Chapter 63

Aria’s POV

“Joe…”

Isabella’s use of all capital letters in her text had me concerned, but Joe, as always, was my first priority. After dropping a bombshell on him like this, I wasn’t about to leave while he was still processing.

He swiveled back to me, his big eyes damp, and my entire chest cavity crumbled to pieces. Forget my heart, it was already shattered.

Stretching my arms out, I offered a hug. Rushing toward me, he collided with my chest at high speeds, knocking the wind out of me. That didn’t stop me from wrapping my arms protectively around him.

“I’ll miss everyone… School… Liam…” His voice was small, muffled against my shoulder.

“It won’t be forever,” I explained. “My bosses promised that we would spend equal time between all the team’s locations. So we’ll be back in a few months.”

“A few months is so long…”

It was, especially for someone who was only 6 years old. It might feel that long for me too. Though I was excited to advance my career, Joe and I had built a life here for ourselves. Leaving it behind would not be easy.

Rubbing my hand up and down his back, I kissed the top of his head and said, “We’ll have each other. No matter what.”

“Okay,” he said, and that, at least seemed to soothe him. He pulled away after a moment and picked up his drawing. “Can I give this to Liam before we go? I don’t want him to forget me.”

The words stab through me, a knife straight to the heart. “He won’t forget you, Joe. I promise.”

Joe worried his bottom lip with his teeth. My words weren’t going to be enough. He’ll need to be reassured by Liam himself.

After how Liam was acting earlier, I wasn’t in any kind of mood to have to deal with him again so soon, but for Joe, I would converse with the devil himself. Liam wasn’t the devil, he was just… confusing. He made everything so complicated, tangling my feelings all up inside of me.

“Let me make a few calls,” I tell Joe and step away.

Out in the hallway, I bring out my phone again. I’ve received several more texts from Isabella.

ARE YOU WATCHING?

Aria, this isn’t a joke!

Then, at last, was a text with a link attached. Opening the message, I clicked on the link, curious what had her so upset.

The link opened a video which immediately started to auto-play on my phone.

“Breaking news tonight, our local F1 race team is in hot water...” said an official-looking newscaster, a woman in a smart suit sitting behind a desk. I recognized the set as the local evening news.

Local F1 team… She had to be talking about us. I didn’t remember hearing about any scandal at work today. Did one of the other employees get into trouble somehow?

To my shock, my own face appeared on the screen.

“Trainer Aria has been accused of including stimulant-laced foods in her enrichment meals given to the drivers of the team…”

That was absurd! I would never!

“This would give those drivers the unfair advantage of improved focus and quicker reaction times,” the newscaster continued. “Competitive teams are demanding answers. The F1 organizes have sworn to open an investigation into the matter. We’ve reached out to Aria and the head of this F1 team, former driver Liam for comment. We have yet to hear a reply.”

The video ended there, right as my heart started to hammer faster and faster. Confused by what I saw, I continued to stare at the screen. This had to be some kind of prank, right? Some goodbye joke. Any moment now Liam or one of my co-workers would call and have a big laugh at my expense.

My phone started to ring and I nearly dropped it. I didn’t recognize the number, so I ignored the call. Immediately, it rang again. I didn’t know that number either. A third unknown number called. And then a fourth.

Ignore, ignore, ignore.

Then, finally, a number and name I recognized.

Isabella.

Answering this call, I brought it to my ear. “If this is a joke, I need you to tell me right now. I’m starting to freak out.”

“If it’s a joke, I’m sure as hell not in on it,” Isabella replied. “But I don’t think it’s a joke, Aria. It was on the news.”

“I didn’t do this.”

“I know that, and I’m sure your team does too. It’s probably some rival spreading rumors.”

I wanted to believe that, but rumors didn’t end up on the evening news. Something else was going on.

“It has to be some kind of mistake,” Isabella said.

“Isabella, can you come over to watch Joe? I need to head back to work and find out what’s going on.”

By the time I reached the office, evening had fully set in and the sun had nearly disappeared behind the clouds. It was a bit unnerving. With the bright fluorescents on in my office, the world beyond my windows seemed pitch black.

It wasn’t the first time I was working late. But everything about tonight had me on edge.

Digging through my files, I checked and rechecked my records. Over the course of my employment here, I had kept track of every facet of my nutrition plan, down to base ingredients and the suppliers to those ingredients.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Where did the media receive this false information?

I research further into the files, back into the ones recorded before I even arrived at this job. The previous trainer did not keep notes as meticulous as mine, but what was there showed no indication of anything nefarious.

“Aria.”

So focused in my work, I didn’t hear Liam at first. Not until he said my name a second time, louder.

“Aria.”

Lowering the folders in my hands, I looked up at him as he came through the doorway to my office.

“What are you still doing here?” Aria asked.

“I never left,” Liam said. Compared to how he was earlier, he seemed much less accusatory. He still seemed somewhat angry, his shoulders tense, but that anger no longer felt directed at me.

“You saw the news?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“I didn’t do what they are saying.”

“I know,” he said simply. I stare at him, unsure how he can believe me in this, when we’d had so many misunderstandings in which he doubted me in the past. “Stimulants would hurt our drivers in the long term. You would never do anything like that.”

I nodded, relieved that he believed me at least, even if the rest of the world didn’t.

“We’ll find out who is behind this and stop them,” Liam said. “We’ll get them to tell the truth.”

“Will that be enough? This is already creating a scandal… Liam, my phone has been ringing non-stop.”

Even now, it was still buzzing in my purse. I had set it to block most calls now, except for those on my emergency list.

“We’ll make sure you have nothing to worry about,” Liam said, but he couldn’t promise that. He was just one man, and the whole world seemed against me.

The landline phone on my desk started to ring. Both Liam and I looked at it.

“I’ll get it,” he said, and walked over. Lifting the phone from the receiver, he brought it to his ear and said, “This is Liam.”

He paused a moment, listening. When his eyes met mine, his mouth went tight.

“It’s one of the executives, Aria,” Liam said. He lowered the phone from his ear and held it out to me. “He wants to speak to you.”