Chapter 14
I’d barely digested the news of Bran’s accident when a knock came. It was the thug Bran once sent to aid me.
In an instant, he seized my hair and clamped his hand over my mouth, dragging me out to a car. Fear gripped me like a vice.
At Bran’s grave, Sarah, aged ten years in a night, stood with her back to me. “Who told you about Alice?”
I held my tongue, memories flashing back to my return from Vegas.
Ryder had sent a driver with a jewelry box. Inside lay a diamond necklace, a photo of Alice and Bran – and a note revealing their
past.
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“I don’t know Alice”
“I don’t care if you know her. Who told you she existed?”
Before I could respond, a searing pain shot through my back as the man behind me bite me hard.
The man grabbed my hair again. On the verge of passing out, I blurted, “Bran told me!”
He paused.
Holding my throbbing scalp, I managed, “I tried to break up. He called me Alice when I left.”
“Why break up?” Sarah asked.
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“He couldn’t save my brother,” I groaned.
Then, “Go.”
Was she sparing me?
The man released my hair, grabbed my arm, and hauled me up like a ragdoll.
I thought I’d escaped, but the man shoved me into a car bound for the outskirts.
“What are you doing?” I cried.
We reached an abandoned warehouse. Inside, the air was thick with damp and dread.
I was tied to a rickety, rusty chair.
The man circled me like a predator.
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“Last chance. Spill it.”
I refused, “I’ve told you everything.”
Suddenly, he snatched a crowbar and shattered the chair beside me.
“No games. Talk or else.”
My heart pounded as he advanced, crowbar raised. Just then, a car screeched to a halt outside.
“Who’s that?” he muttered.
The door burst open.
Ryder stood there, fury in his eyes. “Let her go,” he seethed.
The man laughed. “Or what?”
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Ryder lunged, lightning – fast.
In seconds, he disarmed the man and pinned him down. “Touch her again and you’re dead,” he hissed.
Ryder rushed to me, untying my bonds. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, still shaking. “Thanks to you.”
With his arm around me, we walked out, leaving the defeated man behind.
After that Ryder was nowhere to be seen.
Then, one day, the matter of Ryder and Selina’s marriage was brought to the public
eye. –
Online rumors said that they were now set to tie the knot officially.
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Ryder and Selina sat face to face.
“You leaked the marriage news.”
Selina was even colder.
“It’s also the wish of our elders on both sides.”
“Call it off. We can’t get married now.”
Selina kept her eyes down. “Tell me when.”
Ryder stared at Selina.
After a moment, he spoke again.
“Name your price, or discuss it with your parents.”
“What price?”
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“The relationship between our two families doesn’t have to rely on marriage to continue.”
“But only through marriage can our families‘ relationship remain stable.”
“I don’t love you.”
Selina suddenly laughed. “Do you think I just found out today? It doesn’t matter. I don’t love you either, but I love being your luna.”
“Is this really interesting?”
Selina’s smile widened.
“It is. Weren’t you enjoying it before you met me? Why do you suddenly find it boring?”
Ryder simply said, “I love her.”
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He continued, “I want to marry her.”
Selina’s face was expressionless.
Ryder pleaded, “You’ve helped me for so many years. Help me one more time.”
In an instant, the wine in front of Selina was splashed onto Ryder’s face.
I’ve already sent someone to see your little lover. Don’t worry. She didn’t betray you to Sarah.
“But Isabelle knows now that she was used for revenge against Bran.
Η
Selina took a sip of wine. “Anyway, she didn’t hold you back. So, as a return favor, I promised to get her brother out of prison. She agreed and promised never to see you again.”
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Three months later, Alex was quietly released from prison ahead of schedule.
I got a message, it asked me to look out of the window.
Fireworks spelled out “I love Isabelle.”
The phone rang. It was Ryder.
“Give me a year. I…”
“I’m getting married.”
“To whom?”
The Echo Wood Pack.
Ryder’s eyelid twitched involuntarily. It was
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him who recommended me to participate in the pack’s spokesperson selection.
Ryder said, “He’s older than your father.”
“so I chose his son.”
He gritted his teeth and said, “You’re crazy!”
“Ryder, I just want someone rich, powerful, and single.”
“What about me?”
“Ryder, you owe Selina, and your family owes hers. Don’t tell me you won’t marry her. It’s not about whether I’m worth it or not. In the
face of the interests of our two families, your wishes are worthless.”
Ryder stood there, speechless.
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“Also, never see me again.” I hung up.
“Ryder… Ryder…”
Ryder slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurred, and there was a woman’s anxious voice in his ear.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Ryder blinked and finally recognized the woman beside him.
He hugged her tightly, burying his face in her neck just like in his dream.
He almost sobbed as he said, “Isabelle…”
The woman in his arms paused, then wrapped her arms around Ryder’s back and
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stroked it gently.
Her name was Rosy. That day, he had drunk a lot.
When he went to bed at night, he held her and called out Isabelle’s name.
Later, after much inquiry, she learned Isabelle’s name.
Isabelle, the woman Ryder once loved the most. Rosy was lucky to resemble Isabelle.
“If you like her so much, then go find her!”
Ryder was enraged.
He cursed her for being ungrateful and then slammed the door and left. He was gone for a whole month.
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Rosy went from being defiant to gradually feeling uneasy, regretful, and then desperately missing him.
Just when Rosy thought Ryder would never come back to her, he suddenly returned one day as if nothing had happened and gave her a pile of gifts.
That night, they had sex for a whole night.
Afterward, Rosy changed into a dress that Bran had prepared for her.
Hugging Rosy tightly, Ryder deceived himself. “Isabelle, do you love me?”
“I love you.”
That day, he took Rosy, and they tied themselves together and sank into the sea.
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The End.
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