Divorced CEO's Forgotten Wife Strikes Back (Riley and Bryce) novel Chapter 250

Chapter 250 Gaslighted by My Own Husband

Claire gaped at him. “Bryce, you’re taking her side? You’d disown me for Riley?”

“Have you lost your mind?” Amanda barked. “How can you

defend her?”

“Apologize. Now.” Bryce’s voice cut through the air like a blade.

Claire flinched. Bryce’s eyes were like a storm bearing down on her. She glanced between his grim face and Amanda’s glare before finally muttering toward Riley, “…I’m sorry.”

“Too late,” Riley said coldly. “Claire, you and your mother are both out on bail. The case for drugging me in that hotel room is going to trial soon, isn’t it? When it does, I’ll make sure you face an additional charge–insulting a soldier.”

Claire’s stomach dropped.

Riley turned to Lara. “Ready to go back?”

“Yeah,” Lara said easily.

“Then let’s go.” Riley walked for the door without a backward

lance.

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Claire’s voice cracked. “Bryce, I only said a few things–how is that ‘insulting a soldier’?”

Amanda grabbed Bryce’s arm. “She’s just trying to kick us while we’re down! You can’t let her get away with this!”

But Bryce wasn’t listening. His gaze stayed fixed on Riley’s retreating figure, something raw tightening in his chest.

Before he knew it, he was striding after her.

No. It couldn’t end like this.

He had so much he wanted to say to her–to tell her how much he regretted everything he had done.

Just as Riley and Lara reached their car outside the church, Bryce caught up to them.

“Riley, don’t go! I need to talk to you!” he called out.

Riley turned, her expression like ice. “You may call me Ms. Anderson. But ‘Riley’—” her tone sharpened, “—is not a name you have the right to use so intimately.”

The words stuck in Bryce’s throat. “I just… I’m used to it.”

“Used to it?” Riley let out a short, derisive laugh. In their 2/6

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three–year marriage, he had rarely called her by that name, preferring her full name.

But now–after the divorce–he suddenly wanted to be

intimate?

“Break the habit. Don’t ever let me hear you say it again. It

makes me sick.”

The color drained from Bryce’s face.

Sick?

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He remembered the first time he’d called her Riley, back when they’d just started dating–how she’d smiled, soft and sweet, as if he were her whole world.

Now, all that remained in her eyes was disgust.

Seeing her about to get into the car, Bryce quickly moved to block her path. “Can we talk? Please? I have so much I need to say to you.”

“If it’s about your sister, don’t waste your breath. I’m not changing my mind. That charge will be added when the trial begins. Instead of pestering me, find a lawyer.”

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Lara, her tone laced with mockery, added, “The question is, can 376 the great Mr. Murphy still afford a good lawyer?

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“If Murphy Tech doesn’t secure funding within the month, its cash flow will dry up. And when that happens… well, bankruptcy won’t be far behind.”

Bryce’s face drained of color, and he shot Lara a sharp glare. “How do you know that?”

That information was a company secret–almost no one outside should know.

“Oh, it’s not just me. Word’s all over the industry,” Lara replied with a shrug.

“And that fifty–million loan you’ve been banking on? Still frozen by the bank–thanks to your so–called lifesaver, Bella. At this rate, you’ll be bankrupt before you see a single cent.”

The word lifesaver landed like a slap. Guilt, shame, and anger churned in Bryce’s chest, the irony blazing in his mind like a

neon sign.

“Riley,” he began, voice tight, “I didn’t come because of my mother or sister. Claire insulted you–she can take the consequences herself.

“I just… I wanted to apologize. I hope you can forgive me. If I’d known sooner you were my lifesaver, I would’ve cherished you more than anyone in the world.”

Instead of making every mistake for Bella.

But Riley’s face stayed calm, unreadable.

“You don’t believe me?” Bryce’s tone edged with desperation.

A bitter smile curved Riley’s lips. “So let me get this straight— if I’m your lifesaver, you’ll cherish me. But if I’m not, then the way you treated me during our three–year marriage was fine? Is that what you mean?”

Bryce faltered. “I… I just meant I regret it. Riley, I truly regret how I treated you.”

“Bryce,” she said, voice dripping with disdain, “you really are

scum.”

“What?” he asked, stunned.

“Your regret exists only because I turned out to be your lifesaver. If I weren’t, you wouldn’t feel a shred of remorse. If you cared so much about that debt, you should’ve been clear from the start–you’d only marry your lifesaver.”

“But my lifesaver is you,” he argued weakly.

“And what if it wasn’t?” Riley’s gaze cut through him.

“Would I have deserved to be ignored and manipulated by my own husband? And all those years you were in love with Bella -what, they just vanish the second you find out she’s not the one?”

Bryce was struck dumb. His mouth opened, but no words

came.