Chapter 206
Chapter 206
Peris didn’t flinch.
He sat back in his chair with that smug composure only men like him wore—men who controlled too much, knew too much, and never made a move without ten more lined up.
Ryan looked between us, caught in the middle of a silent war he didn’t fully understand.
I moved to his side. “Ryan, go wait in the car.”
He hesitated, his gaze bouncing between Peris and me. “Why? What’s going on?”
Peris raised an eyebrow. “Don’t be so dramatic, Christabel. We were just talking. Right, Ryan?”
The way he said my name made my skin crawl. Like he tasted power every time he spoke it.
I leaned down, brushing my hand lightly on Ryan’s shoulder. “Please. Just give me a minute.”
Ryan stood slowly. I caught the flicker of confusion and frustration in his eyes, but he obeyed.
As soon as the door closed behind him, I turned back to Peris. “You’re done dragging him into this.”
Peris’s smile deepened. “On the contrary. He’s the key to everything.”
I sat across from him, clenching my hands to keep them from shaking. “You’ve sent the video. You’ve played your card. What do you want?”
He leaned forward, voice soft and slow. “You always think I’m the villain in your little soap opera, but I’m a businessman, Christabel. I want return on investment. You, however…” His eyes darkened. “You want fantasy. Redemption. Love. Liam.”
I stiffened.
“Let me guess,” he continued. “You’re planning to marry him. Try again. Pretend the last few years didn’t happen.”
“You’re wrong.”
He smirked. “You know how I got that video?”
I didn’t answer.
“Because someone close to Liam wanted you to see it. Someone who still thinks you’re worth more than being his second choice.”
“Get to the point.”
Peris slid a manila envelope across the table.
“What’s this?”
He tapped it. “The proof that Ryan is mine. DNA results. Legal paperwork. A custody challenge already drafted.”
I froze.
He couldn’t be serious.
“You’ve never even claimed him before.”
“Because he wasn’t useful. Now he is.”
I opened the envelope with trembling fingers.
The documents were there—signed, stamped, all lined up for a courtroom war.
“You’d do this to a child?”
“You forget,” he said coldly, “this child was conceived while Avery still wore my ring. Legally, he’s my responsibility. And if I go public with this, not only does Liam lose his reputation—he loses Ryan. Forever.”
My voice cracked. “What do you want, Peris?”
He smiled like a serpent. “I want you to walk away. From Liam. From Ryan. From all of it.”
I stared at him, rage clawing at my chest. “And if I don’t?”
He stood. “Then I release everything. The video, the legal petition, even the photos of you and Liam from Paris. You’ll be labeled the homewrecker. The manipulator. And your fairy tale will burn.”
I looked up at him, throat dry.
“This is a game to you,” I whispered.
“No,” he said, stepping closer. “This is me collecting what I’m owed.”
As he walked out of the café, the envelope still in my hands, my phone buzzed with a message from an unkn
own number.
“You have 72 hours to decide. Make the smart choice, Christabel.”