Chapter 229

Aria’s POV

While Liam went into the kitchen to make his phone calls, I headed upstairs to speak with the kids. As I started up the stair, I heard the telltale pitter-patter of scurrying feet that told me the kids had eavesdropped for a while.

I found them both now sitting on the floor in Joe’s room, playing with toys and pretending they weren’t out of breath from dashing down the hallway.

“Hi, Mom,” Joe said, glancing at me.

“Hi, Mom,” William added, slower.

“Hi, boys,” I told them. Entering the room, I pulled the chair away from Joe’s desk and sat down on it. “I think we should have a talk about everything going on, don’t you?”

“Are you and Dad back together?” William asked.

“Yes,” I assured him. If they saw us kissing at all, they probably had already guessed that much.

“Then why did he propose to that other lady?” Joe asked.

“Joanna,” William said with disgust.

Now was the time for me to tell the truth. I didn’t know how much to reveal, and felt like saying too much or too little could be problematic. I was walking a tightrope of potentially hurting my kids’ feelings. I wasn’t a perfect parent, but I wanted to get this right.

“You know your father has been under a lot of stress at work,” I said. “Part of that has been because his own father was putting a lot of pressure on him.”

That surprised both boys.

“Dad has a dad?” William asked.

“Of course he has a dad,” Joe said. “But I didn’t know he was alive.”

“He’s not anymore,” I said. “But he was a very influential and powerful man who sought to control your father’s life. To escape him, your dad had to trick him, and trick everyone else too. He did this by proposing to Joanna. But none of it was real.”

“Because he’s married to you,” Joe said.

“Did the trick work?” William asked.

“Yes and no,” I admitted. “But it’s over now. It’s gone too far. Your dad and I are going to talk to a reporter tomorrow and set the entire record straight. We’re going to tell everyone that he and I are married, and about you both being our children.”

“So I can tell people at school that he’s my dad?” Joe asked.

“And I can tell people you are my mom?” William asked.

It broke my heart, realizing that my desire to keep my relationship with Liam a secret had hurt more than just the two of us. Our whole family had to carry the burden of this omission.

No more.

No longer.

“Yes,” I told them. “After tomorrow, you can tell everyone and anyone you want.”

The kids’ faces lit up like Christmas morning, and if I hadn’t already been sure that I was doing the right thing, I’d be doubly sure now.

Seeing their happy faces made everything worth it.

We were a real, honest-to-goodness family now. And we didn’t have to hide it anymore.

It was getting late, so after playing cars with the children for a bit, I made them get ready for bed and then tucked them in.

“You won’t change your mind?” William asked, just before I turned off the light in his room. “You promise we can tell everyone.”

“I promise,” I told him, my heart aching. “I won’t change my mind.”

I waited for his small reply of, “Okay,” before clicking off the light and stepping out into the hallway.

Downstairs, I found Liam wrapping up his phone conversation.

“Thanks again. Really, I mean it,” Liam said. “Yeah. I owe you one.”

After clicking off the phone, he looked over at me. “You talked to the kids.”

It wasn’t a question. Though I’d told him that was what I was going to do, it still surprised me that he seemed so certain about it.

“They took the news well,” he said, just as certain.

“Yes,” I said, “But how could you tell?”

“You look happy,” Liam admitted, smiling a little himself.

I was smiling too. I only realized that now.

“I didn’t realize how much I was asking of the kids to keep our family a secret,” I said. “I regret it, but I’m also pleased to have fixed it now.”

Liam nodded. Glancing down at his phone. “The favor has been called in and a reporter is going to be here first thing in the morning. I probably could have negotiated better. I thought I was the one asking for a favor, but my friend was ecstatic to get the scoop.”

“It all works out then,” I said.

“It does,” he agreed.

We were quiet for a moment, both lost in thought while stealing glances at each other.

“What are we going to tell the reporter tomorrow?” I asked.

“Aren’t we telling them the truth?” Liam asked me, confusion splitting his brows.

“Yes, but… from when? We’ve been married for a long time now,” I said. “Maybe we should just start at our reconciliation.”

Liam seemed uncertain about that. “I think we should start at the beginning.”

“The beginning? Like, the very beginning?”

“Yes. Back to when we first met. I want to tell them the whole story.”

This gave me pause. To go back that far would make our story very long indeed. Perhaps it would explain a few things but… The truth was, I had another reason for wanting to start with our reconciliation, not that I was against starting farther back.

“Liam,” I said. “I don’t even know the whole story.”

There’d been a lot of hurt feelings and speculation on both sides about the past. Joanna and Markus had both hinted that there was more to my first meeting with Liam than even I knew. Joanna had implied that Liam had married me not for love but for something else, something he regretted.

While I did not doubt Liam’s love for me now, I did wonder if there was some truth in the things that she had said. Liam had acted so differently towards me back then, always keeping me at a distance, and keeping me hidden. We’d come a long way since then, but I still wondered…

Liam suddenly acted with guilt. Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked at me with a sad sort of smile.

“Maybe it’s time we talked, then,” he said. “I’ve been meaning to tell you everything, but… God, so much has happened since then. But you are right, you don’t know all of it, and you should. Especially before tomorrow.”

Worry creased his brow. “Maybe you’ll even change your mind about telling everyone. Or about me.”

“I know you love me now, Liam,” I said.

“I do,” Liam said. “But I don’t want to hurt you, Aria.”

“It will only hurt me if I have to find out from someone else. If we are going to come forward, make our relationship public, and rebuild everything, then we should do it the right way. I want to start from the very beginning,” I said. “I want to know everything there is to know.”

Liam still seemed heistant, but after a moment, he nodded. “Okay, Aria. You’re right. It’s time I tell you everything, even if the truth hurts us.”