Chapter 34: Then You Owe Me a Wife

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Then You Owe Me a Wife

Ryan Sterling didn’t give Evelyn Grant a chance to speak.

’Because if I listen,’ he thought, ’I might lose my reason to be this close to her, consequences be damned.’

’Even one more second of this kiss would be worth it.’

The kiss lasted until Evelyn Grant’s hand struck his cheek, leaving a faint red mark.

"You! What are you doing?"

Ryan Sterling didn’t get angry when she slapped him. Instead, his dark eyes seemed to deepen. "Kissing you."

Evelyn Grant glared at him. "I meant, what are you trying to do?"

"I want to keep kissing you."

"..."

Using his height to his advantage, Ryan Sterling pulled her back into his embrace.

"Evelyn Grant, I want the baby you’re carrying. That was the condition when you begged me to help you get pregnant so you could escape the death penalty."

She tilted her head back to look at him and admitted, "Yes."

"But I also helped you find the evidence to turn your case around. You still haven’t repaid me for that favor."

"..."

"Evelyn Grant, I even sacrificed my own marriage for you! After this, even if we get divorced, I’ll still be a divorced man." Ryan Sterling’s expression was dead serious, with no trace of a joke. "You should compensate me for that loss, don’t you think?"

His words were logical and clear, and his demands seemed perfectly reasonable.

It left her wanting to refuse, but unable to find the words to do so.

After all, he really had saved her.

Evelyn Grant had a pretty good idea of what the status of Jane Jacobs’s case would be right now if not for him.

She had no one backing her, only her lawyer, Evan Eames, to help find evidence. The chances of him finding anything crucial were slim to none.

But with Ryan Sterling’s intervention, he’d used his authority to dig up all of Jane Jacobs’s "private matters," which was what finally turned the case around.

Evelyn Grant knew all of this.

So...

"Tell me, how should I compensate you."

She didn’t agree impulsively. Instead, she decided to hear him out first.

"Evelyn Grant, you’re the one who owes me a favor. Do I really have to be the one to tell you how to repay it? Shouldn’t you be figuring that out?"

’...He has a point.’

"But," she countered, "how am I supposed to know what you need?"

’Ryan Sterling certainly isn’t short on money.’

’Even if he were, he wouldn’t be interested in the little I have.’

As for anything else...

Evelyn Grant honestly didn’t know what "anything else" she had to offer.

’I can’t exactly promise to be his pro bono defense attorney the next time he gets sued!’

"If you don’t know what I need, then think about what I lost because of you. Start there."

She raised an eyebrow. "What did you lose? You lost... your ’first-marriage’ status."

Ryan Sterling nodded, satisfied. "Mm-hm. Go on."

Evelyn Grant thought hard for a moment before saying with some difficulty, "I don’t have any background or connections in Kyro. I can’t exactly go to the registry office and have your status changed back to ’first marriage’!"

’If I could, I absolutely would!’

Ryan Sterling raised a hand to his forehead and sighed in exasperation. "Who said anything about changing it back? Since I’m already married to you, you should think about how to compensate me in that regard."

"What’s there to think about? I can’t just... compensate you with a wife, can I?"

"And why not?"

"..."

He feigned a look of sudden realization and clapped his hands together. "You’re right. Then you’ll just have to compensate me with a wife."

Evelyn Grant didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

"How would I do that?"

"Simple. Let’s make a deal. Until we get our divorce certificate, we’ll be a real married couple. We’ll do whatever other couples do." Ryan Sterling laid out the terms with a straight face. "That way, even if I end up a divorced man, at least I can say I truly lived the life of a husband during my first marriage, instead of it being just a means to clear your name."