Chapter 165

Aria’s POV

Perhaps, in my fear of having lost the check, I was irrational, but given all that Anthony had already done to me, I immediately looked at him with suspicion. After all, he’d already stolen my pens. Why wouldn’t he take a check worth so much?

“Did you take it?” I demanded.

“I didn’t take anything,” Anthony replied. “What are you talking about?”

“My check,” I said, rushing to his desk. He leaned back in his chair as if trying to get away from me. That only made me more suspicious. “Did you take my check?”

“You need to chill out. I didn’t take any check.”

“You took my pens.”

“Pens are pens. I was just messing with you. I wouldn’t actually sabotage your life by stealing your money.” Anthony seems more annoyed than deflecting, and for that reason, I slowly start to believe him.

Stealing anything was a problem, but stealing pens off my desk was much different than pocketing a $5 million check.

He probably wasn’t my thief, if there even was a thief. I had no real evidence of that. Despite how careful I was with the check, I could have misplaced it. Did I even see it at all today? I couldn’t remember. Perhaps I left it in yesterday’s pants pocket.

“Sorry,” I said, backing off.

Anthony leaned forward again. “Good.”

Turning from him, I returned to my desk and tried to return order. Panic remained inside of me, however, making my heart race and my adrenaline surge.

While I had no intention of cashing that check, I needed to return it to Markus. If I couldn’t find it…

I forced myself to breathe deeply, trying to soothe my frazzled nerves. The check had to be somewhere. If I retraced my steps, I’d likely find it. I just had to stay calm.

Even with my pep talk to myself, I still struggled to keep focus throughout the day. Even the drivers on the track could tell something is wrong.

Jackson pulled me aside to tell me, “Did you hit your head or something? You are really spaced out.” He said it with concern, and I realized I was making a fool of myself as well as possible endangering the drivers by not giving them my full attention.

I might have just been the assistant trainer now, but as the main trainer was still nowhere to be seen, I remained the main advocate for the drivers in person. When they were on the track, I needed to be attentive, to make sure they were calm and healthy.

Being so preoccupied, I wasn’t able to fully do my job.

Rubbing my forehead, I told Jackson, “I’m sorry. I don’t know where my head’s at today.”

After apologizing, I checked in with HR and told them that I wasn’t feeling well and I needed to go home earlier for the day. They were annoyed but I insisted.

The minute I walked through the front door of the house, I rushed to my room to check my dirty laundry. I searched through pockets, then shook out each piece of laundry just in case it had already fallen down, catching in a shirt or another piece of clothing. When I reached the bottom of the basket, I upturned that as well.

The check wasn’t in my dirty clothes.

I’d already checked the car. I’d done that at the parking lot when I left work. So it had to be in the house somewhere, I just needed to figure out where exactly.

My room was the most obvious spot, so I started my search there. Under the bed, in the covers, on the dresser.

After a total search of my room turned up nothing, I went to the washing machine and checked all around there, including the basin of the washing machine itself, as well as the lint trap of the dryer.

Nothing.

My heart sank, but I couldn’t give up. Turning to the rest of the house, I resolved to search every inch of it.

I hoped I could find the check before Liam did.

Liam’s POV

My conversation with my father stayed with me for the rest of the day. I hated that he could get under my skin so easily. Even after all these years, when he spoke to me, I felt like that same scared kid who thought pleasing his father would somehow make him love me.

Everything changed when Mom died. I hated him now, and knew he would never care for me the way a father should.

Even so, some of those impulses from my youth had long been burned into my psyche. It was difficult to move on completely.

I hated him, but he was still my father. His words remained cutting, despite my best efforts to ignore them.

No matter what he said, I couldn’t let myself doubt Aria. We had both committed to protecting and sustaining our family. Yes, I had seen her out with another man, but that didn’t mean she was ready to leave me and our family behind.

Shaking my head as I stood outside the door to our house, I resolved to actually sit down and talk with Aria. Last time, we’d fought, our emotions high. This time, I would do better.

We had so many things to set straight.

I’d even left work on time today, arriving home at a reasonable hour, just to ensure that she and I would have time for our much needed conversation.

Yet, the minute I walked into the house, I became alarmed.

The place was ransacked. Had we been robbed?

“Aria?” I called. Isabella was babysitting the kids for another hour, I knew, so they weren’t home yet. But I’d seen Aria’s car in the driveway. She was here. Was she hurt? “Aria? Where are you?” Panic made my heart race.

At that moment, Aria stepped out from the kitchen into the hallway. Her eyes were wide with worry, her face pale. “You’re home early.”

“I wanted to talk,” I said, coming closer. “Are you okay? What happened here? Did someone break in?”

We had an alarm system. I was sure it was on during the day, but I didn’t receive any notifications.

“No,” she said. She glanced around, as if only now realizing the mess around her. “I lost something really important. I’ve been searching for it, but I can’t find it.”

Aria made this mess?

“What is it?” I asked, thinking I could help her find whatever it was.

Her mouth immediately closed. Looking back at me, her resolve seemed to harden. After a moment, she said, “I can’t tell you.”

The words hurt. I wanted to resolve things between us but she was building new walls.

Did I even have a chance of tearing them down again?

Joe’s POV

After school, William and Joe played with the cars Isabella kept for them in her living room. She stayed with them for a time, watching and playing too. Joe waited, not wanting to reveal his secret to her.

The minute she excused herself to go into the kitchen to make them a snack, Joe turned to William.

“You’ll never believe what I found,” Joe said.

William glanced at him. “What is it?”

Joe pulled the long slip of paper from his pocket and passed it to William.

“What is this? A check?”

Joe nodded. “For 5 million dollars!”