Chapter 1: The Woman He Thought He Had Replaced
The champagne glass shattered before Liam Hayes realized everyone in the ballroom was watching him.
One second, he was standing beneath the crystal chandeliers of the Plaza Hotel, smiling for photographs with his twenty-five-year-old girlfriend.
The next, his champagne was spilling across the marble floor.
But Liam wasn't looking at the broken glass.
He was staring at my stomach.
"Olivia?""
His voice sounded different. Almost frightened.
I stood approximately twenty feet away, wearing a white silk maternity dress that hugged my six-month pregnant belly. My dark hair fell over one shoulder, and my right hand rested protectively against the two little lives moving inside me.
I didn't smile.
I didn't wave.
I simply looked at the man who had divorced me six months earlier because, according to him, I no longer fit the image of a billionaire's wife.
And then I said the one thing he wasn't prepared to hear.
"Good evening, Liam.""
Beside him, Khloe Monroe slowly lowered her champagne flute.
Her glittering champagne-colored gown cost more than my first apartment in Queens. Her diamond earrings probably cost more than the car Liam and I had driven when we were newly married.
She looked beautiful.
She also looked terrified.
"Is that..."" Khloe began.
Liam didn't answer.
His eyes moved from my face to my stomach, then back to my face.
"Olivia, what happened?""
I almost laughed.
What happened?
Six months ago, he'd asked me to leave our penthouse.
Five months ago, he'd finalized our divorce.
Four months ago, he'd appeared on the cover of a business magazine with Khloe Monroe on his arm.
And now he was asking what happened?
I tightened my fingers around the leather folder I was carrying.
"Nothing happened, Liam. I'm just here to deliver something.""
A photographer nearby raised his camera.
The flash went off.
Then another.
Within seconds, people who had spent the evening pretending not to notice us were suddenly very interested.
Liam glanced around.
For a man who had built an empire on controlling public perception, he seemed remarkably uncomfortable.
"How far along are you?"" he whispered.
"Six months.""
His face lost what little color remained.
"Six months?""
"That's what I said.""
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Then looked down again.
Khloe finally stepped forward.
"Excuse me," she said, her voice unusually sharp.
"What's going on?""
I looked at her.
For months, I had imagined meeting this woman.
I had imagined confronting her in a restaurant, asking whether she had known Liam was married when their relationship began. I had imagined telling her about the nights I'd spent helping him prepare investor presentations while she was probably taking photographs for fashion magazines.
But standing in front of her, I felt something unexpected.
Nothing.
Not jealousy.
Not anger.
Just exhaustion.
"Hello, Khloe," I said politely.
She blinked.
"You know my name?""
"Hard not to. You've been in every photograph my ex-husband has taken for the last six months.""
Liam flinched.
"Olivia, not here.""
I raised an eyebrow.
"Not here? You mean in front of the cameras?""
He glanced toward the photographers.
"Can we talk privately?""
"No.""
The answer came out more quickly than I expected.
I watched him struggle with it.
For years, Liam had been accustomed to me accommodating him. If he wanted to leave a dinner early, I left. If he wanted to change an event schedule, I changed it. If he needed me to rewrite a speech at two in the morning, I did it without complaining.
But that woman no longer existed.
At least, not for him.
I turned slightly and noticed a familiar face approaching.
"Olivia!""
It was Margaret Whitmore, chairwoman of the Hayes Vision Foundation and one of the few people who had remained in contact with me after the divorce.
She was wearing an elegant black gown and carrying a small silver clutch.
When she reached me, she immediately noticed my stomach.
Her expression softened.
"Oh, sweetheart.""
She took my hand.
"I knew you were coming tonight, but I had no idea.""
I smiled.
"Surprise.""
Margaret looked past me at Liam.
Then at the broken glass on the floor.
Her eyebrows rose.
"Well," she said quietly.
"I see you've already made an impression.""
For the first time that evening, I genuinely smiled.
Liam stepped closer.
"Margaret, could I speak with Olivia for a moment?""
Margaret didn't move.
"Is there a reason you need to?""
"She's my wife.""
The words hung in the air.
I looked at him.
"Ex-wife, Liam.""
His jaw tightened.
Margaret gave him a cold look.
"Then perhaps you should remember that.""
A waiter appeared with a napkin to clean the spilled champagne.
Liam ignored him.
His attention returned to my stomach.
"Are you pregnant with...""
He couldn't finish.
I glanced down.
Two small movements shifted beneath the silk fabric.
"Twins," I said.
The word seemed to strike him harder than the broken glass had.
