---- Chapter 32 Michael didn't leave Kennebunkport. He couldn't. He found a cheap room in a boarding house on the outskirts of town and spent his days haunting the perimeter of the Hayes estate, a pathetic, rain-soaked sentinel. He clung to the desperate, irrational hope that Liv would relent, that she would send for him, that her "abortion" was a lie. After a few days of this, a car pulled up beside him as he stood staring at the gates. It was Mr. Hayes, Liv's father, a man Michael had only met a few times, a quiet, powerful figure who usually remained in the background. "Mr. Thorne," he said, his voice surprisingly mild. "Get in. Let's talk." Michael, stunned, complied. Mr. Hayes drove him to a small, discreet diner. "My wife is... emotional," Mr. Hayes said, stirring his coffee. "And Olivia... Olivia is deeply hurt. What you did was unforgivable." Michael flinched. "| know, sir. |..." "However," Mr. Hayes continued, "Olivia still... cares for you. More than she lets on. And there is the matter of the child." ---- Michael's head snapped up. "The child? But she said... she said she had an abortion." Mr. Hayes sighed. "Olivia says many things when she's angry. She was trying to hurt you, Michael. As you hurt her." Hope, fierce and overwhelming, surged through Michael. "So, the baby... our baby... is alive?" "Yes," Mr. Hayes said. "But Olivia will never take you back while you are still entangled with that other woman. Serena, is it?" Michael nodded, his heart pounding. "Divorce her, Michael," Mr. Hayes said, his eyes like chips of ice. "Sever all ties. Prove to Olivia that you are truly free of that mistake. Then, and only then, might she consider... a future." 7 It was a lifeline. A chance. "| will, sir," Michael said, his voice thick with emotion. "I'll do it immediately. I'll do anything." + "Good," Mr. Hayes said, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes. "Go back to LA. Settle your affairs. And then, we'll see. Michael left Kennebunkport that day, his heart filled with a desperate, renewed hope. He was unaware that Mr. Hayes was playing him, a cruel, manipulative game to get him out of their lives. + He was unaware that Elizabeth and Mr. Hayes were already making plans to move Liv to an even more secluded location, a private island owned by the family, far from Michael's reach, until after the baby was born. His persistence was an annoyance. Their manipulation was a ---- calculated defense.