The CEO’s Masked Secret Wife novel Chapter 113

113 The Unbearable Ultimatum

113 The Unbearable Ultimatum

“We don’t know that for certain,” he reminded me. “And regardless, I can still get a restraining order if necessary”

Isabella’s eyes fixed on me, shimmering with tears that appeared on command. Every customer in the café turned to watch the spectacle unfold..

“I’ll get you some water,” Stella whispered before slipping out.

“Everyone heard,” I whispered. “Everyone saw.”

“You don’t understand.” My voice cracked. “She won’t stop. Not until…”

I couldn’t look at him. “Maybe what we had was just… temporary.”

“Stay out of this!” Isabella snapped before turning back to me. “What kind of woman sleeps with another woman’s fiancé? Did you think about my baby at all?”

I took a deep breath. “The only way this ends is if you give her what she wants.”

The café fell silent. A waiter approached cautiously. “Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask-

Liam looked at me for a long moment, his eyes filled with an anguish that matched my

own.

“I need time to think,” he finally said. “But don’t give up on us yet. Please.”

I buried my face in my hands. The humiliation burned through me. Everyone in that café now thought I was a homewrecker. The office gossip would be unbearable by tomorrow.

“I told you I’d handle this.”

The words stuck in my throat. I couldn’t say them. But I had to.

“So you’re giving up on us?” His voice was hollow.

“I’m being realistic.” I pulled my hands away. “Marry Isabella. Be there for your child. It’s the right thing to do.”

He left without waiting for my response, closing the door softly behin.m.

113 The Unbearable Ultimatum

Liam stood abruptly, pacing the small office. “The right thing? The right thing is to marry someone I don’t love because she might be carrying my child?”

“Until you marry her,” I finally whispered.

“Do you know what she’s doing?” Isabella ignored him, addressing the entire restaurant. “She’s sleeping with my baby’s father! She’s trying to break up our family before it even starts!”

“And what about us?” Liam’s voice broke. “What about what we have?”

Hazel’s POV

“Please,” Isabella whimpered, her voice carrying across the restaurant. “You have to understand. I’m pregnant with his child.”

“You evil, heartless bitch!” she screamed. “You’re trying to steal my baby’s father!”

I turned away, ashamed of my tear–stained face. “How did you know?”

The raw vulgarity of her words hit me like a slap. I pushed past her, nearly running for the door. Behind me, Isabella’s voice carried.

Stella wrapped her arms around me. “We’re here. We’re all here.”

“Don’t say that.” He grabbed both my hands. “What we have is real. It’s worth fighting for.”

“It’s not your fault she’s crazy,” I whispered.

“Hazel,” he said softly, closing the door behind him.

For his sake. For Leo’s sake. For everyone’s sake but my own.

Liam stiffened. “That’s never going to happen.”

Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks. “Everyone was staring at me. Judging me.”

“I’ll find another way,” he said firmly. “I won’t give up on us that easily.”

“You can’t be serious.” His voice was sharp with disbelief.

“What are you saying?”

“How?” I demanded. “How will you handle it? She’s carrying your child!”

13:31

113. The Unbearable Ultimatum

She dropped to her knees beside my chair, her designer dress pooling around her. The dramatic gesture drew gasps from nearby tables.

A gentle knock at the door made me look up. I expected Stella, but instead found Liam standing there, concern etched across his handsome face.

“Until what?”

My vision blurred with unshed tears. I felt trapped in a nightmare.

“Isabella, that’s enough.” Stella grabbed our purses. “Hazel, let’s go.

“You’ll never have him! He belongs with me and our baby!”

My hands trembled against the table. Stella shot me a concerned glance.

“He would be if you weren’t in the way!” Tears streamed down her face. “You need to quit. Leave Sterling Group. Leave him.”

“Stella called Damian.” He approached slowly, as if afraid I might bolt. “She told me what happened.”

I leaned into their comfort, but felt nothing. A strange numbness spread through me, my emotions shutting down in self–defense. In the space of one conversation, I’d sacrificed everything I wanted. The love I’d finally allowed myself to believe in.

The moment he was gone, I crumpled. Sobs wracked my body as I gasped for breath. I’d just told the man I loved to marry another woman. I’d pushed him away to protect myself, to protect Leo, to end the nightmare Isabella had created.

“Yes!” I cried out. “Because that’s what decent people do!”

The walk back to Sterling Tower passed in a blur. In the elevator, Stella pressed the button for Damian’s floor.

“I’m begging you,” she cried, grabbing my hand. “For my baby’s sake. Just leave him alone.”

I pulled my hand away. “Get up. You’re making a scene.”

Outside, I gulped fresh air, struggling not to vomit.

“Possibly my child,” he corrected. “And even if it is, that doesn’t mean I ha.

Lo marry

her.”

113 The Unbearable Ultimatum

“I told him to marry her,” I choked out. “I told him to go.”

“It won’t help,” I said, wiping my tears. “She’ll find ways around it. Or her father will

Stella stood. “That’s enough, Isabella.”

“I’ll tell Damian you’re not feeling well,” she said gently.

“I’m tired, Liam.” Exhaustion weighed on every word. “I’m tired of being called a whore, of being humiliated in public. I’m tired of worrying what Leo will hear at school when this gossip spreads.”

“I can’t do this anymore,” I whispered. “I can’t be the other woman. I can’t be the reason your child grows up in a broken home.”

The office door opened again. Stella, Damian, and Evelyn rushed in, finding me broken on the floor.

The desperate hope in his eyes nearly undid me. But the memory of Isabella’s public accusation was too fresh.

“But it would solve everything,” I said dully. “The harassment would stop. The board would be happy. Your company’s reputation would be safe.”

“There is no other way.” My voice was flat, emotionless. “If you want this harassment to stop, if you want me to have any peace… you know what you have to do.”

“Maybe it should.” The words burned like acid on my tongue.

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