Chapter 147

Liam’s POV

When the next workday arrived, I headed into the office with fresh determination. My aquarium date with Aria had helped given me some new perspective, as well as some much-needed rest, and now I was ready to take on Markus once again.

That meant, for now, that I was going to confront Joanna. Enough was enough. I was tired of entertaining her and my father’s delusions about this engagement. If she wasn’t going to voluntarily dissolve this relationship, then I was willing to get lawyers involved. I might have not had as much money as Markus, but I could fight back enough to be an annoyance.

Hopefully it didn’t need to come to that.

As I walked to Joanna’s office, her assistant glared at me from behind her desk. I tried not to take it personally. From what I could tell, this assistant hated absolutely everyone. I reasoned that Joanna only hired her to help give off a more authoritative air. An assistant like that made Joanna seem more intimidating and unapproachable.

As president and part-owner of the club, those kinds of childish tactics didn’t work on me. My job was not in jeopardy here, at Joanna’s whim. She had no power over me, no matter what she thought.

“She in?” I asked the assistant as I walked by her desk. I didn’t slow on my way to the door. I was going to check inside the office regardless of what the assistant said.

“She’s in,” the assistant said and rushed to grab her phone. “I should tell her you are coming.”

“Too late,” I said and turned the knob of the door to Joanna’s office. Pushing the door open, I stepped inside.

Joanna looked up. She’d been sitting behind her desk applying her eye makeup with the help of a compact mirror. Presently, she had eyeliner around only one eye, making her appear somewhat uncanny, her face disproportional.

“Liam,” she said. “It’s early. I haven’t even finished putting on my face.”

“So continue,” I told her. I didn’t care either way, or at all. I closed the door behind me and stepped more fully into Joanna’s office.

She pouted at me slightly, before lifting her compact mirror and lining her other eye. “You clearly want to talk about something. Let me guess, Aria talked to you over the weekend.”

“What happens with Aria is none of your business,” I said at once. I felt protective of the time I had spent with Aria on our aquarium date, and I wasn’t going to let Joanna or anyone else tarnish that pleasant memory. Even if, for a large part of it, my guilt at hiding the past had made me sick to my stomach.

Joanna hummed noncommittally.

I pushed onwards. “I want you to voluntarily dissolve our engagement, Joanna.”

Joanna glanced at me over the top of her compact mirror. A single brow lifted on her forehead. “Oh?”

“You must know a marriage between us will never happen. I’m sorry for what had been promised you in the past, but none of that matters anymore,” I said. “I love Aria, and I will always love Aria. She is the only one for me.”

“I’m not marrying you for love,” Joanna said. Returning her gaze to her mirror, she put the finishing touches on her makeup. Then, clapping the compact shut, she lowered it down to her desktop. “I only care about the money, Liam.”

“That’s not enough for me,” I told her. “So long as I have Aria, then I—”

“You aren’t listening to me,” Joanna said. “Hear me for what I’m actually saying, Liam. I only care about the money. After we are married, you can continue having your little torrid love affair with Aria. Make her your mistress, if it pleases you. I couldn’t care less what you do in your free time.”

“Absolutely not,” I snapped, my entire body recoiling backwards at the mere suggestion.

Joanna wanted me to, what? Divorce Aria to marry her, and then keep Aria as a secret mistress?

Not only would I never keep Aria as a secret anything again – unless, like now, she explicitly asked me to – but I would also not be divorcing her. Especially not to marry Joanna!

On top of everything else, Aria would be as repulsed as I was at the idea. If I even suggested it, she would leave me again, and rightly so.

“I’m sure we can find a way to continue cooperating without the need for marriage between us,” I said, trying to be reasonable. We could be business partners, or something of the like. That way our relationship would really only need to be about money without the unnecessarily complication of marriage and mistresses.

Joanna gave me a flat look, obviously displeased, but still I continued.

“I only ask that we keep the details of our arrangements of the past a secret from Aria.”

This time, Joanna’s eyes went a little wide. “You two… haven’t talked about this yet? About our arranged marriage and our engagement?”

“No,” I said. “And I’d prefer to keep it that way.”

Suddenly, Joanna laughed, leaning back in her chair. “What a curious woman. Why wouldn’t she tell you…?”

“Tell me what?” I asked at once.

Joanna just laughed again, lighter but still full of dark mirth. “Nothing. But with how much the two of you dance around each other, it’s a damn wonder how you’ve managed to stay married.”

“You are hiding something from me, and I demand to know what it is.”

Joanna rolled her eyes at me. “If you are so curious, ask Aria about it. But you won’t, will you? Because you are afraid of losing her. You should be, Liam. She’s probably already checked out of your relationship.” Her laughter returned.

I didn’t know what she was talking about, but I also knew her to be a liar and a manipulator. It was possible that she was only trying to stir up more drama to create discourse between Aria and me. I couldn’t let her win.

“None of this is about Aria,” I said.

Her laughter abruptly ceased. “You are a fool if you believe that. Of course this is about Aria! This entire plot of yours to dissolve our engagement is based entirely around your feelings for Aria. If she wasn’t in the picture, you would be mine.”

I wouldn’t. I would have found another way to escape my arranged marriage, even if I hadn’t fallen for Aria. But that wasn’t important, because Aria was in the picture. I did fall for her.

There would be no going back from that.

“We can have a professional, business partnership or none at all,” I told her. “Your choice.”

Lifting her chin, she sneered at me. “You think you are some kind of hero, standing up against me and your father’s wishes, but you are a mere shadow compared to the kind of man that Markus is. He would honor his agreements.”

“Then he should be the one to marry you,” I said, “Since he’s the one who made that arrangement for me, without my permission or consent.”

Joanna narrowed her eyes. “Aria is an ordinary, bland nobody from a nothing family. I will not lose to a woman like her. Not in this, or in anything else.”

I had my answer then, even before Joanna spoke her final words.

She said, “I reject your offer.”