Chapter 789
I couldn’t avoid this trip to Braylin. Just as luck would have it, my company needed me to head to Gordezin for two days. I mentioned it to Edward, told him it’d only take two days, and he was fine with it.
Once I got to Gordezin, I booked a flight straight to Braylin. I handed off my work to two trusted execs and asked them to keep everything under wraps.
As soon as I landed in Braylin and walked out of the arrivals gate, I heard someone calling my name, “Ms. Murphy.”
I turned around and saw a middle-aged man dressed casually. He handed me a business card and said, “Mr. Jennings asked me to pick you up.”
I remembered seeing him at the Jennings family’s place before. Even though I had no idea who he was, I figured things would probably get messy if I refused to go with him.
Once I got in the car, I noticed he wasn’t heading toward the city center, but was driving out toward the outskirts instead.
“Excuse me, aren’t we supposed to be going to the Jennings family’s house?” I asked immediately.
“Jeffrey Jennings isn’t at the old house,” he replied.
Just to be safe, I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts. After some searching, I found Ryan—the guy I’d blocked before—and unblocked him.
I shot him a message: “I’m in Braylin. Your grandpa wants to see me. Do you know what this is about?”
It took a while before Ryan finally replied: “Why are you here?”
I frowned at his response, feeling a bit annoyed. It’s not like I wanted to come. Your grandpa insisted on it, I thought as I typed back, “I didn’t want to come. Your grandpa insisted.”
“Here to baby me?” Ryan shot back, just three words.
“Are you still a baby or something? You’re a grown man and you still need someone to coddle you?” I snapped, my irritation flaring. Thanks to Ryan, my life was a total mess right now.
“Yep, still a baby,” Ryan replied, clearly just teasing me.
“Ryan, why are you still clinging to me? We’ve been broken up for so long,” I snapped, my frustration boiling over.
“Not that long. It’s only been three hundred and seventy-eight days,” he shot back instantly.
I stared at the screen, eyes wide. Is he for real? Does he actually keep track of this stuff? I thought.
“Fine, even if it hasn’t been that long, I’m your Uncle Ryan’s girlfriend now. Isn’t what you’re doing kind of messed up?” I shot back.
“Vic, are you missing the point here? He’s the one who taught me that as long as you fight and grab for what you want, you’ll get it. I’m just doing what he did. Did you ever call him out for being out of line?” Ryan fired back, his messages coming in rapid-fire.
I was stunned for a second, then admitted, “Alright, I’m the one being out of line. I guess I shouldn’t have chosen to be with him in the first place.”
“You’re not wrong. Uncle Ryan offered you love and money—who could say no to that?” Ryan said, trying to let me off the hook.
“So what do you want from me?” I asked, feeling like I was about to lose my mind.
But Ryan didn’t reply. His silence was suffocating.
An hour and a half later, the car pulled up to a place called Mountain Retreat. The driver came around and opened the door for me. “Ms. Murphy, please step out.”
“What is this place?” I asked warily.
“You’ll know once you go inside,” he replied with a small smile.
I got out of the car cautiously, and just then, a lazy voice drifted down from the second-floor balcony. “So, Grandpa really did send you over to placate me.”
I looked up, and there was Ryan, silhouetted against the blinding sunlight, gazing down at me from above.
He was dressed in a crisp white shirt, looking almost ethereal in the daylight—like he was bathed in moonlight. That triumphant, smug smile on his face only made his features look even more striking.
With the sun blazing overhead in the middle of the day, I still broke out in a cold sweat.
I just stood there in the courtyard, not moving. After a moment, Ryan came down the stairs.
He walked over to the entrance and leaned against the doorway, sizing me up.