The Billionaire's Runaway Wife

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Iris Parker

I woke at the sound of footsteps nearing the living room. The footsteps were careful, as if trying to be as quiet as possible. However, the old wooden floor sent enough shock waves to my ears and my eyes opened instantly.

From where I was lying down, I quickly recognized Liam walking over to me. And that wasn't it...

I stood up as quick as I could, my heart beating loudly and heavily. A hurricane of emotions started brewing inside of me. Mix of relief, disbelief, joy, hurt, regret and so many others swelled my heart making my eyes warm up.

Jace was hugging Liam tightly, his back facing me. I cupped my mouth with both of my hands, taking the moment in, thanking God that my son was here.

Jace was here.

Liam rescued Jace.

When my eyes met Liam's, he gave me a small smile, a relieved one. He brought his pointing finger to his mouth and glancing over at Jace who seemed to be sleeping.

I couldn't hold onto the tears anymore as I approached them slowly. I arose silently from where I was sitting and slowly made my way to the two. As I neared, I observed that Jace's clothes were muddy dirty, his legs were bruised and his hair was very messy.

The tears started falling. They hurt him. How could someone do this to a child? My heart ached at what Jace must have went through in a span of less than two days. If only I could've protected him better. Surely this wouldn't have happened.

I suppressed the negative thoughts for a while and concentrated on the fact that my son was here now. He was finally home. But would he ever be the same?

"Jace..." I whispered once I was close enough. He was indeed sleeping soundly, as if finally getting a rest. Liam set him down on the couch and as he laid there, I could clearly see the bruises that were all over his body.

He had purple patches everywhere, his clothes were stained with mud and dried blood, his arms and legs were bruised. I gasped in horror. I tried to stay strong, don't cry, but all that came crumbling down at the sight of my beaten child.

Anger fuelled me, making me to turn to Liam as I wiped the tears frustratedly.

"Who did this to him?!" I asked angrily, pummelling his chest frustratedly . Liam's face darkened as he looked at Jace and then back to me.

"We took care of it, don't worry." he answered calmly which irritated me. How could he remain so calm knowing that his son was hurt. Kidnapped and beaten up. I hit him again.

"Don't worry?! Liam, they hurt him! He's just a child for goodness' sake. Who knows when they might come again and, and, and-- what if--" Liam held me by both of my arms, getting me back to my senses. He looked straight into my eyes and it was only now that I caught the glimmer of anger in his green eyes.

"It won't happen okay? Jace is safe and they will never be able to take any of them ever again. I'm here and you're here. We'll protect them together, alright?" he said. He was calm, but I could sense the same anger and frustration coming from him. He was trying his best to be as calm as he could be.

As I looked at him, all I could do was nod. Some tears fell and I tried to regulate my breaths, calming myself.

For now, think about Jace. He needs me the most right now.

I headed to the kitchen and grabbed a cloth. Turning on the hot water, I damped the cloth and came back to the living room. Liam sat down beside Jace, his head lay against the sofa with his eyes closed. It's been a tough day for him. For all of us.

I knelt on the floor, beside Jace and started wiping my son. Liam sat up and watched me as I cleaned Jace. I tried to concentrate on the task, being equally careful that I didn't wake him up, but that was hard. Liam was just beside me, intently watching me.

Suddenly, I remembered that we hadn't seen each other for five years. We all had such a long day and it seemed like we've been by each other's side for so long. My stupid heart started beating fast although I tried to stop any emotions that I would feel toward him, my heart had a mind of its own.

Not being able to take it anymore, I looked up to him and instantly, our eyes met. His gaze sent an electric shock through my whole body. I quickly looked away, afraid of what looking at him too much might cause me to do.

We stayed silent for a while when I finally broke it.

"You must be tired. Go rest with Jacob and Jamie upstairs." I said and turned to him. He ran a hand through his dark blonde hair, messing it up even more. He took a deep breath before looking at me again. I unconsciously bit my lip to keep myself from turning away.

I waited for an answer, but he only stared at me for what seemed like the longest time, as if trying to look for an answer to his questions. I kept my gaze on him because I didn't want to seem like I was hiding something.

Instead, I stared back. In his eyes, the past flashed. Back when we were happy...

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked all of a sudden. At first, I furrowed my brows at his question, but then I understood what he was trying to ask. His eyes looked pained, hurt.

It was about the three. I finally broke our eye lock, feeling guilty. I wiped Jace's faces still feeling Liam's gaze on me. I knew he was hurting.

Now that Jace was rescued, he finally had the time to think things through. Now, he was starting to ask questions, questions I dreaded to answer. I always feared the day when I had to explain him everything and now that it was here in front of me, I didn't know what to say.

He let out a deep exasperated breath. "Iris, why didn't you tell me? We could've raised them together. They could've known me." he said. Pain and hurt was heard in his voice. Then, it dawned me, this was the first time he ever let his emotion speak through so clearly.

Liam always had control on everyone, on everything. Especially his emotions. He never let anyone see through him, he refused to be taken advantage off by anything or anyone, not even his emotions. But now... he sounded so defeated and hurt.

The tone of his voice scarred my heart deeply, I realized again that I was extremely selfish keeping the triplets away from their father. To keep them away from him.

My hand stopped wiping Jace's bruises and I looked up to Liam. The rawness of emotions in his eyes hurt me even more. His eyes were rimmed with tears. He looked at me with such confusion and pain that I couldn't handle it also. My cheeks warmed up and my eyes were watery.

"I couldn't dare come back to you..." I whispered, my throat being blocked with a lump. It was a miracle I didn't stutter. He squinted his eyes, thinking if he heard me right.

"Not even for them?"

"I was hurt Liam!" I said, unintentionally raising my voice. I stood up and walked away. My chest felt too heavy and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I needed to get away from him. The pain of the past was coming back again.

I heard him follow me and in a matter of a few seconds, he grabbed me by the arm and spun me around to face him. My tears were again, falling nonstop.

"Stop doing this, Iris. Stop running away from everything when things get hard." he said. It was a slap in my face. Did he really just say that?

"I'm not running away." I threw back spitefully. He scoffed, insulting me even more.

"Oh really? And what you're doing right now, walking away because you can't give me an answer, that's not called running away?" he asked mockingly. His words cut deep like daggers.

"Fine! I'm a coward, I'm a weakling. Call it whatever. But you know what, Liam? If you want me to stop running away, then stop hurting me!" I retorted back with the most frustration and anger I could vent out. His eyes widened, shocked at my outburst. "If you want me to stop running away, then stop breaking my heart. Stop making me feel so helpless."