Chapter 2

I stayed with him for three years, and then another three years after that. I started to suspect he was infertile.

I even thought about finding another man to sleep with and passing the baby off as Julian's.

But I shot that idea down the second it popped into my head.

I wanted a child who looked like Liana so badly it hurt.

A child who looked like her and like me. Elegant, kind, intelligent.

We'd raise the baby together, and when the child learned to walk, they'd call me Mommy in the sunshine and call her Grandma in that sweet, babbling voice.

The three of us would be the closest family in the world, bound by blood.

I secretly slipped Julian some drugs.

Julian ended up in the hospital.

Liana was furious. She shoved her young boyfriend aside and slapped me across the face.

She called me a seductress and said she'd been wrong about me all those years ago.

I stood in the hospital hallway under those harsh white lights, and all I could think was how gentle she'd been when she hit me.

God, I was falling for her even harder. What was wrong with me?

She was my religion. The only thing that made sense in this world.

I knew I was sick. Terminal, probably.

Love was torture, plain and simple.

It tortured me, and it tortured Julian.

All these years, and I couldn't forget Liana, just like he couldn't forget Charlotte.

We went through the motions every day, sharing a bed but nothing else. We had sex but never had a child.

Then Charlotte got divorced and came back into his life with two kids in tow.

Julian was ready to play stepfather. He lit a cigarette and slid a ten-million-dollar check across the nightstand, telling me to get lost and stay gone.

I took my time getting dressed, but I had to ask one more time. "Can't I have just one child with you?"

He exhaled a cloud of smoke that drifted toward me and made me cough.

Those eyes, as beautiful as Liana's, landed on my face with complete indifference.

He said, "Sophie, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't think you can trap me with a baby. It's pathetic. I could never, ever love a foolish woman like you. Give it up."

I pressed my hand against my flat stomach and left the presidential suite with my heart breaking.

It wasn't my fault he couldn't have kids, so what was I supposed to do about it?

I decided to disguise myself and apply to be Liana's private driver. As long as I could see her, that would be enough for me.

I had just stepped outside when everything went black, and I collapsed.

When I opened my eyes again, I felt like I was floating in a cloud of happiness. Liana stood before the endless blue ocean, wearing a teal dress as she leaned against the railing. She looked untouchable, like she existed in a world all her own.

She glanced at me with that cool, distant look I remembered from the first time I'd seen her, and my breath caught. She had always reminded me of some kind of goddess, too perfect for this world.

I stared at her, completely mesmerized.

She flicked a check at my face with effortless grace, and her voice drifted over me like the salty ocean breeze, soft and deceivingly gentle. "Break them up."

"What?" I blinked at her, confused.

"I won't allow my only son to play daddy to someone else's bastard child." She moved closer with each word, and every step felt like it landed directly on my heart.

I opened my mouth to refuse. This was completely immoral, and I couldn't do something like that.

She let out a cold little laugh. "For money, is there anything you won't do?"

My face fell instantly, and bitterness flooded through me. Liana, I was doing this for you.

But I couldn't let her know the truth. She would think I was some kind of freak.

I wanted to call her Mom, but I also wanted to have her grandchild, to be connected to her by blood. No one in this world could understand my twisted love.

I tilted my head back and stared at the sky.

I knew exactly why she opposed this marriage. The Olsons, a powerful multinational corporation, had set their sights on Julian. If the two families joined forces through marriage, the Windsor family business would skyrocket to new heights.

I sighed and dropped my gaze to the ground, feeling utterly defeated.

If only I could get pregnant.

Then I could send Julian off to his arranged marriage, and Liana and I could be together every day.

But I never expected happiness to come so suddenly.

Liana actually acknowledged me as her goddaughter and let me call her Mom.

Deep down, though, I still wanted to call her Liana. It felt more intimate that way, like we were closer.

I knew the truth, of course. She only did this to provoke Charlotte and make her uncomfortable enough to back out of the engagement.

At the dinner party, Julian took Charlotte and her daughter's hands and made a big show of claiming them as his own.

Liana calmly pulled me forward and announced my new status to everyone. Julian stared at me, and his expression turned dark.

The whole party fell into an awkward silence, and everyone wore strange looks on their faces.

They all knew I used to be Julian's mistress, following him everywhere he went.

From lover to sister. How scandalous.

Charlotte gripped her child's hand, and her rage was so intense that she stabbed her fork right into Julian's wrist.

He let out a sharp gasp of pain.

I immediately threw myself forward and grabbed his arm. "Julian, are you okay? Does it hurt? Charlotte, how could you be so careless? I'm the only one who actually cares about Julian."

Julian's eyes blazed with fury, and I could tell he wanted to tear me apart right then and there. But he couldn't afford to make a scene with Liana, not when he wasn't the one calling the shots at the Windsor family yet.

I'd heard he had to set off fireworks from several yachts just to win Charlotte back.

Finally, when no one was looking, he grabbed me and pulled me into the shadows. His voice came out rough and bitter as he demanded, "Sophie, do you really need me that badly?"