Divorced Heiress Married Her Brother’s Friend

Chapter 3 Unexpected Connections

SOPHIA’S POV

I had to cut short the conversation I wanted to continue. Looking at the name on my phone screen, it was my good friend Cynthia. I figured she must have learned about my betrayal from my brother as well, since I remembered they had always been on good terms.

As I was about to tell Liam that I needed to step away for a moment, he immediately took my phone and entered his phone number into it.

Before I could react, he said right away, "I’m sure you have a lot to say to Cynthia, so I’ll give you some space. But there are some things you should know."

"What—" As he shoved the phone back into my hand, our skin made contact, and my eyes widened in shock at our physical proximity. The heat emanating from his body wafted into my nostrils, making me dizzy with a need I didn’t require in my life at that time.

Once again, I felt a surge of heat rising up my spine, as if he sensed the change in me.

Suddenly, he leaned in close, his face brushing against mine, his breath caressing my neck and ear. His deep, resonant voice rumbled loudly, "That’s right. When Julian isn’t around, I’ll be taking care of you from now on. Especially when it comes to men, since you seem to have poor taste in them."

I gasped, offended by his assertion. As he leaned back to look me in the eye, his alluring cologne sent me into a slight daze. "You can’t do that!" I protested once I regained my composure.

He gave a dark chuckle. The sound sent wave after wave of shock through my body. What was happening? "I already have. From now on, you need my permission, Sophia." Then he straightened up.

Before I could say another word, he slipped out of the club, leaving me gaping at his retreating back.

I immediately dialed Cynthia’s number. Her voice came through quickly, not even asking why I hadn’t answered her first call. I figured she must have assumed I was busy crying.

"When I lay my hands on that bastard, God help me, I will rip his ugly balls off and shove them down his f*****g throat! That i***t is nothing less than a two-faced, lying..." She began a slew of sailor curses unimaginable to mankind. She thereby ended with, "piece of buffalo dung! How dare he?"

"You found out already?"

"Of course, I did. When were you planning on informing me about it, young lady?" She sounded like she could reach through the phone and pull my ears.

A mental image of her upturned nose in disapproval came to mind and I pushed it out immediately. I could not handle the hanging feeling of guilt over my head, knowing well that I disappointed everyone who doted on me.

"I’m sorry." I replied simply. No excuse covered up the fact that she had to hear about my divorce from another’s mouth and not mine. "Look, how about I send you my new address right now so we can meet up and talk about it. I’m about to head home anyway."

That was a truth. The music in the club raged on but I was in no mood to dance anymore. The encounter with Maxwell soured my mood and dampened it by a thousand degrees.

The early buzz from the alcohol before I stumbled into Liam had worn off and all it left in its wake was a banging headache and of course, the heartache that was a reminder of Maxwell’s infidelity.

"I hear loud music and you know what that means, a chance to live for yourself tonight and tonight only. There would be hunks littered about, any of them available to toss and turn you all night in bed. I’m coming over right--"

Horrified by her lewd suggestions, I interrupted quickly to shush her. When her mouth openned, there was no stopping it. "No! No, Cynthia. That is not..." I hurriedly glanced again in the direction Liam had left. "I cannot do that. Maxwell and I, we haven’t finalized the divorce procedures. I don’t want to be unfaithful like him and hand him a leverage over me."

There was a pause on the other side of the line before Cynthia finally groaned. "Little wonder why you have been so distant. It was all because of that abominable excuse for a human. You know what? I’ll just come over to your new place then. You owe me every single detail, you hear me?"

I nodded, forgetting that she couldn’t see me. "I’ll forward the address right now. See you soon."

***

I had barely walked to the front door when Cynthia assaulted me with a tight hug that almost brought tears to my eyes.

"I’m so sorry for being so absent these days when you were going through all of that bullshit and I miss you so much. So much." She pulled back to look into my face, catching a stray tear that slipped out of my right eye.

"It’s okay." I tried to assure her. If I didn’t, she would beat herself up over and over with self guilt. "You’re here now, aren’t you?" I reached into my purse for my keys to unlock the door.

