerves in the past.

He set the glass down and watched the chaos unfold. He couldn't help but laugh bitterly. Stunned by how the negotiation he was so sure—no, his legal team had assured him—would go in his favour had turned to shit so quickly, Liam finally understood why storms are named after people. From the moment she tapped him on his shoulder at Crush, Eden had taken him down a path of destruction and wreaked nothing but havoc in his life. He thought he could make her bend to his will. But she had destroyed him so thoroughly, so completely. She was indeed his hell, his paradise. But she was also his brightest mirror, and in her eyes, while they wrangled over their son just moments ago, he'd never seen himself more clearly. He had to stop all this craziness. They'd suffered enough. He had to find a way to work through her betrayal and start taking steps to forgive her.

Liam stood up, buttoned up his suit jacket, and strolled to the door.

"Mr Anderson," a harried-looking George, his silver mop of hair tangled from frantically running his hands through it in frustration, stopped him before he could slip out of the door. "We'll fix this. We'll get Ms McBride on board."

"How?" Liam turned to him, his face grim, the look in his eyes matching the rage bubbling quietly in his heart. "You all promised me she won't choose the extreme!"

"Most people normally don't," Bethany quipped.

And that was the final straw. Liam unleashed his wrath and went off on George and his team, ranting about their incompetence. "Eden McBride isn't most people! You assured me this would swing my way. You told me I'd have my son and his mother under my roof by the end of this week."

"She said she'll sign," the paralegal chimed in.

Liam turned to George and gritted his teeth. "Fire him!"

Wordlessly, his lead lawyer led the guy out of the room, returning moments later.

"We can't just fire people, but I've taken him off your team, sir," he said as he sat down.

"Now," Liam began as he pulled out a chair and crossed his arms. "What the fuck am I supposed to do with a custody agreement I didn't want? Did you think I wanted to keep Eden from her son? I wanted them both with me where they belong!"

Both George and Bethany grew as quiet as church mice. Neither had any more bright ideas.

"Let me tell you how this will play out," he carried on, his voice deathly quiet. "I have to go to Eden with my tail between my legs and beg her for mercy because you failed to do your jobs. Do you know how much I hate begging? I don't beg! But because of your incompetence, I'll have to get on my knees and bow my head!"

"My apologies, Mr Anderson," George bowed his own head.

"You're all fired. Tell Blaine to call me. I want a new team," Liam growled as he got up and quickly made his way out of the room.

---