Chapter 103 Exposed.

Chapter 103 Exposed.
Maureen’s POV
~continuation~

By the time Saturday finally arrived, my nerves were already frayed.

I stood in front of my dressing mirror, fully dressed, yet completely unready. The woman staring back at me looked calm enough—soft makeup, a carefully chosen dress, hair neatly styled—but my eyes told a different story. They were restless. Uneasy. Like they were bracing for impact.

Mrs. Alexander had invited us for dinner.

That alone should have been enough of a warning.

I adjusted the hem of my dress for the third time and let out a slow breath. Every dinner invitation from her came with something attached—an argument, a passive-aggressive remark, and a calculated move. Liam, however, had insisted this time was different. He said his mother had changed. That she was trying. That she wanted peace.

I wanted to believe him. I really did.

Still, as I sat there, my mind searched desperately for an escape route. I could fake a headache. Or nausea. Or claim something urgent came up at work. I even rehearsed the lies silently, weighing which one sounded most convincing.

None of them stuck.

My stomach curled suddenly, tight and sharp, and my hand moved instinctively to rest over it. The familiar dread settled in, heavier than before. It wasn’t just the dinner. It was the secret I was still carrying. The one I hadn’t told Liam yet. The one that sat between us like a ticking clock.

Sam.

The thought alone made my chest ache.

I was still staring at my reflection when my phone rang. The sound startled me, and my heart jumped before I even checked the screen.

Liam.

“Hello, fiancée,” he said the moment I answered, his voice light and teasing.

I tried to laugh, but it came out strained. “Hi.”

“Shall we?” he asked warmly.

“Yes,” I replied after a brief pause.

The call ended, and I exhaled deeply, as if I’d been holding my breath the entire time. I stood up, picked my purse from the bed, and forced my feet to move. Avoiding this would only delay the inevitable.

Outside, Liam was already waiting. He stepped out of the car the moment he saw me and opened the door for me with that familiar, effortless charm.

Immediately his face lit up. “You look so gorgeous,” he exclaimed, pulling me into a hug before pressing a gentle kiss to my lips.

“My lady,” he added, gesturing theatrically toward the car.

“Thank you, my love,” I whispered, sliding into the seat.

As we drove, the city lights blurred past the window, but my thoughts were elsewhere. My fingers twisted together in my lap. There was no perfect time to say it, but delaying it further only made things worse.

“There’s something I’d like to tell you,” I said suddenly, my voice quieter than I intended. “But… after dinner.”

“Oh really?” Liam smiled, eyes half-focused on the road. “Okay then.”

His easy acceptance made my guilt spike. Minutes later, we arrived at Mrs. Alexander’s estate. The place looked as imposing as ever—grand and intimidating.

The moment we stepped inside, Mrs. Alexander appeared. To my shock, she walked straight toward me and pulled me into a light hug.

I froze.

Liam froze.

We exchanged quick glances over her shoulder, both of us visibly stunned.

“Welcome,” she said pleasantly.

Could it be that she had really changed? I wondered.

She ushered us toward the dining table almost immediately. The spread before us was extravagant—seared salmon, filet mignon, roasted vegetables, truffle mashed potatoes, artisan bread, and glasses of wine already poured. Everything screamed wealth and perfection.

We sat and began to eat. The silence was thick, broken only by the soft clinking of cutlery. I ate slowly, my appetite fading with every second. My gaze drifted to Mrs. Alexander, who kept smiling. Too brightly. Too deliberately.

I had never seen her smile like that.

Unease crept over me, crawling up my spine. Something felt wrong.

When we were done, she dabbed her lips with her napkin and leaned back slightly. “Congratulations,” she said. “Marriage is a beautiful journey. Compromise, patience, understanding……those are the pillars.”

Liam looked genuinely happy, nodding along. Relief softened his features, as if a long-held tension had finally eased.

Then she looked directly at me.

“What about your little boy?” she asked casually. “Sam, is it?”

My world stopped.

“I hope you don’t have any ties with his father again,” she continued smoothly. “Because I don’t want the boy’s father coming back later, claiming he wants to rebuild a family with you while you’re married to my son.”

The napkin slipped from my fingers and fell onto the table with a soft but dramatic sound.

Liam’s eyes widened. “What are you talking about?” he asked, stuttering.

Mrs. Alexander turned to him, feigning surprise. “Wait. You mean you don’t know that your fiancée is a single mother?”

My chest tightened painfully.

She turned back to me, her smile sharp. “Keeping secrets from your loved one is a very bad thing to do. You should have told him from the onset that you have a child.”

“You have a child?” Liam asked slowly, his voice barely above a whisper. “And you never thought to tell me?”

I couldn’t breathe.

The room felt smaller. Heavier. My throat burned as I looked at him, the hurt in his eyes cutting deeper than anything Mrs. Alexander could have said.

“I….” My voice broke. “Liam…”

Silence swallowed us whole.

This was it.

The moment I had feared, avoided, and hoped would come on my own terms. And now, thanks to his mother, it had exploded right in front of us.

I swallowed hard, my heart pounding violently in my chest.

“I was going to tell you,” I said softly. “I swear I was.”

But even as the words left my mouth, I knew they sounded painfully insufficient.

“When were you going to tell me?” he asked. “We’ve been together for so long, and you didn’t think I deserved to……” his words trailed off as realization dawned on him. “Sam?” he whispered. “Sam is your son?”

“Yes….” I stuttered, my voice trembling as I struggled to answer his question.

“I actually thought about it once,” Liam continued. “I mean, I heard him call you mommy multiple times. But since he was always with Linda and you never spoke about him, I thought maybe I was just over thinking it.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I just didn’t know how to….”

“You chose to hide it from me?” he cut in. “What kind of a mother does that?”

The words hit me like a blow in the face. I couldn’t utter a single word. He didn’t say anything else either—he simply stood up and walked away.