Chapter 91

Liam’s POV

“Be serious, Sophia.”

“You think I’m not serious?” Her voice carried a harsh edge, but even that, I’d heard before. She was ever the kind who cried wolf, but never actually meant it.

“Just put your clothes back on and take a nap,” I said. “Maybe eat something.”

“I’m not a child, Liam,” she said fiercely, voice rising like she was about to throw a tantrum.

I rolled my eyes. For not being a child, she was sure acting like one. “I have to go. I need to get back to the office.”

“Where are you, anyway?” Sophia demanded. “Did you go to see her?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said, meaning, it’s not your business.

She seemed to read between the lines. “How could you? When William and I are your true family?”

“Sophia, we’ve talked about this. Your delusions aren’t healthy. Did you stop seeing your therapist again?”

“You are still treating me like a child! You think I won’t do it, do you? You think I don’t have the nerve? Or do you think I don’t have a gun?”

“Sophia, come on.” I hated when she talked like this.

“Guns are so easy to get, Liam. All I did was bat my eyes, and they didn’t even do a background check.”

“Sophia. Stop this now.”

“Still don’t believe me? Just wait.”

Abruptly, the line went dead.

She had to be bluffing. She loved herself too much to actually hurt herself, yet… I didn’t know. She’d been so off lately, and the way she was talking… What she said about getting a gun…

Walking back to my car, I considered actually going over to her house to check on her. I didn’t want to indulge her fantasies or seem like I was giving in. Either of those cases could only lead to an escalation of her threatening suicide just to get what she wanted.

Sitting behind the wheel, I debated with myself. My lunch hour was already almost over. I really needed to head back to work. She had to be bluffing. I was only going to hurt my reputation by extending my lunch just to check. I’d get over there and she’d pretend everything was fine. She’d probably answer the door in that lingerie and try to seduce me again.

Not really wanting to experience that, I decided to head back to the office instead. Yet, after securing my seatbelt and starting the car, another message came in. No, this time it was a video recording.

I should have ignored it, maybe, but I’d never been great at ignoring anything, especially when my surrogate sister just told me she wanted to kill herself.

With the car still in park, I clicked the video and it started to play.

Sophia had thrown on a t-shirt and sweatpants, thank God. That relief however only lasted for a moment, until she lifted a gun up over her chest. With a dead-eyed look, she stared straight into the camera.

“You think I’m a child. You always doubt me. Never do that again.”

She tilted the gun so that the camera captured it from all angles. Admittedly, I knew very little about guns, but it looked legitimate to me.

“You don’t take me seriously when I say I’ll kill myself, so let’s raise the stakes.”

Sophia walked toward a doorway. Standing behind it, out of sight, she angled the camera to show what was within – and whom.

The next room was the living room, where William sat on the couch watching television. He had no realization of the danger lurking on the other side of the doorway.

My gripped turned white-knuckled on the phone. My stomach dropped down somewhere on the floor, even as fresh bile rose up my throat.

Threatening herself wasn’t common, but it wasn’t something new.

Threatening William was something she had never done before. Ever.

The camera turned away from William, focusing on Sophia once more.

“We all want the same thing,” she said. “For everything to return to normal. That means you let Aria go and come back to your real family. The family that needs you.” She pouted her bottom lip. “You see how much trouble I get into without you, Liam. I’m sure you’ll make the right choice.” Her eyes hardened. “Or else.”

The video cut off there, leaving me to stare at a dark screen. I was in shock from what I just witnessed.

My fingers moved of their own accord, sending Sophia a message. Don’t do anything. I’m coming over.

Sophia’s reply was just as quick. Don’t come here with lies. Break things off with Aria, then we’ll talk.

I replied, Don’t hurt him.

Her answer was equally as quick. Don’t give me a reason to.

Fear in my heart, I made a last effort to kindle my hope. I called William’s school.

Maybe this was an older video. Maybe William was safely in class, and I could pick him up at the end of the day and get him somewhere away from his mother and that gun.

“I’m inquiring about William. This is Liam…”

The secretary remembered me. Since William had started school there, we’d turned in the necessary paperwork to ensure that I was practically his guardian. Over the years, I’d dropped him off, picked him up, and even attended parent-teacher conferences.

So I had every right to ask, “I’ve heard that William hasn’t been attending school lately. Can you confirm whether he is in class today?”

“On moment while I check,” the secretary said.

She put me on hold, and I held my breath for the entire time until she returned.

“I’m sorry, Liam. It seems as if William has been absent all of this week. Today is no exception.”

He wasn’t in school. He was at home. That video was recent.

Sophia had a gun.

“Thank you,” I said and hung up.

I truly had no choices then. If I called the police, Sophia might harm William before they could do anything to stop her.

The only way to save him was to give Sophia what she wanted for now. If I played along, eventually I might be in a place to get William to safety and Sophia the help she so obviously needed.

For now, though… my hands were tied.

Setting my phone to the side, I focused on driving myself back to headquarters.

In my office, I sat behind my desk and called in my assistant. With her as witness, I signed off on Aria’s resignation, then handed her the form to give to HR as soon as possible.

“That’s not all,” I said.

My assistant paused.

“Arrange a press conference for this afternoon,” I said. “As many news outlets as you can manage.”

“They’ll want a reason for the conference,” my assistant said.

“It’s regarding Aria’s resignation.”

The assistant gave me a skeptical look. Aria was important to the team, but not important enough that only her resignation would draw attention.

“Tell them I also intend to clarify my personal relationship with her,” I said.

My assistant’s eyebrows shot straight up. “That isn’t public knowledge, Sir. I’m not sure it’s even a scandal yet…”

Her intention was clear. It wasn’t a scandal yet, but if I opened my mouth about it, it would be.

But what could I do? Sophia needed a grand gesture to turn that gun away.

I had no choice but to give her one.