Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Celeste got out of her wild nervous thoughts when the front door unlocked and opened. She hurriedly got up from the sofa and turned on the lights.

"Surprise! Happy One Year anniversary!" She excitedly greeted Liam, who was standing at the door with a surprised expression on his face, with a huge smile. She then ran directly towards him and tiptoed before placing her soft lips on his to kiss him. She was so excited that she didn’t even notice him not kissing her back. After kissing him softly on his lips Celeste wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"Happy anniversary, Baby." She whispered softly in his neck. She then broke the hug and pulled the motionless Liam who had a blank expression on his face with her. Nevertheless Liam followed her quietly as she took him where she had arranged the candlelight dinner.

" I have arranged all this and made all your favourite dishes. Do you like it?" Celeste asked while grinning widely. Her heart was filled with joy and pure happiness seeing him after more than a week. All she wanted to do was hug and kiss the hell out of him and never let him go. She couldn’t wait till she let him know how much she loved and cared for him. She wanted to tell him all the things she had planned for their future. She just couldn’t wait.

"It's nice. But Celeste I need to talk to you." Liam said while looking at her blankly. He didn’t know how to tell her. He was afraid she would now back off and start making a fuss. He was sure it was going to be very exhausting and she would definitely create a drama and throw tantrums. He hated dramas. He just hoped it would be over soon and they both would be free. He sighed inwardly thinking what's going to happen next. Seeing Celeste so excited about this marriage anniversary Liam also wondered if Celeste had really forgotten about their contract. But he brushed off his thoughts as that's not possible and he had more important matters to handle.

"Okay but Let's have dinner first. Then we could talk all night." Celeste said while taking out a chair and sitting down. Liam paused for a moment and nodded before taking a seat across Celeste. Celeste smiled at him and started serving him dishes.

"You know, grandma is totally fine now. I am glad Maggie is always there with her. I would be forever grateful to her." Celeste said and Liam quietly listened while eating.

"You could have brought her here. It would be better if she lived with you." Liam said while taking a bite of his food. It's true! No one could ever beat her at cooking. She was too good at this.

"I insisted many times. But that stubborn lady doesn’t listen to me at all." Celeste said with a pout. She was annoyed at her grandma for being so stubborn and not listening to her. Liam didn’t say much after that and kept eating silently. Celeste also ate her food quietly while stealing glances at him.

"So how was your trip?" Celeste asked, wanting to start another conversation with him.

"Good. After the UK, We are now going to expand our business in The United States. So I will be moving there for the next one year." Liam said casually while wiping his hands with the napkin. As soon as he finished speaking those sentences, Celeste froze. She looked at him with eyes full of shock. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out of it so she closed it again.

"What do you mean by you are going to move to the US for the next one year? How is that possible." Celeste asked, her voice full of anxiousness. She didn’t know why but suddenly her heart started to beat faster and an unknown fear started to crept out in her heart.

"You heard me right. Also I wanted to inform you about something important." Liam said while leaning on his back. He carefully looked at her expression which was not very good. He debated with himself for a while if it was the right time to talk about this.

"What is it?" Celeste asked, her voice filled with nervousness. She couldn’t understand what he was going to talk about. She just hoped he would not ask her to leave her job and go with him in the US. It was impossible. What about her grandma? How could she take care of her from so far? But she was sure she couldn’t stay without him a whole year. There must be a way right?

"I have talked to the lawyer about our contract. The papers are ready and only need your sign as I have already signed them. Also I have transferred 10 millions on your account. I'm sorry I did all this without informing you but I had no choice as I need to move to the US next week to start the construction work and you were busy with your grandma's health. So I thought to inform you once everything is ready." Liam said it so casually that Celeste couldn’t help but smile. She smiled for her aching heart. She smiled for her ill fate.

He said those words so easily then why couldn’t she hear those words so easily?

Why did her heart suddenly start to feel so heavy and stuffy?

Why couldn’t she breathe?

Why was her heart suddenly aching so much?

What's wrong?

Celeste closed her eyes for a brief second and then opened them again.

It was over.

Finally.

It was time to let go.

"It's alright. I don’t have any problem. When do I need to sign the papers?" Celeste asked, still smiling. For a moment Liam was dumb founded. He didn’t expect her to be so obedient and agree so easily. He was ready to hear a few angry outbursts and get punched. But she was just sitting there and smiling like it was not a big deal. That meant she didn’t forget about their contract in the first place. She already knew this was going to happen. Liam felt relieved. He was a bit afraid of hurting her feelings. He must agree. It's good that they didn’t catch any feelings for each other or else it would have been a disaster.

"Tomorrow my lawyer will bring the papers. If you have any question and any request you can tell me directly." Liam said with a smile as he looked at Celeste directly.

"Uhmm- I have a small request." Celeste said softly while looking down. She didn’t want to look at his face or else she would surely break down.

"Yeah. What is it? I will try to fulfill it." Liam said.

"I will tell you after signing the papers tomorrow." Celeste replied.

"Uhmm are you sure?" Liam asked with a frown.

"Yes. Anyways, now you go inside and freshen up. I will just sort these out." Celeste said with a soft chuckle while gesturing towards all the decorations which now looked really gloomy and lifeless. Liam nodded and got up to move towards the stairs. When he stepped on the first stair, suddenly Celeste called out his name from behind.

"Liam?" She called softly. Liam turned around and raised one of his eyebrows.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Happy anniversary." Celeste uttered those words softly with a smile on her face. She looked so beautiful and devine under the soft dim light that Liam couldn’t help but stare for a while. Then he also smiled.

"Happy anniversary." And with those two words said, he turned around and left without any regret like it was truly just one simple year for him.