Chapter 202
The first thing I noticed when I stepped into the boardroom was the tension. It was thick, suffocating. The kind that made your spine stiffen even before a single word was spoken. Liam sat at the head of the table, fingers steepled beneath his chin, his gaze burning holes into Peris.
Ryan sat on the far end beside me, quiet but alert, like he could sense that something monumental was about to unfold.
Avery was there too.
She looked… composed. But I’d known her long enough to see past the polished exterior. Her fingers were clenched under the table, the faintest tremble in her shoulders betraying her calm. Our eyes met. For a second, something flickered in hers—regret, maybe. Or guilt.
“I trust everyone’s read the dossier.” Liam’s voice cut through the silence like a blade. “Because we’re not here to repeat history—we’re here to prevent it from spiraling further.”
Peris smirked, unbothered. “You act like you’re not part of the spiral, Rockwell. Let’s not pretend your hands are clean.”
Liam didn’t flinch. “I’m not pretending. But there’s a difference between mistakes made in love and orchestrated manipulation.”
My chest tightened.
Was that what this was? A showdown between egos—or the fallout of every lie we’d tried to bury?
Avery stood. “This needs to stop. All of it. The secrets, the games. We’re hurting people who never asked to be part of this mess.”
She glanced at Ryan—and for the first time, I saw something maternal in her expression. Not just remorse. A desperate, silent plea.
“Ryan deserves better than pawns for parents.”
Liam looked down at the table, jaw clenched, but his eyes flickered with something raw. Vulnerability. Pain. And yet… he didn’t speak.
“Too little too late, don’t you think?” I said, surprising even myself. My voice was steady, cold. “You had years to tell the truth, Avery. And now that everything’s unraveling, you want a clean conscience?”
She turned to me slowly. “You think I don’t live with that guilt every day?”
“I think guilt doesn’t mean much when it only shows up after the damage is done.”
Peris scoffed. “Touching. Really. But this isn’t about redemption. This is business. Ryan’s paternity affects the succession line. And as his legal guardian before this drama unfolded, I have leverage.”
That word—leverage—made my blood boil.
“Ryan is not a bargaining chip.”
“No,” Liam cut in. “He’s my son. And no matter what twisted documents you’ve got hidden, nothing changes that.”
“Funny,” Peris said. “Because the birth certificate filed under Avery’s name says otherwise.”
A gasp echoed from the far end of the table. Ryan.
I turned to him, but he was already rising from his chair, eyes wide. “You’re lying.”
Peris grinned. “Am I?”
Avery reached for Ryan, but he pulled away.
“I don’t understand,” he whispered. “You… put someone else’s name? You let him think—let me think—”
“It wasn’t supposed to go like this,” she said, voice cracking. “I wanted to protect you.”
“You lied,” he said, and this time it was louder. Accusatory. Devastated. “You all lied.”
Ryan stormed out of the room.
Liam was on his feet instantly, but I stepped in front of him. “Let me.”
He hesitated, then nodded once.
I chased after Ryan down the hall, finding him leaning against the window, eyes red.
“Hey,” I said softly.
“I’m not who I thought I was,” he muttered. “All this time… he raised me. And now I find out my birth certificate doesn’t even have his name?”
I swallowed hard. “Blood doesn’t make someone your father. Love does.”
He looked at me then. “But it’s not just about love, is it? It’s about truth.”
I had no answer for that.
Because he was right.
And that truth was breaking all of us.
Behind us, the conference room door opened. Avery stood there, silent, waiting. Liam joined her, his expression unreadable.
Then Avery whispered something that made my skin go cold.
“I think it’s time we told him everything.”
And just like that, I knew this was only the beginning.
Everything? What the hell else was there left to say?
And what would Ryan do when he found out?