Begin Again novel Chapter 172

Eden spent a restless night, imagining every possible scenario, her mind already inside the plush offices of Thomas Blaine Inc.

By the time 5:00 AM rolled around, she was highly agitated.

The longer she went through her morning routine and tried to pretend it was just like any other normal Wednesday morning, the harder it became to resist the urge to pack Aiden up and make a run for it.

Liam would hunt her down for sure, but if she left now, she'd have a three-hour head start.

She strolled to Brenda's room while she brushed her teeth and stared at Aiden, still sleeping peacefully in his cot.

She could totally pull it off.

She won't take a lot of stuff. Just an overnight bag and—

Her phone pinged in her room, and she went to get it, her heart dropping to her feet as she read Liam's short but firm text. 'Don't even think about it.'

Was he psychic?

How did he know she was thinking of skipping town?

Did he know her so well?

What did it even matter?

While she was still trying to come up with a response, he sent a follow-up message, demanding a new photo of his son and Brenda's phone number.

She ignored his photo request because she'd sent him all thousand photos and videos of Aiden already. But she sent him the nanny's contact details without asking him why he needed them. The less she said to him, the better.

She threw the phone on the bed and stepped inside the bathroom to take the longest shower in history in a futile attempt to delay the inevitable.

By the time she headed out, dressed in a Marc Jacobs black power suit, one she'd recently invested in despite her bank account's screams, she was a bundle of nerves, ready to puke all over her fancy shoes.

She called her father on her way to the business district.

"Edie, is everything okay?" Steve sounded wide awake and alert even though it was just after 6:15 AM. He always was at this time of the morning. Both her parents were morning people. A fine trait she never inherited from them.

"Dad, I'm about to go close the most important deal of my life, and I'm shit scared." She said tearfully.

"What kind of deal, honey?"

"I can't get into it right now, but I don't know what to do. I was supposed to bring legal counsel, but the only attorney I know is out of town, working a divorce case—" She would have carried on babbling, but her father gently cut in.