I ran to my room and immediately call Liam. If Adam knew the whole time that I was meant to be with him not Liam, he would have probably said something to him.

Immediately I asked him if he knew, Liam hung up on me.

I got in to the shower and I spend almost an hour in there, cleaning myself and crying like a baby. I love Adam so much it hurts but sometimes I wonder if loving him is a curse because he makes it so fucking difficult.

One minute he can we so warm and loving and the next he can straight up be cold. Like ice cold. He left me standing in the entryway, shaking.

He knew. I'm not even mad at him. I'm just hurt.

I finish drying my hair, do my skincare and slip into the comfiest tank top and sweats in my closet. I'm going to rest tonight but I have so much to do tomorrow. I need answers from Adam and Liam.

I also need to write a thousand thank you cards.

"Amelia!" A familiar voice shouts and then starts banging on my bedroom door. What the hell?

I walk up to the door and open it and I see him, fuming. His eyes are red and his knuckles are bruised.

"What did you do, Liam?" I whisper.

His nostrils are flaring. I don't think I've ever seen him more angry. He's shaking.

"I trusted him more than anyone." He says and then breaks down in tears. Oh shit.

****

I drove Liam home. He lives with Brian and Ian now. The house is a fifteen minute drive away. It's a two-story contemporary building with 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms and 2 living rooms. It's really gorgeous and it fits them.

Liam is sitting in the kitchen and I'm standing, gulping down a bottle of water. I haven't had a real meal in over twenty four hours.

"This explains so much, why he was always weird when it came to you." Liam says with disbelief.

I look at his slightly bloody knuckles. "I can't believe you punched him. Do you know how strong he is? You're lucky he didn't fight back."

I didn't see or hear their argument. It happened while I was in the shower. I comforted Liam while he cried and then asked him to stay the night because he was is no shape to drive but he said no so, here we are.

Liam shakes his head, his eyes on his knuckles. "He never does but I trusted him so much, Amelia. When it came to you, I went to him for advice. I now understand why he told me not to touch you."

My eyes widen and I choke on my water. "What?" I shout after catching my breath.

Liam looks at me. "He told me to wait. I knew that's what you wanted too but even before then, Adam told me to keep my hands to myself."

Oh my God. I think I'm going to throw up.

"Why can't I just be in love with like a simple guy? Why did I have to fall for the most complicated person on earth?"

Liam looks at me with a raised eyebrow. "Do you really love him?"

"Yes."

"Like you loved me?"

No. You love people differently, even your friends. I have never loved anyone like I love Adam and I don't know why. It's an unexplainable feeling that's just there.

"It's different. It's much more emotional and passionate with him. I loved you as a friend first and I loved you like you were my best friend. You were the best thing that's ever happened to me at the time." I tell Liam, honestly.

"And Adam?"

"Words aren't enough to explain how much I love him. It scares me, Liam. That's why I hold myself back. It's not that I don't want to put him first, I'm just afraid to." I admit.

"I know. I see how much you love him and that has changed him so much. Your love is the best thing that has happened to my family. You've made Adam alive again."

"Are you sure?"

****

I wake up feeling soft strokes on my cheek and hair. I open my eyes and Adam is sitting on a chair by the bed, looking at me.

He is all clean, showered, looking hot and smelling incredible in his black suit. His hair is flown back neatly but his face....there's a little purple bruise on the side of his lips. Liam's doing.

I reach for it but he catches my hand and brings it to his lips. He stares into my eyes and kisses the hand softly, again and again.

"It's time to go." He speaks in a dark, raspy voice.

Go where? I look around and realize that I'm in Brian's room. I spent the night at Liam's.

Adam lets go of my hand and walks out. Shit.

I get up and run my fingers through my hair. It's very long, I want to cut like half of it. I grab my phone and go into Brian's bathroom to freshen up a little.

Adam isn't in the hallway when I come out. I hear his voice come from Liam's room so I walk there but I don't go in.

"Don't ever pull this shit again." Adam says quietly and I frown in confusion.

"She offered to drive me." Liam replies.

"You say no!" Adam raises his voice. "It's the middle of the night. She's not your fucking caretaker. I'm tired of telling you to grow the fuck up."

Oh, so they're talking about me.

"You don't tell me what to do. You betrayed my fucking trust." I can hear the hurt in his voice.

