When Love Remains

Chapter3

Her hands trembles as she saw the bold letters written at the top of the document: PETITION FOR CUSTODY.

Her eyes look down at Ethan with anger. “What is this?”

Ethan’s face is cold, his once vulnerability face has gone. "It’s exactly what it looks like. If you don’t come out clean to me on Liam, I’ll let the court decide for us."

Sofia staring at Ethan with a stunned expression; her world is about to fall into pieces again.

Sofia’s hands shake as she stares at the custody petition. The words printed neatly appear in her mind’s with fury, tension, and shock. She gazes up at Ethan’s blue piercing eyes, now cold and calculating, the look she knows very well.

“You’re sueing me for custody," she whispers with her voice breaking.

Ethan doesn’t flinch. "I’m giving you the chance to tell me the whole truth, Sofia. I have every right to be in his life if he’s truly my son. And if you don’t cooperate, the court will make the hard decision for you".

Sofia’s jaw tightens as she throws the documents on the counter with anger. ‘Do you think you can find your way into Liam’s life after you left me behind to suffer? "You don’t deserve to know him at all, Ethan! Not now."

Ethan’s face hardens, his voice changing to a ruthless tone. "Don’t lecture me about abandoning anyone. If he is mine, you are the one to blame, you kept him away from me. You lied to me, Sofia.”

Sofia becomes furious, she steps closer to Ethan and shouts. "You accused me of cheating, you made me look bad and disgraced me before your family, and then walked away never to give me a chance to say explain myself. You destroyed me, Ethan! And now you wanna walk back in and ask me for answers?"

Ethan shakily but doesn’t give up. “You’re right. I made mistakes. But if Liam is my son, I won’t walk away this time. I will not let you shut me out of his life."

Sofia’s voice drops, her pain dragging her voice down. "I didn’t keep you out, Ethan. You left. You left when I needed you."

He looks at her for a moment, not as the lawyer who always clamour to win a case, but as the man who once lover her.

‘I didn’t know.’ His voice was becoming soft. “If I had…”

Would it have mattered to you?" Sofia cuts him off with a trembling voice. “You didn’t trust me then. So why should I believe you now?"

The tension between them sparks like a live wire. Ethan exhales very deeply and runs his hand through his hair trying to take control of the situation.

"Tell me the truth Sofia. Is Liam my son?”

Sofia’s breath is caught and she thinks of lying for a second. But she knows it’ll never work. Ethan never gives up, and if she won’t admit it, he’ll bring it to light in court, through DNA test, or any means necessary.

‘Yes,’ she finally admit, with a very low voice.

“Liam is your son.”

Ethan legs shake staggering back like she had given him a heavy punch with his hands holding the counter for support and his face is a mixture of shock, anger, and regret.

‘How old is he?’ Ethan mutters.

‘Three,’ Sofia says, arms stifling around herself. ‘He just turned three last month.

Ethan shuts his eyes, his breathing slow. Three years… and you kept him away from me for good three years?’

‘I didn’t have any option!’ Sofia yells back. "You stated it clearly that I wasn’t welcome in your life anymore. I was not going to let you or your family make Liam feel the way you had made me felt."

Ethan’s eyes c***k open with fury. "You have no right to chose or make decision for me. He’s my son too, Sofia!”

"When you walked away, you lost that right," she fires back with pain and despair in her voice.

Ethan steps closer, Sofia forced to look up at him with his broad and towering size. "This time I’m not walking away. I’m not gonna let you shut me out of his life again."

Sofia gets chills with the intensity in his voice, she knows Ethan means every word coming out of his mouth.

Sofia’s mind aches over Ethan’s statement, though she recognizes a sincerity in his words. But she couldn’t forget nor ignore the pain he has caused him, and she was also doubting avoiding the risk that can come with letting him back in their lives. She knows how unkind he can be at times, and not to talk of taking care of a child. Ethan’s legal skills haunts Sofia as he can use it to steal Liam custody.

Ethan’s jaw straightens but he insisted that he can never let his son grow without him in his life. “No, I can’t accept that.”

As they keep on exchanging words, the door to the bookshop swings open again. Sofia’s best friend Nina comes in, shocked with her icy green eyes as she sees Ethan.

"What the f**k is he doing here?" Nina asks on a high alert.

"Nina," Sofia begins, before Ethan cuts her off.

"I am here for answers," Ethan says coldly. And I have got them.’ He returns to Sofia, his face unreadable. “This isn’t over, Sofia. "I’ll see you in court if I have to."

He moves past Nina and shut the door, Sofia still frozen.

Nina rushes to her side. "what, ‘see you in court’? Sofia, what’s going on?”

Sofia lies in a chair with her face wrapped in dismay. “He knows, Nina. About Liam. He’s threatening to take me to court for his custody."

Nina’s face darkens. “Over my dead body. That guy’s not fit to be breathing the same air as you and Liam, let alone be his custodian."

Sofia looks up at her friend with tears streaming down her eyes. “I’m scared, Nina. He’s a lawyer. He has money, power... What if he takes Liam away from me?".

Nina kneels by her, hands clutched tight. “We won’t let that happen. You’re not alone Sofia. We’ll fight him together.”

The two of them were in awkward silence when Sofia’s phone rang on the counter. She takes it with a frowning face at the strange and unfamiliar number that appears on the phone screen.

“Who is it?” Nina asks.