"Twins?""
"Yes.""
"When did you find out?""
"Six months ago.""
His eyes widened.
"Before the divorce?""
"No. Three days after I moved out.""
He stared at me.
I could almost see his mind working backward through dates and conversations.
Three days.
That was how close he'd come to knowing.
Three days after telling me our marriage had become inconvenient, he had unknowingly left behind two children.
And he hadn't even noticed.
"Why didn't you tell me?"" he asked.
I looked at him for several seconds.
"Would you like the honest answer?""
"Of course.""
"Because I needed to figure out whether I could trust myself to make decisions without asking you for permission.""
He looked as though I'd slapped him.
Khloe crossed her arms.
"Well, this is certainly unexpected.""
Margaret turned toward her.
"Life has a habit of being unexpected, Miss Monroe.""
Khloe's cheeks flushed.
I didn't want to stay.
I had come to deliver the documents, not participate in a public spectacle.
I opened my leather folder and removed a cream-colored envelope.
"Liam, these are the final documents regarding the Hayes Vision shares transferred as part of our divorce agreement. Everything has been signed and notarized.""
He looked at the envelope but didn't take it.
"What shares?""
"The ones you insisted I sell back to the company.""
His expression changed.
"Olivia, we already settled that.""
"Yes. And I'm not reopening the discussion. These are the final papers.""
I placed the envelope on the nearest table.
Then I reached for my handbag.
Margaret watched me carefully.
"Are you leaving already?""
"That's the plan.""
Liam finally took a step toward me.
"Wait.""
I stopped.
He lowered his voice.
"Are they mine?""
For a moment, I couldn't understand the question.
Then I realized he was asking whether the babies were his.
I stared at him.
"Who else's would they be, Liam?""
He swallowed.
"Why didn't you call me?""
"Because the last conversation we had ended with you telling me that image mattered more than anything else.""
His eyes dropped.
I continued.
"You said you wanted a clean separation. No drama. No complications. I was trying to respect your wishes.""
"I didn't know.""
"No. You didn't ask.""
Silence.
Around us, the gala continued, but the atmosphere had changed. Guests whispered behind their glasses. Cameras kept flashing. Someone near the orchestra had stopped talking entirely.
Then Khloe did something I hadn't expected.
She stepped between Liam and me.
"Olivia, perhaps we should all calm down. This is a charity event, and you're making everyone uncomfortable.""
I looked at her.
"Interesting.""
"What?""
"Six months ago, I was told I made my husband uncomfortable because I wasn't glamorous enough for his public image. Now you're telling me I'm making everyone uncomfortable because I'm pregnant.""
Khloe's lips tightened.
"That's not what I meant.""
"Then choose your words more carefully.""
Liam reached for her arm.
"Khloe, stop.""
She turned toward him.
"You're defending her?""
"I'm asking you to stop.""
The irritation on Khloe's face was immediate.
For the first time, I noticed something beneath her perfect makeup and designer dress.
Insecurity.
She had been comfortable being the woman who replaced a wife.
She was less comfortable being the woman standing beside a man who had just discovered he was going to become a father.
I adjusted the folder under my arm.
"Congratulations on the foundation's fundraising tonight, Margaret. I'll call you tomorrow.""
Margaret squeezed my hand.
"Please do.""
Then I walked away.
I made it almost to the ballroom entrance before Liam called my name again.
"Olivia!""
I stopped.
I didn't turn immediately.
"Please," he said.
"We need to talk.""
I looked over my shoulder.
"About what?""
He glanced at my stomach.
"About our children.""
I held his gaze.
"They're my children too, Liam. But you don't get to suddenly become involved just because you discovered them in front of a room full of photographers.""
His expression crumpled.
I turned back toward the doors.
And as I stepped into the lobby, my phone vibrated.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
*You need to know what Liam told the board about you before the divorce. Ask him about the pregnancy clause in your settlement.*
I stopped walking.
My fingers tightened around the phone.
The pregnancy clause?
I read the message again.
Then another message arrived.
*He knew there was a possibility. He just didn't expect you to find out before the papers became final.*
For several seconds, I couldn't breathe.
Because I suddenly remembered something.
Three days before I left the penthouse, Liam had insisted that I sign an additional document.
He'd called it a routine legal form.
And I'd signed it.
Without reading every line.
I looked back toward the ballroom.
Through the open doors, I could still see Liam standing beneath the chandeliers.
May you like
His face was turned toward me.
And for the first time in six months, I wondered whether my divorce had been planned much more carefully than I'd ever imagined.
