Chapter 129: Confirmation
Vivian’s POV
Ryan Terrell had never cared for her. All that he had seen was a plaything. His view of her was not something that she could blame him for, given the type of arrangement that they’d had.
But even though she could not point a finger at him, she could blame herself for developing feelings and hanging on despite knowing that they were going nowhere good.
It was ridiculous. Now that it was over she should have been able to kick the unnecessary feelings away since they had not known each other that long. But as the days passed and she did not see Ryan, her heart ached even more.
As painful as that was. It would have been better for her to just endure the pain and not try to look for anything connected to him at all. But unfortunately, even though she had put all things tied to him away. Vivian’s habit of scrolling through social media for news on Ryan Terrell had not diminished, instead, it had gotten worse.
It was why she was currently online following updates on the situation with his grandfather.
No one actually knew what was wrong with the old man.
Some were saying that he was dead, others said that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. While others were floating stories around saying that the Terrell elder had suffered a stroke.
***
Every time that Vivian came across a story, no matter how outlandish it was. She found herself following it until she ran into a dead end. Or she found something that proved without a doubt that whatever was being said was a lie.
It was tiring work, but it was the only thing that she could do to keep herself from panicking.
Without there being an official statement, she had to investigate every story for herself in an effort to figure out what was fact and what was fiction.
Given that she had never actually met Ryan’s grandfather. Vivian knew that what she was doing was incredibly creepy, and a waste of her time. But she could not help it.
The part of her that still cared about Ryan Terrell did not want him to lose his only family member. He had never said much about the old man, but she had been able to tell that he cared a great deal about his grandfather. So she was praying with everything in her that whatever was wrong with his grandfather was not serious. That the old man would be able to pull through without there being any complications.
If Ryan had been in a financial situation where he needed to raise funds for his grandfather’s health, Vivian was certain that she would have emptied out her bank accounts. But luckily he did not need her help like that. He did not need her help in anything. But even if it would most likely not do anything, she was still sending out well wishes and prayers.
As much as he had hurt her, she did not want Ryan in pain. Especially through something as awful as having to stand by helplessly while a loved one was hurting.
***
As good and pure as her intentions were. Vivian was very quickly reminded that no good deed went unpunished.
At some point during her many, many hours of scouring the internet for news on the health of Ryan’s grandfather, she came across a picture that made her pause.
One of the people camped outside of the hospital had managed to snap a picture of Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth. She looked just as gorgeous as Vivian remembered her, and more importantly she was walking into the hospital. Which further solidified things in Vivian’s mind.
Gwendolyn and Ryan truly were a couple.
Obviously she was the kind of woman who was so secure in herself that she did not mind Ryan being with other women. It explained why Ryan had been comfortable enough to be with Vivian, and it also explained why he had been with those gorgeous twins that he had been photographed with.
But now when the situation called for it, it was not Vivian who was by Ryan’s side and it was not the beautiful twins that had trended on social media thanks to their association with him. Instead it was the woman closest to his heart. In his hour of need, Ryan Terrell had reached out to Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth. That spoke volumes about their relationship.
Feeling pain bloom in her heart as she looked at the picture of Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth, Vivian brought a hand to her chest and gently massaged the area there. But the touch did nothing to take her pain away. If anything it made her even more aware of just how painful each beat of her heart was.
Just how many times did she need to get burned to fully accept that Ryan Terrell did not care about her at all, that he never had. Gwendolyn was the woman for him. Vivian had just been his flavor of the month, nothing more. She was still staring at the picture of the perfect Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth when her phone lit up and chimed as a message came in. Tapping at the screen, Vivian saw the name of the sender and her already down in the dumps mood got even worse.
Of course it would be Bryce. The man had a supernatural ability to just sniff out whenever Vivian was feeling low. If he had been someone kinder, more caring, then he would have used that skill to cheer her up. But whenever she was feeling down, Bryce always found a way to make her feel even worse.
Given her current mood, it would have been best to not read whatever it was that Bryce had to say. But Vivian already knew she was going to open the text. At least the message from Bryce would not hurt her in ways that she could not shake off.
[Hey piggy...] Two words in, and Vivian already knew that she would not like the rest of the text. Good old reliable Bryce, she could always count on him to make her feel bad.
