Chapter 180

Aria’s POV

Reading the message on Liam’s phone, I went entirely still. Well, my body went still while my brain worked overtime. A million different thoughts flew threw my mind.

What Aria knows won’t hurt her.

What could that mean but the obvious? Was there any other way to interpret this? I searched my mind desperately for explanation, but came up short.

Heart breaking, I retracted my hand back to my chest and slowly backed away from Liam. What good would talking do now, when whatever he said would most likely be a lie?

I didn’t know what to do next. How would I survive this betrayal? What would happen with the kids? Would our entire family break apart now?

Memories of those texts replayed on a loop through my head. When I’d initially read them, I had trouble imagining Liam being the one to type them out and send them.

But now…

With this message…

Maybe I never really knew Liam at all.

Liam’s POV

I didn’t know how long I was asleep, but when I finally blinked my eyes open, awake again, the world was quiet and dark. Even the house was eerily still, with only the light beside the couch clicked on.

Grabbing my phone, I walked to the window and peered out. Aria’s car was in the driveway.

I cursed, realizing I had slept through her return. I’d wanted so badly to finally clear the air between us. Did she just go to bed?

Maybe she was still awake up there? Maybe it wasn’t too late.

Checking my phone to try to see the time – it was after 11pm, I was immediately annoyed to spot Joanna’s message, and I flicked it away. She knew I was coming home to try to work things out with Aria. Likely she sent that message just for Aria to see.

God, I was really at the end of my rope with Joanna and with Markus. Everything was just so exhausting at this point. I was so tired of fighting. I just wanted to be with Aria and the kids again.

Even coming home at a reasonable hour, I still hadn’t been able to spend time with any of them. Earlier, I’d fed the kids and then we started to play with their toy cars, but I’d been so exhausted I struggled to keep up.

“It’s okay, Dad,” Joe had told me, when I closed my eyes a bit too long only to snap them open again. “You’re tired.”

“Go take a nap,” William had added. “We can play later.”

“Just for a few minutes,” I had assured them. Another promise I broke.

After turning off the light in the living room, I headed up the stairs to Aria’s door. There was no light coming out from underneath it. Carefully, I pressed my ear to the door, but heard no sounds of her being awake within.

Disappointment flashed through me as I dragged myself away, back to my own room. At least I’d get to sleep in my own bed tonight, I reasoned.

I wondered what time Aria had come home. Clearly early enough to put the kids to bed. Checking on them, they were sound asleep, tucked in with the blankets up under their chins.

The hopeful side of me reasoned that Aria just didn’t want to wake me, knowing how exhausted I’d been. The rest of me wondered if she just didn’t see the need to talk. After all, if she’d been out with Samuel, enjoying his company and making plans for their future together, why would she want to talk to me at all?

Entering my own bedroom, I went to bed that night hoping that in the morning, my restful brain would provide better clarity about this situation.

Yet, when I woke up in the morning, I only continued to feel disappointment, but this time it was in myself.

By being so stubborn, working so many hours overtime, I had pushed my wife directly into the arms of another. I’d reminded her of the past, on those occasions when I would stay out late or all night, living it up at parties and events, all while keeping her confined to the shadows.

Things weren’t like that now, but how could I fault her for being reminded? She’d told me time and again that she didn’t want to return to that life. It had taken me so long to convince her that I was a changed man, but now, the results were the same, even if I’d replaced partying with work.

I couldn’t bear the thought of losing Aria. Not like this.

So I stayed later than I normally would, hoping to help with breakfast and getting the kids ready for school. Neither of us had a lot of time to spare in the mornings, but I was hoping that a few minutes would be enough.

I just needed to convince Aria not to give up on us yet.

In the kitchen, I worked on breakfast. The kids came down, lured by the smell of pancakes and bacon. I happily prepared plates for them and for Aria, though she hadn’t shown her face yet.

Midway through breakfast, she appeared. Dressed in her typical work clothes – a pants’ suit and flats, with her hair up in a tight bun – she was so beautiful.

I immediately stood up.

She stopped in the doorway, seeing me. “You are still here.”

Her face was carefully guarded, void of any and all emotion.

“I was hoping we could have a few minutes to talk before work,” I said.

She paused a moment, and I hoped that she was considering it.

“Sorry, no. I’m needed in the office early today. I trust you can get the kids on the bus this morning?” she said.

My disappointment flared hot again, but I couldn’t beg or plead.

Maybe she saw these efforts as last-ditch and insincere. I would have to work harder to prove to her that our family was ever my first priority.

“I’ll take care of it,” I said.

With a nod, she entered the kitchen and kissed Joe and then William on the tops of their head. “Do good in school today.”

“Okay,” Joe replied.

“Yeah, yeah,” William said.

“I made you breakfast,” I said, gesturing to the fourth plate.

“I can’t stay,” she said. She didn’t touch the food or look at me at all as she made her way back out of the room.

I watched her go, feeling a growing weight press down hard on my shoulders.

Desperate, immediate action was required to save my family. I needed to spend more time with Aria and the kids, to prove to them that they were my priority. The only way I could do that, however, was if I stopped wasting so much time handling these attacks from my father and his lackeys.

After seeing the kids off, I drove into work.

I knew what I had to do, even if I was dreading it.

With slow footsteps, I carried myself all the way to my office. Joanna was already there. Sitting at her desk, she had her compact open. Looking in the mirror, she was applying fresh lipstick. Spotting me, she winked.

“Good morning, Liam. Sleep well?”

Everything about this situation made me sick. But, for the sake of my family, I could endure.

I had to.

“I’ll do it,” I said. “I’ll go through with the fake engagement.”