The CEO’s Masked Secret Wife novel Chapter 111

111 THE UNBREAKABLE VOW

I couldn’t even summon the energy to respond. The emptiness spreading through my chest was unlike anything I’d felt since my parents died. Maybe worse.

“What am I supposed to do?” I snapped, anger briefly cutting through the fog of despair. “Force her to be with me while Isabella parades around with my supposed child?”

“For now,” he said firmly. “This isn’t over.”

“That went about as well as a car crash,” Damian muttered, leaning against my desk.

Damian crossed his arms. “So that’s it? The great Liam Sterling just gives

up?”

I collapsed into my chair as the door closed behind Hazel and her friends. The silence in the room felt like a physical weight pressing down on me.

“You didn’t see her face,” I argued, my voice hollow. “She meant it.”

I looked up at him, my vision blurry. “She’s gone.”

“Liam,” Damian’s voice snapped me back to reality. “Stay with me, man.”

Liam’s POV

111 The Unbreakable Vow

111 The Unbreakable Vow

“For making it clear that Hazel is still the only woman you love,” he clarified. “That’s the truth that matters, no matter what happens next.”

“You didn’t see her face,” I argued, my voice hollow. “She meant it.”

“Of course,” Damian said, looking offended that I’d even question it. “She’s brilliant, and more importantly, she makes you happy. Or she will again, once we figure this mess

out.”

I rubbed my face wearily. “She still left.”

“Liam, darling” she cooed. “We need to discuss our future.”

Damian crossed his arms. “So that’s it? The great Liam Sterling just gives up?”

“How dare you!” Julian bellowed, standing up.

“I’m listening.”

“This is outrageous,” Julian sputtered. “My daughter deserves better!”

When I pushed open the door, Isabella and Julian Clairemont looked up from their seats. Isabella’s face immediately transformed into a picture of wounded innocence. She wore a loose blouse that strategically highlighted her still–flat stomach.

“They showed up demanding to see you about thirty minutes ago. I figured you’d want to deal with them after talking to Hazel.”

Liam’s POV

I remained seated, perfectly calm. “I want a DNA test.”

I paused outside the door, taking a deep breath. “I’ve lost the only woman I’ve ever truly loved. Nothing Isabella or Julian say could possibly hurt me more than that.”

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“I’ve been negotiating deals since I was twenty–two,” I reminded him. “I know hide my feelings.”

Isabella suddenly clutched her stomach, doubling over with a moan. “The baby,” she whimpered. “The stress is hurting the baby.”

111 The Unbreakable Vow

“Your daughter,” I said slowly, deliberately, “slept with me once after plying me with alcohol when I was grieving a breakup. That doesn’t entitle her to marriage.

Damian nodded. “Already on it. And Liam? I was proud of you in there”

As we walked back toward my office, I felt the weight of Hazel’s absence like physical pain. But beneath that pain was a newfound resolve. I had lost my parents. I had just lost the woman I loved. But I would be damned if I lost the war.

I couldn’t even summon the energy to respond. The emptiness spreading through my chest was unlike anything I’d felt since my parents died. Maybe worse.

“There is no ‘our‘ future,” I stated flatly. “If you’re carrying my child, which remains to be proven, we’ll work out a co–parenting arrangement through my lawyers.”

‘ll

“Finally,” Julian huffed. “We’ve been waiting for over half an hour”

“Your daughter,” I said, standing slowly, “deserves exactly what she’s getting. If she’s truly carrying my child, I’ll meet my obligations as a father. Nothing more.”

“So this is just a business merger to you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “How touching”

I laughed without humor. “We had nothing. And we never will.”

I nodded, grateful beyond words. “Let’s deal with Isabella first.”

Isabella paled slightly. “That’s not possible until after the baby is born.”

I stared at him. “What?”

I collapsed into my chair as the door closed behind Hazel and her friends. The silence in the room felt like a physical weight pressing down on me.

“I’ll get her back,” I vowed quietly, more to myself than to Damian. “Whatever it takes.”

Isabella’s eyes narrowed, her facade slipping. “You still love her, don’t you? That little

secretary.”

We walked to the conference room, Damian matching my stride. “Remember, stay cool. Don’t let them see you bleed.”

I shook my head. “Not mine/ When I marry, it will be for love, not con

ience.”

“You’re lucky I agreed to see you at all,” I replied coldly, taking a seat across from them.

111 The Unbreakable Vow

Damian stood behind me, arms crossed, the perfect picture of an intimidating

second–in–command.

I looked up at him, my vision blurry. “She’s gone.”

“The child needs a father,” Julian pressed.

“You’d do that?”

She straightened, dropping the act entirely. Her eyes were hard and calculating. “You’ll regret this, Liam. When the world finds out you’ve abandoned your pregnant fover for your secretary, your reputation will be in tatters.”

Her tearful performance faltered at my lack of reaction.

Isabella reached across the table toward my hand. I pulled back before she could touch

1. me.

Isabella’s scheme had cost me dearly, but I wasn’t defeated yet. Not while there was even the smallest chance of winning back the only woman who had ever truly touched my soul.

“For what? Telling off two people I despise?”

“Liam,” Damian’s voice snapped me back to reality. “Stay with me, man.”

“That went about as well as a car crash,” Damian muttered, leaning against my desk.

“And they’ll have one,” I assured him coldly. “I take my responsibilities seriously. But that doesn’t require me to marry someone I don’t love.”

“Convenient,” I remarked dryly. “Until then, my lawyers will draw up an agreement for medical expenses and preliminary support, contingent on paternity confirmation.”

I looked at her with cold detachment. “Should I call an ambulance?”

Julian leaned forward. “Be reasonable, Sterling. A marriage between you and Isabella makes sense financially and socially. Your company and my holdings would create an impressive portfolio.”

“Let me take her under my wing. Not just as her boss but as her m connected to the company/while giving both of you space.”

1. or. I’ll keep her

“Threaten me all you want,” I replied. “My lawyers will contact yours tomorrow with

111 The Unbreakable Vow

the terms of our agreement.”

“How dare you speak about me that way!” Isabella gasped dramatically. “I thought we had something special!”

“That,” Damian said with grudging admiration, “was ice–cold.”

I stood up, straightening my tie. A cold, calculated fury was starting to replace the raw pain. “Let’s not keep them waiting”

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