48 Chapter 48 – Friends and Strategy
“Drink this. It will steady your nerves. Adrian’s voice carried the weight of years of friendship as he reached for his phone. “Morris, cancel all of Liam’s appointments for today. Thank you.
“Now that’s the Liam Reed we know, Adrian raised his bottle i
in salute.
“You screwed up spectacularly, and Chloe wants to murder you for it,” Adrian said with genuine amusement. “My assistant has quite the protective streak when it comes to Hazel. But here’s the thing – Hazel is in pain, and if she’s in pain, it means she has feelings for you. Are you really going to give up without fighting for her?”
“I destroyed everything. Adrian.” The words felt like broken glass in my throat. The one woman who could have been my salvation, and I drove her away. She looks at me now like I’m poison.”
“You think I don’t know that?” The words came out harsher than I intended. “I was a complete bastard to her, and now I’m paying the price. She will never forgive me, and
without her.”
I’ll spend the rest of my life empty
I stared at him like he had lost his mind. He clearly didn’t grasp the depth of Hazel’s disgust with me.
We spent the rest of the evening plotting the campaign to win back Hazel’s heart.
Adrian’s game room became our war council. Expensive whiskey, imported beer, and gourmet snacks spread across the mahogany table as my two closest friends cornered me for details.
“She’s everything to me, Adrian.” The confession poured out of me like blood from a wound. “After Sophia vanished, I thought I was dead inside. No woman could even make me feel human again. Then Hazel walked into my life with her sharp tongue and those dresses that should be illegal, alive. Without her, I’m just existing
I suddenly I remembered what it felt like to be
Damian leaned forward, his expression grave. “You’re in deep trouble, my friend. The worst part is, I should have stopped you from going off the rails, but I got caught up watching you chase her too. Hazel isn’t some fragile flower who will forgive and forget. She raised a child completely alone, refused help from everyone including the father.
48 Chapter 48 Friends and Strategy
She might be hurting, but she won’t let you destroy her again.”
*Emmanuel, Liam, you look like death warmed over,” Damian said, his usual easy smile- replaced by genuine concern.
The line went dead with a sharp click. Adrian settled into the leather chair across from me, his own glass catching the afternoon light streaming through his office windows. We drank in silence until the alcohol burned away enough of my shock to find my
voice.
“You’re absolutely right, I’m being an idiot.” Energy began flowing back into my veins as a plan started forming. “I’ll do whatever it takes to earn her forgiveness, even if it takes years. But she won’t even look at me right now. I need a strategy, and you two are going to help me create one.
Adrian’s laughter was sharp and unexpected. “Good God, Liam, when did you become such a pathetic defeatist? We’ve been friends since childhood, and you’ve always been intense, always passionate, but you’ve never been a coward who gives up after the first failure.”
“Hazel apparently tore him apart,” Adrian replied with dark amusement. I shot them -both a withering look. “Let’s get inside. I need the full story.”
My hands trembled as Adrian pressed a crystal tumbler filled with amber cognac into my palm.
Before I could protest, he was already dialing Damian’s number. Within minutes, we were in my car with Adrian behind the wheel, heading toward his brownstone. Damian’s motorcycle was already parked outside when we arrived.
“Adrian’s absolutely right, Damian added, pointing his beer bottle at me for emphasis. “Even when Sophia disappeared, you didn’t surrender. You made all of us crazy with your investigators and only
obsession to find her. You hired three different privat
stopped last year when the final one told you it was hopeless.”
Liam’s POV
“What exactly do you want from Hazel?” Adrian asked, his lawyer’s instincts cutting straight to the heart of things.
Chapter 48 – Friends and Strategy
48 Chapter 48 Friends and Strategy
“I was barely surviving, then Hazel brought me back to life. And I had to ruin it all, didn’t I?” The bitterness in my voice surprised even me.
I laid it all bare. Every harsh word I had spoken, every moment of Hazel’s mounting fury, the way she had looked at me with such complete disappointment before walking away. The guilt was eating me alive from the inside out, leaving me hollow and desperate.
“Damian and I are getting you drunk tonight at my place, Adrian announced, standing with purpose. “Hand over your keys.”
The truth hit me like a physical blow. I had been wallowing in self–pity instead of fighting for the woman I loved. That was about to change immediately.
Adrian’s eyes never left mine as he took another measured sip. “Since when does Liam Reed surrender after one rejection? That’s not the man I know:
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