Chapter 235

Aria’s POV

It was the easiest question of my life. “Of course I do. I love Liam very much.”

“Then that’s really all you need,” Jackson said. Seeing I was about to dismiss him, he hurriedly continues. “Listen, I know it sounds cliché, but it’s the honest truth. Does it matter what anyone else thinks? So long as the two of you have each other, everything else will fall into place. And those who are your friends will always stand beside you.”

It was a very nice sentiment, one I appreciated to an overwhelming degree. But I didn’t know how realistic it was. While I could find happiness at home, and I’m sure Liam could as well, we both needed to be able to have dealings in the real world. We both had to work, and interact among others. We couldn’t just isolate.

And then there was the kids. They needed to go to school. These were the peak years for social development. I couldn’t isolate them either, but we could only do so much to protect them from bullying.

“Stay true to each other,” Jackson said with an uplifting smile. He was a good friend, and looking at him, I could almost believe what he was saying. “Everything else will fall into place.”

With friends like Jackson and Isabella, who has been sending me encouraging messages all morning, with my kids and with Liam, maybe we could weather this… somehow.

“Besides,” Jackson said with a shrug. “The news cycle turns so fast today. At worst, you’d have to deal with it for a month, and then some other scandal will take its place.”

“You think so?” I asked, though I could already sense some truth in those words. I’d seen it firsthand myself in the past, with many of the racecar drivers, like Liam’s friends.

“No sweat,” he said and gave me a thumbs-up. It was difficult not to be encouraged by him in this moment.

I rolled my eyes at him, though, not wanting to encourage him too much. “Get out there and do those laps, Jackson, before we both get in trouble.”

“You going to write the numbers down right?” he asks with a teasing laugh.

I playfully shoved his shoulder. “Let me worry about the numbers.”

He laughed all the way to the car. This time, I wrote down the numbers correctly.

Jackson’s words stayed with me the rest of the day, helping me make it through, even when the dark looks and whispers ate away at me. I felt like the office pariah.

Oddly, Anthony, my officemate, was on my side. “Don’t let them get to you,” he told me without any lead in or prompting. “They are all just jealous of what you have. Just yesterday, they were all complaining about how much they hated Joanna, and now they are acting like she’s some saint.”

I must have looked at him strangely, because he clarified.

“I hate when people act all high and mighty,” he said.

Anthony wasn’t really a friend exactly, but I was still glad to count him among the people on my side.

Even with people supporting me, including Isabella’s continued affirming texts – You can do this! Don’t worry about them! You got this! – when I finally arrived home, I was feeling somewhat exhausted. This exhaustion led to me feeling a bit defeated.

I tried to continue to put on a brave face for the kids, but it was becoming more and more difficult. Fortunately, they didn’t seem overly bothered by what was happening just yet. But I had no idea how that would change when the interview aired.

Kids could be cruel, and I worried about them being bullied.

Liam kept a close eye on me during dinner, but when dinner was done and the kids sat down to do their homework, he pulled me aside into the living room to talk.

“I can see how much you are worrying about this,” he said.

“Aren’t you?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” he replied. “But I… I don’t know. I’ve been thinking. What if we just… left?”

I blinked, confused. “Left? Left where?”

“The scandal is only here,” Liam said. “If we go somewhere else, somewhere where we aren’t as recognized, then we could start over. If you want to, we can go right now.”

“Right now?”

“Why not?” With the way he was looking at me, I could tell he meant it. If I wanted to go right now, he would pack up everything and leave.

“You would have to give up the team,” I said.

“There are other teams.” He shrugged. “I’m thinking we can go to a different country. It could be a good learning experience for the kids.”

He’d worked so hard to get where he was, to have his reputation and this life. He would give it all up… for me?

“I just want you to be happy, Aria,” he said. “I don’t want you to worry all the time. Not about me or you or the kids. I’m willing to do whatever I can to make that happen.”

My heart warmed for him. I had thought it impossible to care for him more than I already did, yet here I was, falling even deeper into love with this man.

“I can’t ask you to give up your whole life like that,” I said.

“It’s my career, not my life,” he said. “Besides, there are plenty of other teams in other countries who might have interest in an old driver like me. We can still have our dreams and our happiness.”

“But what about the kids?” I asked. “They like it here. We can’t just uproot them.”

For the first time, Liam faltered. “I suppose that is the one hitch. But they are young. They will make new friends, and we’ll all have each other to rely on.”

I considered his offer. While it was tempting, and I was incredibly flattered, it felt so much like we would be running. I didn’t want Joanna and Markus to have that kind of effect on our lives anymore.

The interview was supposed to be our moment to take charge, and to fight back. How had things ended up so topsy-turvy?

“Let’s wait to decide,” I suggested. “We should at least see the interview and know what we are dealing with.” Maybe, for our own sanity and our children’s safety, we might have to flee eventually. But I wasn’t going to do it before it was absolutely necessary.

Liam nodded. “Okay. But the moment you want out, you tell me. I’d do anything for you, Aria. I hope you know that.”

“I do,” I said and leaned in to kiss him.

Joe’s POV

Joe and William secretly peaked in on their parents, eavesdropping on their entire conversation. They scuttled back to the kitchen when the kissing started. Gross, cooties.

Yet they had bigger problems now than just some cootie contamination.

“Are we going to move?” Joe asked.

William sighed. “Seems that way?”

Joe thought for a moment. “Did the interview really go so bad?” He thought he and William did pretty well. Did something happen after they left the room? He remembered Mom and Dad being kind of upset afterwards.

“It must have,” William said.

They both frowned.

“I don’t want to move,” Joe said.

“Me either. There has to be something we can do.”

Joe thought with all his might. “Maybe there is…”