Chapter 7
Looking into his hopeful eyes, I gave him a mocking smile.
“Ryan, you seem to have forgotten how you lured me to that bar three years ago and publicly humiliated me.”
“That wasn’t me,” Ryan shook his head frantically. “It was all Jessica’s fault. She forced me
to prove I loved her, not you. That’s why I had to put on that act. The phone call was Jessica’s idea too.”
I remained silent, just listening to his explanation.
“Mia,” Ryan continued, “I’ve regretted it every day since. I dream about you constantly.
Every silhouette on the street reminds me of you. Please give me another chance?”
“Alright,” I agreed directly. “Tell me what happened after I left that night.”
Eager to prove his sincerity, Ryan gradually revealed–with some coaxing from me–how Jessica had asked the bar owner to close early and turn away other customers after I left.
Finally, Ryan circled back to his true agenda. “Mia, you’re Mr. Hayes‘ assistant. You need to help me get my position back! We’ll be together, and when I’m a manager again, I can give you a better life!”
“I’ll talk to him,” I replied noncommittally.
After Ryan left, I remained at the table, listening to the recording I’d secretly made.
Alexander walked over from a nearby booth.
“Mia, with the evidence I’ve gathered and what you just recorded, we have enough to put him behind bars. Let’s go to the police.”
Thanks to my original police report and Ryan’s recorded confession, the police quickly brought in Ryan, Jessica, and others for questioning.
At the station, the two of them turned on each other in a vicious blame game that would have been comical if it weren’t so pathetic.
10:37
Ex Left Me for a Rich Girl–Now I Marry His Boss
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As they frantically tried to shift responsibility, the truth about that night three years ago finally came to light.
It turned out that after Jessica had tricked me to the bar to “prove” Ryan loved her, she wasn’t satisfied. She paid some local thugs to “teach me a lesson.”
While Ryan wasn’t directly involved in planning the attack, he had picked up on Jessica’s hints about what she intended to do. Yet he chose to look the other way, sacrificing my safety for his career ambitions.
Using information from both their testimonies, police tracked down and arrested the men who had assaulted me that night.
In the end, Jessica was sentenced to ten years in prison for criminal solicitation, while Ryan received five years for being an accessory and other related charges.
On the day of sentencing, my wounded soul finally found some peace.
Ryan stared at me in disbelief, shouting, “How could you do this to me, Mia? I loved you for seven years! Even while married to Jessica, I loved you silently. I was waiting for us to get back together. How could you set me up like this?“.
I gave him a bitter smile. “You call that love, Ryan? Belittling me? Abandoning me? Standing by while others hurt me? That’s your definition of love?”
down.
Ryan fell silent, then suddenly broke down. “I was wrong. I could have had a perfect life. But I was too greedy, and now I’ve ruined everything.”
I ignored him and left the courtroom.
What I didn’t expect was that Jessica would request to see me.
10:57 O
