Chapter 2
When my team from the tech department found out Liam had fired me, they were furious. They submitted their resignations that very day and left with me.
They said they’d go wherever I went.
By the time we finished packing up and left the company, it was already dark.
I walked alone, holding my umbrella, when I quickly noticed a man following me.
My heart pounded as I realized the danger. I opened my phone to my contacts and instinctively called Liam, who was at the top of my favorites.
Once, twice… After he hung up three times, his impatient voice finally came through the receiver.
“I’m busy tonight. I won’t be home.”
My voice was shaky with panic.
“Liam, I’m being followed.”
A moment of silence on the other end, then I heard a faint scoff.
“Skylar Rhodes, is this your new trick?”
“Didn’t I tell you I prefer a well-behaved, proper wife?”
He said he liked “proper and dignified,” so even on a stormy night, I was still wearing a formal dress and heels.
My ten-centimeter heels rubbed my feet raw and bleeding, allowing the man behind me to get closer and closer. I didn’t even have a chance to run.
“Liam, help—”
Before I could finish, a cheerful female voice came from the other end of the phone.
“Big Boss Liam, you said you’d treat me to dinner as an apology today! Why are you zoning out? You’re not going to back out, are you?”
Liam’s voice quickened, as if he were giving me charity.
“Alright, I don’t have time for your drama. I’ll be home later.”
Then, the call was abruptly cut off. Hearing the dial tone, despair spread through me.
The next second, the man behind me lunged forward and snatched my bag. The momentum sent me crashing against a wall, my arm scraping against the rough surface, leaving a bloody gash.
At least he was just after money.
When I stumbled out of the alley, bruised, bleeding, and covered in mud, I suddenly saw a familiar figure at a street food stall not far away.
Liam’s bespoke suit looked ridiculously out of place at the greasy street food stall. His gaze was doting as he watched Chloe, her mouth full, eat.
“Big Boss, seriously, thank you. If it wasn’t for you today, I really wouldn’t know what to do about Mrs. Hemsworth.”
At the mention of me, Liam subtly frowned.
“She’s been Mrs. Hemsworth for too long, so long that she’s forgotten her own lowly status and started throwing her weight around.”
My eyes welled up at his words.
As the daughter of the Hemsworth family’s housekeeper, when my mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness, I was in a moment of sheer desperation. I used a trick to get close to Liam, who I’d grown up with.
When he woke up, I didn’t ask for a title or formal recognition. I only asked him to help my mother, considering our history.
But he insisted on marrying me, saying he understood my difficulties and would take responsibility for me.
Yet despite his words, our relationship remained distant after marriage. His eyes held a look I couldn’t quite decipher.
It was only in his arms, in the quiet of the night, that I felt a flicker of warmth.
I always thought he was naturally aloof, but I never imagined he would act impulsively and lose his temper for Chloe, or that he would join her at a street food stall he’d never even consider eating at.
“Mr. Hemsworth, there’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time…”
Chloe suddenly looked up, her gaze firm.
“You don’t look happy. So, I don’t want to hide my feelings anymore.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Liam’s eyes flickered. Before she could say another word, he lowered his head and kissed her, leaving no room for argument.
“Mmm… but if Mrs. Hemsworth finds out about us…”
Chloe’s cheeks flushed, her words laden with implication.
“Don’t worry about her.”
Liam cut off her words with another kiss. The man’s usual composure was completely gone.
From not far away, I saw Chloe cast a provocative glance my way.
It turned out she was saying it all deliberately for me to hear.
I clenched my fists, but after a long while, slowly loosened my grip.
Watching the two of them being so affectionate, I picked up my phone and called my lawyer.
“Hello, please draft a divorce agreement for me.”