Aria’s POV I couldn’t let Markus’s vile words get to me. Liam and I did have a future together, but it was one that we both had to be willing to work towards. Liam and I had both said some not nice things to each other. I knew he was keeping secrets and he accused me of doing the same. It was pas
Liam’s POV I still hadn’t found my phone when Joanna walked in. Standing behind my chair, I shook my coat, hoping the phone would fall out of one of the pockets. All of my drawers had been pulled open and my chair pulled away from my desk. I’d just finished searching beneath the desk and behind it.
Aria’s POV Having an affair? Liam and Joanna? Suddenly I didn’t feel very hungry for my lunch anymore and pushed it slightly away from me on my desk. I didn’t believe her – at least I didn’t want to, but my doubts echoed over and over in my head. Liam had been working many late nights recently.
“My reasons for telling you are not entirely selfless,” Joanna said. “Of course I want the two of you to divorce. I’ve never made a secret of that. But, at the same time, I find his treatment of you, keeping you in the dark like this, to be entirely tasteless. No husband of mine will be allowed to b
Liam’s POV My falling asleep at my desk caused more problems than just worrying Aria. The work I had intended to finish in the night was still overdue. This caused me to cram in so many emails and document reviews all morning. My workload was overflowing so much that I also had to work through lunc
Liam’s POV When it came to be closing time, I apologized to the accounting department but still made plans to leave as soon as possible. Some guilt about staying overnight the night before stuck with me, doubled now by how much I was considering Joanna’s offer. Aria had been right. She and I neede
“He loves you,” Isabella said. “I’ve seen it in the way he looks at you and how he acts.” “Does that matter? His father and Joanna have been pressuring him to divorce me, threatening the entire team. Maybe the pressure has finally gotten to him.” “If he wasn’t under so much pressure anymore, then
Aria’s POV Reading the message on Liam’s phone, I went entirely still. Well, my body went still while my brain worked overtime. A million different thoughts flew threw my mind. What Aria knows won’t hurt her. What could that mean but the obvious? Was there any other way to interpret this? I sear
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
Aria’s POVIn 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
Joe’s POVWhen William told Joe he was leaving, Joe knew he couldn’t let William go alone. The world was a dangerous place, and William was far too confident about things. Plus, with how William was talking, he sounded like he wasn’t planning on coming back.Joe hoped to convince him differently.So
Aria’s POVFor most of the day, I did my best to avoid Liam, but it was difficult. He seemed to be doing the same, giving me the space I requested, yet every once in a while, we’d find ourselves entering the same room or hallway, or going the same way toward the stairs.There was an awkward moment o
Aria’s POVBitter thoughts of Markus made me feel sick, but I pushed those dark feelings away and turned off the television again. With Markus gone, he could never hurt anyone ever again. He couldn’t haunt or stalk us.Liam might have already made his choice, but at least the children and I would be
Liam’s POV“Isabelle, I just need to talk to Aria,” I said, pleadingly. “If you just tell me where she is –”“Then you’ll continue to bother her.” Isabelle, arms crossed, glared at me in open disgust and distain. “She told me what she saw. And it makes me feel a thousand times worse, for having told
Liam’s POVI took my own car to Mr. Peters’ office. Several times on the route, I nearly turned and drove home instead, desperate to talk to Aria. Once, I stopped so long at a red light that Joanna called me on the phone.“Your father is dead, Liam. You have an obligation to him now. Aria will still
“I’m so sorry,” Isabelle said, her face downtrodden, her own make staining streaks down her face. We must have looked like quite the pair. It’d be laughable if my heart wasn’t so very heavy. “I totally misread the entire situation. When I saw that ring…”“How could you think anything but what you di
Liam’s POV“I don’t care what you think, Joanna,” I said coldly. With everything going on, now she wanted to threaten me? Didn’t she realize that without Aria, I had nothing left to lose? “With Markus gone, I have no reason to stay in this relationship.”“We had an agreement,” Joanna said. Her anger