CHAPTER 185: PROBLEM

Harper POV

"That’s the boy I told you about," I said, pointing to Liam with a big smile.

The truth was that in recent days, actually, in recent months, I had been distant from my daughter. And I deeply regret that.

For example, I hadn’t even told her anything about Liam, or properly talked to her about the reasons I decided to divorce her father. Well, regarding the divorce decision, I didn’t have to say much, she seemed to agree quite a lot with the idea.

That was a relief, because everything would have been much harder if that hadn’t been the case. But I can say that my useless ex-husband did an excellent job of making sure Alice wouldn’t take his side. I could only sigh when I thought about that man.

Anyway, earlier I had gone to pick up Alice from a friend’s house, so I had plenty of time to try to reconnect with her as I brought her to the cruise. Of course, I also intended for us to spend more time together during the trip.

She got pretty excited about the cruise idea, which was a good sign. Still, I felt like she was hiding something from me. It would probably take some time before I could become something like her best friend...

At the very least, that was the kind of relationship I wanted to have with my daughter. Okay, maybe not her best friend, but a close friend she could trust whenever she needed to.

Besides that, the most important thing I talked about on the way here was the fact that I had met a man, a bit young, but very handsome, intelligent, and extremely trustworthy.

Anyway, I told her I was head over heels in love with Liam and that she could meet him when we arrived at the cruise, since he would be on the trip too.

The only thing I left out was the fact that he already had a girlfriend, or rather, more than one, and probably more than three... I still didn’t know how many, because Isabela had been cruelly vague about it, but I imagined it was several.

In any case, we arrived at the place, and there was Liam with his usual smile. I quickly greeted him, then introduced him to my daughter.

Then, as their eyes met, I saw his expression get blank. Alice also reacted strangely, which made me worried about the situation.

"Uh... do you two know each other?" I asked timidly.

Alice was going to the same college Liam attended before he had problems with that bitch Karen. So it wasn’t impossible for them to know each other.

My heart tightened as I wondered if they disliked each other for some reason. If that were the case, I’d have to help them make up or something.

"Well..." Liam hesitated to answer, continuing to stare at my daughter from head to toe.

He looked as if he’d seen a ghost. My daughter was equally paralyzed, and I wondered how bad the situation could be. Did they hate each other that much? Seriously, what could be worse than this? They had barely seen each other and were already acting so strangely.

Maybe they knew each other, but... a very crazy possibility crossed my mind, but it was impossible. Alice was very shy and never went out with anyone. Besides, what were the chances they had already been involved in some way?

Liam sighed deeply and looked directly at me, his eyes full of guilt making my heart beat faster.

"To tell you the truth..." Before he could say anything, Alice kicked the boy hard in the shin. "Ow!" He bent over, his face contorting in a grimace of pain.

"Daughter!" I exclaimed angrily. "Why did you do that?"

The girl ignored me and approached Liam. For an instant, I even thought she whispered something in his ear. But she quickly stood up and shouted:

"Mom, I know you like him, but you need to know he already has a girlfriend!"

So that was the source of all the problems? For a moment, I felt relieved. Of course, my cheeks flushed with embarrassment; I didn’t want to have to explain this so soon, but at some point, I’d have to tell Alice what I knew.

"Look, daughter," I began to explain calmly, "love comes in many forms. I know it might seem very strange, but I... I... already knew that Liam, well, has a lot of love to give. So, I know I’m not the only one."

Explaining this was more embarrassing than I had originally expected. Besides, it was hard not to wonder if people around us were hearing the conversation. Luckily, we were in a quiet area. There was no one around at the moment.

I know it might be hard to understand, and it’s pretty crazy, but I love him," I felt my whole body burn as I said that, but I couldn’t help smiling like a fool whenever I thought about my feelings for Liam. "And I know he loves me back and that he’ll protect me when I need it."

"Yeah, I understand that very well..." my daughter seemed to murmur something like that, but she spoke so quietly I wasn’t sure.

Right after, she took a deep breath and stared at Liam for a long moment. Her expression was filled with emotions I couldn’t quite grasp.

"Sweetheart, please don’t be hard on him. I really do love him and..." I tried to insist—I really wanted her to understand that Liam wasn’t a bad person.

"Okay, let’s do it like this: I need to get to know him better, so I’m going to ask him a few questions. I’ll only approve your relationship after that. For now, please go play in the pool." Then Alice made an absurd proposal.

"Hey, young lady, who are you to approve my relationship with him?" I took a step forward.

"No need to worry. I’ll be fine. I think she just wants a chance to talk in private," Liam said. "You can go have fun ahead of us, we’ll meet you there soon."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes, don’t worry." Since Liam insisted, I agreed and left the two of them to have a private moment.