Cathy Liam NovelAfter Five Years Abroad, Everyone Believed I’d Perished

1
After the breakup, I took my shattered heart and, without telling a soul, fled the country to study abroad.
For five years, I changed my name, my number, and severed every last tie to my old life.
Everyone thought I was dead.
That I had died on the day my boyfriend, Liam, went behind my back and married my stepsister.
For five whole years, a fresh red rose was laid on my grave every single day.
Five years later, I returned to arrange for my mother's grave to be moved. And there he was, Liam, once again holding a red rose to mourn me.
After a moment of shared shock and awkward silence, I managed to speak.
"Long time no see."
He forced a twitch of his lips, hiding the rose behind his back.
"Long time no see," he echoed. "I thought I thought you were dead."
I offered a thin smile, pretending not to notice the redness rimming his eyes.
He wasn't wrong.
Cathy was dead.
She died five years ago, on the day he secretly married my father's illegitimate daughter.

2
I was arranging to have my mother's grave relocated when I noticed a new headstone right next to hers. A headstone that belonged to me.
The inscription read: Beloved Wife, Cathy Graham.
In front of it lay a bouquet of fresh roses, a small St. Christopher medal, and a slice of the chocolate fudge cake that used to be my favorite.
The cemetery administrator followed my gaze and his eyes widened slightly.
"Ms. Davenport, look at the photo on that headstone. Doesn't she look just like you?"
He chuckled nervously. "If I didn't know you just flew in from Paris, I'd think I was seeing a ghost!"
I smiled.
"She does, but it's not me."
My name is Stella Davenport. Im a senior writer for the Parisian magazine MT and the sole heiress to the Davenport Corporation.
I just celebrated my third wedding anniversary with my husband. Our son is two.
A winner, by all accounts.
The woman on that headstone was Cathy Graham.
Five years ago, after my father's illegitimate daughter was diagnosed with depression, my father and brother arranged a wedding for her behind my back.
The groom was the man I had loved since we were children, my fianc of eight years.
She was a complete and utter loser.
We were no longer the same person.
Tearing my eyes away, I turned back to discuss the relocation details with the administrator.
Suddenly, a familiar voice cut through the air from behind me.
"Cathy!"
I ignored it, continuing my conversation.
A strong hand suddenly gripped my arm.
Under the administrator's astonished gaze, I stumbled, spinning around to meet Liam's eyes.
"Cathy," he breathed, his voice tight with disbelief. "You you're not dead?"
A cold smile touched my lips, but my eyes drifted to the red rose in his hand.
Five years.
Since when did Liam's eyes become as red as the roses he held?

3
After the administrator left, I stood before my own grave.
Liam was behind me, the rose now crushed on the ground. His voice was laced with the fury of a man who'd been deceived.
"Quite the act you've been pulling, huh, Cathy? Was it fun? Watching me drown in guilt every single day for five years?"
"You couldn't even leave a single message."
I answered with a casual shrug. "Wasn't it you who told me to never bother you again?"
Five years ago, when I got the news he was marrying Mia, Id raced to the venue.
I crashed on the way. The airbag pinned me to the driver's seat, my breath coming in ragged gasps.
I called him, begging him to come save me.
But he was busy placing the veil on Mia's head. The phone rang and rang.
He only picked up on the final call.
"Mia's had a hard enough life as it is," he'd said, his voice cold. "Can't you even let her have one wedding?"
"I don't care if you're in a car crash. Even if you died, don't bother me. I am marrying Mia today!"
I met Liam when I was seven. We started dating at eighteen and were engaged at twenty-three.
At twenty-six, he told me to die so he could marry my father's illegitimate daughter.
In that moment, I made a vow. I would never bother him again for the rest of my life.
Now, hearing my words, he tugged uncomfortably at his collar. "C'mon, it was just a figure of speech. You actually took it seriously?"
He straightened up, his eyes scanning me from head to toe. "How did you know I'd be at the cemetery today? You even wore that green coat I always liked"
A humorless smirk played on his lips. "You don't actually think that after tricking me for five years, all you have to do is play dumb, play a little hard-to-get, and I'll come crawling back, do you?"