Chapter 50 Small Laugh
RYAN'S POV
“I thought it was just me overthinking everything, but I honestly think I’m starting to feel something, and I know it might still be small, but I know something is there,” I said to Dan, who sat next to me as we had tea outside my estate in the evening.
Even as the words left my mouth, I wondered if I should have said them at all. I wasn’t the type to talk about feelings, not like this. For years, emotions had been something I kept locked away, buried under responsibilities, business meetings, and family expectations. Saying it out loud made it feel real, and that scared me more than I wanted to admit.
Dan took a slow sip of his tea before responding, studying me like he was trying to confirm something he had suspected for a long time.
“We’ve known each other for years, Ryan. I’ve tried matching you with all the ladies that I know possible, but you always seem to turn them down because you’re not interested. At some point, I thought that you were actually gay, so I’m surprised that I’m hearing this from you.”
I let out a small laugh, more out of disbelief than humor. Gay? The thought almost sounded ridiculous, but at the same time, I couldn’t even blame him for thinking that way. From the outside, it probably looked exactly like that.
“You really thought I was gay?” I asked, shaking my head slightly.
“You think it’s funny, right?” Dan said, setting his cup down. “But that’s the truth though. I tried for years. Slim, thick, ugly, beautiful, I brought all of them, but you always said you’re not interested. Why?”
Why?
That question followed me for years, even when no one asked it out loud. Sometimes, late at night, I asked myself the same thing. Why didn’t I feel anything? Why didn’t any of them move me the way they were supposed to? Was something wrong with me?
“Because I was actually not interested,” I said calmly. “I didn’t connect with any of them.”
It sounded simple, but it wasn’t. I had tried. I really had. Dinners, conversations, dates that felt more like obligations than desires. Nothing ever clicked. Nothing ever stayed in my mind once they left.
“But you connected with Anna, right?” Dan said, his tone playful, but his eyes were serious.
I felt my chest tighten slightly at the mention of her name. Connected. That word carried weight. It wasn’t love. It wasn’t obsession. But it was something unfamiliar, something that lingered even when she wasn’t around.
“We honestly need to celebrate,” Dan continued, clearly enjoying this. “This is good news. At first, I thought it would never work because your emotions are not really in the right place. You need to be there for your mom and still manage the company. But it worked easier than I thought it would.”
I nodded slowly. He wasn’t wrong. My life was already crowded with responsibilities. There was barely room for sleep, let alone feelings. And yet, Anna somehow slipped into the cracks I didn’t even know existed.
“Well, there’s something special about Anna,” I admitted. “She’s not just like the rest. She has something to offer. She’s not just after my money.”
That alone already set her apart.
“She doesn’t even have time to get to know me, and that’s the thing that intrigued me more,” I added with a small laugh. “Other ladies always want to see me, but her… it feels like I’m the one chasing.”
And that was the strangest part. I wasn’t used to chasing. I was used to being wanted, pursued, admired. With Anna, it felt different. Natural. Unforced.
“She’s different, huh,” Dan said knowingly.
“So what about Isabel?” he continued. “I mean, they’re both my sisters. Is Isabel not different too? You know she has been trying to get your attention for a while.”
I sighed internally. Isabel. That situation alone was exhausting.
“I know,” I said. “And as I said, I don’t see in her what I see in Anna. Trust me, I’ve told her that I’m not interested many times. But she just doesn’t want to take no for an answer.”
Each rejection only seemed to fuel her more, and that worried me.
“Each time I politely turn her down, she comes back harder,” I continued. “I just hope what she has going on doesn’t turn into obsession, because that would be a bigger problem.”
Dan nodded, clearly understanding. “Let’s tell her for the last time together. I don’t think she believes that you’re serious. The fact that you keep telling her you’re not interested, yet you don’t have a girlfriend, makes her think you’re playing hard to get.”
That… actually made sense.
“But if you let her know that you might potentially like someone else,” he added, “maybe she would finally accept it and move on.”
I thought about it for a moment. Pride. Competition. Reality. It might be harsh, but sometimes the truth was the only thing that worked.
“Sure,” I said eventually. “At least that might get her off my back.”
“And what about Anna?” Dan asked. “Are you gonna tell her about this small spark you feel for her, or are you gonna give it time?”
I leaned back slightly, staring into my tea. “It’s too early,” I said. “She seems really busy. Or maybe she just doesn’t want to speak with me much. We’ve barely known each other. I can’t just approach her and say something like that.”
The thought alone felt rushed. Reckless.
“Well,” Dan said, “I don’t mind telling you the little I know about her since she doesn’t have the time right now.”
I hesitated, then spoke. “Like that guy she was arguing with at the ceremony a few days ago… it looked like they had some kind of history. Is that her boyfriend?”
“No,” Dan answered immediately. “That’s her ex. Long story.”
Something tightened in my chest. Ex meant past, but pasts had a way of resurfacing when you least expected them to.
“Well,” I said calmly, though my curiosity was far from calm, “we have all evening. I’ll be glad to hear it.”
And as Dan prepared to speak, one thing became clear in my mind — whatever Anna had been through, it shaped her into the woman she was today. And if I was going to feel something for her, then I needed to understand her story first.