Chapter 4 As the last firework faded into the night, Ryan returned to my side. Cheerfully, he asked, "So, did you like my little surprise?" "Why set them off downtown? The view's terrible." "Oh." His lips flattened in annoyance, clearly thinking I didn't appreciate it. "Where were you just now? Who were you calling?" Ryan cut into his steak, his tone unexpectedly sharp. "Do I have to be under your watchful eye every second, reporting my every move to you?" "I just want you to tell me the truth, that's all." "All I want is a little trust from you." The confrontation drained away every trace of romance. The phone rang, and Ryan answered it right in front of me without even trying to hide it. I couldn't make out the words, but I could hear a woman sobbing. Ryan's frown deepened. After he hung up, he grabbed his jacket. "Something came up at work. I need to check it out." I scoffed, "I thought it was Sia crying, and you were rushing off to comfort her." His steps came to an abrupt halt. "I heard her, Ryan." A long silence settled over the room. Ryan turned back with a helpless sigh, his brows furrowed in impatience. "Sia had a fall at home. I just wanted to take her to the hospital. I didn't tell you because I was worried you'd misunderstand. This is exactly what I was afraid of." "You could've called an ambulance, informed her parents, or asked building management for help. At most, sending your assistant would've been more than enough. "Given your personality and status, since when did you become this compassionate?" Especially tonight, on Valentine's Day, in the final month before our wedding, when he promised not to leave me. With the conversation at this point, the tension became unbearable. Ryan moved to the door, his voice colder than winter's night. "Look at you now, so cold, aggressive, and completely without compassion." 1/4 I stared at his back, one that left no room for negotiation. "If you walk out that door, the wedding is off." "Sia's been working under me for six months. She's my responsibility, and that's final." As the clock struck midnight, the countdown froze at day 30. Ryan, I'm done with you. Having reached this position of power, no one dared to talk back to me anymore. It's been ages since I last felt this humiliated. Not until today or perhaps even earlier, I knew about his affair with Sia but still gave him another chance. I laugh at myself for choosing to endure this humiliation. My thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of an unknown number, but the call wasn't meant for me. It was Sia's voice. [Ryan, I didn't fall. You don't need to come over.] "Why did you lie?" Ryan's voice came through the line. "Fine, go be with her. Don't come over tonight, or ever again. I'll quit tomorrow so you won't have to see me, and I won't have to hear people at work calling me a homewrecker." "Who dares badmouth you? Just give me their names. I'll have HR fire them all tomorrow." Ryan's careless attitude toward his employees wore on my nerves. He disregarded both the well-being of his employees and the company's future just to please Sia. But Sia was happy being spoiled, her tone full of pride. "Well, if you don't go back, aren't you afraid she'll get mad?" The two of them were enjoying this flirtatious moment. "What little game are you playing today? Didn't I promise to spend a whole month with you? I bet you're over the moon about it." "You've been so wrapped up with your wife lately. Not only did you fire me, but you've ignored me these days." Ryan coaxed in a teasing tone, "You little troublemaker, don't you want to be your own boss? Isn't the ten million I invested to make it up to you enough? "Besides, when have I ever ignored you? Haven't I been video-chatting with you every day? "I just wanted one last night with her. Even if you hadn't called, I would have come to see you tomorrow. But I never expected Flora to be so cold-hearted. She let me down." "You're not going back before the wedding. You're all mine." "I'm not going back. I'm all yours." Sia said coyly, "I have another gift for you tonight. Don't forget to grab a box of condoms on your way up." A cold, harsh wind pierced my chest as I heard Ryan's low, husky "Mm-hmm". 2/4 After hanging up on him, Sia couldn't hide her gloating. "I told him to spend tonight with you, but since you deliberately provoked me, now you see the difference between us, don't you? "But don't get too upset. Once I'm done with him, I'll give him back to you." She boasted proudly, "Everyone in the industry talks about you two like you're some big deal, but I snatched him away in just half a year. "To be fair, he's quite a catch. He acted all tough at first, but the moment I cried, he turned into a total pushover. "He had others do my work, comforted me when I spilled coffee on him and felt guilty when I wouldn't define our relationship. And his gifts filled my apartment to the brim. "Honestly, you should be thanking me for training your clueless husband who didn't even understand bags." Sia kept bragging about how well Ryan treated her, all the while provoking me. Looking down upon me, she said, "Flora, I'm only telling you this out of pity. We women should never marry a man who betrays us." I cut her off calmly and asked, "Are you that afraid I'll forgive Ryan?" Sia paused briefly then sneered in disdain. "I assumed women your age would just grovel and beg for a man, but an alpha woman like me would never give up the whole dating pool for a pathetic simp." "Oh? How about I send Ryan a recording of your entire little performance just now? What do you think?" "You wouldn't dare!" Sia immediately lost her composure. Flustered and furious, she kept pressing, "How dare you record me? You're so shameless." "You've studied me, right? You know how much I care about this relationship. You thought I'd stay silent about you to avoid falling out with Ryan. You believed you had me all figured out." "I haven't. You're not going to send the recording to him, are you?" "But you're also afraid I might marry Ryan, so you couldn't help but come here and make a fool of yourself." Sia completely lost it, screaming hoarsely, "I'm not! I'm asking if you recorded me." Listening to her rapid breathing, I called her name. "Sia, say it. Say you're a shameless bitch, a brainless psycho." "Don't even think about it." "Don't make me say it twice." Sia felt an indescribable threat as if she'd regret it for the rest of her life if she didn't comply. After a few seconds of silence, Sia gritted her teeth and said, "I'm a shameless bitch, a brainless psycho." 3/4 "I didn't tell you to stop." Through the phone came Sia's forced self-insult, her words spat out through gritted teeth. "You keep pretending not to care, but are you afraid of showing your true colors in front of Ryan?" "Are you uneasy because you expected Ryan to break up with me, rather than just playing this 'last month' game with you until today? "Maybe in your eyes, being surrounded by men makes you an alpha wornan, and winning their love feels great. "But I'm different. I'm a businesswoman. Love brings me joy, and betrayal brings me pain. That's human nature. "Human nature is worthless. I don't want to make losing deals either. Too bad you chose to cross me. "Bad news for you. I can pay the price for human nature. And worse news for you. After six months of scheming, you're still scared of what I just said." Looking at the cold leftovers on the table, I let out a hollow laugh. "But there's good news, too. Congratulations on achieving your goal." After speaking, I silently waited for Sia to respond. After a long pause, she finally said, "Please don't send the recording to Ryan." "That depends on my mood." 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