Chapter 403 What Ryan Had Always Known

Chapter 403: Chapter 403 What Ryan Had Always Known

Alicia was stunned.

She had assumed that after so many influential families had witnessed what happened, the Knight family would have no choice but to give the Taylor family an explanation.

At the very least, they would have to do something to save face.

But now...

Ryan seemed to have no intention of doing anything at all.

Alicia clutched the front of her dress, biting down hard on her lower lip.

Then she turned toward the banquet hall.

Through the open doors, she caught sight of Rose walking away from the party.

Alicia stared after her.

Her eyes slowly filled with tears.

Why?

Where had she gone wrong?

Why had she been left out of the alliance between the Robinson and Taylor families?

Why had Trevor never shown any real interest in her?

And now, when she had finally tried to fight for something she wanted, why had Ryan rejected her so coldly?

Why?

Why could Rose have everything?

She had married Ryan first.

And now, even in her second marriage, Trevor treated her as though she were precious.

Had Ryan ever been this ruthless toward Rose?

Alicia stood there for a long time, tears slipping silently down her cheeks.

She couldn’t understand it.

Her mother had stayed by her father’s side for all those years using the same methods.

So why wouldn’t they work on Ryan?

*****

Ryan still returned to the Knight family estate that night.

It was another long, miserable evening for the entire Knight family.

The moment he stepped into Edward’s study, a heavy paperweight came flying straight at him.

Ryan didn’t dodge.

The paperweight struck him squarely on the forehead, leaving a red mark almost immediately.

He glanced down at the object lying on the floor, then bent over and picked it up.

“Of all nights,” Edward roared. “Tonight was supposed to secure the Mercer family alliance, and somehow you’ve managed to let that Taylor girl derail everything. What exactly happened to the Ryan Knight I raised?”

Ryan calmly placed the paperweight back on the desk.

“What do you think I did?”

Edward’s expression darkened.

“Of course you didn’t sleep with her. If you were the kind of man who could be swayed by a pretty face, I never would have chosen you as my successor.”

He paused, his anger returning.

“But you still allowed the situation to get out of control. That’s your mistake.”

If Ryan had planned for something like this, the Mercer family wouldn’t have walked away in humiliation.

The two families wouldn’t have left on such terrible terms.

Edward knew his grandson too well.

Unless Ryan had deliberately allowed Alicia to get close to him, she never would have had the opportunity to create such a disaster.

“Yes,” Ryan said simply. “You’re right.”

He didn’t defend himself.

He didn’t even seem particularly bothered.

That only made Edward angrier.

“Did you do this on purpose?”

His fist slammed against the desk.

“Did you deliberately destroy the alliance with the Mercer family? Was humiliating them the point? You could have simply rejected the marriage. You could have used business pressure. There were a hundred cleaner ways to end this!”

Ryan remained silent.

Edward’s breathing grew heavier.

“But you chose this.”

“If that’s what you believe, then believe it.”

“You—”

Edward nearly exploded again.

Yet beneath his anger was something else.

Recognition.

Ryan really was the person most like him.

Cold. Ruthless. Willing to do whatever was necessary to achieve his goal.

The difference was that Ryan was even more willing to take risks.

He was younger, bolder, and far less concerned about what other people thought.

Edward gradually calmed himself.

“Why?”

“There is no why.”

Edward stared at him.

“Is this because you’ve always held a grudge against this family?”

Ryan said nothing.

Edward’s eyes narrowed.

“Back then, you told everyone you didn’t know your father was responsible for the fire at your mother’s estate. But you knew, didn’t you?”

Still no response.

“You knew your father had arranged that kidnapping, too.”

Edward’s voice dropped.

“That entire kidnapping case wasn’t an accident. Your father wanted you dead. You knew it, and when you came back, you wanted revenge.”

Ryan’s expression remained unreadable.

He neither confirmed nor denied it.

Edward stared at him for a long moment before asking quietly, “When did you find out?”

Ryan finally sat down on the sofa.

“The day after I was kidnapped. More or less.”

Edward’s face changed.

“So, you’ve known all this time.”

