Chapter 425 What Are Your Intentions?

Chapter 425: Chapter 425 What Are Your Intentions?

Ryan stood with one hand in his pocket, looking almost annoyingly relaxed.

Trevor’s mouth curved into a faint, humorless smile.

“You really are a schemer.”

Ryan neither denied it nor bothered to answer.

Across the room, Rose had already reached Diana.

The moment she saw the red marks still visible on Diana’s cheek, her expression changed.

“Diana...”

She reached up carefully, brushing a strand of hair away from the injured side of her face.

“I’m sorry. I dragged you into this. The Robinson family is your family too.”

Diana scoffed and pushed her hair behind her ear.

“So what?”

Rose looked at her.

“You’re my best friend. If I don’t stand by you, who will?” Diana said. “And I’m not stupid. I know the difference between right and wrong. Even if they’re my family, I’m not going to pretend what they did was okay.”

Rose’s eyes stung.

She knew there had to be more to what had happened.

And there was.

The night before, Diana’s father had caught her trying to get the recording out.

They had argued.

Diana had refused to back down, insisting that Rose had been deliberately kept in the dark and that the Robinson family had no right to use Ariel as a bargaining chip.

Her father had lost his temper and struck her.

The blow had been hard enough to leave her ear ringing.

Then he had locked her in her room and ordered her not to interfere with the family again.

Diana had spent most of her life knowing exactly where she stood in the Robinson family.

She had never been the son they wanted.

If they wanted to punish her, she had learned to endure it.

But Rose was different.

She couldn’t stand by and watch them hurt Rose, too.

So, she’d smashed the bedroom window, climbed out, and escaped.

Whatever punishment came afterward, she would deal with it.

The Robinson family could take away her privileges.

They could cut her off.

They could scream at her until they were hoarse.

She could survive all of that.

What she couldn’t accept was watching them destroy Rose’s life.

Rose finally gave in to the tears she’d been holding back and pulled Diana into a tight embrace.

Diana hugged her just as fiercely.

Nearby, Liam quietly stepped away, giving the two women some privacy.

After a few minutes, Rose reluctantly pulled back.

“There are still some things I need to sort out.”

Diana nodded.

“Go. I’ll be fine.”

Rose gave her one last worried look before turning toward Grace.

She had barely taken a few steps when Diana’s parents stormed across the room.

Her father’s face was dark with fury.

“You—”

His hand lifted instinctively.

Liam moved before he could bring it down.

He stepped in front of Diana and caught her father’s wrist.

The easy smile had disappeared from his face.

“Uncle,” Liam said quietly, “there are cameras everywhere. I’d think twice before doing that again.”

Mr. Robinson’s expression tightened.

He was furious.

His daughter had openly betrayed the family, exposed their private negotiations, and turned a carefully arranged alliance into a public scandal.

And now the entire Robinson family would have to deal with the consequences.

His anger was understandable.

His behavior wasn’t.

“You don’t understand what you’ve done,” Diana’s mother said, struggling to keep her voice down. “You sided with an outsider and left your own family exposed. Do you have any idea what this could cost us?”

Diana pressed her lips together.

“Yes,” she said. “I do.”

“And I still would have done it.”

Her mother stared at her.

Before the argument could escalate, Liam stepped in.

“Whatever you want to say to her can wait.”

He glanced toward the reporters and guests still lingering around the ballroom.

“Right now, the Robinson family has a much bigger problem. You should probably deal with the media before they decide the story for you.”

That snapped both parents back to reality.

There was no time left for a family argument.

The Robinson family had a disaster to contain.

They would need lawyers, damage control, and more than a few favors from people who had spent years owing them one.

Charlotte watched them hurry away.

Then she turned toward the doorway.

Ryan and Rose were already gone.

She had watched everything unfold from beginning to end.

At this point, she would have had to be blind not to understand what was happening.

No man went to those lengths for a woman he didn’t care about.

And Ryan Knight was hardly the kind of man who acted without a reason.

Whatever he had done for Rose, he had clearly planned it carefully.

He loved her.

Charlotte had no doubt about that anymore.

What she couldn’t understand was why he refused to fight for her.

But then again...

Charlotte clenched her jaw.

There was clearly no chance for her with Ryan.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t good enough.

It was that the man simply had terrible judgment.

She glanced at Diana.

“You should probably disappear for a while,” Charlotte said. “The Robinson family is going to need someone to blame for all of this, and I have a feeling they’re going to start looking for a convenient target.”

Diana thought about it.

Charlotte had a point.

She definitely needed somewhere to lie low.

She turned to Liam, slipped her arm through his, and immediately recovered enough of her usual mischievousness to grin.

“Then take me in.”

Liam raised an eyebrow.

“And?”

“I’ll be all yours.”

He looked at the red mark on her cheek.

His expression softened.

He gently brushed his thumb over it before sliding an arm around her shoulders and steering her away from the crowd.

“You already are.”

Diana smiled.

