The Billionaire's Silent Wife (Ryan and Eve) novel Chapter 132

Chapter 132 – The Cost of Choosing

Ryan didn’t raise his voice.

He didn’t need to.

The room already felt tight, charged with too many truths forced into the open too quickly. Kimberly stood stiffly near the centre of the living room, her shoulders tense, her hands clenched at her sides as though she were bracing herself against a wind she hadn’t anticipated. Her tears had dried, but the damage they

left behind was worse than sobbing, disbelief, anger, and something dangerously close to regret.

Ryan exhaled slowly, grounding himself before he spoke again.

“I’m not in agreement with what Steven did,” he said calmly. “Let’s start there so we’re clear.”

Kimberly folded her arms. “You could have fooled me.”

“I hate what he’s done,” Ryan continued, ignoring the jab. “I hate that he dragged Eve into this. I hate that he went after the company. I hate that he tried to burn everything down.”

Kimberly’s jaw tightened, as though she were relieved to hear that much at least. “Then why are you talking like he’s some sort of hero?”

“I’m not,” Ryan said. “But I’m not going to pretend there wasn’t a match before the fire. Our parents lit it. Steven just decided to stop standing in the smoke.”

Kimberly frowned. “You’re being dramatic.”

“No,” Ryan replied. “I’m being honest. Something you’re not used to hearing in this family.”

She flinched, but said nothing.

Ryan’s gaze settled on her, steady, unflinching.

“You need to understand something you’ve all refused to acknowledge,” he said.

He paused, letting the silence stretch until she had no choice but to listen.

“Steven’s wife died,” Ryan said quietly. “She died because he couldn’t afford to treat her.”

Kimberly blinked. “What?”

“Cancer,” Ryan said. “Diagnosed late. Aggressive. The kind you fight with money. Money he didn’t have.”

“That’s not our fault,” she snapped automatically. “People die every day. It’s tragic, but,”

“Listen,” Ryan cut in, his tone still calm but sharper now. “If our parents had paid him his full benefits after decades of service, that woman would still be alive. At least he would have had a fighting chance. And

maybe, just maybe, Steven wouldn’t have gone dark.”

Kimberly’s breath hitched. “Mum never said, ”

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Chapter 132 The Cost of Choosing

Clam

“Of course she didn’t,” Ryan said. “Because then the story isn’t, ‘Look what the greedy driver did to us.’ It

becomes, ‘Look what we did to the man who helped us for twenty-five years.’ Which version do you think

she prefers?”

Kimberly stared at him, stunned. “She said he blackmailed us.”

“He asked for what he was owed,” Ryan replied. “He said if they didn’t pay him his benefits, he wouldn’t

keep their secrets forever. They heard ‘blackmail.’ I hear ‘enough is enough.”

“That doesn’t excuse what he’s doing now,” she muttered.

“I never said it did,” Ryan agreed. “But context matters. You can’t set a house on fire and then be shocked

when somebody chokes on the smoke.”

She swallowed hard, eyes glassy. “So what, we feel sorry for him now?”

“I didn’t say that either,” Ryan said. “I said this: the earlier you stay out of this mess and allow our parents to face the consequences alone, the better it will be for you.”

Kimberly shifted, uneasy. “I can’t just stand aside while everything we built collapses.”

“We?” Ryan repeated. “We didn’t build this. Dad did. With Mum. You and I benefitted, yes. But we didn’t build it. And we didn’t break it. They did that on their own.”

Kimberly shook her head. “You’re being harsh.”

“No,” he said. “I’m being realistic.”

She looked away, jaw flexing.

Ryan watched her for a moment, then tilted his head slightly.

“Tell me something,” he asked quietly. “Why do you hate Eve?”

Kimberly frowned, stung. “I don’t hate her.”

“What has Eve ever done to you?” he pressed.

Kimberly’s mouth opened. “She,”

He waited.

“She… she took you away,” Kimberly blurted finally. “Before her, you were, you were around. You helped. You listened. You came home. Then she shows up and suddenly everything is about her. Her father. Her drama. Her problems.”.

Ryan’s lips twitched in a humourless smile. “So you’re angry because I love my wife?”

“You changed,” Kimberly insisted. “You started questioning Mum and Dad. You started saying no. You

never used to do that before Eve.”

“I also never used to think for myself properly,” Ryan said. “Maybe that was the problem.”

Kimberly bit down on her lip. “She turned you against us.”

Ryan raised a brow. “Did she? Or did I watch you and our parents try to destroy a pregnant woman’s life

and finally decide I’d had enough?”

“You’re exaggerating” she snapped. “No one tried to destroy her.”

They called the police on her,” Ryan said evenly. “They had her declared wanted. They sent her photo to every media outlet in the city. They watched her name trend as a thief. What would you call that if not

destruction?”

Kimberly’s shoulders tensed.

“Eve never did any of that to you,” Ryan continued. “She didn’t frame you. She didn’t leak your story. She didn’t call the press. She isn’t the reason you’re doing community service. But somehow she’s the villain in your head.”

Kimberly opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “She… she walks around like she’s better than

us.”

“She walks around like someone who survived you,” Ryan corrected.

“That’s not fair,” Kimberly whispered.

“Is it?” he asked. “Think, Kim. Really think. What has Eve done to you personally? Not to Mum. Not to Dad.

To you.”

Kimberly’s teeth sank into her lower lip. “She… she embarrasses me.”

“How?” Ryan asked.

Kimberly threw her hands up. “By existing! By being the exception! You always defend her. You never defend me like that. You never tell her she’s wrong, even when she is. You always take her side.”

Ryan smirked faintly, not with cruelty, but with certainty.

“That’s what I thought,” he said quietly.

“Don’t do that,” she snapped. “Don’t patronise me.”

“I’m not,” Ryan replied. “I’m pointing out that you can’t name a single thing she’s done to you that warrants

the way you’ve treated her.”

Kimberly glared at him, but her silence betrayed her.

Ryan’s tone softened, not out of pity, but out of clarity.

“Eve is more your family than Luan will ever be,” he said.

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