Chapter 204
Chapter 204
If I thought I’d heard all the secrets, I was wrong.
So, so wrong.
We sat in Liam’s private lounge, the four of us—Avery, Liam, Ryan, and me. The door was locked. No assistants. No legal team. No distractions. Just the truth, finally clawing its way out.
Ryan sat opposite his parents, his eyes still rimmed red but dry now, waiting. Bracing.
“Start talking,” he said quietly, voice hollow. “No more circling.”
Avery folded her hands in her lap, her fingers twisting as though she needed to hold onto something or she might fall apart. “Ryan,” she began, “the night you were born… it wasn’t in a hospital. It was at home. Liam was out of the country. I—I was alone. I didn’t know if he’d come back. I didn’t even know if he’d claim you.”
Liam flinched, but said nothing.
“I was scared,” she went on. “So I called Peris. He helped… but he also manipulated everything. The documents. The registration. He said it was for your safety, that if Liam ever turned on me, I’d have proof of your identity under my protection.”
“So you gave me a fake identity,” Ryan said flatly. “Just in case Dad didn’t want me?”
“That’s not what she said,” Liam growled, finally snapping. “I was trapped, Avery. You didn’t give me a chance.”
“You weren’t returning my calls, Liam!” she shot back. “You were off sleeping with Evelyn!”
I stiffened.
Ryan’s head turned sharply toward me.
“What?”
I opened my mouth, but the words got stuck. “Ryan, it wasn’t like that. I didn’t even know about you. I didn’t know Liam had someone else.”
Avery scoffed. “That’s convenient.”
“Enough,” Liam said, stepping between us. “This isn’t about Evelyn. This is about Ryan.”
But Ryan wasn’t listening anymore. He stood again, this time slower. Different from the earlier outburst. This wasn’t panic. This was heartbreak sinking deep into his bones.
“All this time, I thought I came from something solid. That even if everything else in life fell apart, at least my bloodline was… real.”
“It is real,” Liam said, stepping forward. “You’re my son. You always were. No document changes that.”
Ryan looked at him. “Then why do I feel like I’m just someone everyone keeps rewriting?”
No one had an answer.
He turned to me again. “You knew about me?”
“Not until it was too late,” I whispered. “And when I found out, I tried to stay away for your sake. I never wanted to confuse you or hurt you.”
He stared at me, then looked back at his mother. “So Peris raised me. But he’s not my father.”
“No,” Avery said. “He just made it look that way.”
“And now he wants control. Over me. Over the company.”
Liam’s eyes darkened. “That’s why we need to stay united. No more lies. We expose him.”
Ryan nodded once, then said, “What if I don’t want to be part of any of this?”
The silence that followed was heavy.
“You don’t have to choose today,” I said gently. “But you need to know the truth before you decide anything.”
He turned and walked out.
But this time, he didn’t slam the door. He just closed it—softly, like the weight of everything had finally crushed the anger out of him.
Avery collapsed onto the couch, burying her face in her hands. “What have I done?”
“You tried to protect him,” I said, though it tasted bitter in my mouth.
Liam moved beside me, eyes fixed on the door Ryan had just exited. “I won’t lose him.”
“I don’t think you will,” I said. “But you might lose me if the next secret that comes out involves another woman I haven’t met yet.”
Liam looked at me sharply, but then… he smiled, barely. “No more secrets. I swear.”
We both knew that oath had already been broken more times than it should.
But this time, maybe—just maybe—it wasn’t too late.
But just as I reached for Liam’s hand, a text buzzed on my phone.
From an unknown number.
“You think you’ve won,
Evelyn? Check your email. The real storm is coming.”
And I knew... Peris wasn’t done.