Chapter 205
Chapter 205
The air in the room shifted the moment I read that message.
Liam noticed my expression immediately. “What is it?”
I didn’t answer. I was already unlocking my email, my fingers trembling slightly as I clicked on the most recent message.
Subject line: “Let’s Play Fair.”
Sender: [email protected]
The message contained a single line of text:
“The truth is always uglier when seen up close. Attachment: 1 File.”
My heart pounded as I downloaded the file. Liam stepped behind me, placing a hand on my shoulder, but I could feel the tension coiling in his muscles like a wire pulled too tight.
Avery stood, pale. “Is it from Peris?”
“Who else?” I muttered, opening the attachment.
It was a video.
And as soon as it started playing, I felt my stomach drop.
A grainy recording. A hotel room. A younger Avery sitting across from a man whose face was hidden by the angle, but his voice… it was unmistakable.
Liam’s voice.
“You think I care who the kid belongs to?” the Liam in the video snarled. “You get rid of it, or I’ll make sure you both disappear. I don’t need a child tying me to this mess.”
My throat tightened. I glanced at Liam, whose face had gone ghost-white.
“That’s not—” he started.
“I never said that,” he finished.
“Is this AI?” I asked, but the certainty in Avery’s face shattered me.
“No. That was real,” she whispered. “You said that, Liam. It was the day I told you I was pregnant. You didn’t know for sure if it was yours and—God—you told me to abort it.”
Liam staggered back a step, like the memory had punched the breath out of him.
“I was angry. I was confused—”
“You were cruel,” Avery hissed, tears glistening in her eyes. “That video—he’s going to release it. Ryan will see it. The world will.”
I turned back to the screen, but my eyes weren’t on the video anymore. They were on the email—on the real weapon.
Peris wasn’t just threatening the company or Ryan’s future. He was dismantling the last shred of peace between us all.
“I need to find him,” Liam said suddenly, his voice tight.
“Peris?” I asked.
“No. Ryan.”
He rushed out of the room, and Avery sank into the couch again, her whole body trembling.
“You should go after him,” she said. “You’re the only one Ryan listens to anymore.”
But I didn’t move.
Instead, I stared at her.
“You kept that video all this time. Why didn’t you destroy it?”
She hesitated. “I almost did. But… part of me thought I might need it. Insurance.”
“Against Liam? Or against me?”
Her silence was answer enough.
The betrayal stung, but I wasn’t surprised. Not anymore.
Not after everything.
Still, I forced myself to speak with control. “If this goes public, Ryan won’t just walk away. He’ll run.”
“I know,” she whispered.
The email pinged again.
Another message from the same sender. This one with a picture attachment.
I clicked it—and my breath caught.
A blurry photo. Ryan at the café down the street.
But he wasn’t alone.
Next to him sat a man in a tailored suit. Greying temples. Sharp jaw. Cold eyes.
Peris.
I didn’t wait.
Grabbing my coat and keys, I stormed toward the door.
“What are you doing?” Avery called.
I looked back at her. “What I should’ve done a long time ago.”
As I burst into the café, Ryan looked up.
Peris turned toward me too—smi
ling like he’d been expecting me all along.
“Ah,” he said calmly. “The favorite twin arrives. Finally.”