Love At War - Book 2 of Secrets Within

Confessions and Surprises

Chapter summary for last 2 chapters if skipped - Zayn accidentally self-harmed and was found by Louis, who found out he had been doing it for a while. Zayn is cleaned up, and on the tour-bus, Zayn opens up to Louis about his self-harm, and Louis agrees not to tell the others.

xxxx

Liam returned to the hotel that night with Sophia in tow, a shiny new engagement ring on her finger, and a million paparazzi following his every move, up until he got inside. Once they were inside the doors, he wanted to let go of her and run to his room to see Zayn, but there were more people in the lobby, and he was forced to kiss and hug her for another 10 minutes as they fought through the cameras and the microphones to get to the lift, and as they knew, they are never truly alone until the doors close.

As soon as the lift jolted and began to go up, Liam wretched himself away from Sophia's prying arms and moved away, getting his phone out to text Zayn to see if he was alright.

"Liam, there's no need to look so miserable around me you know... I'm only doing this to make money, I never intended to upset you and Zayn" Sophia said, leaning against the mirror.

"Yeah right. So why the engagement? Why the constant dates? Why the dragging me out of bed in a morning? Why the separate hotels?" Liam sneered back, unable to keep his cool when he realised his phone had died, annoyed that he couldn't text Zayn.

"That wasn't me. That's my boss and her management. All I intended to do was date you to cover it up. The façade you saw me put on at first was just for show. If I did a good job, I got more money. Simple as."

"But why do you need so much money? I get that they are paying you a lot, but why all the extras?"

"Because my mum has cancer. She's dying and she can't afford the chemo."

Liam was shocked into silence by her response, expecting it to be something menial and stupid, as he realised for the first time just how ignorant he had been to her.

"What? But when I first met you, she seemed so healthy!?"

"Nope, I thought she was too, she was just suffering in silence. Then dad left her last year when she told him, and that's when I found out and decided to get a job, to help pay for the medical bills"

By now, the lift had stopped, and Liam actually willing walked to her room with her, curious of CCTV cameras after the hotel incident, but more because he needed to hear the end of this. Once they were inside, he sat down on the sofa and she sat next to him, kicking off her heels and coat before continuing.

"So, how did you get this job?"

"Well, the papers had caught wind of us dating when we weren't, and Destiny Williams, the manager, approached me. Initially I said no, but when she told me that it would pay well, I decided to go for it, to help my mum out"

"So, how much have you paid, or still got to pay, whatever's easier?"

"Well I wanted her to go private so that she has a better chance of getting cured quicker. So, I paid for her first round of chemo, which lasted 6 months, I paid off the mortgage and all her bills so she doesn't have to work, and then I was going to end the contract..."

Sophia fell silent for a minute as Liam tried to process the news.

"So I'm guessing there's a but...?"

"Well, yeah, hence the sudden engagement. This was never planned, I swear, I was about to end the contract last week, when it was meant to end, but then my mum fell ill again, and it's going to cost £300,000 for her next round."

"Wow... I'm so sorry, I never realised"

"Its fine, you were never meant to know. Only I knew how Zayn reacted earlier, when he found out, and I wanted to apologise and tell you I never wanted it to happen like this. I had to ask for the contract to be renewed, so that I could get the money she needed, and they agreed to give me the full amount straight away, if I agreed to get engaged to you"