Chapter 160: Exposed
Ryan’s POV
Now that the two of them were back together. Ryan would have loved to spend every single moment by Vivian side.
But the world did not work like that, he had to interact with other people. So he was currently at a classy restaurant doing just that.
Fortunately though, the person that he was grabbing a late lunch with was someone that he was rather fond of. Instead of it being a business partner that he was only cordial with or a business rival, but he could barely stand, he was with his best friend.
"Here is to money and even more money," Mark said raising his glass, nodding in acknowledgement of his friend’s toast, Ryan lifted his own glass of wine and clinked it softly against his friend’s. Going back to his meal, he hummed happily around a mouthful of some of the best mutton that he’d ever had.
In fact it wasn’t just the meat. Everything on the plate tasted wonderful. Even the whole vibe of the restaurant was something that he liked. He would have to see if he would be able to purchase the entire establishment.
Mark clearing his throat, had Ryan turning his gaze back to him and he found his friend staring at him with a raised brow.
"What is it?" He questioned.
Putting down his fork and knife, the other man narrowed his eyes at him.
"If I did not know you any better, I would believe it if you told me that you are only this happy because of the successful deal that we’ve just made. But unfortunately for you I know you Ryan, why do you look like you’ve swallowed the sun?"
For a moment Ryan contemplated not saying anything, but he just couldn’t hold it in.
"Vivian and I are back together,"
"What?!" Mark choked on air. He took a moment to cough into his elbow before looking back at Ryan.
"Is it still a friends with benefits type arrangement?"
He asked, a worried note in his voice.
Ryan shook his head, a big smile on his face.
"No, we are past that, we aired out all of our dirty laundry and at the end of it we decided to be something more official, she is my lady now,"
"Congratulations man," Mark said a little too loudly, then he raised his wine glass again.
"To new beginnings,"
"To new beginnings," Ryan agreed. Far more enthusiastic about the second toast than he had been about the first. Despite their lunch having been a way for them to celebrate the success of a joint venture, (Mark’s bank would also be getting a sizable amount from the deal). They ended up spending the meal, talking about Ryan’s new relationship. Ryan unable to stop himself from smiling like an idiot no matter how hard he tried. Not that he was putting up too much of a fight. He even remembered to thank Mark on Vivian’s behalf just as she had asked him to do. From the shy smile that he got from Mark in return, he was glad to have relayed the message.
***
Now back home in his study, with Mark having returned to work after their lunch. Ryan was looking into a few properties in the city that he wanted to acquire. The current owner was someone who barely spent any time there. He was not even using the buildings, he had just left them empty. But Ryan saw great potential in fixing them up and leasing them out.
After taking a look at as many videos and pictures of the sites as he could, Ryan decided to do some research on the building owner, he went to type the man’s name on a search bar. But when he blinked, he realized that he had accidentally put down Vivian’s name. Smiling at his error, Ryan ran the tip of his finger over the letters.
Silently telling himself that it was time to stop messing around and get back to work. He had every intention of deleting her name and starting again. But he found he could not do that. Being that Vivian was a very private person, he already knew that there would not be much about her online, but even so Ryan found himself curious. The last time that he had typed her name he had gotten close to nothing, But perhaps this time he would find a bit more information.
So instead of abandoning the search, he instead hit enter, and waited, his heart racing at the thought of what he might find. Perhaps some old school mate might have shared pictures of a younger Vivian. He tried to imagine how she must have looked back then, and all that he could think about was a child that was way too cute. The search finished in no time, and Ryan was pleasantly surprised to see that unlike the last time, there were a few articles available.
But when he actually read them, all of the blood drained out of his face, his good mood, instantly vanishing.
Oh no.
***
The slut and the CEO, The piggy finds a billionaire, fat woman’s guide to sleeping your way to the top...
The titles kept coming, each new one more vile than the last, and Ryan read each one with a growing sense of dread.
Who on earth could have done such a thing? Not only were there pictures of Vivian as well as her full name and her place of work, as well as her home address. There were also pictures of Ryan and Vivian together, very recent ones.
His presence in them had led to the views on all of the posts which were only a few minutes old being astronomical. There was no way that the press had not gotten wind of this, which meant...oh no... Vivian!
Going to his contacts, Ryan tried to call her, but her phone went unanswered. Staring down at his watch, he realized that it was probably because she was still at work. But she would be trying to leave soon, and he knew that the moment she did all hell would break loose.
He had to do something.
Grabbing his car keys, Ryan ran out of his study, going at full speed, he really hoped that he made it there in time to save her.
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