The CEO's Rose

Chapter 121: Realization

Amy’s POV

When Amy had tracked down Ryan Terrell’s best friend and had come to see him.

She had not really thought that the man would give her the time of day. Especially after she had told everyone that she was there as his dominatrix. But the man had led her to his office and once in there, all that Amy had expected was to at least get some answers on behalf of Vivian.

But that was not what was currently happening. What should have been a simple question and answer session was quickly dissolving into a ’question and question’ type of thing.

The two of them were both realizing that they knew very little about what had actually led to the demise of Ryan and Vivian’s no strings attached relationship.

Things just were not adding up.

Mark was adamant that his friend had only had Vivian in his life. In fact, the man seemed to believe that Vivian was some kind of femme fatale who’d had it out for Ryan from the very beginning while Amy for her part knew that Vivian was far too soft-hearted to ever be that kind of woman.

The only thing that the two of them agreed on was the fact that something about the breakup just was not making sense.

It was as though the two of them were holding different pieces of the same puzzle that seemed to fit but were not quite in the right spot.

"Are you one hundred percent certain that your friend really found a woman in Ryan’s penthouse?"

Amy nodded, " I am. It was that time when Ryan said that he would be going abroad. Vivian went over to his penthouse in the middle of the night and found the woman there,"

A considering look came over Mark’s eyes, with a nod, he pulled out his phone.

"All right, I think I may have a way for the two of us to get to the bottom of this," Not wasting any time, the man dialed his friend’s number. Mark’s call to Ryan Terrell connected on the first ring. When he answered, Mark did not let the other man know that he had been placed on loudspeaker, and he put a finger over his lips as a sign for Amy to stay quiet. She nodded her agreement, and he began talking to his friend.

"Hey, Ryan, can you tell me about when Vivian Rose ended things with you?"

There was silence for a beat, then when Ryan’s voice came through there was no hiding the pain and anger in his voice.

"I do not wish to talk about someone who was just playing games with my heart, Mark.

If you have reached out today just to ruin my mood, congratulations, you’ve won. I am hanging up now," Ever a man of his word, Ryan did just that, and Amy stared at Mark in worry.

"Are you guys going to be okay?" She asked.

Mark nodded, "Do not dwell too much on it. Once we get to the bottom of this, he will be thanking me. Now it is your turn," Taking a bracing breath, Amy dialed Vivian’s number, and when it connected, she shared a look with Mark before directing her eyes to the screen.

"Hey, Amy, I know that this is very hard for you, but can you tell me again why you ended things with Ryan?"

At just the mention of that Vivian let out a little sob and it made Amy feel bad. She actually had to pinch her own thigh to stop herself from telling Vivian that she did not need to say anything more. That they did not need to talk about the issue.

"What is there to say, Amy? He was playing me all along.

Had he asked me to be his girlfriend without me having run into his soon to be fiancée beforehand, I would have been the fool that agreed to be his lady only to end up being the laughing stock of the whole town. A preschool teacher like me thinking she could actually be with a billionaire,"

At her friend’s words, Amy raised her eyes and stared at Mark, the two of them sharing a nod. It was clear that both their friends were hurting over this.

"One more thing Vivian, what did you say the naked woman introduced herself as. I know you told me and the name is something fancy, but I keep forgetting. Can you remind me please?"

After the question, Vivian was quiet for so long that Amy worried that she had pushed too far. That her friend would not be saying anything more. Just as she was about to ask if Vivian was okay, her friend spoke up.

"She said her name was Gwendolyn," Mark made a deep sound of shock that had Amy staring at him in worry. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

"Amy, are you alright?" Vivian’s voice came, clearing her throat, she answered, "Oh yes, fine, I was just coughing a little bit. What did you say the other woman’s name was again?"

"Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth," Amy’s eyes were on Mark as Vivian said the name, and she was certain that if the man had not been sitting down he would have fallen.

Well, it seemed that there was a story brewing.

***

"So you do know Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth. You let Ryan Terrell play my best friend all along," Holding up his hands, Mark shook his head,

"Yes, I do know Gwendolyn, and Ryan knows her as well, but you are misunderstanding my reaction. This isn’t guilt, it’s shock,"

Suddenly looking like he had way more stress than he knew what to do with, Mark got to his feet, paced around a bit, then came to sit back down.

"Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth, is Ryan’s ex-girlfriend. She is a vile woman. Somebody that my friend will never ever get back together with. They broke up under the most awful of circumstances. There is absolutely no way that Ryan was cheating on Vivian with her,"

Oh.