---- Chapter 14 14 Ava, sensing the shift in Liam, the dangerous calm, tried a new tactic. She went live on Instagram, tears streaming down her face. "Help me!" she cried to her followers. "Liam Goldstein is threatening me! He's crazy! He's outside my apartment!" She fabricated a story of being a terrified, pregnant victim. "He's angry because I'm carrying his child and he doesn't want to take responsibility! He's trying to silence me! Her followers, easily swayed by her histrionics, erupted in outrage. #JusticeForAva trended within minutes. "We're coming, Ava!" "Don't let him hurt you!" A small, angry crowd of her fans began to gather outside the condo building, alerted by her live stream. They held hastily made signs, shouting slogans. Ava watched from her window, a flicker of her old arrogance returning. She thought she had him. Liam watched the scene unfold with a detached coldness. He made a call. Minutes later, two black SUVs filled with his private security team pulled up. ---- Burly, impassive men in dark suits. "Clear the entrance," Liam ordered, his voice flat. The security team moved with brutal efficiency, pushing back the surprised, protesting crowd. No violence, just overwhelming, implacable force. The crowd, faced with professional muscle, faltered. Liam walked through the path they cleared, into the lobby. Ava was waiting, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and defiance. "You can't do this, Liam!" she shrieked, trying to appeal to the remnants of the crowd. "I'm pregnant with your child!" He ignored her, walking past her to the elevators. "We need to talk," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. "In your apartment." In her apartment, Ava tried to play the seductress, the wronged lover. She threw her arms around him. "Liam, baby, don't be like this. We can work this out. | love you." He peeled her arms off him as if touching something distasteful. "Your actions against Maya," he said, his voice like chips of ice, "are unforgivable." "But Maya left you! I'm here! I'm having your baby!" "Maya," Liam said, his voice hardening, "is my life. You are nothing." He spelled out, in cold, precise terms, what was about to happen to her. ---- Her career, over. Her reputation, ruined. Her online presence, erased. will dismantle everything you've built, Ava. Every sponsorship, every follower, every last shred of your pathetic fame." Ava stared at him, terror dawning in her eyes. "But the baby..." she whispered, clutching her stomach. "Our baby..." "There is no 'our baby'," Liam said. "There is only a mistake. A mistake | intend to rectify." She tried to run, to get back to the crowd, to her "supporters." He let her.