Ryan looked down at his hands.

He had known almost from the beginning that the kidnapping hadn’t been random.

Someone had planned it.

Someone wanted him dead.

And that someone had been his own father.

Back then, after escaping with serious injuries, Ryan had been found and taken care of by Rose.

At the time, he hadn’t cared whether he lived or died.

The betrayal had been too much.

He’d thought there was nothing left worth holding on to.

Then there was Rose.

That girl could talk for hours.

He had never met anyone like her.

She would sit beside his bed and talk about everything—the smallest details of her day, things that made her happy, things that annoyed her, things that frustrated her.

She treated him like a personal therapist who wasn’t allowed to leave.

He ignored her.

She kept talking.

He turned his back on her.

She dragged a little stool over and followed him.

He tried to get rid of her.

She simply followed him somewhere else.

Eventually, just to get some peace and quiet, he would take his medicine.

Rose was stingy with her candy, too.

Whenever he refused to take his medicine, she’d reluctantly pull out one of her precious milk candies and hold it out to him.

She’d count them first.

Every single time.

And the look on her face made it painfully obvious that giving one away felt like a personal tragedy.

Ryan had found it amusing.

So, naturally, he would deliberately take advantage of her.

He’d ask for another.

Then another.

Just to watch her expression change.

A sigh from Edward pulled him back to the present.

“So, you knew.”

Edward’s voice was quieter now.

He had kept the truth hidden for years. Even Nicholas hadn’t known that Edward was aware of it.

As far as Edward was concerned, the matter had already been buried.

Back then, he’d chosen to protect the Knight family’s reputation rather than expose the truth.

It was a decision he knew had cost Ryan dearly.

“What are you going to do about it?” Edward asked.

Ryan stood.

“Nothing.”

Edward looked at him.

“It’s my problem. I’ll deal with it myself.”

Edward understood immediately.

Ryan didn’t want his help.

He didn’t want anyone interfering.

Ryan turned and walked out of the study.

*****

He got into his car and ignored the swelling bruise on his forehead.

For several minutes, he simply sat there.

His eyes eventually settled on the pale-blue pouch hanging from the rearview mirror.

He reached up and took it down.

After staring at it for a moment, he opened it.

Inside was a neatly folded talisman.

And beside it sat a single milk candy.

The clear wrapper had yellowed with age.

He stared at it for a long time.

*****

The incident between the Knight and Mercer families was never made public.

In the end, everything was quietly swept under the rug.

But during the weeks that followed, Rose received several invitations from Charlotte.

Shopping.

Lunch.

Coffee.

Rose turned them all down, always claiming she was too busy with work.

She still remembered the slap Charlotte had given Alicia that night.

Strangely enough, she admired Charlotte for it.

Charlotte was direct.

If she was angry, she showed it.

If she disliked someone, she didn’t pretend otherwise.

At least she didn’t play games behind people’s backs.

*****

Friday.

Rose arrived at the NYU research lab.

Alicia was already there, standing beside one of the printers and sorting through a stack of documents.

She had joined the project as an intern.

She wasn’t part of the core research team, but being involved in a project of this caliber would still be valuable experience for her résumé.

The moment Alicia noticed Rose, she immediately lowered her head.

“Rose...”

Rose’s expression remained neutral.

She simply nodded and continued walking.

Alicia hurried after her.

She looked as though she wanted to say something several times, but each time, the words died on her lips.

Finally, she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Rose stopped and turned around.

“Sorry for what?”

Her gaze was calm and direct.

Alicia bit her lip.

Her eyes quickly reddened.

“About what happened between me and Mr. Knight...”

Her voice trembled.

“Do you think I did something wrong? If you’re angry with me, I understand. But please don’t ignore me.”

Rose stared at her.

She had to admit that Alicia was good at this.

Admitting fault.

Showing vulnerability.

Making herself look harmless.

It was a clever way to retreat while quietly putting the other person in the position of looking cruel for refusing to forgive her.

Rose hadn’t even answered yet when a cold, mocking voice came from the doorway.

“You want to act like a whore, but you’re still worried about saving face?”