I felt like a plastic bag, just drifting wherever the wind took me, powerless to steer my own life. Ever since I met Ryan, everything has been out of my hands.
“Ryan, I’ve been on and off with Nathan so many times. I feel like such a heartbreaker, totally irresponsible. Are you sure you want someone like me?” I didn’t want to trash myself, but that’s just how it is–my feelings are all over the place, and I can’t seem to control them.
Ryan looked at me, eyes wild and intense. “Good and bad aren’t for the world to decide. I make up my own mind about you.”
“I’m worried you’ll regret this someday, thinking I’m not faithful when it comes to relationships,” I said, half-joking, half-serious.
“You’ve got money and looks. What is there for you to be afraid of losing?” Ryan shot back, and it hit me hard.
I stared at him, stunned. He curled his lips into a wicked smirk. “I stopped believing in ‘forever’ ages ago. Relationships only exist when there’s mutual attraction. You really are a heartbreaker–always making promises and never keeping them.”
I was stunned. Not long ago, I thought Ryan was just this sweet, naive guy.
Turns out, that innocence was just an act–he actually gets how the world works.
“I… there are always things I can’t control,” I stammered, trying to make excuses, but the words just wouldn’t come.
Ryan nodded, totally getting it. “Yeah, nobody really gets to do whatever they want. That’s just not how life works.”
“Ryan, you’re so young. Why do you carry so much weight on your shoulders?” I asked, feeling both worried and curious.
Ryan lowered his gaze, his expression shadowed with melancholy. “Everyone thinks I was dealt a winning hand, but nobody sees the thorns and fangs hiding behind it–a forest of danger and predators.”
“When I was seven, I got kidnapped and stuffed into a cramped steel drum. I listened to them drinking and feasting, chatting about how much cash they could wring out of me.”
“That was the moment I understood–if I didn’t take charge of my own life, I’d just end up stuck in another steel drum, curled up while the people profiting off me sat in the back, drinking wine and plotting their next move.”
I was stunned, staring at Ryan’s fair and strikingly handsome face, unable to imagine the kind of stories hidden behind it.
Ryan gazed at me in silence, then reached out and gently drew me into his arms. There wasn’t even a trace of desire in his embrace–it felt like he just needed someone to hold onto for a moment. He pressed his face into the curve of my shoulder, his voice husky. “Victoria, you say your life isn’t perfect anymore because of the divorce. If that’s true, then my soul is missing a piece too. I’m just as incomplete.”
I could feel his tall body trembling ever so slightly, as if a part of his soul had truly gone missing.
‘Ryan, I’m sorry,’ I said softly. ‘I used to be one of those people in the crowd who envied you. I never really tried to understand you, and I always judged your opinions because of where you came from. That was my own prejudice.'
Ryan let go of me and gave a nonchalant smile. “It’s alright. I’m used to it. Right now, all I care about is figuring out how to take charge of my own life.”
“So what are you planning to do?” I asked.
“I want wealth, power, and a woman who’ll hold me when I’m at my lowest,” Ryan said, his eyes clear as he looked at me. “If you invest in Nathan’s company, you’ll make it onto the women’s rich list one day. And when that happens, if anyone dares say we’re not a good match, I’ll shut them up myself."
My heart was pounding–I instinctively stepped back. Ryan was helping Nathan just so I could become one of the top female tycoons. When Ryan saw me retreat, he thought his words had scared me. His eyes dimmed.
“Am I just too much for you?” Ryan blinked. “I knew it, hardly anyone ever understands me.”
I shook my head. I was even wilder than him–because I’d lived a whole other life before this one.