Although people here don't care much about rich businessmen, Liam is more of a celebrity than a businessman as evident by all the billboards across town and the ad campaigns using him as the model. Not to mention he was recently on the cover of a top business magazine as one of the youngest CEOs in the world. With his relationship status in limbo, picturing him with a woman and a baby would become a worthy gossip. Those tabloids won't miss this chance.
Their big boss advised Liam to reveal his relationship status because he thought that would help with the stock prices. It seems like Liam is still opposed to that idea. Or he might not want to reveal Ms. Roberts to the world.
Liam's attention turned to Aurora. She was saying something to Ellie and the baby was smiling at her mother. He smiled.
"We'll wait. You go and…"
Suddenly, Liam's attention turned to the TV screen behind Jake. There were many TVs around the lounge and each had different channels on. This particular TV had the news channel on and the chyron grabbed his attention.
[Hiker found the body of a woman in Angeles National Forest]
Liam tried to listen to the newscaster, but the volume was low and he could not hear. He immediately turned to Rory to see if she saw the news. But she was playing with Ellie and was not minding the TVs.
Jake didn't understand why Liam's face went pale all of a sudden. He turned to see what was going on but he felt a pull.
"Jake, we are leaving immediately. And no one takes even a single picture of Rory and Ellie. No one." Liam said as he switched off his phone. "Postpone all my meetings indefinitely…" Liam rubbed his lips but then took in a deep breath. "No, make it all virtual and… until my cousin's wedding. For anyone who asks for me, I left for my hometown to attend my cousin's wedding, alright?" he patted Jake's shoulders.
Jake nodded, He was a little perplexed by Liam's change of decision, but he has a job to do. He has to handle the paps. But Liam held his sleeve, which Jake rather found distasteful. "No pictures of them with me," Liam whispered, this time, it was more of a pleading.
Liam looked shaken. With a nod, Jake walked with larger steps towards the exit. His eyes ended up at the TV Liam was staring at a moment ago. As he walked closer, he could hear what was spoken. The newscaster was still talking about the decomposed body they'd found.
Ah… so this is it…
Jake's lips curved to a lopsided smile.
Fascinating…
Liam walked to Rory and stood her up. He pulled the drawstrings of her hoodie to the extent of covering her face. Only her eyes were out and he covered them with his sunglasses.
Rory was stunned by his sudden act. She couldn't stop him as she was holding Ellie. "What are you doing? I cannot see anything." She grumbled.
"Shh! There are…" he cleared his throat. "The sun is out and you… the baby…" he tried to get Ellie from her hand but then stopped. "Never mind. Just cover her face."
Liam then went to pick up her bag and the carrycot. Rory watched him acting weird and shrugged. She is wearing sunscreen and she is not going to be standing in the sun for more than ten minutes. She didn't know what he was talking about. But she let him do what he wanted.
Like clockwork!
He acts weird when it is closer to the boarding time to hide his flying anxiety. He must be already very nervous thinking about the flight. But she wouldn't lie. She was a lot happy that he decided to join her on this flight despite all his discomforts.
She was happy for Ellie. She gets to do this thing with her father for the first time! It's like a life milestone!
As they walked out, she thought she heard the name "Laura Brown" on the TV. She tried to have a look but she got distracted by Liam's side profile. He looked very stressed. She wanted to hold his hand to give him comfort, but she didn't know if she is allowed to do that.
Can you hold your ex-husband's hand?
Before she could decide, his big, warm hands wrapped her hands. Her heart started to pound. She didn't know where she got the stingy feeling on her hand though.
"Just follow Jake and walk to the front. Don't look back for me," Liam said as they stepped out of the exit.
Rory nodded, although his behavior was confusing. He made sure her face is covered once more. She shrugged it off and walked to the front. Liam followed her five feet behind.
It was very sunny and even with the sunglasses, her eyes hurt a bit. Her blue eyes are very sensitive to light and so are his. She wondered why he gave his sunglasses to her. He would be hurting. She pulled out her sunglasses to return his sunglasses.
She was about to turn and it was then she noticed the clicking noise coming from the fence in the distance. She saw the paparazzi there with their telescopic lenses snapping their fingers off.
Ah… now it makes sense!
She was saddened as she realized that Liam asked her to walk to the front to not get caught with her. But it is acceptable. She is not the woman to walk rightfully by his side anymore.
She is not his wife.
But he is not having any problems letting them capture him with a diaper bag. So that should mean that he is willing to publicize that Ellie is his daughter.
Rory's lips curved to a smile. She hugged Ellie close to her. She concluded that he arranged for the paps to introduce his daughter to the public. Just like he sent her away to have some time with his daughter, she thought he plans to use the tabloids to acknowledge his daughter.
The hostess welcomed them with a smile. As they settled for the take-off, she saw Liam who was sitting facing her, completely nervous. He was looking through the window in the direction of the paps.
"You can tell them that I am your cousin or… relative, you know? If the pictures cause an issue.." Rory said softly.
There was a reason she said that. She wanted him to say that he is not going to lie about the mother of his baby as his cousin. But the little smile at the corner of her lips was wiped away by Liam almost immediately.
"What?" Liam looked at her with his face scrunched as if he heard something absurd. "You want your pictures posted in tabloids? Dream on! I am not going to let them publish the pictures!" he said and with a scoff, he looked away.
"Okay…" Rory shrugged.
But her eyes clouded. The tone he used hurt her.
He is thinking that she is someone who wants to be in a gossip magazine. It's not like she does not know how to do that. If she calls any one of those tabloids promising an exclusive, she will instantly become a celebrity. She could get prime-time interviews, and book deals, and she can sue his ass in court without spending a dime of her own.
But it would bring down the company that he built from the ground up. She will never do that. She will never hurt him.
And it appears that she was the one who jumped to conclusions. Maybe the paps were there for someone else or arranged by someone else.