Chapter 141

Aria’s POV

Those were harrowing words. A cheating scandal was bad enough – how could this only be the beginning? And how could Joanna know that, unless she had been the one to start all this.

“Are you responsible for this?” I asked her, point blank, as we stood in the back of the conference room. Most of the other employees had cleared out by now. Only a few stranglers having their own chats, as well as Liam and Mr. Gunner, remained.

Joanna laughed. “How cute that you think I’d have this much power. No, it wasn’t me, but I know who is responsible. So does Liam. And so should you, if you stopped being so foolish.”

I considered it a moment. If not Joanna, then…

“Markus,” I said.

“Markus,” Joanna replied. “He’ll do whatever it takes to get Liam to comply with his wishes, including destroying the team.”

It was difficult for me to imagine a father who was so selfish that he would destroy his own son’s career just to be able to more fully control him. It was cruel and unfair. A man so rich and powerful, Markus seemed like the type who was accustomed to getting whatever he wanted – no matter the cost.

I didn’t know Markus, but with each thing I heard about him, a picture of the man was becoming clearer to me. He seemed a ruthless tyrant, but above all, he seemed a lousy father.

“If you are smart,” Joanna said, “You will back off and leave, before you get caught in the crossfire.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I told her. “Not with the team. And not with Liam.”

She just shrugged. “Your funeral.”

Talking with her, I could easily understand why Jackson fled at the sight of her. She might not have been as ruthless as Markus, but she seemed just as selfish. I doubted she would care at all if the club collapsed, as long as at the end of the day, she could have Liam.

Apparently, she’d been waiting for Liam since they’d been children. She’d be waiting forever, if I had anything to say about it.

Though I supposed, in the end, it would be up to Liam what he wanted. I just hoped that his father and Joanna wouldn’t push him into things he didn’t want to do. I’d stay by his side as long as I could, to keep that from happening.

Seeing Liam and Mr. Gunner finally part ways, I stepped away from Joanna without properly excusing myself and walked to Liam instead.

Liam was frowning, staring into space, when I approached. It took him a long moment to notice my presence. “Oh, Aria. Hello.”

“Are you okay?” I asked him.

“No. Not really,” he said.

I nodded with understanding. Any scandal would be difficult to deal with, especially for the president of the club, but knowing that his father was the one responsible had to make everything worse.

“He keeps dragging the entire club into his petty games,” Liam said. “And it’s all my fault.”

“It’s not your fault,” I said at once, hoping to end that line of thinking at once. “This is only his fault.”

“But he’s only acting this way because of me.”

“It’s still not your fault,” I assured him.

If there was any way for Markus to actually win this war he started with his son, it would be through Liam’s guilt. Unlike his father, Liam was a good man who wanted to do the best he could for those around him. Markus’s personal vendetta against Liam wasn’t just making things difficult for Liam or for me, but for the entire team too.

If the club folded, everyone here would lose the job they’d come to depend on. That would sit heavily on Liam’s conscious. He wouldn’t view it as his father closing the club. He’d see it more as, if I would have given in, these people would still have their livelihoods.

I had to do my utmost to keep him from slipping into that downward spiral of thoughts.

“The investigator will prove this scandal has no merit,” I said, in an effort to life Liam’s spirits. “This will be over before you know it.”

“I hope so,” he replied, though a hesitation lingered in his words. It was clear that he thought, as Joanna did, that this was only the beginning of the storm to come.

Liam’s POV

I couldn’t help but wonder who Markus paid off to make these accusations against us. We had rivals in the sport, but not outright enemies. Logan had been the closest I had to an enemy, but he was in another country at the moment. Even with Logan, I doubted he would take my father’s money to spread lies against me. He had too much integrity.

Likely the person who made the accusation didn’t know me at all. Or perhaps Markus purposefully targeted someone who was in such dire straits that they had to do what they had to do to survive. In that case, I couldn’t have hard feelings, even though I found the act itself reprehensible.

I could never fault someone for doing what they needed to do to help their family.

If that was what happened.

Aria watched me with concern in her eyes. I wished I could offer her some comfort, or tell her that her worry wasn’t necessary, but I couldn’t. That would be a lie.

Markus was a formidable enemy with access to unlimited resources and no real morals to hold him back. From now until a time when I would give in, or he would die, I was in for a terrible war. It would take every ounce of my willpower and conviction to hold on.

At least, thank God, I had Aria on my side. For her and the kids, I could hold on and fight back.

I wouldn’t let my father win.

“Excuse me, Liam?” said a smaller female voice from the other side of me. Looking, I recognized one of the team’s accountants. “I need to bring something to your attention, Sir. Something of utmost importance.” Glancing at Aria, she added, “Something confidential.”

I opened my mouth to tell her that I trusted Aria, but Aria spoke up before I could say a word.

“It’s alright. I need to get to work,” Aria said. She nodded to both me and the accountant and then made her exit.

Turning to the accountant, I said, “Alright. What’s this about?”

Looking at her fully, I could now see the tension in her eyes and the hard press of her mouth. Whatever this was about, it had her stressed to the maximum. Lifting a folder from her side, she handed it to me. Inside were several printed out spreadsheets with a few areas highlighted.

“What’s this?” I asked. I hadn’t lied about not being any kind of financial genius, but even I could see that there was a massive discrepancy between two lines that should have shown our earnings for the quarter before and after the deposit into our accounts.

“That’s the problem,” the accountant said. “Suddenly, the money is just… gone. It must have been siphoned away somewhere, but we are having trouble tracking it.”

“Could we have been hacked?” I asked.

“Possibly. Or it could have been stolen by someone with access.”

Or this was sabotage, to make us all start pointing fingers at each other while siphoning money away from the club.

This could only be my father’s doing.