“It will prove that you weren’t strangers and end needless speculation, with a caption that says something like: ‘A decade old throwback to my college days. Who would have thought we’d be starting a family after all this time?’ You don’t need to go into massive detail, but the cat is out the bag regarding the pregnancy, so let’s at least protect the truth of your arrangement.” Cassie waits for our reactions. To me, it sounds so simple yet so effective. There’s just one glaring issue.

“But wouldn’t that imply we’re dating?” I say after a beat. And I’m not wrong. A caption referring to starting a family, with a picture from when we were dating, is going to switch from baby-trapping accusations to dating rumours. My presence at the game has already caused so many issues, if we give the wrong impression again, who knows what rumours may fly after that.

“Frankly, it doesn’t matter.” Cassie takes a deep sigh. “In fact, it does me a huge favour if Liam appears off the market. One less single man to worry about. We need to paint the picture that you are a happy family unit. What goes on behind closed doors isn’t anyone’s business, but we need to prove that you, Ellis, aren’t a money hungry vulture, and that you—” she points at Liam, “aren’t a stupid athlete who forgot to use protection.”

“Done. I’ll do it.” Liam tells her. He sounds so sure that I don’t dare contradict him, even if it scares me.

Cassie eases her back into her chair. “Now that’s out of the way, there is the Michael problem.” Her eyes narrow when she says his name, contempt pushing at the surface of her professional exterior. “I’m hoping Michael will be as easy to deal with. If you want to file a restraining order, we have the evidence that he was verbally abusive to you as well as videos that have been posted online. My recommendation would be to wait and see if he tries to escalate anything. Our team lawyers can send him a cease and desist which, if I know anything about men like him, will send him running with his tail between his legs. If it does come to him wanting to escalate, you will have full access to the Spears lawyers to fix it.”

I shake my head instinctively. I know there’s no point in getting a restraining order. Michael has embarrassed himself so publicly he’ll go away to lick his wounds. He’s always been more bark than bite, and especially after seeing Liam in the flesh – I doubt he would push his luck again. “Thank you,” I say gratefully for her offers. “I think let’s wait him out, but I’ll let you know if I change my mind.”