Chapter 215

Aria’s POV

In our search for the children, we traveled along the roads to the park. There, I searched the kids’ favorite play areas: behind the slide, around the swings, near the seesaws and the jungle gym.

William and Joe were nowhere to be found. Likewise, I saw no evidence that they had been here at all.

“Anything?” I called out to Liam, who was searching the bathrooms.

He clicked the light off as he came back outside. “No.”

His grim expression mirrored my own.

While we stood there silently in the dark, empty playground, Liam’s phone began to ring. Removing it from his pocket, we both looked down at the screen.

Joanna.

Disgust immediately rose in my gut. I hadn’t forgotten about Liam’s betrayal, though we had both agreed to put it on the backburner for now as we searched for the children. They were more important than our personal feelings.

Yet even so, having her intrude on us here and now made a vicious sort of anger rise up within me – the kind of anger that made me want to grab Liam’s phone and throw it against the hall, smashing it to pieces.

I would never do that, not even in my worst moments. But I was closer than I’d ever been.

“Are you going to answer that?” I asked him, unable to keep the distain out of my voice.

“Absolutely not,” he said, and blocked the call. Then he returned the phone to his pocket.

We left the park and continued our search. We decided to head toward the more commercial areas. The children likely would head to places they were familiar with. The roads of the residential districts were a maze of cul-de-sacs and looping streets. I imagined they would have avoided getting lost there.

Liam’s phone rang again. This time, after glancing at it for a only a moment, he clicked it off again.

It must have been Joanna for the second time, intruding on our privacy.

Though, who was I to say if this was truly an intrusion for Liam? Perhaps he wanted to confide in her, since they were engaged and all.

Bitterness quaked through me. Coupled along with my worry and pain over the kids and I was becoming a vicious sort of mess.

Even though Liam was beside me in this search, I suddenly felt so alone.

Everything I had thought about him – about us – had been turned sideways since seeing that engagement.

I genuinely couldn’t be certain of Liam’s priorities anymore, and that deeply upset me.

Perhaps, if I hadn’t been so torn up, I would have been able to maintain a more distant composure. Instead, I asked snidely, “Are you truly dedicated to your children, Liam? Or perhaps there’s somewhere else you would rather be.”

Liam stopped in his tracks to turn and look at me. “How can you ask me something like that?”

He sounded offended. Good. Maybe there was some hope for him yet, then.

“I thought you might want to focus on Joanna,” I said.

“I will explain everything about Joanna,” Liam said, intensity burning in his eyes. “But whatever else you believe, believe this. I will always be here for my children.”

With the amount of passion he put into the words, I could not help but believe him.

And I was relieved.

Joe’s POV

The waitress at the diner was very nice to Joe and William. Even though Joe told her they didn’t have money, she still gave them each a piece of warm apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a tall glass of milk.

Joe kept secret that he’d made a phone call, and William seemed oblivious as he ate his pie and ice cream.

“We should go to the arcade,” William said. “I’ve always wondered what the place looks like after hours.”

“They kick kids out at 9,” Joe reminded him.

“So we hide somewhere. We’re good at that.”

Joe wondered about William’s plans. They didn’t even have enough money to buy this pie, how did William expect to spend all night in an arcade? And what were his plans for after that? Was he just expecting people to help them out of the kindness of their hearts because they were children?

Joe remembered all the lessons about stranger danger. He knew they shouldn’t accept things from people that they didn’t know or trust.

Even accepting this pie was probably a bad idea, though Joe thought that so long as they stayed in the diner, it would be okay.

He kept glancing at the door.

William gave him a curious look. “What’s wrong with you? You expecting someone?” He laughed like it was a joke, not realizing that Joe was, in fact, waiting for someone.

The minute Isabelle poked her head through the door, a sense of relief washed over Joe. Finally, seeing her, he knew he was safe, and he wouldn’t have to worry anymore.

Meanwhile, William, spotting Isabelle, glared at Joe. “You really were waiting for someone. Did you call her? Why would you do that? She’s going to make us go home!”

Guilt swelled in Joe, but he tried to be strong against it, believing that he did the right thing.

When Isabelle saw them, she released a breath of relief and walked toward them.

“Slide in,” she said to Joe, who obeyed, making room for her to sit on the edge of the bench.

“You promised not to tell anyone,” William hissed at Joe.

“I only said Mom and Dad,” Joe replied.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Isabelle said, looking at them both. “Someone want to explain what you are doing here?”

“We’re running away,” William said, lifting his chin defiantly.

Joe, the opposite, sunk into his seat. Because of this, he could see Isabelle texting under the table.

“Can I ask why?” Isabelle said.

“Because,” William scoffed, like it was obvious. “Mom and Dad are getting divorced and they aren’t going to want us anymore.”

William might have said the words with a measure of defiance in his voice, but there was pain as well. If Joe could hear it, Isabelle likely could too. Her growing frown told Joe that she did.

“What makes you think that?” she asked.

“Joe’s their real kid, but I’m not. As soon as they split, they are going to send me back to my real mom. Well, I’m not going. I’d rather be alone. I’m a tough kid. I can make it.” William looked at Joe. “You can go back if you want, Joe, but I’m not going.”

“You are their real kid too,” Isabelle said softly. “Blood doesn’t matter to them. They adopted you William. No matter what happens, you are their kid. Even if they get divorced, which is a maybe not a definite, that will not change.”

William deflated slightly, looking like a shell of the confident kid he’d been only a moment ago. Joe wondered if this was the true William underneath the bluster. He was just a lonely kid who wanted his parents to want him back.

Joe could see that Mom and Dad loved William, even if William could not.

“Will you wait to hear them out?” Isabelle asked.

“They don’t know where we are,” William said, uncertain.

Just then the bell chimed on the door. Looking over, they saw Mom and Dad walking into the diner, frightened, panicked expressions on their faces.

When they spotted William and Joe, they relaxed somewhat.

“You told them,” William said, annoyed, to Isabelle.

“I didn’t make the same promise,” Isabelle said.

William glared at Joe instead.

“Let’s just hear them out, okay?” Joe tried.

William might have put on a brave front, but Joe could see the look of relief on William’s face, seeing their parents and listening to Isabelle’s words.

“Fine,” William said stubbornly. “But if I don’t like what they say, I’m still running away.”