She had been so close to marrying Finnian-just one final step away. How did everything fall apart like this?


    Pushing past her parents, Liliana walked over the shards scattered on the floor and mmed her bedroom door behind her with a thunderous bang. She threw herself face down on the bed, burying her face in the pillow, and finally let herself cry.


    “Liliana, Liliana.” Soon, Jenny knocked softly at the door, her voice low as she said, "Come out, please. Finn is here."


    The sobs halted instantly. Liliana raised her head, heart pounding in panic. Why had Finniane so quickly? Was he here to confront her?


    She forced herself to calm down andposed her expression, then got up and washed her face. She hade home still wearing her bridal makeup, but now it was ruined from crying. She wiped her face clean with a makeup remover, then applied a little moisturizer, changed her clothes, and stepped out of the room.


    Outside, Jenny and Ethan were busy cleaning up the living room, which Liliana had wrecked earlier in her anger—hardly a single piece of furniture remained unscathed. Finnian stood by the window, his gaze icy and aloof as he surveyed the chaos.


    With Finnian watching, both Jenny and Ethan were sweating nervously. They kept their heads down, sweeping the shattered mess, not daring to look at him. The tension in the room was palpable.


    The minute Liliana entered, she took in the scene and instantly regretted her earlier impulsiveness. She walked up to Finnian and said quietly, “Finn, it''s too messy here. Let''s talk in my room."


    “Let''s talk outside," Finnian replied, his voice cold as ice. Without waiting for her response, he left the apartment.


    Liliana bit her lip and hurried after him. The two of them found themselves alone in the deserted stairwell.


    Finnian stood by the window, hands shoved in his pockets, his expression frosty. "Talk," he said. "Tell me what happened."


    Liliana twisted her fingers together, her heart hammering so violently it felt as if it would leap out of her chest. Finnian hadn''t spelled it out, but how could she not know what he wanted her to say?


    She closed her eyes and began, "That night you had the incident at the party heard about it and tried calling you to see if you were alright but you didn''t answer. So I went to the Everly Estate, hoping you would be there."


    "But I ran into some issues and hit traffic on the way, and by the time I got to the Everly Estate, you were already alone in your room there were bloodstains on the bed, which meant you''d been with another woman, but for some reason, she was gone."


    "At the time, I assumed you''d been with one of the estate maids and that she''d fled out of fear."


    "I stood by your bed for a while, and then-suddenly-a reckless idea crossed my mind."


    "I took off my clothes, got into bed beside you, and waited for you to wake up, pretending that I was the one who had been with you... And when you woke up, you really did think it was me..."


    As she got to this part, Liliana''s voice grew heavy with guilt, and she lowered her head.


    "Finn, I know what I did was wrong—it was deception, it was wrong to hide the truth from you. But I wanted so desperately to be with you, I couldn''t help myself. Please don''t me me..."


    As she spoke, tears spilled out again.


    She knew Finnian was an Finnian


    exceptionally shrewd man-any lie she tried to tell, he would see right through Besides Hogan already new about her fake pregnancy, so with everything that had happened, there was no point in hiding the truth any longer.