“You sure as hell didn’t tell me the truth, either, did you?” Jace countered. “Did your dad punch you in the face for being such a fuck-up when you told him what you did? Is that the real reason you’re walking around with a busted-up face?”
I didn’t know what Jace was talking about, but either way, everyone could see on Liam’s face how much the words had hurt him. If he hadn’t hurt me just as badly, I might have actually felt sorry for him.
“Why are you even here?” I asked.
“I came here to say I’m sorry, Molly. I screwed up, bad. I didn’t want you to come to this dinner and stand here alone. I knew you’d use this opportunity to tell them, but you’re not the one everyone should be upset with, it’s me. I let you down, and I let our son down.”
Our son.
His words hit me like a punch to the gut.
I was pregnant under the worst possible circumstances, and now, on top of that, I’d managed to ruin the relationship between my brother and his best friend. Liam grew up alongside my brother. They played baseball together in middle school, spent every minute of their summers together. Once, they even got into a full-on fist fight in high school, and they made up five minutes later. Both of them walked around with black eyes for two weeks.
Their friendship was unbreakable—until today.
Until me.
Chapter 12 – Liam
“Get the hell out of my house,” Jace demanded, pointing toward the door behind me.
Molly’s mom, Alice, slowly rose from her seat at the table. “Jace, honey, at least give him a minute to explain himself.”
“Fuck him and what he did to Molly. He doesn’t deserve the chance to say shit.”
Jace rarely cussed in front of his mom, so I knew exactly how angry he was.
“Watch your words, Jace Allen McKinley,” Alice warned, shooting him a stern look before turning to me.
“Liam, you know you’re like a son to me, so I’m struggling to understand how you could treat Molly this way after finding out you two conceived a child. You have one chance to explain yourself—because the Liam I know would never do this.”
Damn. Disappointing Mrs. McKinley was worse than disappointing my own parents. I felt like such a screw-up, but I’d done this to myself. Now I had to swallow my pride and undo the damage.
“Yes, ma’am,” I said quietly, forcing myself to stand straighter, even though I felt like a coward. I exhaled deeply before continuing.
“Most of you know this, but maybe not Molly. I grew up with a strict father. He thinks his job gives him the right to say or do whatever he wants to anyone, anytime—especially my mom and me. Growing up was hell. The older I got, the more convinced I became that I never wanted to be a father. In my mind, the Carson men aren’t meant to be dads.” I swallowed hard. “My father wasn’t just strict—he was abusive. Verbally and physically.”
I turned toward Molly, trying to gauge her reaction. Her face was unreadable.
“There’s something none of you know,” I continued. “Before I started school at Silver Creek, I had an older brother. His name was Noah.” My chest tightened. “It sounds cliché, but he lit up every room he walked into. I worshipped him.”
The room was silent.
“But he couldn’t take my dad’s abuse. It broke him down until, when he was twelve, he killed himself.”
Gasps rippled around the room. The icy look on Jace’s face melted slightly.
“He hung himself from the ceiling fan in his bedroom,” I said, my voice cracking. “I was the one who found him.”
Tears burned my eyes, but I pushed through without letting them fall.
“He didn’t leave a note, but he didn’t need to. I knew why he did it—our dad. Losing my brother hollowed me out. I became a shell just to survive. The idea of becoming a father has always terrified me, because I’m afraid I’ll turn into my dad—cold, angry, and cruel.”
Molly shifted, her breath catching.
“I went to my parents’ house earlier this week to talk to them about everything. About the baby.” My jaw tightened. “He called Molly disgusting names and told me to convince her to get an abortion.”
Molly took a step back, fear flashing across her face.
