der
And I, being obsessed, stubbornly believed Ryder was proof of Xander’s protection for me. I insisted on keeping Ryder by my side, often just staring blankly at his face. But as I grew older, I increasingly realized Ryder was not Xander. He wasn’t worthy.
The moment Ryder saw Xander, his self–assured expression cracked, piece by piece. His face turned grim. He suddenly understood why I often stared blankly at his face. And why, every time he made a mistake, merely showing me his face could so easily make me forgive him. Thinking of himself as a substitute, Ryder was filled with resentment.
And watching me, soft and adoring, beside Xander, the jealousy raging within him burned ever hotter. Xander tilted his head, saw Ryder in the cage, and then raised an eyebrow at me. I instantly lowered my head, too guilty to meet his gaze.
The man chuckled softly, casting a disdainful look at Ryder, who was still leashed. Ryder was forced to look up, in an utterly humili- ating posture, at the man who completely dwarfed him in height and presence. Unable to control his rage and humiliation, he tre- mbled violently.
Xander averted his gaze, took my hand, and led me out the door. But Ryder’s voice rang out from behind us.
“Scarlett, are you abandoning me?”
I turned back. The deep affection of the past was gone, replaced by cold indifference. “Today, I’m letting you off. Take Zane and Knox and get out of A–City.” Then I glanced at Brittany, who was still frozen in shock and had soiled herself. “And her. Take her with you too. Otherwise, don’t blame me for what happens next.”
10
I thought that after that last incident, Ryder would never appear before me again. But to my surprise, barely half a month later, as Xander and I were enjoying a passionate moment at the villa, the butler came to announce.
“Miss Scarlett, Mr. Sterling, Ryder is asking to see you outside the villa. He says he won’t leave if Miss Scarlett doesn’t come out.”
I pushed the naked man on top of me, my face etched with impatience. “Get someone to remove him!”
The butler sighed helplessly. “We removed him several times before, which is why I didn’t report it. But he’s back again, and there’s nothing for it but to tell you.”
I paused, surprised that Ryder wasn’t coming for the first time. I quickly dressed, took Xander’s hand, and walked downstairs to the front door.
Ryder, waiting at the entrance, immediately lit up with joy when he saw me. But as I drew closer, he noticed the hickeys on my neck and looked at me with heartbreak. “Scarlett, are you really casting me aside? All these years, you kept me by your side, listened to my every word. Didn’t you love me even a little?”
I felt the sudden surge of coldness from the man beside me. I quickly squeezed his hand. Frowning, I looked at the man in front of me, who was clearly trying to sow discord. He was utterly annoying.
“Let me tell you, Ryder. In my eyes, you were nothing more than a handsome dog. What gave you the impression that a dog could lord it over its owner?”
“Get out of here, and don’t ever appear before me again!”
Ryder shook his head in disbelief at my words, muttering, “No, it can’t be. You love me, don’t you? All these years, how could you not have loved me?”
Watching his irrational antics, especially with that face, I found it utterly repellent. “Love? Hah, if I loved you, would I have thrown you into a dog cage to be humiliated by strangers?”
“If I loved you, would I have handed your two brothers over to those men to be subjected to their…. patrons‘ desires?”
“Ryder, you think far too highly of yourself.”
With that i turned and walked back incide with Yonder D
With that, I turned and walked back inside with Xander. Outside, Ryder’s face was ashen, his spirit utterly broken.
10.46
Inside the room, as soon as we entered, Xander scooped me up and pressed me onto the bed, his eyes narrowing. “You kept anot-
her man by your side all the years I was gone?”
I instantly felt guilty. Though we had never gone all the way with Ryder, I had been infatuated back then, and it was impossible not
to feel something for face seven–tenths similar to Xander’s. But if I said that out loud, I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed for
three days. So I could only squeeze out a string of tears, looking at him pitifully.
“It’s all your fault! I thought you had died and come back to me as Ryder!”
The normally stern Xander became flustered at my tears. He could only drop his stern expression, comforting me gently. “Alright,
alright, it’s all my fault. I didn’t mean to blame you. I’m just a little jealous.”
I paused, looking at him, puzzled. “What are you jealous of?”
“Jealous that he got to be by your side every day all those years.”
Watching his possessive jealousy, my heart softened. “There’s one thing you don’t need to be jealous of.”
With that, under his reddening gaze, I shed my clothes.
The next morning, the spot beside me in bed was empty, though still warm. I rubbed my aching back, just about to get out of bed,
when the butler’s embarrassed voice came from the doorway again.
“Um, Miss Scarlett, Ryder…. he’s back again.” He paused, then added, “And he brought Brittany Miller with him.”
I cursed under my breath from the bed, annoyed. Like a bad penny! But at the same time, I was very confused. Based on my under-
standing of Ryder all these years, after such immense humiliation, even if he didn’t hate me, he shouldn’t want to appear before
- me. What act was he putting on today?
1 walked to the door and saw Ryder with a terrified Brittany Miller by his side. I frowned. “Ryder, I thought you at least understood
human language after coming out of the wilderness.”
Ryder’s face stiffened. He glared fiercely at Brittany beside him, then looked back at me.
“Scarlett, I know everything now. Brittany confessed everything. The dress wasn’t broken by you; she deliberately cut it herself. And The Seraphina gown… I’m so sorry, I didn’t know it was your mother’s last design.”
Brittany kept saying you stole it from someone else, so I thought of giving you a little punishment. I didn’t know the significance of
that gown. Please forgive me.”
With that, he slapped the disoriented woman beside him and cursed, “It’s all your fault, you troublemaker!”
Looking at Brittany, who had collapsed onto the ground unconscious, I stared coldly at Ryder. “Ryder, I might have respected you if
you hadn’t blamed everything on a woman.”
Ryder, who had been looking at me hopefully, blanched, utterly lost. “Blaming everything on a woman? Only a coward does that.” As I spoke, I felt even more disgusted that Ryder was using that face to do such despicable things. I could no longer control myself
and beckoned.
Several men in black immediately appeared. “Miss Scarlett,”
Under Ryder’s bewildered gaze, I cast a cold look at him. “Go disfigure this man’s face.”
The men, without a moment’s hesitation, moved towards Ryder. At this point, Ryder was completely terrified, looking at me in horr
or and screaming, “What are you going to do?”
Then Ryder felt a deep knife wound slice open his face, from his left eyebrow bone to his right jawline. Blood gushed out, dripping
down his cheek. It was truly gruesome.
Ryder clutched his face, collapsing to the ground, howling in agony. “My face, my face!” He knew that without the face I loved, there would be no possibility of my forgiveness. Then he stumbled out, running.
To my astonishment, he was hit by a speeding large truck and sent flying. He crashed heavily onto the ground, blood splattering everywhere. He stopped breathing.
Watching the scene, I felt a little nauseous. Suddenly, large hands covered my eyes from behind, and the pleasant scent of pine wood instantly masked the sharp smell of blood. I turned, leaning into Xander’s embrace, taking a deep breath.
Then Xander led me to the back of the estate. It was only then that I realized the entire backyard had been transformed into a beautiful, enchanted setting. No wonder he wasn’t there when I woke up; he was busy with all this.
As tears of surprise welled in my eyes, Xander took out a ring and slowly knelt on one knee. “Scarlett, the years we lost, I will spend the rest of my life making up for. Will you marry me?”
Looking at the man I had loved all my life, I choked out, “I will!” Of course, I will. Xander, you’ll never know how much I love you.
