Part 3His Favorite Enemy

I had my hand on the doorknob when Liam’s hand covered mine, stopping me.

“You’re right,” he said, his voice firming up. “We absolutely have to sue her.” He put his hands on my shoulders, his tone softening. “But look at you. You’re exhausted. You don’t need to be running to a lawyer’s office right now.”

He gave me a small, reassuring smile. “You forget, my best friend is Mark. He’s one of the best lawyers in the city. Just leave it to me, Chloe. I promise, I will make Sadie pay for this.”

The knot of tension in my chest loosened, just a fraction.

“Okay,” I whispered.

Liam’s face broke into a wide, relieved grin. He leaned in and kissed my cheek, then took my hand.

“So, what do you say we go check on the reception venue? We can start planning our do-over wedding,” he said, his voice full of forced cheer. “The one she ruined doesn’t count. I’m going to throw you a party so big, so perfect, it’ll make you forget any of this ever happened. I’ll make it up to you.”

Maybe it was the emotional exhaustion, but the fatigue hit me like a tidal wave. I didn’t hear another word he said.

Later that evening, he proudly held out his phone for me to see. “Look, Chloe. I blocked and deleted her. From everything.” He sounded like a little boy showing off a good report card. “She’s gone. She’ll never bother us again.”

And for a while, he was right. Sadie vanished. Liam, as if trying to earn his way back into my life, became the perfect fiancé. He was more attentive, more loving than ever before. It was during that peaceful period that I found out I was pregnant.

The day I told him, the pregnancy test trembled in his hand. Before I could even process it myself, he whooped with joy and swung me around in a hug.

“This is it!” he cheered. “The new wedding has to happen, now! As soon as possible!” He held my face in his hands, his eyes shining. “No more waiting, Chloe. I’m not going to let you wait another day.”

My heart, bruised and wary, slowly began to heal. I let myself believe him. I pushed all thoughts of him and Sadie away.

Until the day I was cleaning out our closet and found one of his favorite dress shirts, shoved in the back, with a long, deliberate slash cut through the fabric. In the trash can under his desk, I found a project proposal that had been defaced with childish scribbles.

A cold dread crept over me. I found a quiet place and called his friend, Mark.

“Hey, Mark,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I was just wondering… how is the lawsuit against Sadie coming along?”

There was a moment of confused silence on the other end. “Uh… lawsuit? Sue who?”

In that instant, all the blood drained from my head. The room started to buzz. My grip on the phone went slack.

Mark, oblivious, kept talking. “Oh, you mean because she crashed the wedding? Chloe, that’s just how they are. You get used to it after a while.” He laughed, a horribly casual sound. “Honestly, those two almost got together back in college. It was a whole thing. Then Sadie started dating some guy just to make him jealous, so Liam did the same, and… well, they’ve been trying to one-up each other ever since.”

I stood there, frozen, my fingers turning to ice. I was listening to a history I had never been told, a history that made our entire relationship feel like a sham, a move in their sick, decade-long game.

Mark must have sensed he’d said too much. “Hey, but that’s all ancient history!” he said quickly. “He’s with you now. He’s crazy about you, he’s going to be a father. You’re all he cares about. Don’t even think twice about it.”

His reassurances felt like gasoline on a fire, a desperate attempt to cover up a truth I could now see with blinding clarity. I couldn't listen anymore. I hung up without saying goodbye.

A moment later, a heavy weight settled on my shoulders. A jacket, carrying Liam’s warmth, wrapped around me. His voice came from right behind my ear.

“Why are you out here without a coat?”