Free Web NovelChapter 240: Chapter 240 Ryan Knows I had a child
How could Rose fail to understand the meaning behind his words?
It was complete disregard.
Ryan had laid bare the true nature of his coldness and indifference without the slightest restraint.
She wanted to tell him that he really didn’t need to go this far. She had long since stopped expecting anything from him. No matter how cruel his words were, they were nothing more than a passing breeze against her face. They no longer had the power to stir her heart.
Ryan said nothing more.
Rose’s silence, along with her seemingly provocative words, appeared to draw a final line between them.
There was no point in continuing the argument.
He walked past her and left without looking back.
He no longer asked who the father was, nor did he press her about where the child had been hidden.
Once again, they parted on bad terms.
Listening to his footsteps fade into the distance, Rose felt as though all the strength had drained from her body.
She gasped for air.
Leaning against the stone table beside her, she pressed a hand to her throbbing head.
Everything that had happened today had been completely unexpected. Being caught off guard always required twice the emotional and mental effort to recover.
She replayed every moment in her mind, making sure she hadn’t revealed any clues that might later lead Ryan to discover the truth.
To keep Ariel by her side, she had gone to great lengths to make the idea of marital infidelity seem unquestionable.
After all, Ryan had been the one to suggest it first.
Why should she explain anything?
At that moment, her phone rang.
Rose answered with a grim expression.
Diana’s voice came through the speaker.
“I picked Ariel up, and we’re hanging out together. It’s pretty lively here today. Where are you? I’m coming to find you.”
Rose’s heart, which had only just begun to settle, leaped into her throat again.
“Where are you?” she asked immediately.
Diana sensed something was wrong. “We just arrived at the banquet hall. We were planning to take Ariel out for some desserts. What’s wrong?”
Rose glanced back toward the direction Ryan had left.
He was most likely heading back to the banquet hall.
Even though their conversation had ended badly, she couldn’t guarantee that Ryan, with his sharp instincts and keen intelligence, wouldn’t notice something if he saw Ariel at such a sensitive moment.
She simply couldn’t take that risk.
Although Ariel’s features had not fully matured and the resemblance to Ryan had yet to become obvious, there was still an undeniable pull that came from blood.
Rose hurried forward. “Don’t bring Ariel out yet. Don’t let her run into Ryan.”
Diana immediately grew tense. “What happened?”
Rose said as she ran, “He knows I had a child.”
Diana fell silent.
Rose ended the call.
She ran as fast as she could after Ryan.
Finally, she spotted him near the entrance to the banquet hall.
Afraid that Diana hadn’t moved Ariel yet, Rose hurried after him. Just as Ryan was about to enter, she suddenly grabbed his hand.
She stopped him.
Her fingers were warm against his skin.
Ryan’s cold gaze slowly lowered.
A few seconds later, he turned to look at the breathless woman standing behind him.
He didn’t pull his hand away.
He simply looked at her coldly, waiting for her to speak.
Rose’s heart was pounding, but she forced herself to remain calm.
“I don’t think we’ve finished discussing this. Could we talk somewhere private?”
If Ryan ran into Ariel now, it would be disastrous.
Ryan’s piercing gaze seemed capable of seeing straight through her.
This was the first time in all these years that he had looked at her this way.
Standing in front of him, Rose felt an overwhelming sense of pressure.
But at that very moment, a sudden scream rang out from inside the banquet hall.
Gasps erupted from the crowd.
Rose looked up.
A man had entered through the side door and was striding directly toward Samantha.
Everything happened too quickly.
The moment Samantha saw him, her expression changed dramatically.
She instinctively stepped back.
But the man caught her arm and raised his hand.
Smack!
Samantha fell to the floor.
Her carefully styled hair was in disarray, and her cheek immediately began to swell.
She looked up at the man in terror.
“Ethan, you—”
Oliver, who had been nearby, rushed forward.
But James grabbed his arm.
There were not many people in this side hall, yet the commotion immediately drew everyone’s attention.
Rose felt Ryan’s hand slip from hers.
Before she could react, he had already brushed past her and headed toward the disturbance without looking back.
Watching Ryan’s tall figure rush forward without hesitation to protect Samantha, Rose found herself unable to describe the feeling in her chest.
Even when she had been on the verge of telling him the truth about the child, Samantha still came first.
Chaos erupted around them.
Many people looked confused.
Ryan had already reached Samantha.
Ignoring Ethan entirely, he helped her to her feet.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
Samantha’s eyes were red. “How could he...”
He had appeared so suddenly.
And in front of so many people.
How was she supposed to face everyone afterward?
Ryan narrowed his eyes slightly but said nothing.
Rose no longer wanted to watch them.
All she wanted now was to find Diana and have her take Ariel away before Ryan saw her.
But before she could take more than a few steps inside the hall, someone blocked her path.
Rose met Ethan’s furious gaze.
His eyes were bloodshot with rage.
He grabbed her wrist and slammed her against the wall.
“Are you really this useless?” he snarled. “You can’t even protect your husband or your marriage? You just let someone steal him from you?”
Rose’s back hit the wall hard.
The impact made her frown.
The force of his pull, combined with her high heels, caused her ankle to twist slightly.
Ignoring the pain, she shot back: “Then what does that make you? You can’t even control your own fiancée.”
Ethan’s expression twisted with fury.
He raised his hand again.
But in the next instant, a powerful force came from behind.
Someone grabbed Ethan’s arm and drove a fist into him.
Ethan crashed to the floor.
He looked up in fury.
Then he saw Ryan.
Ryan stood there expressionlessly.
He removed his watch and looked down at him.
“Have you calmed down?”
Ethan’s face instantly turned pale.
The veins in his neck bulged, but he no longer dared to act.
Rose held her aching wrist and stared at Ryan’s straight, unmoving back.
Oliver walked over and said coldly, “You never should have hit Sam. If you hadn’t, Ryan wouldn’t have needed to teach you a lesson in public.”
Rose’s fingers paused against her wrist.
Then she realized that, in Oliver’s eyes, that was exactly what had happened.
Ethan’s expression changed.
Ryan’s punch had been merciless.
His cheekbone throbbed with pain, and blood filled his mouth.
But suddenly, Ethan was transported back to his childhood.
After Ryan had been kidnapped and later returned to the Knight family, Selena had been preparing to move into the villa that once belonged to Ryan’s mother.
She was about to take over everything.
The night Ryan returned, he set the entire villa on fire.
His face had been completely expressionless.
If he could not keep it, then no one else would.
He didn’t care that Nicholas and Selena were still inside.
The fire nearly became a disaster.
His father and Selena had almost burned to death.
The old chairman had been furious.
Ryan was confined to the estate’s chapel, kneeling for three days without food or water.
Even then, he refused to admit he was wrong.
After Ryan was finally released, Ethan had approached him smugly.
“After all, an aunt is still a mother. What’s wrong with accepting her?”
In the next moment, Ryan had pinned him down and beaten him.
Ryan had been severely injured and had gone three days without food or water, yet he still broke several of Ethan’s ribs.
From that day onward, Ethan understood exactly how terrifying Ryan truly was.
Cold-blooded.
Relentless.
And utterly fearless.
That fear had remained with him ever since.
