Chapter 15

Liam was going crazy.

That day, when he received my cryptic phone call, he knew something was wrong.

A vague unease churned in his gut.

He asked for a selfie, which confirmed I was fine.

But half-way through a meeting, he suddenly realized the background in that selfie was wrong.

It was spring in the picture, but it was deep summer now.

Liam arranged his remaining tasks at lightning speed and drove back to Veridian City like a madman, all through the night.

He didn't find me at his private villa.

Calls to my phone went unanswered.

But there was surveillance in front of the villa.

Following the footage, he tracked the trail to the Sterling family, and then he remembered the humiliation I had suffered in front of Ryder that day.

Liam spent a fortune to uncover every trace of Ryder and me across Veridian City.

The answer he finally found made his blood run cold, making him wish he could kill Ryder on the spot.

To get revenge for Valerie, Ryder had imprisoned his sister and was auctioning off that hotel room key at a high price.

He threw in a staggering ten million dollars to win that room key.

Becoming the first one to enter.

But he was still too late.

He saw bright red blood seeping from under the bathroom door.

He slammed on the door, screaming his sister's name, but received no answer.

Liam called the hotel staff, only to be told that the room was Ryder's private suite, and the hotel had no key.

Liam called Ryder.

Ryder, seeing the unfamiliar number, was discussing business with Valerie.

The steak plates in front of them were empty.

The tenderness in Ryder's eyes had completely transformed into a businesslike coldness.

He spoke.

"Miss Valerie, I've fulfilled your desire for a romantic relationship experience. Shouldn't you also fulfill your part of the agreement?"

Ryder pulled out the divorce papers.

"We agreed before that the marriage was just a formality to appease Old Man Sterling. Once we had the marriage certificate and announced it to all of Veridian City, giving your child a name, we would divorce."

Just then, Ryder's phone rang.

He glanced at the unfamiliar number and hung up immediately.

He refocused on his negotiation with Valerie.

"But Miss Valerie seems to keep breaking her promise."

"Valerie, my patience has run out. What you did at Sterling Deer Park Estate crossed my line."

"That day at the Deer Park, if Old Man Sterling's bodyguards hadn't been watching, I wouldn't have let you walk out of there unharmed."

"Out of respect for Old Man Sterling, I won't pursue this matter, but you need to be sensible."

"Sign the papers. It's time for the divorce."

Valerie looked at the empty plate in front of her, then at the divorce papers. Her eyes slowly reddened, and she began to sob softly.

She choked out,

"Ryder, seven whole years, even a stone would have warmed up. How can you be so heartless?"

It was a pitiful, heart-wrenching sight, enough to make any man hesitate.

But Ryder's eyes held only cold indifference.

"From the age of eighteen, every 'couple activity' I did with you was under Old Man Sterling's instruction," Ryder said, taking a tasteless sip of water, his voice flat. "Every gift ostensibly from me was personally arranged by Old Man Sterling."

Ryder looked at Valerie with a hint of pity in his cold gaze.

"Valerie, you were never truly marrying me from the start. I was just a tool, pushed out by Old Man Sterling to give your child a good name. We can play the part of a loving couple in public, but if you've genuinely fallen for me... Grandfather wouldn't be pleased."

His voice was utterly calm, announcing the true nature of Valerie's relationship with the Sterling family all these years!

Valerie completely lost control!

She grabbed a fork, pointing it at Ryder.

"Ryder, if we divorce, you know what awaits me! Even if the past seven years were an act, do you really have no feelings for me at all?"

Ryder's phone rang a second time. It was still the same unfamiliar number. He hung up without a thought.

"None."

His voice was decisive, then he threatened,

"Valerie, I don't have time for this. Sign the divorce papers quickly. Otherwise, I might overlook the rumors that reached Stella, but if you don't sign... I will definitely make those who spoke carelessly in front of her pay the price!"

That last sentence was laced with killing intent, making Valerie shiver uncontrollably.

She grabbed the pen, about to sign the divorce papers.

But moments earlier, Ryder's protective tone towards me clearly echoed in her mind!

Valerie's suppressed emotions suddenly erupted!

"Ryder, you pity Stella, why can't you think about me?!"

"We both came from the same orphanage, so why did Stella get to do whatever she wanted after being adopted by the Reed family? She didn't want to get married, so she didn't. Even with such a bad reputation, the Reed family just paid lip service, at most locking her out of the house for a few days to reflect!"

"And me?" Valerie shrieked, all traces of a Valerie family heiress gone. "From childhood, no matter my grades, competitions, or manners, if I wasn't the best, I was met with beatings and scoldings at home! Ryder, you've seen the scars on my body from the Valerie family's whips!"

"When I was sixteen, just because I won a silver medal in a dance competition, my father drove me back to the orphanage, ready to terminate my adoption! I begged him like a dog on the street, practically kowtowing, asking him not to abandon me!"

"The moment I turned eighteen, your grandfather said my birth chart was good, and he wanted me to marry into the Sterling family to 'brighten his luck'! Your grandfather was already sixty then! My parents knew exactly what 'brighten his luck' meant, but for the sake of their partnership with the Sterling family, they personally tied me up and sent me to your grandfather's... bed!"

"Ryder, no matter how bad Stella's life was, no matter how much the Reed family disliked her, at least she had a cake and a birthday wish on her eighteenth birthday!"

"And me? I spent my eighteenth birthday in a dirty old man's bed! For three whole days! Your grandfather didn't let me off that bed!"

"Your grandfather was worried that if our affair got out, it would damage the Sterling family's reputation, so he pushed you forward, saying you were my fiancé. Ryder, do you know how desperately I wished, these past seven years, that you truly were my fiancé?!"