Chapter 127: Bad Timing
Ryan’s POV
Mark did not like Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth. That much Ryan knew. To be honest, he could not stand the woman either.
The only reason that he was considering marrying her was because of his grandfather’s failing health. Were it not for that, Gwendolyn would not even be in the running. But he had to say even with all of the dislike that he had for the woman, clearly Mark hated her a whole lot more than his friend had ever let on.
Ryan had never seen him look so disgusted at just the mention of somebody’s name. He wanted to meet his friend’s look of revulsion with a matching one of his own. But Ryan knew better. Once he asked her to marry him,
Gwendolyn would become a part of his life.
He had to make Mark see how her being Mrs Terrell would be a good thing. If he failed at that, he might just lose his best friend and Ryan had no idea if he could survive such a blow.
"Mark, I have to marry her. She is the woman that my grandfather thinks is best for me,"
Mark shook his head.
"But we both know that she is not. Answer me this, do you still have feelings for her. Even if it is just the shred, do you feel affection towards her?"
Unable to lie, Ryan shook his head, "I care more about a discarded cigarette butt on the street than I do about that woman. But grandfather wants me to settle down so I have to do it,"
"Do you think he would want you to marry Gwendolyn if there was somebody else in the picture?" Ryan rubbed at his temples and let out a tired sigh.
"I honestly have no idea, but it is not as though we can test that. There is currently no one in my life," At that, Mark let out a nervous sounding cough and Ryan’s eyes narrowed as he gave his friend a suspicious look.
"What is it?" Ryan asked.
***
"Ryan, when Vivian ended things, are you certain that she did so because she had been playing games with you?" Just hearing her name made Ryan’s heart hurt. He wanted to tell Mark to change the conversation. But the fact that his friend was bringing her up at the hospital, meant that it was important. So despite the way his heart hurt Ryan forced himself to partake in the conversation.
"I have already told you this Mark, Vivian ended things because she never really cared about me. I was the only one dumb enough to think that things were headed in a direction that they clearly were not." Smoothing his tie, Mark blew out a breath and gave Ryan a sad look.
"Vivian’s friend came to see me at the bank. At first I wanted to just ignore her, but we ended up speaking,"
His anger coming out of nowhere, Ryan could not help but sneer. "And what did she want? Did Vivian send her to try and see if she could get money out of you or is she threatening to go public with the story of us?"
Mark shook his head. "No. From what I could gather, the woman was looking for closure for her best friend,"
Ryan laughed coldly at that. "Closure, what closure could Vivian possibly need. She was the one who ended things. Didn’t she come to terms with everything before she brought the axe down and cut off the thread that held us together?"
Fiddling with his pocket watch, Mark began to speak. Sounding like somebody who would rather have not been having that particular conversation at that moment. "Ryan, I need you to be honest with me. During your time with Vivian were you sleeping with anybody other than her?"
Ryan inhaled sharply at the question. He had not expected Mark to ask him such a thing.
"Of course not. I am not a cheater. You know that."
His friend nodded, "That much I know, but I just needed to be sure. For you see, according to Amy, the reason that Vivian Rose broke up with you is because she believes that you were sleeping with somebody else while you were also involved with her,"
***
What?!
Vivian thought that Ryan had cheated on her.
Why in the world would the woman think that. He had never given her any reason to doubt him?
"Like I have just told you, Mark, I was only loyal to that woman during our time together. If she truly believes that I am a cheater, then it was probably for the best that the two of us parted ways,"
Mark shook his head. "Do you see how strongly you are defending yourself right now? That is how I defended you to Amy. But guess what she had to say? When Vivian ended things with you, she was not just acting on feelings. She had actual proof,"
"What? What sort of proof could Vivian possibly have had? Had somebody sent her AI generated videos of me? Was it fake pictures?" Mark shook his head.
"When you left to go abroad to smooth things over with all of those world leaders, do you remember that?" Ryan nodded, of course he did.
"Well according to Amy, Vivian went over to your place to sleep there for the night. But instead she found a naked woman in the penthouse,"
Again...what?! There had been an intruder and the security had let them in. All of a sudden things clicked into place for Ryan. He remembered the call between himself and Vivian, where he had thought that he’d heard her crying. Then there had been her not being able to answer his calls all of a sudden.
He remembered coming back and feeling like a giant crater had formed between the two of them.
Oh Vivian.
So she had been so distant because she had been hurting , thinking that he was just like that low life ex of hers?
"Did she happen to catch the woman’s name?" Ryan asked, his voice deadly soft. Whoever it was that had ruined his relationship, he was going to make them pay.
Mark nodded, "As a matter of fact the woman introduced herself and treated Vivian like a housekeeper,"
His anger bubbling, Ryan balled his hands into fists.
"Who was it?" He hissed, he needed a name, so that he knew who to tear apart.
"Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth," Mark breathed, and Ryan saw red. Right on cue a new voice joined them.
"Did someone just say my name?"
