Claim Me Captain! I'm Addicted to You!-Chapter 402: Let’s Talk (4)

Ella’s POV

Evelyn and I were putting fresh sheets on the guest bed when we suddenly heard shouting coming from the backyard. Not just raised voices, furious, overlapping shouting. The kind that makes your stomach drop before you even know what’s happening.

We rushed to the window.

And there they were.

Liam and Vicky.

Both red-faced, hands flying wildly, yelling at each other like two people who had finally snapped.

My heart lurched painfully against my ribs.

Evelyn and I didn’t even speak; we just bolted out of the room and ran downstairs. By the time we reached the back porch, everyone else was gathering too, eyes widening as they watched the chaos unfold outside.

"What the hell is going on?" Benjamin demanded as he stepped beside us, hands planted on his waist like he was trying to hold himself together.

Nora, who had clearly been snooping closer than she should’ve, blurted out, "Miss Vicky confronted Sir Liam about a possible other woman. Whose name is Darla."

My stomach twisted so sharply I almost bent over.

Really? She had to announce it like she was on a microphone?

"Nora! Go back inside before I fire you myself!" Wendy snapped.

Nora flinched, pouted, and scuttled back into the house, but the damage was done. Every single pair of eyes slowly shifted toward me.

Benjamin turned fully, his expression hard but somehow still laced with disappointment.

"Is that true, Ella? My son is cheating on you?"

My hands instantly trembled. My throat closed up.

His tone wasn’t angry, just... stunned. Broken. And somehow that made it feel ten times worse, like I was the one who had done something unforgivable.

"I—I’m not sure..." I whispered, lowering my gaze as I tried to steady my shaking hands. They wouldn’t stop trembling. No matter how hard I willed them to.

Benjamin exhaled sharply, dragging a hand down his face.

"Nick, call them inside. This is humiliating. My two grown children, arguing under the sun like uneducated kids. Everyone inside. Family meeting. Now!"

His voice boomed through the porch, and immediately everyone scattered, Wendy, Oliver, Steven, Evelyn, all of them heading toward the kitchen.

I turned to follow, desperate to hide, to breathe, to just disappear for a moment, but Benjamin gently caught my arm just before I rounded the corner.

"This involves you, dear," he said softly.

So soft it broke me a little more.

"Join us. Let’s get to the bottom of this."

And just like that, every step I took toward the living room felt heavier, shakier, like I was walking straight into a storm I wasn’t sure I was ready to face, wondering if I’ll even survive this.

I sat on the sofa slowly, like my legs barely remembered how to hold me up. Georgia slid in beside me in an instant, her arm looping around my shoulders while her other hand wrapped tightly around mine.

"How did those two end up like that?" I whispered, my voice barely steady.

Georgia leaned closer, glancing around before whispering back, "When you went upstairs, Liam went to the back porch and called someone—Darla. We heard him say he had to cancel their dinner tonight. Vicky lost it. She nearly tackled him."

My stomach sank. Of course, she snapped.

I felt... warm that Vicky defended me like that, yet at the same time, something molten and furious burned in my chest.

He lied.

He lied to me right after I asked him point-blank.

A few minutes later, the back door opened. Nick and Vicky walked in first—Vicky still fuming, Nick trying to corral her like she was a small but determined storm.

Then Liam entered behind them.

"Oh great..." he muttered when our eyes met. "Why is Ella here? She doesn’t have to witness how pathetic this family comedy show is."

His words sliced clean through me. I looked away immediately, blinking hard.

"And why?" Benjamin’s voice thundered from behind me. "She has every right to be here. Now answer me, are you cheating on her?" He asked straight and direct.

"Oh my God..." Liam dragged both hands down his face in pure frustration. "Not you too, Dad. It’s not true."

Then he looked at me, eyes pleading, almost desperate.

"Ella, we already talked about this, right?"

But I couldn’t look at him. I kept staring at my hands in my lap... until a tear fell onto my skin. I didn’t even feel it fall. The pain in my chest drowned everything else out.

"Oh fuck..." Liam uttered before he knelt in front of me. His hands took mine gently, like he was afraid I might break.

Georgia instantly slipped away, giving us space.

"Hey," he murmured, voice softening. "Look at me."

I didn’t. I couldn’t.

"We talked about this, remember? I told you, I have no other woman. Didn’t you believe me? I’m not cheating on you, Ella. Please... I swear I’m not lying."

He lifted my hands and kissed them, warm and trembling.

"Then who is Darla?" Benjamin cut in sharply. "Even the household staff knows her name. Who is this woman you’re talking to behind Ella’s back? Behind our backs?"

Liam stood up abruptly, one hand on his hip, the other pressing against his temple as he exhaled hard.

"Do I have to give Ella, and all of you, a list of every single woman I speak to?" he snapped. "I said I’m not cheating. Darla is someone I hired. An employee. That’s all."

"Then why are you having dinner with her on a weekend?" Vicky fired back. "Why are you meeting her instead of spending time with Ella? She’s your girlfriend. You barely see her as it is, but instead of doing that, you have time to eat dinner with someone else. Why don’t you bring Ella with you if Darla is JUST an employee? Why do you have to be so secretive when talking to her? If that’s not suspicious, then I don’t know what is..."

"That’s childish, Vicky," Liam hissed. "Dinner doesn’t equal a date. It’s business. Purely business."

*****

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