For the first time since the previous night, she felt like she could breathe.

*****

By the time they reached the Taylor family estate, Rose had gone through the documents James had given her several times.

They were complicated.

Very complicated.

But she had finally understood what they meant.

Ariel’s legal status had been secured.

The paperwork James had signed on Ryan’s behalf had closed every obvious route the Knight family could have used to reclaim her.

For the first time, Rose could look at her daughter’s future without wondering when someone would come and take her away.

The realization left her strangely shaken.

There had been a time when Rose couldn’t imagine turning to the Taylor family for anything.

Their relationship had been damaged for too long.

Even when she had been desperate, she’d refused to involve them.

But now...

She had to admit the truth.

The Taylor family was probably the safest place Ariel could be.

They had the resources to protect her.

They had no reason to interfere with Rose’s relationship with her daughter.

And, most importantly, they could keep the Knight and Robinson families from turning Ariel into a bargaining chip again.

But one question remained.

When had Ryan started planning all of this?

Rose stepped into the main hall beside him, then glanced sideways.

He had walked beside her the entire way without saying much.

The moment he noticed her looking at him, he lowered his gaze.

“If you’re about to thank me,” he said, “I’m listening.”

Rose frowned.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

His expression remained calm.

“From the beginning. Why didn’t you tell me any of this?”

She had spent days terrified that Ariel would be taken from her.

She’d believed she had no way out.

And all along, Ryan had been working behind the scenes.

“You could have told me.”

Before Ryan could answer, James turned from the documents on the table.

“Because neither the Knight family nor the Robinson family could be taken lightly,” he said.

Rose looked at him.

“The moment they realized what we were doing, they could have interfered. The goal was to secure Ariel’s legal position before either family understood what was happening.”

James paused.

“They weren’t really fighting over Ariel herself. They were fighting over what Ariel represented.”

Rose fell silent.

She knew exactly what he meant.

The Knight family cared about its reputation.

The Robinson family cared about the leverage Ariel gave them.

Neither side had shown much interest in what Rose or Ariel actually wanted.

And if the Knight family had discovered Ryan was helping Rose before the paperwork was finalized, they could have tried another route.

Rose swallowed.

“There was another option.”

Everyone looked at her.

She turned toward Ryan.

“Did you ever consider letting Ariel go back to the Knight family?”

Ryan’s answer came without hesitation.

“No.”

Rose blinked.

“Not even once?”

“What would she be going back to?”

His voice was flat.

“That family is a mess.”

Rose stared at him.

Ryan met her eyes.

“And if I had tried to take her by force, what did you tell me you’d do?”

Rose’s face tightened.

She remembered.

She had screamed at him.

Hit him.

Threatened him.

She’d been terrified and furious, convinced that if Ryan tried to take Ariel, she would have to fight him with everything she had.

“If you try to take her, I’ll fight you,” she muttered.

“Exactly.”

James gave a short laugh.

“At least you have enough self-awareness to remember that.”

Ryan glanced at him.

James still clearly hadn’t forgiven him.

Ryan didn’t seem particularly interested in changing his mind.

Rose, meanwhile, still couldn’t quite believe what had happened.

She had spent so long preparing herself to lose Ariel.

And now...

She didn’t have to.

When she finally stepped fully into the main hall, Grace’s tense expression immediately softened.

“There you are.”

She hurried toward them.

“Tell me. Is it really settled?”

James came forward with the documents.

“It is.”

He smiled.

“Ariel is protected now. No one is going to take her away.”

Grace’s face lit up.

The anger she’d been carrying since the wedding seemed to disappear in an instant.

“Good. Good.”

She repeated herself several times, almost overwhelmed by relief.

Derick looked just as emotional.

He still hadn’t completely processed the fact that, practically overnight, he’d become a grandfather.

But while the others celebrated, two women at the head of the table remained quiet.

Victoria watched in silence.

So did Alicia.

Grace finally turned toward Ryan.

Her expression changed.

The warmth disappeared.

“Well.”

She said it slowly.

“This is certainly a good outcome for the Taylor family.”

Ryan said nothing.

Grace’s gaze sharpened.

“But there’s something I still want to know.”

The room gradually fell silent.

Grace looked directly at him.

“If you hadn’t pushed the Knight family into making a move—or if you hadn’t planned everything so carefully—none of this might have happened.”

Ryan remained composed.

“So, I’d like to understand something.”

She folded her arms.

“You helped Rose.”

A pause.

“You helped our family.”

Another pause.

“And you made sure Ariel could legally become part of the Taylor family.”

Grace’s eyes narrowed.

“After doing all that, what exactly do you want?”

Ryan finally looked up.

Grace didn’t give him a chance to answer.

“Are you trying to get Rose back?”

Silence.

The question landed heavily in the room.

Even Victoria looked up.

Alicia, who had kept her head down until then, slowly raised her eyes toward Ryan.

For the first time since they had arrived, no one seemed to know what he was going to say.