Chapter 4The Perfect Stand-In: Why I Chose My Sugar Baby Over My First Love

Once we were sitting in the car, my heart ached.

I held his face, examining it over and over.

Even though the ball hadn't actually hit him, I was still terrified.

"Does it hurt?" I asked.

He blinked, and a fine mist of tears pooled in his eyes.

"Yeah... it hurts."

My heart broke even more. Seeing him looking so pitiful made my rage toward Ethan boil over.

"He got kicked in the head by a mule! That idiot, swinging without looking where he's aiming—why doesn't he just go die?!"

I kept cursing a blue streak until I finally snapped out of it and realized Liam was looking at me, smiling.

His gaze was infinitely gentle.

For some reason, I froze for a second.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

His hand gently brushed through my hair, sending a tingling flutter down my spine.

"I love it when you get angry for my sake."

"Why?"

"It shows you care about me."

I grabbed his hand and poked his palm playfully with my finger. In this intimate atmosphere, I suddenly felt incredibly warm.

"Of course I care about you. Hmph."

He let out another soft laugh.

I realized I was blushing.

The news that I threatened to destroy Ethan Vance at the golf course spread like wildfire.

Now, everyone in our social circle was gossiping about "the heiress who waged war for her boy toy."

Even my parents found out.

On the phone, my dad shouted furiously:

"Do you hear how ridiculous you sound?! You threatened Ethan Vance over a plaything?!"

"The relationship we've built with the Vance family for years was ruined by your one sentence! Do you know how many people are laughing at us right now?!"

"You are going to apologize to Ethan, and then you are cutting off that little boy of yours!"

The situation wasn't actually that dire. I hadn't truly moved against Ethan; my dad was just angry and lashing out.

However, he used this as an excuse to remove me from my position as General Manager, demoting me to an unimportant department.

He stripped me of my power.

When I found Liam, he had already set everything up.

Seeing me, he wrapped a salon cape around my shoulders.

The sprays, scissors, and clippers were all laid out perfectly.

Today was the day he gave me my regular haircut.

He teased me:

"I haven't done this professionally in so long. Aren't you afraid I'll ruin your hair?"

But I didn't say a word.

Sensing something was wrong, he immediately closed his mouth.