Chapter 98 You're Gone
Derek smiled, shaking his head in disbelief. "Wow! Don't want to miss her message. That sounds like you’re really serious about her. So after all this time, you still haven’t found a real girlfriend in the real world? You’re relying on an app now?"
Ryan rolled his eyes, though there was no real annoyance in his expression. "You make it sound worse than it is," he replied. “"I like her, okay? We get along really well. We talk every day, and the conversations never feel forced. We just… vibe."
Derek smirked, clearly enjoying himself. "Vibe? Listen to yourself. You sound like a teenager who just discovered romance for the first time."
Ryan let out a small laugh despite himself. "Mock me all you want, but I’m serious. She understands me. It feels easy talking to her, like I don’t have to pretend to be anyone else."
Derek studied his face for a moment and could see the sincerity in his eyes. That alone made his teasing soften slightly, though he wasn’t ready to stop just yet.
Ryan leaned forward, pointing an accusing finger at Derek. “You tease me, yet you’re the one that needs to be teased. Didn’t you say you’d never marry?”
Derek froze for a split second and his reaction caused Ryan's grin to widen wickedly.
“I clearly remember your exact words. ‘Marriage is a business deal at best and a trap at worst.’ You even gave a whole speech about how love was never for you.”
Derek cleared his throat, adjusting the cuff of his suit as if that could somehow save his pride. “Well, people change.”
“Oh, they do?” Ryan sat up straighter, enjoying this far too much. “Because the Derek I knew avoided emotional attachment like it was a contagious disease. And now? You’re talking about courting Rebecca properly and making her your wife out of love.”
Derek tried to maintain his composure, but the faint color rising to his ears betrayed him.
Ryan gasped dramatically. “Wait… are you blushing?”
“I am not blushing,” Derek said firmly.
“You are. This is historic. I need to document this moment.” Ryan pretended to lift his phone. “The mighty Derek, defeated by love.”
Derek shot him a warning look, though there was amusement in his eyes. “Careful, or I’ll personally cancel your little app date tonight.”
Ryan immediately lowered his phone. “Okay, okay. Truce.”
For a moment, they both chuckled, the office no longer heavy with tension but filled with something that could be described as relief and hope.
Ryan leaned back again, his expression softening. “So… when did you realize it? That you love her?”
That question wiped the teasing smile from Derek’s face. He leaned back in his chair slowly, his gaze drifting toward the window again, though this time he wasn’t really seeing the city.
“I think…” he paused, thinking carefully. “I think I always did. I just didn’t want to admit it.”
Ryan stayed quiet, watching him speak so fondly.
“When the contract marriage started, I told myself it was temporary. Convenient. Logical.” Derek let out a faint, almost self-mocking smile. “But every time she smiled at me, every time she argued with me, or was mad at me, I felt something I couldn’t control.”
His jaw tightened slightly as flashes of everything they had been through passed through his mind; the danger, the fear of losing her, the hospital room.
“When she was in danger…” he swallowed subtly. “That was the first time I understood what it would mean to lose her. And it terrified me.”
Ryan’s teasing expression completely disappeared.
Derek’s voice lowered, steady but deeply sincere. “Rebecca isn’t just someone I care about. She’s my peace. When I walk into that house and see her there, safe… I breathe easier. When she laughs, it feels like the noise in my head stops.”
He clasped his hands together again, more firmly this time. “I don’t want a life where she isn’t my wife,” he said quietly but with conviction. “Not because of a contract. Not because of circumstances. But because I love her. Completely.”
The room fell silent as Ryan stared at him for a long second, then slowly shook his head. “Wow.”
Derek frowned slightly. “What?”
“You’re gone,” Ryan said with a laugh. “Completely gone. There’s no saving you.”
Derek smirked faintly. “I don’t want to be saved.”
Ryan stood up, walking toward the desk. “Then what’s the plan, Romeo?”
Derek’s eyes sharpened slightly, that familiar determined look returning — but now it was warmer.
“I already told you. I’m going to court her,” he said. “Proper dates. Flowers. No pressure. I want her to choose me, not because she feels obligated, not because of what we’ve been through. I want her to want me.”
Ryan nodded approvingly. “That’s good. She deserves that.”
Derek allowed himself a small smile. “She deserves everything.”
They both went silent for a moment, both clearly thinking about the women in their lives. After a moment, Derek narrowed his eyes as he looked at Ryan.
"So what about Amelia?" Derek asked, raising a brow knowingly. "She’s been trying pretty hard to get your attention lately." He had noticed the friction between the two when they had met coincidentally at the hospital, Amelia had tried everything to talk to Ryan, while he had done everything possible to avoid talking to her.