Page 34 of Legally Yours
Before I can put it all together, I see Liam walk to the Master of Ceremony’s podium and take the mic. I’m more confounded when I see he’s not shocked or confused like me. He’s dead calm.
“Ladies and gentlemen, due to unforeseen events, the Anderson Modeling Agency fashion show is postponed until further notice. Please leave your seats and file outside immediately. Thank you for your understanding.”
At Liam’s last word, I hear a scuffle below me. The first line of catwalk chairs is thrown left and right. It’s Emma. She is fighting to break free from the tight audience line, and I see her racing for the left fire exit door.
Doors bang everywhere. At every entrance, police with their guns drawn flood into the ballroom and chase down Emma. Emma reaches the door, but the bar handle is locked. She struggles to wrench it open but fails. Two officers catch her fleeing, and they cuff her on the spot. I can’t believe my eyes.
As they escort her out of the room, she walks past. Emma glares at me. If glares could kill, I’d be dead. All I know is Emma isn’t laughing now.
29
LIAM
It’s been five months since knowing this woman. My life has changed forever, and so have I. What started out as a way of getting revenge on the people that hurt us has developed into something more real than either of us could have imagined. That’s why I’ve made it my mission to show Cassandra that this is meant to be.
Over the months, though I’ve wanted to destroy David and that vile woman who called herself my wife’s best friend, I’ve still found myself thankful that they brought us together, just like Cassandra said to me that day at the hotel bar.
I can still see her face as she came to the realization that we would have the last laugh, and though it’s not necessarily what drew me to her, I still knew somewhere that this was a woman after my own heart.
Cassandra seems soft and gentle, and she is. But there’s also a tigress under that calm and extremely beautiful exterior. A creature that will fight for what’s important to her. In that sense, we are the perfect match, because I would also do the same – which is why I am determined to fight now.
For her love, for our marriage, and for our life together.
As the six month mark approaches I feel the urgency swell inside me. So much drama and chaos has threatened to throw us off course, but what I’m hoping will happen is that we’ll be swept up in the current and delivered safely to dry land.
She’s been so badly betrayed that it can’t be easy to trust anyone again, certainly not with her heart. But she has mine, and now I have to prove to her that I can be trusted with hers. However damaged it is, however bruised and battered by recent events. However misused it’s been by the people who should have loved her.
That’s my job now, and I’m determined to do it.
“Thank you for the flowers,” she says when she gets home from her shoot tonight.
“There’s more where they came from,” I say, pointing to the display on the dining table.
“Liam, you shouldn’t have!” she says. “It’s getting to be too much, you’ve been sending them for the past three weeks now.”
“A man can send his wife flowers,” I say. “It’s his prerogative. Now, I hope you’re hungry because I’ve cooked way too much here.” These days if I’m home before her, I always make sure to prepare something nice.
“Seriously,” she says, stepping towards me as I hold out a spoon for her to taste the sauce I’ve prepared. “Oh, wow, that’s so good.”
It heartens me to see her respond like this, just knowing that I can look after her. I can show her how much I appreciate her and the life we’ve been building together, even if it was based on falsehoods to begin with.
“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. That’s what they say, isn’t it?” I ask.
“I believe so,” she says, still savoring the sauce.
“So what’s the way to a woman’s, then?”
She swallows and looks down, and I don’t push any further as I know it’s hard for her. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so upfront with things like this, but it’s hard changing the habit of a lifetime. Though I really am trying my best not to pile the pressure on.
“I know it’s hard, Cass. I know you’ve been through so much and don’t ever want to feel the way that you did when…hedid that to you. But I need you to know that I never would.”
She looks at me with eyes filled with sorrow, and I take her face in my hand. “You can trust me.”
“You don’t get it,” she protests. “It’s not just about trusting you. It’s about trustingme. Do you even know what it does to you to feel like you can’t trust yourself? That you’ve missed the most obvious things about a person. That you’re so stupid!”
It kills me to hear her talk like this about herself.
“Stop it, you’re not stupid. You are anything but stupid. You’re kind, intelligent, fierce and beautiful. You’re everything I never knew ever existed, everything I never knew I wanted in a woman.”