"Fine, I’m leaving. You only know how to be mean to me."
Tossing those words over his shoulder, Ryan Sterling hurried out of the guest bedroom.
He left in such a rush! If anyone had taken a closer look, they would have seen the blush creeping up his cheeks.
Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought Ryan Sterling was the one who’d been walked in on.
He returned to his bedroom, and it took him a long moment to compose himself before he raised a hand to his chest.
Then, a slow smile spread across his lips.
Evelyn Grant...
’She’s finally mine.’
’She might just be living here for now, but moving out won’t be so easy!’
’Getting married is easy; getting a divorce is hard.’
Suddenly, Ryan Sterling’s phone rang.
It was a video call request from his good friend, Harry Quinn.
"Quick, let me see! Did Mr. Sterling, the man who dropped a 1.9 billion-dollar project and rushed back home for his childhood crush, finally get the girl?"
"..." Ryan Sterling shot him a look. "You have a death wish?"
Harry Quinn squinted, a grin on his face as he waved his hands. "Nope. I have to keep this worthless life of mine to attend the wedding of my best bro, Mr. Ryan Sterling, and his former sister-in-law!"
"Harry Quinn."
"My bad, my bad. I’ll shut up." He’d always been one to know when to quit while he was ahead.
Shedding his teasing smile, Harry Quinn got serious.
"From the look of it... did she turn you down?"
Ryan Sterling took off his jacket, then pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one, lying back on the chaise lounge in his bedroom.
He turned his handsome face to the side and took a drag.
As he exhaled, gray-white smoke billowed out, dispersed, and finally melted completely into the air.
"I didn’t tell her."
"Huh?" Harry Quinn was stunned. "You... You sacrificed the last multinational project of the year for her! Have you even calculated how much Z&L lost because of your little stunt? I’m over here cleaning up your mess, so busy I don’t even have time to chase women, and you ran back to Kyro just to play the shy guy?!"
Seeing him remain silent, Harry Quinn fumed, "Say something, damn it!"
"It’s not that I don’t want to tell her. I can’t."
"What is there that you can’t say? In what way are you inferior to your older brother? So many women are trying every trick in the book to climb into your bed—"
"Evelyn Grant is different," Ryan Sterling said, his voice slightly hoarse. He held the cigarette between his fingers, and his prominent Adam’s apple bobbed. "If I told her, she’d do everything in her power to get away from me."
"..."
"Besides, my older brother hurt her so deeply. I have to at least give her some time to recover."
If anyone was impatient, it should have been Ryan Sterling.
’He wished he could tell Evelyn Grant right now, claim her completely as his own, and never let anyone bully her again. He’d prefer if no one could even look at her!’
’But Ryan Sterling also knew better than anyone that he couldn’t do that.’
’His love would scare Evelyn Grant away.’
’With her, he couldn’t rush things.’
’He had to be patient, like someone slowly boiling a frog. And he had to make sure that frog stayed in his pot.’
"You... you’re a real piece of work, damn it..." Harry Quinn was so stunned he couldn’t even think of a proper insult. "She was madly in love with your older brother! If it were me, that would rub me the wrong way. I wouldn’t want anything more to do with her!"
"It bothers me, too. But not that she loved my brother. It bothers me that she had to get hurt that badly before she knew how to get out. She’s so damn stupid."
Harry Quinn sneered, "Hah, and you have the nerve to call her stupid?"
"..."
Ryan Sterling’s lips twisted into a self-mocking smile as his dark eyes unintentionally glanced at his phone screen.
He saw that his mother had sent him a text message.
[Your brother already agreed! Get that drug quickly and make sure they sleep together. We can’t delay!]