Begin Again novel Chapter 194

"Son," Clarke demanded his attention once again and pulled Liam away from the millions of keyboard warriors who had become way too invested in his mental health.

"Perhaps you need to take some time off. Take a break and step away from your duties." His father suggested.

Absolutely not.

He had a 09:00 AM flight to catch and depots to inspect.

"Dad, I'm fine. I don't need a break. But what I do need is to get ready for my flight."

"How do you expect us to send you off when we know you're struggling?" Clarke asked.

"I am not struggling. And my therapy visits have nothing to do with your health or my job. I had a problem with my dick, but it's now fixed, thank you very much!" He roared at his father, and by the time he realised what he'd said, the words were already out of his mouth and hanging over the sudden tense silence filling up the endless space between him and his parents.

"No," Clarke sparked to life at the same time Lois dissolved into tearful sobs once again. "The pressure of taking over as CEO and my health scare prompted you to seek help."

"Dad—" Liam gritted his teeth.

"You've been seeing a therapist for the last two years to help you cope and ease into your high-pressured job—" Clarke carried on.

"I'm not going to use your illness as an excuse!" Liam barked, his anger stunning his parents into silence briefly.

"—Your role as CEO and my ailing health forced you to seek help. That's the only story we're going out with. No other narrative will be floating out there. The PR team will draft out a pretty press release and use creative words to make this shit go away." Clarke continued after a short burst of tense silence as if he hadn't heard him. "I don't ever want to hear a word of this again. I don't care what your reasons are for seeing a shrink, and I won't stop you if you want to continue with your sessions. But I won't allow you to tell the whole world how broken you are. You are an Anderson man. We don't break!"

"I am not broken!" Liam breathed in hard and stalked off to the bar in the living room.

He grabbed a bottle of vodka, uncapped it and drank it neat. "I was broken, but not anymore. In any case, they don't know the reasons for my visits."

"Not yet," Lois spoke at last. "But they will soon if that reporter from Dirt keeps digging. Listen to your father, Liam. We have to take control of the narrative and get ahead of this story. Your father's illness and your new role as CEO are your only reasons for seeking help. We will not entertain anything else."

"Son, it's not a negotiation," Clarke added. "Get the PR team to draft a glowing press release, and shut this shit down before it spins out of control. You don't want to be turned into a mime on that internet you kids love so much."

"Meme," Liam sighed and took another swig from the bottle.

"What, dear?" Lois asked.

"It's a meme. Not mime." Liam explained. "Nevermind. Doesn't matter. I have to get ready for the trip."