"Spare me the bullshit. You knew she was mine. If you want to talk betrayal, take a look in the fucking mirror." Adam's voice is calm this time around but cold and emotionless. He is too good at switching his emotions.

"You should have told me."

"No, Liam. You should have opened your eyes. Life is not fairytale. You've been in this bubble your whole life. If you'd been been a man, Diana wouldn't tiptoe around you like you're a fucking baby."

"I'm not in a fucking bubble."

"Yes, you are! You didn't even know I was your brother till I told you. They twisted you and turned you into their perfect golden boy, shone from all the ugliness in the world."

"When did you find out about you and Amelia?" Liam asks, menacingly.

"Before you started dating her."

"What?" Liam asks in disbelief.

So all that time we were together, Adam was just watching us, knowing what our fate was.

Liam and were actual clowns.

"You may be the favorite child but I'll always be one step ahead of you, little brother. Get your shit together and face the real world or you'll be screwed over by people worse than me."

The door opens and I step back but I know I've been caught. Adam stares at me, nonchalant to me eavesdropping.

"Ready?"

I nod then he hold out his hand. I stare at the hand then look up and glare at him before walking past him.

I'm going to give him a silent treatment. He is used to doing whatever the hell he wants without being held accountable for his actions. Like what he did to Giselle. I can't believe she's obsessed with him, even after he cheated on her with her best friend.

I hear Liam saying something to him as I go down the stairs but I decide not to eavesdrop this time. As I step out of the front door, I shiver. It's a cold morning. I see Cooper holding a jacket, he smiles he hands it to me. "Here you go, Mrs B."

I give him a confused look then take it. It's Louis Vuitton and there's my initials on it, A.S. It's mine.

I have so many clothes so I don't really recognize if something's mine at a first glance. Did Adam grab it from my closet, knowing it's going to be cold? Sensible motherfucker. I put the jacket on and Cooper opens the backseat door of Adam's Rolls Royce.

The car smells like waffles and that's when I notice a covered dish in the middle, next to me.

Weird.

"Morning, Wesley."

"Mrs Black." He smiles, kindly.

Adam comes in and Cooper shuts his door before slipping into the passenger seat. I look at him and then look down at my hands, feeling ashamed?

I don't know what the feeling is . It's a mixture of self loathing, guilt and embarrassment. I can't help but put myself in Giselle's shoes because right now, I'm not really mad at Adam.

I want to bury myself in his arms and feel comfort when I should be seething.

Is this how Giselle felt? Helplessly in love, despite what he did to her?

I mentally cringe.

Adam opens the dish and there's pancakes topped with fresh berries on top.

He puts it in my lap. "Eat."

I look at the dish. It does look delicious but it's too early for me to eat anything.

"Are you not talking to me?" He asks with slight amusement.

I give him a blank stare.

"Silence seems a little out of context for you." He teases but I don't give him anything.

He cuts a piece of pancake and takes it to my mouth but I refuse to open. He tries again and I turn my head.

He grabs my chin and turns me back to him. "I may not look like it but I'm so fucking pissed about you leaving last night and then finding you in another man's bed. Stop trying to provoke me more and eat."

"I'm also pissed at you." I shoot back.

"And we'll kiss and make up later. Your well-being is my priority. Open." He says in a tone that makes no room for argument.

"Our life will be much easier if you do what I tell you." He adds, causing me to roll my eyes.

He patiently waits for me to swallow and then feeds me another forkful of pancake.

"I know you didn't forget to eat yesterday. Maybe you have a knack for passing out but I'm never going to tolerate that." He continues.

I decide to ignore him and fell asleep on the ride home. I remember him carrying me to his bedroom then whispering. "You should sleep in my bed even when you're mad at me. I would rather take the couch than have you in away from me."

****

"This is good." I comment on the strawberry ice cream I tasted.

"It's vegan." My sister tells me with a smile.

"So is everything in this house vegan now?"

"Pretty much. Austin always eats out."

"No, beau. Beau blue not baby blue....Yes, it's a completely different color." My mother joins us in the backyard patio, wearing black straight legged pants, a tucked in white blouse and green Louboutin stilettos.

She's talking on the phone calmly but she looks irritated. My mum is the kind of person that never yells but can still intimidate you or even destroy you in the softest way possible.

