Breaking Free, Loving Again -The Flash Marriage with Mr. CEO novel Chapter 296

Meanwhile, Ryan sat on the floor of his living room, reading the files Zenith had dropped off earlier. After every other second, his gaze would dart to eye the red envelope on the table, still lying intact and untouched.

His jaws will flex in irritation but again he would avert his gaze from it in the act of ignorance. But more than the ignorance, it was an irritation that was evident on his face.

Not able to bear it for long, he closed the file and reached to take the envelope. The moment he saw the ’Winslow’ name shining on the card, he wanted to tear it but he also wanted to see what was in there.

Opening it, he retrieved the note from inside as his eyes slowly skimmed through the cursive writing. The writing seemed so neat and tidy that it almost made him feel like a deliberate effort made so that he could just read it all well, without any confusion.

[Dear Mr. Foster,

I trust this note finds you well. My wife and I were pleasantly surprised by your thoughtful gesture of sending the exquisite wine to our table last evening. It was truly a fine selection, though, regrettably, we both prefer our wine a little sweeter —sour has never quite suited our taste.

But anyway, it’s the thought that matters and since Mrs. Winslow taught me to appreciate efforts other’s efforts, even if it’s not come up with the best, how can I defy her?

I am confident, my message has reached you well. Looking forward to meeting you soon. The next time, I wish you more of the confidence.

Winslow.]

As Ryan finished at that name his fingers tightened around the card, crumbling it under the pressure. Although he was expecting reading something like this, he still couldn’t deny the burn that each and every word stirred inside him.

The mock was clear in the tone, in every syllable. Yet it came out finesse that it left him feeling utterly defeated.

"Arghh," before he knew a deep growl came from the bottom of his lungs and he crumpled the card in his fist before throwing it hard on the floor.

Although it was mere a note which meant nothing, still he hated how in every word the man reminded him of how he had lost to him. How he had lost Arwen to him.

Though he was the one to read it, he could hear the smug in the tone of that man every time he mentioned Arwen as his —his wife, his Mrs. Winslow. It was not mere a taunt, it a declaration of authority that man and he didn’t.

"Arwen, why did you do this?" The more Ryan thought about it the more infuriated he became. "Why did you give him the authority over you? Why?"

"You were supposed to be mine. You were my fiancée. You were supposed to become Mrs. Foster. Then why did you become someone else’s wife?" he yelled.

And right when he did, he received a reply.

"Because you gave her all the reasons to."

Ryan brows furrowed in a frown as he looked up in the darkness. Although he was sitting in the living room, he has lighted the place. Only one dim light was brightening the desk he was working on. So even though there was enough light to see around, he could tell if he really heard the person or was it his mere illusion.

But his confusion was soon helped when Beca emerged from the darkness, coming closer towards the desk.

"Mom!"

"Ryan, you can’t leave the coffee and then be surprised later when it turns cold," Beca spoke again as she walked further in before sitting on one of the sofas beside Ryan. "That’s something inevitable and that what you have been doing —not once but always."

"Mom, but aren’t we doing fine?" Ryan asked, his tone incredulous. "And why do you have support her? Like her, are you also not seeing how badly I regret?"

Beca stared at her son and her lips curled up in a smile. "I can see it well," she said and then continued. "But son, so what if I could see it?"

How could he not think of this possibility?

She had blocked him and never cared again to share any contact information or address with him. How could this all be seen as the ways of her seeking his attention?

She never sought his attention? Rather she just cut him off like he never existed —cruelly, without any hint of emotion.

As he thought about it, his heart felt losing its soul, the feeling surpassing the emotion of loss.

"M-Mom, how can she be like this? She had loved him for all these years," his words came out as whisper cry. He reached out and grasped his mother’s hands. "I always meant so much to her. How can suddenly I mean nothing to her? Is it even possible?"

Although he asked that, he didn’t want to hear the answer. He knew that if he gets an answer to that, it would break his heart into the pieces that he wouldn’t be able to fix back ever.

Beca could read her son’s thoughts well. She wanted him to face the truth. But she was his mother too and seeing her child breaking like that was painful for her too.

"Son, women wouldn’t go this extreme just to get a man’s attention. Especially a woman like Arwen. You might have seen her cherishing you over the years, but you guessed it all wrong. It wasn’t you she was cherishing all this while," she said and Ryan glanced up at her not understanding what his mother was speaking about.

But Beca was very sure of her words. She has seen Arwen very closely. Her every action spoke more than a million words, but in the busy race of life, neither Catrin had time to notice, nor Ryan. "Although it looked like Arwen was cherishing you, it wasn’t you she was cherishing, son," she repeated, adding, "What she was cherishing was the promise that was exchanged between the two families. One that she took to make her mother happy."

Arwen might have never voiced it out in front of her, but Beca knew that the arrangement between the two families were as much forced on her as it was on Ryan.

"Mom, that can’t be. She never said she didn’t want to be in this relationship. She —"

"Just because she didn’t say, it doesn’t mean that she agreed to it, Ryan. She just chose to give this arrangement a chance, which you never. And now that she has given up, you think you can bring her back." She paused and then gently cupped his cheek; she lifted his face to make him meet her gaze. "What made you think that you have that ability, son?"