Ryan''s voice cut through the air, halting Arwen mid-sentence. She paused, but even so, she didn''t turn to look at him. With her back towards him, she stood still, as if, for a moment, he hadn''t heard him call her. Explore more stories with My Virtual Library Empire

    Beca, who was standing too close to Arwen, noticed the subtle shift in her expression. Though Arwen maintained her calm and composed demeanor, Beca caught the fleeting flicker of coldness in her gaze.

    If she had any lingering doubt that her son had lost his chance with Arwen before, this moment erased it completely.@@@@

    Arwen had moved on. And even if the world turned upside down, she would not spare Ryan a second chance.

    Not that Beca complained. If anything, she felt proud. Proud that —Arwen wasn''t the woman the kind of woman to waver once she made up her mind.

    When Ryan received no response, he stepped forward, coming to stand just beside her. "I didn''t know you were coming today," he said, his tone casual, as if trying to fill the silence between them. "I just got back to have dinner with my parents."

    At that, Arwen finally turned to glance at him. Her gaze was steady —focused —but carried an undeniable indifference.

    This wasn''t an expression new to Ryan. In the recent few encounters, all he had received for her was this indifferent gaze. But still ... somehow this time, he didn''t expect her to look at him the same. He was looking forward to finding her looking back at him with gentleness and like that, she had mentioned in her diary.

    He did something wrong, and he is ready to accept his mistake. But ... can she at least give him a chance to make amends with her?

    "That''s what children should do for their parents. Good to see you being so thoughtful towards Uncle and Aunt," Arwen spoke, not long after. Her tone was polite but detached, as if she was merely acknowledging a trivial piece of information.

    Ryan felt the sting of it.

    He halted in his steps and pulled his phone out to check. "Officer Davis," he muttered under his breath, reading the name on the screen. His brows tugged in a furrow of confusion as he picked up the call to answer.

    "Officer Davis," he greeted and soon heard the man speak from the other side.

    "Mr. Foster, good evening. I hope I am not disturbing you at the moment."

    Ryan''s gaze went back in the direction of Arwen and hesitated. "Umm ... currently, I do have something important in hand, Officer Davis."

    "Oh, then it''s fine, Mr. Foster. I won''t disturb you," the police officer sounded fine. "You can attend to your work first and I will reach out again."

    The furrow between Ryan''s brows deepened aa bit. "If there is something important then I can spare some time, Officer Davis," he said, knowing that if it hadn''t been important, the police officer wouldn''t have given him a call.

    "There is something, Mr. Foster," the officer said, adding, "But it can wait, given that I am waiting for a report to come. Once I get that, I will be able to explain it better to you."

    Ryan nodded, understanding what he meant. "Fine. I will wait for your call then." They shared a few pleasantries before he hung up the call.

    A glint of darkness crossed Ryan''s gaze as he thought back to the information that Davis would have to share with him.

    He had asked him to investigate the Arwen''s accident. Although he knows that it was Delyth who had planned and executed it, he has a feeling that there was someone else acting behind the scenes.

    "Whoever you are, you won''t be able to stay in hiding for long," Ryan muttered under his breath, his eyes getting darker with his words. "Soon, I will find you. And once, I do I will make sure to let you experience hell on this Earth." His fingers clenched, making his knuckles crackle under the effect of his strength.