bChapter /bb45 /b

“What?” Liam and Hannah exchanged a stunned nce, disbelief shing between them.

Liam recovered first, his voice steady as he said, “Hannah, po take a shower, I’ll meet with him.”

Hannah, ever une to pry into private matters–especially ones she had no business being present for–modded without hestation. “Alright.”

The door closed softly behind her, Liam descended the stairs, selling onto the couch with casual elegance, reaching for his coffee with an air of effortless

refinement.

The butler stood quietly to the side, waiting. At Liam’s curt order-“Let him in“-he bowed his head and replied, “Yes, si

Liam took a sip of coffee just as a squat, disheveled middle–aged man limped into view.

The man wore drab, ill fitting clothes; one pant leg was longer than the other. A battered wooden cane chudded against the floor with each unmen step

His face was narrow and hollow–cheeked, his chin lost beneath a rough mess of ck band /bwhite stubble

The moment Liamid beyes /bon him, his hand jerked violently, bhis /bteeth clinking bsharply /bagainst the rim of his cup.

In the few minutes he’d been waiting, Liam had imagined Aria’s ex–husband as some polished, sessful man–perhaps one crippled by injury after the divorce, but nheless ba /brival worth noting.

He thought maybe the man hade to taunt him, to reim what he had lost

He had considered a hundred possibilities, but nothing could have prepared him for reality: A filthy, pitiful wreck of a man.

Liam didn’t care for Aria; he looked down on her greed, her decent–but even he knew one thing

There was no way this man had ever been her husband

Setting the cup down with deliberate calm, he drawled, “You’re iming to be Aria’s ex–husband?”

Leaning backzily against the couch, one leg casually crossed over the other, Liam steepled his fingers across his knoe and studied the man with a gaze that could cut ss.

The mans

bshrank /bunder his scrutiny, voice timid and halting. “Yes, sir. My name’s Henry Lester I was Aria’s–well, Madelyn’s–ex husband.”

Liam’s bbrows /blifted ever so slightly. “Madelyn?”

“She went by that name before she leh Jamn,” Henry mumbled, daring a quick nce bup /bbefore dropping his eyes toutoor once again,

Liam frowned deeply. “You expect me to take your word for it? Where’s your proof?”

Henry sagged visibly, clutching his cane as though it were the only thing holding him upright

With a subtle nod from Liam, the butler quickly fetched a chai

Henry eased into it, some of the strain bleaving /bhis shoulders.

Liam’s voice bwas /bslow, almost bored, butced with threat. “If you can’t produce proof, I’ll have you arrested for nder”

bAria’s /breputation was already a liability. Any association with someone like this would drag bLiam’s /bown standing through the mud.

“I have proof!” Henry bcried/b, fumbling inside his threadbare coat before producing ba /bcrumpled, yellowed piece of paper.

A sour stench apanied it, making Liam’s nose wrinkle in disgust. “Put it on the btable/b,” bhe /bsaid coldly

Henry did as told, mumbling, “It’s a deed…a sale contract. Over a decade ago, Dominic sold his daughter to me–to be my child bride.”

“Child bride?” Liam stared at him, stunned. “Dominic is Aria’s foster father?”

He couldn’t believe his ears, in this day and age, there were still things like child brides.

Aria had been sold to this man,

Henry’s head hung low, his yoice thick with regret. “I’d known the wasn’t Dominic’s real daughter, I never would’ve signedb./bb” /b

Liam’s gaze dropped to the so–called deed on the table.

One thousand dors.

Dominic had sold his daughter for one thousand dors.

Suppressing a surge of revulsion, Liam kept his bexpression /bcold. Henry hurried to exin, “I only took Madelyn in out of pity intended to raise her like a goddaughter… to send her off in marriage properly.”

Tears welled in Henry’s eyes bas /bhe spoke, his voice breaking with emotion. b“/bI cared for her… sacrificed for her. But in the end… to get back into the Saxon family, she crippled my leg with a kitchen knife.”

“It’s a blessing that she married Mr. Cole. I don’t ask for anything else, I just want to get some money to heal my leg,” said Henry

He clutched his cane, struggled to his feet, and then dropped heavily to his knees with a loud thud. “Mr. Cole,” he sobbed, “byou’re /bher husband now. I’m handing over this contract to you. I only ask for a little money–to fix my leg.”

Liam regarded him coolly. He believed the story already. “Fine,” he said after ba /bbeat. “I’ll give you one hundred fifty thousand dors”