Begin Again novel Chapter 201

Erica slipped into her role of the injured and wronged party as soon as Eden and her son stepped inside her parents' penthouse.

Despite the change in her folks' marital status, nothing much had changed in their matrimonial home. The place still looked as it did the last time she was here, and they issued her the ultimatum that sent her running to the Blue Mountains.

And as Eden sat in the loveseat facing the pool on the deck, listening to Erica's outrage, she realised she'd come full circle, and two years on, her son was under discussion once again.

"Why didn't you tell us, Edie?" Erica sniffled dramatically in her seat while Steve stuffed his face with last night's meatloaf and downed his red wine.

He'd piled on more weight since Eden last saw him at La Famiglia, and he didn't look happy or healthy. She was concerned for him, but with too many problems of her own today, she couldn't possibly handle his as well. Maybe when her life made sense again, she'd reach out to him.

"Edie!" Erica demanded her attention once again as she clapped her hands in front of her.

"What, Mom?" Eden sighed as she bounced Aiden on her lap and checked the time.

Eight minutes. That's how long it had been since Jace and Aaron had dropped her off. After the hellish morning she'd had, reading all the nasty comments people had written about her on the internet since her photo with Liam surfaced, Eden wasn't in the mood for her mother's guilt-tripping.

"Yes, Liam is Aiden's father. Are you happy now?"

Erica dissolved into tears and expressed how wronged she felt. "You should have told me. I'm your mother. I deserved to know. Can you imagine my shock and surprise when Lois called me this morning to tell me all about the rubbish they've written about you two on the internet? I've never felt so blindsided! How could you do this to us?"

Eden rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure why you're so aggrieved; you already suspected they're related."

"Would you like something to drink or eat, honey?" Steve asked as he finally set his plate and glass down and eased back in his armchair, interrupting the buildup to what would undoubtedly be a massive fight that could sever all ties between Eden and her mom.

"Just water, Dad." She smiled at him and gave Erica all her undivided attention, and for almost half an hour, she had to sit there and listen to her complain about everything under the sun.

"You should have told us when we asked you!" Erica accused. "All the fights and the resentment were unnecessary. Look at how much time we've wasted with you and Aiden, and all that hostility could have been avoided had you told us the truth!"

"You wanted Simon, remember? Your hearts were set on him being your son-in-law." She reminded her.

"Well, Liam's way better than Simon, and Edie, you've made me so proud. I always knew you were meant for big things! Don't mess this up," Erica gave her a thumbs up. The crocodile tears pooling in her eyes just seconds ago had mysteriously vanished.

Slack-jawed and astonishment dancing in her eyes, Eden could only stare at her.

She didn't even know why she was surprised, though. It was just like her mom to jump at the first opportunity she got to crawl up the social ladder and grab on for dear life with her French manicured hands like hellhounds were chasing after her.

"Wow, Mom!" Eden whispered. "This is one of the reasons I never told you about Liam. He's not your golden goose or your meal ticket out of your middle-class existence!"

"He's Aiden's father, and Lois told me he wants to do the honourable thing."

Warning bells went off somewhere in Eden's head. "What honourable thing?"

She set Aiden down, gave him his plushy and got up and paced before pausing at the bar. Her father's water was way too mild for the nightmare her day was quickly turning into, and since she was not driving, she saw no reason not to drink. So she poured herself a shot of vodka and topped it up with orange juice from the fridge.

She took a few sips but couldn't finish it. A wave of nausea hit her hard, and she stumbled her way to the bathroom and spent the next five minutes vomiting Liam's chicken soup.

"Are you okay, Edie?" Erica asked when she returned to the living room, feeling strangely fatigued.

"I'm fine." She brushed off her mother's concern and breathed a huge sigh of relief when her phone screeched in her bag.

She pulled it out, her heart skipping like crazy when she saw it was Sienna. She held up her hand to silence her mom as she answered the call.

"I found Claire's source," Sienna announced on her end as soon as Eden picked up.

"Don't keep me in suspense. Who is it?" She asked, her heart pounding erratically in her chest, her blood running cold at her friend's words.

"Well, it's a Mrs Eliza Stone. And guess what, I did a bit of snooping around, and you won't believe who she's related to!"

"Let me guess," Eden murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "Laura Stone?"

"Yep! How did you know?" Sienna asked. Without waiting for her response, though, she carried on and filled her in. "Anyway, it turns out Mrs Eliza Stone reached out to Claire about a month ago and said a lot of stuff. But she doesn't have any solid proof to substantiate any of it, and that's why Claire's been tailing Liam for weeks now. No money has exchanged hands yet, but I took a photo of the agreement they signed. I'll text it to you."

"Thanks, Si," Eden said. "I owe you one."

"You owe me big. And I'm thinking your fairytale romance with the Three-Month Prince and exclusive rights to your wedding," her friend cried on her end.

"It's hardly been a fairytale," Eden made a face and sighed. "Thanks again, Si, for doing this."

"You're welcome," Sienna murmured and clicked off.

"Was that Sienna?" Erica frowned and jerked her head at the phone. "Is she helping you deal with all that rubbish they've written about you online?"

"Yes," Eden lied with a smile and slipped her phone back inside her bag. "Where were we? I need to head home if there's nothing else. It's been a long day, and I'm exhausted."

"Well, there is. Lois is planning a summer wedding," Erica said, her eyes glowing a rich russet hue in the bright sunlight streaming through the French windows behind her. "And she asked for my help."

"Summer wedding? For who?" Eden asked, ignoring the way her gut clenched.

Yes, Liam brought up the idea last night, but she thought he was joking.

"—For you and Liam, of course!" Erica replied, breaking through her panic.

"You were right. They backed me into a corner," Eden smiled brightly. "And I went for the extreme offer."

"Atta girl!" He said proudly and rested his hands on his stomach. "Wait for the call begging you for another chance."

"It already came." She smiled and stared at the red marks on her hands while she stressed about a wedding she didn't want.

"Now that they've reached out, lay off a little on playing hardball," Steve slipped into his professor role and brushed her up on his Negotiations 102 class. "Meet them halfway, so you both walk away with the best deal."

"Thanks, Dad." Eden took another sip from her glass. "But it's already settled. We've reached an agreement."

Isaac called as she was about to leave and head back to Green Point.

"I can't talk right now," she whispered, throwing cautious glances at her parents.

"Okay, no stress, Do you want to meet for coffee?" He asked on his end. "Remember I mentioned I have something I need to discuss with you?"

Eden's gut clenched at his words. She didn't like the sound of his voice.

"It's important," he added as if he sensed her hesitation.

"Okay," Eden agreed, even though she didn't want to. "Just one cup"

"That's perfect."

"That didn't sound like Liam," Erica accused as soon as Eden hung up from Isaac.

"It wasn't," she replied and packed away Aiden's toys in his backpack and headed out, with her son toddling at her side.

Her parents followed her to the door, where they hovered for a few minutes with Erica trying to get her to reconsider the wedding that she was firmly fixated on now.

"Mom," Eden groaned as she scratched her hands again. They didn't burn as much now. Her father's pills had helped some. "I'm not going to rush into anything."

With that, she rapidly made her way to the elevator, glad the meeting with her folks had gone relatively well.

Eden asked Jace and Aaron to drop her off at the coffee shop on 6th Street.

"I'm meeting a friend," she explained. "I won't be long."

Both men exchanged looks but didn't say anything.