Chapter 195

Liam’s POV

Friday morning, I was filled with dread and trepidation. I wasn’t looking forward to this coming weekend, not even slightly. The engagement party set for Saturday night was sure to be terrible, but it’s the potential fallout with Aria that had me on edge the most.

I hoped she could see my side of things, understand where I was coming from, and forgive me. But the longer I kept the secret, the longer time went on during which she clearly knew something was wrong, the less sure I was that she would see things my way – at least, not as quickly and easily as I had once surmised.

Sitting in my office, I hoped today would be a long one. I wasn’t ready to face what was coming.

As if oblivious to my worry and fears, Joanna cross the small space between our desks and held something out for me. I looked down, and in the center of her palm, Joanna held a small ring. It was her engagement ring, the one she’d worn on her left hand ring finger since the moment she reentered my life.

“Take it,” she said.

“I don’t want it,” I told her.

She rolled her eyes at me. “It’s not for you to keep. You need to present it to me at the engagement party.”

That was news to me. “I’m not doing that.”

“It’s a gesture,” Joanna insisted. “You will ‘recreate’ the moment of our engagement for the party guests. I expect you to drop to one knee as you present it. Say something nice, too.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“It’s tradition, Liam. Haven’t you ever attended one of these parties? Or has it been too long since you spent time amongst your own kind?”

“My ‘kind?’” I scoffed.

“Members of the high society. Socialites. Do you need me to explain everything to you?” She looked down at the ring she still held out for me. “By recreating that moment for our party guests, we will more firmly convince them that our engagement is legitimate. Unless, of course, you want them questioning everything.”

“It’s an asinine tradition.”

“Even so, it’s a necessary one.”

With a sigh, I grabbed the ring from her palm. She immediately closed her palm while smirking at me.

“This doesn’t mean I’m not any less furious with you for that stunt you pulled with the guest list,” I said to her harshly. By adding members of the news media, both owners and personalities, she had thrown in a wrench directly into my plan to keep this event quiet.

Because of this action, I had to call in a ton of favors to keep those news agencies from reporting on the engagement. Even then, they all only promised to hold their tongues until Sunday. After that, everything would be on the news.

“I couldn’t exclude them,” Joanna said as she moved back to her own desk. “Could you imagine how harsh the headlines would be if they found out that they hadn’t even been invited to the party? This way, they’ll be kinder.”

“They shouldn’t be reporting on this at all. If you hadn’t told them about it –”

“They would find out at the next society party,” Joanna said. “Trust me, in the long run, it’s better for them to be invited.”

I didn’t trust her, not with this or anything else. In fact, I was even starting to have serious doubts that this engagement would even permanently solve the problems with Markus. Eventually, he would find out that we would deceive him. I didn’t know how much longer he had to live, but I didn’t much care for the idea that I was banking on him dying sooner rather than later.

He was a terrible father and a horrible man, but I still wouldn’t wish anyone death.

“I need some fresh air,” I said. Depositing the ring in my inside jacket pocket, I stood and walked toward the office door.

“You worry too much,” Joanna said. “It’s all going to be fine.”

Perhaps she intended the words to be comforting, but I would find no comfort in anything she had to say. Without a word to her, I stepped out of the office and headed toward the stairs.

I had so much to think about, but very few solutions. Regardless for my feelings toward Joanna or this engagement party or the gaudy ring in my pocket, I had no real choice but to go along with it.

Maybe Markus wouldn’t be fooled indefinitely, but he had already backed off for now. In the past few days, I’d already spent more time with the kids than I had in the weeks before.

I hated how high the cost was, however.

If only there was another way…

Joanna’s POV

After Liam had left the office, Joanna quietly stood and closed the office door. Returning to her desk, she lifted her phone and dialed a familiar number.

“Tell me good news,” Markus said when he answered. Before she could reply, he began coughing fiercely. She patiently waited for him to finish before she spoke.

“Liam’s agreed to present the ring at the party,” she said. “It was a struggle. He’s being increasingly difficult, but I don’t think he will back out.”

“Good,” Markus replied.

Some concern crept through Joanna. Despite the competence of the plan and her trust in Markus, Joanna still worried about Aria – the wildcard in all of this, the one who could ruin everything if she didn’t act how Markus predicted.

“You are certain Aria will be there to see the proposal?” Joanna asked. It wasn’t the first time she’d asked this, but it was the one piece of this plan that bothered her consistently.

If Markus was tired of reassuring her, he did not reveal his annoyance. Instead, he calmly answered, “The plan will work Joanna. Aria will be there. We’ve left just enough crumbs for her curiosity to be piqued. She’ll be there. She’ll see.”

“Then she’ll leave Liam for sure,” Joanna continued, reciting the plan as they had many times before.

“And when she does, your engagement to Liam will become real.”

Joanna knew that without Aria, Liam would have already been eating out of the palm of her hand. It was only because of his prior, foolish commitment that he couldn’t properly see the good the two of them – Joanna and Liam – could do together.

As a pair, they would make so much money. Even with his attachments, she struggled to understand why he couldn’t commit to her for the sake of their wealth.

Regardless, soon that wouldn’t matter at all. With Aria out of the way, he’d have no more reason to not bind himself to Joanna in marriage and commit to Markus’s legacy.

“That girl has a backbone, I will give her that. She has also sired him a legitimate heir,” Markus said. “But she is otherwise nothing but a hindrance to Liam.”

Joanna didn’t totally agree. As far as she was concern, Aria could take the children with her. The only legitimate heirs Liam was going to have were with Joanna herself.

Perhaps, before the marriage, they could write that into the prenuptial agreement.

Those were troubles for future days though. For now, simply removing Aria from the picture would be enough to satisfy Joanna.

Liam would be hers. Once and for all.