---- Chapter 30 "|. | came to apologize, Liv," Michael stammered, his carefully rehearsed speeches forgotten. "For everything. | was a fool. | was... wrong." Liv's expression remained unchanged. Cold. Disgusted. "An apology, Michael? Is that what you think this requires?" "| know it's not enough," he rushed on, desperation creeping into his voice. "But | want you to know... Serena, it was a mistake. A terrible mistake. | never loved her. It was always you, Liv. Only you." He was still lying. Still trying to spin a narrative that painted him in a less harsh light. Liv walked slowly towards a mahogany desk, picked up a thin file, and handed it to him. "My mother's investigators are very thorough, Michael." He opened it. Paternity test results for Serena's son, Mikey. Dated before their LA confrontation. Confirming Michael as the father. Copies of lease agreements for Serena's condo, signed by him months before he claimed his "moment of weakness." Financial statements showing transfers of funds to Serena, long before she was supposedly a "grieving friend." The evidence of his calculated, long-term deception was irrefutable. ---- His face paled. He had no words. "You didn't just make a mistake, Michael," Liv said, her voice like ice. "You orchestrated a betrayal. You gaslighted me. You endangered my health, our child's health." Her hand went to her belly. "Our child," she continued, her voice dropping, each word a deliberate blow. "The one you kept trying to use as a bargaining chip. The one you accused me of not caring about." He looked at her, a flicker of hope in his eyes. "Liv... the baby..." "There is no baby, Michael," Liv said, her voice flat, devoid of all emotion. "| had an abortion." 2 The words hung in the air, heavy, devastating. Michael stared at her, his face contorting in shock, then disbelief, then a raw, agonizing pain. "No," he whispered. "No, you wouldn't. You couldn't." "| could," Liv said. "And | did. After you sided with Serena. After you accused me of trying to harm her child. After you left me collapsed and bleeding. | realized | could not, would not, bring a child into a world with you as its father." This was her ultimate weapon, the one she had saved for this final confrontation. A lie, but a devastatingly effective one. * Michael let out a choked sob, a sound of utter desolation. He lunged forward, grabbing her arms, his eyes wild with grief and rage. "You're lying! You wouldn't kill our baby! Tell me you're lying!" Liv didn't flinch, didn't struggle. She just met his gaze, her own cold and unwavering. ---- "Get your hands off my daughter," Elizabeth's voice cut through the air, sharp as a whip. Jennings and two large security men materialized, pulling a now sobbing, broken Michael away from Liv. "It's over, Michael," Liv said, her voice quiet but absolute. "There is nothing left for you here. Nothing left of us." She turned her back on him, a final, irrevocable dismissal. He was dragged out, his cries of "You're lying! Liv! Don't do this!" echoing through the grand house before being silenced by the closing doors. Liv stood by the window, watching the storm rage outside, her expression unreadable. Exhaustion finally claimed her.