17
Ignoring his weakened state, Liam raced down the hospital corridors, searching room by room. He froze. A slender figure appeared before him.
“Serenity!”
His body moved before his mind could process. He chased after me, fearing I’d disappear again.
Hearing his voice, I paused, my hand on the doorknob. I turned, seeing him rushing toward me. I spun and ran, not stopping to consider how he’d found me. I didn’t want to see him.
I fled the hospital and hailed a cab.
“Go, go, go!”
Liam caught up, pounding on the car window.
“Serenity! Wait! Please! Don’t go!”
I ignored him, urging the driver to speed up. The taxi disappeared, and Liam instinctively started to chase after it. A sharp pain seized his stomach, forcing him to double over.
A shout cut through the air.
“Liam!”
My uncle, arriving for his shift, saw the scene and punched Liam.
“How dare you come after Serenity!”
Another punch landed, sending Liam crashing to the ground. He reached out, but my uncle turned and walked away.
“Get lost! Don’t let me see you again!”
My aunt and uncle were furious and heartbroken. Angry that Liam still dared to seek me out, and heartbroken that my escape was interrupted by my aunt’s hospitalization. She wanted to discharge herself and return home to send me back to New Zealand. I calmed her down.
From the moment I landed, I knew an encounter with Liam was inevitable. This was Sterling territory. He could have tracked me since I landed.
I remembered him pounding on the taxi window, pleading. What could he possibly say? Everything was on that paper. If he understood, he wouldn’t be here.
But seeing me again, he wouldn’t give up. He had things to explain–his affair, his feelings for Chloe. He didn’t love Chloe, he only loved me.
But I’d been avoiding him. He’d waited outside my aunt’s room for days, enduring scornful glares and whispers. He hadn’t even seen me.
Late that night, Liam, seeing no sign of me, was about to leave when a slender figure approached from down the hall. His eyes lit up.
“Serenity!”
I stopped, staring coldly at him, then walked past him and closed the ward door. My aunt had been moved that morning, but some belongings remained in her old room. I’d come to retrieve them and found him still waiting.
