Irina didn't run, even as Liam looked through her like she was a ghost and turned his face away, even as May whispered sweet poison into his ear, Irina stayed.
Her heartbeat thundered in her chest as May finally stood and turned, smugness painted across her face.
"You have no right to be here," May sneered. "He doesn't want you anymore."
Irina ignored her, stepping forward, gaze fixed on Liam. "Then let him say it."
But Liam didn't say anything. The fire crackled, casting shadows on Liam's face and slowly, he stood up, brushing off May's hand.
His eyes, rimmed with exhaustion and betrayal, maybe locked onto Irina. "Why are you here?" His voice was rough and jagged. "Haven't you done enough?"
She flinched but didn't back down. "You think I left because I didn't care?" Her voice cracked. "I left because your team threatened me, because your mother said I'd ruin you."
Liam's expression didn't change a bit. May tensed. "You're lying," she spat, " you are just trying to make yourself a victim."
"I have the recordings," Irina said calmly. "Of you and Sylvia, the deal to marry Liam for his money."
Liam's brows furrowed, but he didn't speak. Irina stepped closer.
"You asked who I really was," she whispered. "I'm the girl who stayed when you pushed everyone away. I'm the girl who saw through the arrogance and the cameras and still cared and I came back because I couldn't let them destroy you."
Liam swayed slightly, as if her words hit something unsteady inside him. For a moment, all the noise fell away, the lies, the betrayals, the years of damage. He reached out, his fingers brushing her jaw like he didn't believe she was real. "Tell me it wasn't a lie," he murmured. "Tell me what we had meant something."
She leaned into his hand. "It meant everything."
Their lips met and the kiss was desperate, furious, and full of years they could never get back. It tasted of heartbreak and redemption, of everything unsaid between them. When they pulled apart, breathless and trembling, Liam pressed his forehead to hers.
"I tried to hate you," he confessed. "I tried so hard."
"I know," she said. "Me too."
May was still standing there with her hand resting protectively over her abdomen. "Well," she said coldly. "I hope you enjoyed your little reunion. Because it's over."
Liam straightened. "Get out, May."
"I can't," she said. Her voice was trembling now but not with fear, it was with triumph. "Because I'm pregnant."
The words detonated in the silence.
Irina stepped back and Liam stared at May, as if trying to decode a language he didn't speak.
"You're lying," he finally said, though his voice lacked conviction.
May smiled faintly, touching her stomach again. "Think what you want but this changes everything."
Irina's world tilted. Whether it was true or not didn't matter, all that mattered was that May had played her trump card. And from the look in Liam's eyes, it had landed.