Chapter 118

Aria’s POV

The next day, a new batch of invitations was sent out through email with the exact same guest list. Just as Liam predicted, everyone seemed fine with the change. Those that had already RVSP’ed, simply did so again. Those that said no already told me they had other plans.

I ordered a new banner and a new cake, with Logan’s name instead of Liam’s. But other than that, all the other party supplies could be used.

At the end of the week, after work, a few of my co-workers met me at the mansion and we began the task of decorating for the event. I’d already hidden away any personal items that featured me or the kids, and made sure that Joe, William, and my doors were locked. The kids insisted on attending the party, but Isabella had very kindly stepped in to keep an eye on them. They also had a strict bedtime.

I only hoped no one asked too many questions.

Just as we finished setting up, the guests began to arrive, as well as Liam, technically the host.

“It looks great,” Liam said, looking around. We mainly decorated the pool area outside, as well as the living room just in case the bugs came out in the evening and forced us inside. The kitchen was loaded up with food and liquor.

Soon, even the guests had fully arrived. All that was missing was Logan.

After checking my watch, I gave Liam a wilting look.

“I invited him personally!” Liam said, holding up his hands. “He’ll be here.” The doorbell rang. “There, that’s probably him now.”

Guilt started to eat away inside of me. It was wrong for me to be so distrustful of Liam, when he’d clearly done nothing wrong. In fact, he was the reason that Logan had been given this job. Clearly they’d buried the hatchet.

Sophia’s accusations still tugged away at me though, making it so hard to trust. I hated that even now, even from her jail cell, I was letting her have so much control over my life and over my relationship with Liam. We both deserved better than that.

I needed to get to the bottom of this, one way or another, so I could put these old ghosts to rest and focus on building a sustainable future with Liam and our family.

As Logan entered the house, a round of cheers and applause sounded throughout the room.

“Thank you,” Logan said. “Thank you everyone.”

Liam started rounding up everyone to head toward the pool area. Along the way, he stopped near me. “I imagine you want to talk to Logan for a minute, privately. I’ll buy you as much time as you can.”

This sudden, unexpected kindness sent another wave of self-disgust through me. I was so wrong for treating him as I had. Here he was, trying his best for me and our relationship, and I was undercutting his efforts at every step.

“Thank you,” I said.

When Liam ushered everyone from the living room except Logan and me, we looked at each other and both started talking at once.

“Logan, I—”

“Aria, do you –”

We both fell silent.

“You first,” I said, but at the same time, he said, “You go.”

We both stopped again, but this time we laughed.

“Go ahead, Aria. I can wait,” Logan said.

“I just wanted to thank you again for everything that you did while Sophia was…” I let the sentence hang, not really wanting to go into too much detail about how easily Joe, William, and I could have been killed. “You saved us, Logan. I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”

“I don’t need repayment, Aria,” Logan said gently, with an easy smile. “I did what was right, and that was that. I care about you and Joe. Even if things aren’t… exactly how I wish they could be, my affections for you both haven’t changed. You and I will always be friends.”

Logan’s friendship had always been a comfort to me. Even in my darkest moments, Logan had been there to help me out of them. With Liam’s return to my life, he could have more actively fought to stand in the way of our reconciliation. Instead, he was the bigger man and let me choose for myself who I wanted.

It was because of this deep friendship and my comfort with Logan that I felt like I could speak to him about anything, and he would understand. Maybe he would even give advice that could help me.

But first, I said, “It’s your turn, Logan, to say what you want.”

“I only wanted to check on you,” Logan said. “Liam told me not to mention that you two are together… Don’t you also live here? I wanted to make sure you were okay with that.”

“It was my idea,” I told him. “After everything… I want to move slower this time. I need to be cautious.”

Logan nodded. “No one can fault you for that. At least, no one with any understanding of what happened before.”

“Logan, there is something that’s been bothering me though. I spoke with Sophia, and –”

“I’m sorry, what?” Logan interjected, disbelief crossing his face. “Why on earth would you do that?”

At that point, I had to briefly fill him in on how it happened, explaining that William wanted to see his mother, and as Liam was busy at the time, I decided to take him, trying to be a good step-mother. Then, I explained some of the terrible things Sophia said, finishing with the accusations she made.

“She said that Liam only married me because I was available. She said that he would never go for someone as ordinary as me otherwise. I always wondered why Liam seemed to pursue me, when he could have had anyone in the whole world that he wanted.”

Logan listened intently, a hint of frustration growing on his face.

I’d thought, when I finished, that he would tell me Sophia was just trying to cause trouble. He’d say that I’ve never been ordinary, and Liam pursued me because he wanted me, not for any other reason.

Yet the longer Liam hesitated, the more doubt started to creep up inside of me.

“There isn’t any truth to what she said, right?” I asked Logan. When he didn’t immediately deny it, I pressed harder, “Right, Logan?”

“Liam loves you now, Aria. That should be enough.”

That wasn’t what I wanted to hear, not by a long shot. “It sounds like there is some truth to what Sophia said. Tell me that isn’t the case. Please.”

“I don’t know the details,” Logan said. “Liam and I were friends then but also rivals. I didn’t have the insight into all of his decisions.”

I sensed that he had more to say, though he seemed to hesitate. “But?” I prompted.

He sighed. “But Liam has always carried a lot of mystery around him. There’s more to him than just being a racing star or president of the team.”

More…? “Like another identity?”

“You have to talk to him, Aria. I’m sorry. I don’t know enough details to give you a good answer. I’ve only heard rumors.”

“I want to hear those,” I said.

He shook his head. “Liam loves you. Talk to him, and he might tell you himself.”

Given our past, I couldn’t go on that. But Logan was tight-lipped now. I knew I wasn’t going to get any more information out of him.

Maybe I shouldn’t have asked, because now, I was somehow even more confused.