The Billionaire's Silent Wife (Ryan and Eve) novel Chapter 114

114 Fire Beneath the Silk 2

114 Fire Beneath the Silk 2

+25 Points

The women around Eve stiffened. Someone drew in a sharp breath. A man at a nearby table turned his

head slightly, pretending not to listen while clearly catching every syllable.

Eve’s stomach tightened.

She didn’t flinch. Didn’t look away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Luan smiled. It didn’t reach her eyes.

“Please,” she scoffed. “Everyone knows Ryan didn’t marry by choice. Steven Reynolds forced him to.

Blackmail is such a powerful motivator, wouldn’t you agree?”

The women glanced between them, their curiosity morphing, some into concern, some into fascination, some into that particular brand of social hunger reserved for fresh gossip.

“And really,” Luan went on, voice rising just enough to carry, “a driver doesn’t just rise to power like that without dirt. You must admit it’s interesting how a chauffeur managed to secure so much influence over one of the most powerful families in the city.”

A few quiet snickers surfaced from guests who had drifted closer under the illusion of subtlety. People

didn’t need invitations to witness a spectacle.

Eve heard the murmurs start behind her.

She could feel them, like small gusts of wind at her back.

“That’s not exactly what happened,” Midnight Blue tried, her voice shaky.

Luan overrode her with a light, cutting laugh. “The baby isn’t even his,” she added airily, as if she were

clarifying the punchline of a joke. “Ryan only dares to accept it because he’s terrified of what Steven would

do to them if he didn’t.”

The ripple that followed was louder.

Some faces turned curious.

Some turned cold.

Some looked at Eve with thinly veiled judgement, eyes flicking to her stomach as if scandal were hereditary.

A few laughed under their breath.

Eve stood very still.

For a heartbeat, the old panic tried to claw its way up her throat, the memory of flashing lights, of

reporters shouting accusations, of strangers looking at her like she was dirt stuck to the heel of

civilisation.

–

”

114 Fire Beneath the Silk 2

Then she remembered Ryan’s voice.

My child. My wife. My choice.

+25 Points

She remembered the way he spoke to his mother yesterday, unflinching, telling his mother that this baby

was his and he would not tolerate otherwise. She remembered the way he had said her name on stage

tonight, as if it were something sacred rather than something to be survived.

Something in her spine settled.

Then she smiled.

Not weakly.

Not nervously.

Confidently.

“Jealousy doesn’t look good on you, Luan,” she said.

The room quieted around them.

It was subtle, but it happened. Conversations dimmed. Utensils paused midway to mouths. The nearby

band kept playing, but the sound felt distant, background to the new rhythm that now dictated the

ballroom: confrontation.

“No matter how much nonsense you spew,” Eve continued, “I’m the one wearing the ring.”

Her fingers brushed the band on her left hand, slow and unhurried.

“I’m the one sharing his bed,” she added. “And I’m the one carrying his child.”

Her voice didn’t rise. It didn’t need to. It cut through the whispers cleanly.

“I don’t care what you think of me,” she went on. “And I certainly don’t care what stories you invent to

soothe your wounded pride.”

The women beside her stood a little taller.

Luan opened her mouth, then snapped it shut.

“The only person whose opinion matters to me,” Eve said, “has made himself very clear. In public. In front of everyone. You saw it. We all did.”

A faint flush rose in Luan’s cheeks.

“And if you truly believe what you’re saying,” Eve added, tilting her head slightly, “I’d be delighted to give you the opportunity to repeat it in Ryan’s presence.”

A few guests sucked in quiet breaths.

“Go on,” Eve said gently. Almost kindly. “Let’s see if he lets you off the hook.”

Luan’s smile wavered.

114 Fire Beneath the Silk 2

For the first time that evening, she looked… uncertain.

Eve wasn’t finished.

+25 Points

“Are you not tired of throwing yourself at my husband?” she asked, her tone cool but not cruel. “Tired of being the third wheel in a marriage that isn’t yours?”

A few people coughed awkwardly. Someone muttered, “Ouch,” under their breath.

“Ryan has already told you he isn’t interested,” Eve continued. “He’s told you more than once. Why won’t you take the hint and leave him in peace?”

Silence spread through the small crowd around them like ink in water.

Then, unexpectedly, someone at the edge of the circle spoke.

“I… I actually believe Eve,” a woman said hesitantly.

All eyes shifted.

She swallowed but kept talking. “The way Ryan dotes on her, publicly, privately, it doesn’t look forced. Not even a little. Men who are being blackmailed don’t usually look at their wives like… that.”

Another woman, from further back, nodded slowly. “Even if it was an arrangement at first, it clearly isn’t one now,” she added. “You can’t fake that kind of devotion. Not for this long. Not with that intensity.”

“And frankly,” a third voice chimed in, this one carrying the easy authority of someone high in society’s food chain, “you sound bitter, Luan.”

A nervous laugh broke out.

“Yes,” Rose Gold agreed under her breath, emboldened. “Jealousy really doesn’t suit you.”

The laughter grew, not cruel, but directed.

Luan’s face flushed a deep, mottled red. She glared at Eve, then at the women, then at the people who

weren’t even pretending not to stare anymore.

Her mouth opened once more, but whatever words she was searching for refused to come. She spun sharply on her heel, the silver fabric of her dress flaring around her, and walked away.

The moment she left, tension leaked out of the circle like air from a punctured balloon.

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