So Charlotte went to have a chat with Robert, and after laying down the law, she had him and Axel sent off to work at some factory the Blackwood family owns. They got them working super long shifts, like sixteen hours, and if they don't hit their quotas, they get punished.

Next thing, Charlotte takes Ethan over to Leiventale. They went to remember Maria and Annie and even grabbed lunch with the Thomases while they were there.

Daniel passed on Charlotte's schedule to the man lounging at the desk, looking all worn out and with bags under his eyes. He's not even taking the report, just kicking back in his chair.

"Mr. Parker, what's going through your head?" Daniel can't help but ask.

Charlotte's like iron these days, nothing seems to shake her up.

Daniel's at a loss. He can't see anything fixing things between her and Liam.

"And... Charlotte's married to Vincent now. Whatever gossip was flying around about you two, she's off-limits for your games."

"I get it," Liam sighs big time, "I'm not going to hurt her anymore."

"Good that you understand." Daniel muttered something else, seeing Liam's lack of interest, and then said, "There's something fishy about Benjamin Beaumont's location being tracked back to domestic soil." Liam does not own up to Chloe's kid, so the tyke took her last name.

Just a bit ago, Benjamin got snatched right at the airport. Liam didn't blink an eye, no ransom call, nothing. It's like they reached some weird standoff.

Benjamin's always had a tracker on him, but it got messed with or ripped off during the kidnap.

Now the tracker's suddenly back on the map here at home, so there's gotta be some scheme.

But Liam? He doesn't give two hoots about the kid's safety, "Book a kid's restaurant, I wanna take Ethan out to eat."

"You taking Ethan..." Daniel's still in the dark about Ethan being Liam's kid; he thinks Liam's just trying to get close to Charlotte using the boy.

Seems like a wild idea to Daniel, but he goes ahead and books the restaurant Liam asked for.

Charlotte's packing her stuff when she hears from Vincent that Liam wants to take Ethan out alone.

She's planning to ditch town for good and take all her favorite things with her.

Her first thought: 'Liam's just setting himself up for embarrassment.' holds this content.

There's no way she's letting Ethan go to that dinner.

Vincent's playing it cool, though, "Is he trying to show us up? He knows Ethan's his son. He must wanna snatch him. And with Ethan, he's got a way to you. Who knows, he might just grab the kid during the meal." "But if that was his plan, he wouldn't send you to tell me."

Charlotte knows Liam's not that low.

She's not into playing the guessing game with Liam's motives. No matter what, she's not letting Ethan out of her sight with Liam.

However, when lunchtime came around, the usually lively Ethan seemed distracted.

He was picking at his food in the bowl when Ethan asked Charlotte, "Mommy, do you think bear pizza would taste good?"

"Why are you suddenly thinking about bear pizza?"

"I saw it from here." Ethan dashed back to his room and quickly returned with a magazine in hand.

Charlotte glanced at it and noticed an ad for a children's restaurant.

"Someone wants to go eat bear pizza with me," Ethan pointed at the little bear on the page.

Charlotte took a closer look and saw two bears in the picture, a big one named Parker and a little one named Ethan.

The big bear was inviting the little bear to go eat bear pizza at the restaurant.

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"... No need to check to know this mag's definitely sponsored by Parker Group."

Just as Charlotte was wondering if Liam was out of his mind, Vincent got a call and gestured for Charlotte to come upstairs with him.

"It's Liam," Vincent said, handing her the phone.

Charlotte didn't take it," Ethan's not having lunch with him. Tell him to forget it!"

"Maybe you should listen," Vincent coaxed her. "Charlotte, we can't leave a mess behind when we go."

Charlotte took a deep breath, understanding his point, and grabbed the phone less than cordially, "Speak."

"Charlotte," Liam's gentle voice came through.

"I respect all your choices. I promise Ethan won't know about our relationship or the blood connection between him and me, and I won't take him away from you." "What do you want to do?" Charlotte asked.

"I want to apologize," Liam paused, his tone growing somber, "At least... I don't want him to hate me like you do."

"Charlotte, I know this is hard for you, but... I just want to apologize."

Charlotte was silent.

Objectively, Liam hadn't really done anything wrong. Benjamin was his son in name, and it was natural for him to hold Benjamin, to favor him even.

But the blood bond between father and son made Ethan possessive of Liam; he couldn't stand Liam being better than another child.

"You don't need to apologize; you haven't done anything wrong. You're just a stranger who passed by in Ethan's life. I don't want him picking up bad habits from you." Charlotte still wasn't having any of it and ended the call swiftly.

Just a heads up: is the only place to read the complete version of this book for free. Don't miss out on the next chapter-visit us now and continue your journey! Vincent let out a sigh, "Why make it so hard? Maybe it'd be best to just let them meet."

"Aren't you scared Liam might actually take Ethan from us?" Charlotte shot back.

Vincent's face got all serious, "Of course I'm scared. But, Charlotte, what I'm really scared of is, years from now, the kid I've raised just walking out on me."

He could hide the truth about Ethan's real dad for a lifetime, and maybe Charlotte could too.

But what about Liam?

Skipping the country wasn't the answer. If Liam wanted to, he could find a million ways to let Ethan know who his real dad was.

"I can't live with that 'what if.' The best bet is to let Ethan meet Liam. If Ethan takes a shine to him, then I..."

Vincent's voice was heavy with pain, "then I'll just have to brace myself, remind myself not to get too attached to the kid."

He laid it out there, with an edge that almost sounded like a threat.

But Charlotte got it. He wasn't actually threatening her.

After Ethan was born, she was too busy healing her battered body to give him the care he needed.

It was Vincent who stepped up, literally raising Ethan from diapers.

Ethan clung to Vincent, maybe even more than to Charlotte, his own mom.

But blood ties are what they are.

Vincent wasn't just scared of losing his feelings; he dreaded not being able to face losing his beloved child when the time came. Charlotte mulled it over for a whole day, and finally, she decided to take Ethan to meet Liam.