#Chapter 207: Free Of One Tyrant Bound To Another

Liam’s POV I sat on a stone bench along the walkway, my mind in shock over what just happened. I’d risked so much trying to appease Markus with this fake proposal, and now I was going to lose it all. And with Markus gone, it hadn’t even been necessary. I should have waited this out, or fought harder. Because I gave up too soon, I allowed Markus to have his way in the end. Maybe he’d planned all this from the start. I had no proof of it, but I was willing to believe that he had arranged for Aria to be here tonight. Even from beyond the grave, he was still trying to control my life. That was the other issue weighing heavily on my mind. My father was dead. I hated him for all that he had done, and as I knew he was dying, I’d had time to adjust with his inevitable end for a time now. Yet, despite everything else, he was still my father. My mother was gone, and now my father too. For years, I had seen them both as anchors, for better or worse. My mother an anchor of love, unt