Chapter 87 Greedy reporter

Chapter 87 Greedy reporter

Ruan stared at the screen, his eyes fixed on the red dot blinking inside his house. He took a slow, deep breath, recalling exactly what Aysel told him that morning. She wanted him to stop acting like a monster. She wanted him to stop reacting to every damn thing.

"The signal is coming from the garage?" Ruan asked, his voice calm and steady as he looked down at Cole.

"Yes, boss," Cole whispered, his hands shaking slightly as he held the tablet. "The GPS says the phone is right inside the black car you drove home from the restaurant."

"Grab a flashlight, Cole," Ruan ordered simply. He uncrossed his arms and turned to leave the office. "We’re going down to the garage to find it now."

Cole took a small flashlight from the desk drawer and ran to catch up with his boss as they walked down the hallway. They descended the stairs and stepped into the cold garage. The car sat in the middle of the park, looking completely normal.

"Open the doors, Cole," Ruan said quietly, standing by the back tire and crossing his arms again, watching closely.

Cole opened the car doors, and the yellow interior lights turned on, illuminating the seats. He clicked on the flashlight, shining it across the floor mats. He looked inside the cup holders and checked the small pockets on the doors.

"I don’t see anything on the seats, boss," Cole mumbled, kneeling down to shine the light under the passenger seat.

He reached deep under the chair, feeling around blindly in the tight space. Suddenly, his fingers bumped against a small, hard plastic.

"I found something," Cole called out, pulling his arm back out and standing to face Ruan.

In his palm was a dirty black burner phone. The screen was cracked, and a green light blinked quickly in the top corner, indicating it was tracking their exact location.

He looked at it with a heavy sigh.

"Plug it into your tablet, Cole," Ruan instructed softly, leaning against the door. "Find out who bought that piece of trash and how it got into my locked car."

Cole pulled a short white wire from his pocket and plugged the phone into his tablet. He typed quickly on the screen. In less than ten seconds, he bypassed the password, opening the text messages and the tracking app while his eyes scanned the screen rapidly.

"Well, boss," Cole breathed out, letting out a laugh of relief, his tense shoulders dropping, "we're definitely not in danger today."

"Who owns the phone?" Ruan asked, frowning in confusion at Cole’s smiling face.

"It belongs to a news reporter from the Daily City Paper," Cole explained, turning the tablet around so Ruan could read the screen. "He sent several texts to the restaurant parking valet. He paid the young valet two hundred dollars to drop this phone through your open car window while you were having dinner."

Ruan read the messages, seeing the reporter brag about getting the famous billionaire’s home address and discussing plans to sneak onto the island tomorrow for pictures of Aysel.

It wasn’t an assassin. It was just a greedy paparazzi trying to get a big story.

Ruan felt weight lift off his chest. His tense muscles relaxed, and he exhaled quietly into the garage.

"He just wanted to take pictures of my wife to make money," Ruan whispered, shaking his head as he looked at the phone.

"What do you want me to do with him, boss?" Cole asked, seriousness returning to his voice. "Should I send the guards to his house? Do you want us to beat him up?"

Ruan looked at his own hands, recalling his bloody knuckles from weeks ago. He remembered Aysel crying, begging him to stop using violence to solve every problem and to be a good, gentle man.

"No, Cole," Ruan said firmly. His deep voice was clear and calm as he met Cole's confused gaze. "Don’t send anyone to his house. Don’t touch him at all."

"We're just going to let him go?" Cole gasped, shock written on his face.

"We're calling my best lawyers tomorrow," Ruan said with a calm smile, pointing at the tablet. "We’ll sue him for stalking. We’ll sue his newspaper for breaking the law. I’ll buy the whole news company by noon just to fire him officially."

Cole stared at his boss in amazement for a few seconds, realizing Ruan was really trying to change and be a better man.

"That’s a smart plan, Ruan," Cole said, smiling brightly and nodding quickly. "I’ll call the legal team first thing in the morning."

"Throw that stupid phone in the garbage," Ruan ordered softly, turning to walk back toward the stairs. "And go get some sleep, Cole. You did a good job tonight."

Ruan walked back up the stairs and entered the house. He moved down the hallway and gently pushed open the door to avoid noise.

The bedroom was warm and dark, smelling of sweet vanilla soap. Aysel sat up in the middle of the huge bed, wearing a oversized gray t-shirt and comfortably leaning against pillows. She wasn't sleeping, she was patiently waiting for him.

"Did you find out who sent the picture?" Aysel asked softly, looking at his face.

Ruan flashed a genuine smile, taking off his shoes and pulling his jacket off his shoulders, tossing it onto a nearby chair.

"You were right, my queen," Ruan chuckled as he climbed onto the soft mattress beside her. "It was just a greedy news reporter. He paid the valet to drop a phone in our car because he wanted to take pictures of us."

"A reporter?" Aysel laughed softly, covering her mouth with her hand. She felt silly for worrying. "That’s so annoying, but I’m really glad it’s not someone trying to hurt us."

"He won’t bother us again," Ruan promised, sliding under the blankets and wrapping his arms around her small waist, pulling her close to his heart.

"Did you send your guards to hurt him?" Aysel asked, tilting her head to look into his eyes as she awaited his honest answer.

"No, baby," Ruan whispered, gently stroking her cheek. His thumb traced her jawline with love. "I told Cole to call the lawyers tomorrow. We’ll handle it legally. We’ll sue him and take his job the right way, no violence."

Aysel felt a wave of pride wash over her. Her eyes shone happily as she reached for his neck, pulling him down to kiss him deeply.

"I’m so proud of you, Ruan Sinclair," Aysel breathed against his mouth, kissing him repeatedly. "You’re becoming the best husband in the world."

"I’m just trying to be the man you deserve," Ruan murmured, burying his face in her neck and pulling her fully on top of his chest, loving the warm feeling of her resting against him.

Aysel rested her chin on his chest, tracing small circles on his shirt with her finger while listening to the quiet, peaceful sound of the waves crashing outside their window.

"My charity opens the doors to the public tomorrow," Aysel said softly, feeling a spark of exciting energy in her stomach, "we are helping ten mothers pay their hospital bills tomorrow afternoon, Ruan, I am going to meet them and give them a safe place to talk."

"You are going to change so many sad lives, Aysel," Ruan smiled, rubbing her back in slow, comforting strokes, his eyes looking up at the ceiling, "you took our terrible pain and turned it into something incredibly beautiful, I am going to stand right beside you every single day and watch you shine."

"I could not do it without you," Aysel whispered, closing her eyes, feeling the exhaustion pulling her down into sleep, "you gave me the wings to fly, baby."

"You already had the wings," Ruan corrected gently, kissing the top of her head, pulling the blankets all the way up to her shoulders to keep her warm, "I just opened the door for you."

They laid there together in the bedroom, their legs tangled under the sheets. The house was completely silent.

Aysel drifted off into a deep sleep, feeling his heart beating against her cheek, knowing in her soul that no matter what crazy things happened in the future, they were going to face the world together, side by side, totally unbreakable.