"Then make it. Soak the napkins in dye or something. This is your job.......Okay, good." She hangs up and gently runs her fingers through Mae's hair. "Who did your hair today, sweetheart?"

Mae looks up at her with wide eyes. "It was Sloan. You don't like it?"

"It's fine." Mum replies and Mae and I exchange a knowing look. Fine in mum books means it's horrendous.

"You're acting a little crazy." I point.

"I'm under a lot of pressure. You know what you're grandfather's like."

My paternal grandfather is having a "small" dinner party tomorrow and he put my mum in charge of everything. If he wants everyone together, it's usually something big so my mother is so nervous that she asked me over for help.

Mae rolls her eyes. "I still don't get why he asked you not any of his eight children."

"I'm happy to help." Mum says.

"Cause they'll probably say no. Why does he even want it here not at his estate?" I ask. I love my grandad but he's not my favorite person in the world.

"Because it's an hour drive from the city. We need to liaise, honey." Mum explains.

"So what do you need me for?"

"I need your help picking out the flowers. The florist is going to arrive any moment from now."

Mae pokes me under the table and l flinch.

"What the fuck?" I mouth.

"Ask her." She mouths back.

I roll my eyes with a sigh. My family only talks to me when they want something. "So mum, I heard Mae is going to Bali this summer."

"I said no but her friends are."

"Why?"

"Because she has piano, ballet, and she needs to start studying for the SATs."

"That's not for another year! And I can play the piano with my eyes closed."

"E le lezioni di lingue straniere?" Mum questions in Italian.

"Ugh!"

"You're very much behind in your Italian. When I was your age, I fluently spoke French, Russian, Spanish and Japanese."

"You're half French! It doesn't count."

"Isn't it two weeks only. She can do whatever you want when she's back."

"No!" Mae snaps. "School is over! I'm supposed to be on vacation not torture. You never let me have fun! I'm going to tell Dad and he will let me go to Bali whether you like it or not." She angrily grabs her phone and storms her off.

The thing is my dad lets my mum handle us because he's always busy. She usually makes all the decisions but he indulges Mae. If she asks, he's going to let her go but the only challenge is her reaching him. He doesn't really have time for her, unless on a Friday.

I look at my mother and she looks calm as hell. Completely unbothered. Our eyes meet and I think she's going to address what just happened.

"So I was thinking hydrangeas?" She speaks.

****

As soon as the florist left, I texted Wesley to come pick me up. It's weird that this isn't my home anymore. My home is with Adam. It's beautiful and there's really no where else I'd rather be.

When Wesley arrived, I was surprised to see he wasn't alone. Adam is sitting in the backseat working with his iPad as usual.

"We were together when you texted." Wesley explains with an apologetic smile.

"Hi." Adam says when I seat next to him.

"Hi."

"How was your day?"

"Good."

"Where to, sir?" Wesley asks.

"Home."

"But-" Wesley starts and Adam cuts him off with a glare.

I frown and look at him. Did I mess up his plans?

"Do you have somewhere to be?"

"I will cancel."

"No, I don't want to screw up your day."

"It's fine."

"I really don't mind. Unless you don't want go with me?"

"I would go anywhere with you, you know that." He says with so much sincerity, that I feel goosebumps.

We arrive at Dr Sloan's office and I look at Adam. "Why'd you bring me here?"

I hope he's not trying to force me to eat again. He's so obsessed with my diet. It's suffocating but sweet.

He leans in till our faces are inches apart. He strokes my face. I stare at his lips, wanting to kiss him.

"This is my appointment." He grins and slips out of the car.

What the hell? I'm honestly tired of all his lies.

Well, he doesn't really lie. He omits. I sigh and follow him out the car.

Adan walks fast so I have to jog a little to catch up to him. He turns to me with a frown. "Go back to the car. Wesley will take you home."

"What exactly are you doing here?"

"I told you. I have an appointment."

"Like a therapy session?"

"Sure."

Dr Phillip Sloan, who I know as my husband's psychiatrist appears at the entrance. "Mr. Black! I didn't think you'd be joining us today."

Adam ignores him, reaches for my hand and gives it a little squeeze. "Go home, baby."

"I want to stay. If you won't answer my questions, maybe he will."

"He has signed an NDA."

"Actually, it will be great if you joined our session today, Mrs Black." The psychiatrist says.

Excellent.

****