Soon, we were inside my furnished suite. Almost at the same time, we tossed our purses onto a couch as we settled on another. Cynthia drew near to me, worry creasing the soft contours of her beautiful face. She was risking a worry line for my sake.

"I need to know all about it." She demanded.

I spilled, leaving no small details about the ring I had designed specially for myself, only to discover the fake ass b***h who it really belonged to. Catching my so called husband with his lover on our bed was the final straw that crippled me. He played me for a fool, using and discarding me like trash.

When I was done ranting to her, I felt the emptiness in my chest only expand by several inches. Perhaps, staying at the club like she suggested would have been a viable option rather than this.

"I’m just surprised you’re making this decision now." Cynthia finally dropped her cents on the topic. "In all honesty, this is something you should have done a lot earlier. It would have spared you this unnecessary heartache."

I said nothing in response, merely staring down at my fingers in my thighs as shame washed over me.

"It really is foolish of you to abandon your family, all of your inheritance and position for that miserly golddigger, delivering all of your savings into his greedy hands so he could start that stupid design company. That was not a wise decision." She rebuked brashly.

Cynthia had always been a brutally honest person which was one of her admirable qualities. However, tonight, her reprimands were already digging a hole too deep in me, mixing together with the overwhelming regret I was drowning in.

"I..." I remained unable to form words to accompany the way I felt. The weight of guilt was crushing into me as I reflected upon my past reckless actions, playing into Maxwell’s open hand like a willing pawn. "I really am foolish." I spoke finally, my voice raw with pain.

"Come now," Cynthia’s voice had gone down several tones as she wrapped a hand around my shoulder, reeling me in close. "Don’t be too hard on yourself. You were in love and you thought he was worth trusting. It isn’t your fault he is the way he is. What matters now, is that you realized his trickery on time and trust me my friend, you did me proud by walking out of that trap."

Her words of encouragement brought a small smile to my face and in a second, my pain faded off the surface. She was right. "Thank you."

"I can’t wait for that self-satisfied smug to be wiped off his stupid face when he realizes you are the true heiress to the Blackwood family business." She was beside herself with glee, perhaps formulating a plan of her own.

I shook my head in refusal. "Not yet. If he catches wind of that piece of information, he might not want to sign the divorce papers, knowing how conceited he truly is. I want to leave him to wallow in his delusions with his Barbie doll." I recalled suddenly my time at the club and the person I bumped into.

"Liam?" Cynthia squealed. "Oh my goodness, gurl! Tell me all about it. How does he look now? You know all those years ago, I’ve always thought you both would make a perfect pair. Fate does know how to link soulmates back together, you know." She bumped shoulders with mine, her eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

"Oh please." I hid my smile while dismissing her suggestions.

"Oh please! Don’t think I didn’t catch the not-so-subtle staresyou both shared to one another? Before Maxwell showed his ugly face into the picture, I always thought Liam was going to make a move on you."

I refused to think back to those times, refusing to awaken those feelings from where I had buried them. "That is not true. He had always been stuck-up around me with his cold replies. Plus,he was in a relationship then."

I glanced hurriedly again in the direction Liam had left.

Cynthia knew it was true as well. Seeing her awkward smile, I immediately took the initiative to change the subject. Enough had happened today, and I needed sleep. Tomorrow, I needed to see a lawyer. And I still had to figure out what Liam meant by his words.

I never knew how annoying an early morning knock could be. During my three-year marriage to Maxwell, I had grown accustomed to waking up early because he only liked the breakfast I made. But after last night’s drama, I desperately needed a lot of sleep to stay sane.

The knocking persisted, though, and I didn’t realize I was only wearing underwear when I went to open the door. But when I pulled it open and saw Liam’s perfect features, I let out a shriek that would have made Cynthia think a shooting had occurred.

I really needed a gun at that moment. Would Liam think I was an extremely s*x-starved divorcee exposing my breasts first thing in the morning without even asking who was at the door?