Chapter 28 Trust me please!
Zoe's POV
"I know you're not the same woman I married."
The words hung in the air.
Heavy. Final.
I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move.
Ryan stepped closer. His eyes locked on mine.
"Because my true love would never doubt me." His voice cracked. "Never."
"Ryan..."
"No." He held up his hand. "Let me finish."
Silence.
"The woman I loved all my life... she trusted me. Believed in me. Even when things looked bad." Tears filled his eyes. "But you... you completely changed since you're back. You don't want me near... and now you looked at me like I was guilty. Like I betrayed you."
"I didn't mean..."
"Didn't you?" He moved closer. "When you saw Sierra in my bed, did you believe me when I said nothing happened? Did you trust me?"
I opened my mouth. But no words came.
Because he was right.
I didn't trust him. I didn't believe him.
"That's what I thought." His voice went cold. "My Olivia would have believed me. Would have known, without a doubt, that I could never betray her. But you are different now, you're not the woman I use to know."
"Ryan, please..."
"Answer me one question." He stepped so close now. "Just one question. And I need the truth."
I nodded. Barely.
"Tell me now that you trust me. Tell me you believe I did not have or willingly do anything with this girl here."
He pointed at Sierra without looking at her.
"Tell me you know, in your heart, that I'm innocent."
I stared at him.
This man. This Alpha.
Begging me to trust him.
To believe him.
But I couldn't speak.
Because I didn't know. I didn't know what to believe.
The silence stretched.
Seconds. Minutes.
Ryan's face changed.
Pain. Deep, crushing pain.
"You can't say it." His voice was barely a whisper. "You can't even say it."
"Ryan..."
"No." He stepped back. "No, I see it now. I see everything."
His jaw clenched. His hands formed fists.
Then... he turned.
Shifted his whole body to face Sierra.
"And you." His voice was ice. Pure ice. "What have I ever done to you?"
Sierra's face went pale. "Ryan..."
His voice rose. "Tell me! What did I do to make you hate me so much?"
"I don't hate you. I love you..."
"Love?" He laughed. Bitter. Cruel. "You call this love?"
He moved toward her. Fast.
Sierra stepped back. Fear in her eyes now.
"I went to see the doctor." Ryan's voice was deadly quiet. "The same doctor who gave you that pregnancy result."
Sierra's face went white. Completely white.
"And you want to know what she told me?" He stopped right in front of her. "She told me the truth. Finally. After I paid her triple what you paid her to lie."
"Ryan, I can explain..."
"Explain what?" His voice thundered. "Explain how you're not actually pregnant? Explain how you faked the whole thing?"
Gasps. From me. From Sierra.
"That's right." Ryan's eyes blazed. "You're not pregnant. You never were. It was all a lie."
"I... I..." Sierra's mouth opened and closed.
"The doctor told me everything." Ryan's voice shook with rage. "How you paid her to fake the test results. How you staged those photos. How you planned every single detail."
"Ryan, please..."
"And you know what else I found out?" He leaned closer. "I found out about the drink."
Sierra's face crumbled.
"That night. The night you said we... the night you claimed something happened." His voice was low. Dangerous. "I didn't get drunk on my own, did I?"
Sierra said nothing.
"DID I?" Ryan shouted.
"No." The word came out as a whisper.
"Say it louder. Let Olivia hear you."
"No." Sierra's voice was stronger now. Defiant. "You didn't get drunk on your own."
"I took that drink from you." Ryan's hands shook. "In the pack bar. I was angry. Hurt. My wife had just left me to sleep in Scarlett's room and I went there to cool my head."
He paused. His jaw clenched.
"But you drugged it."
The words hit like thunder.
"You drugged me." Ryan stepped back. "You drugged me. Took me to my room. Staged those photos. And then told everyone I got you pregnant."
"I did it because I love you..." Sierra's voice cracked.
"THAT'S NOT LOVE!" Ryan's voice echoed through the room. "That's manipulation! That's evil!"
"Ryan, please understand..."
"Understand what?" He moved toward her again. "Understand that you destroyed my marriage? Understand that you made my wife doubt me? Understand that you almost tore apart everything I hold dear?"
"I just wanted you back..."
"By lying? By drugging me? By faking a pregnancy?" He shook his head. "That's not how you get someone back. That's how you destroy them."
Sierra's tears fell now. Real tears.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Sorry isn't enough." Ryan's voice went cold. "Not anymore."
He straightened up. Tall. Powerful. Alpha.
"You have two choices." His voice was firm. Final. "One... I throw you in the dungeon. Right now. For what you did. Drugging an Alpha is punishable by death in most packs."
Sierra's whole body shook.
"Or two..." He stepped closer. "You leave. Tonight. Right now. And you never come back. Ever."
"Ryan..."
"If you don't want to use the rest of your life in a dungeon..." His eyes were ice. "You leave. Now. Without ever coming back."
"Where will I go?"
"I don't care." His voice was flat. "Anywhere but here. Anywhere I never have to see your face again."
"Please..."
"NOW!" He pointed to the door. "Get out of my sight before I change my mind and throw you in the dungeon anyway."
Sierra looked at him. Then at me.
Her face was destroyed. Broken.
But she nodded.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm so sorry."
Then she ran.
Out the door. Down the hallway.
Gone.
Silence filled the room.
Ryan stood there. His back to me.
His shoulders shaking.
"Ryan..." I stepped forward. "I'm sorry. I should have... I should have believed..." I stammered.
"Don't." His voice stopped me. "Don't come near me right now."
"Please. Let me explain..."
"Explain what?" He turned around. His face was wet with tears. But his eyes were hard. Cold. "Explain why you didn't trust me? Explain why you believed her lies over my truth?"
"I was confused. Scared. The photos looked so real..."
"I told you they were fake. I told you nothing happened." His voice cracked. "But you didn't believe me. You looked at me like I was guilty."
"I'm sorry..."
"Sorry doesn't fix this." He moved toward the door. "Sorry doesn't erase the pain. The doubt. The betrayal."
"Where are you going?"
"Away." He opened the door. "Away from here. Away from you."
"Ryan, please don't leave like this..."
But he was already gone.
Walking down the hallway.
Away from me.
I tried to follow. To run after him.
But my legs wouldn't move.
I just stood there.
In the empty room.
Alone.
With the weight of everything I'd done.
Everything I'd destroyed.
And I knew.
I knew I'd lost him.