The Billionaire's Silent Wife (Ryan and Eve) novel Chapter 167

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Eve stared at the phone when it buzzed, her first instinct suspicion, because kindness, in her world, usually

came with hidden teeth.

Ryan was in the study across the hall, door half-closed. He’d been on and off calls since morning, voice low, clipped, controlled. Every now and then the cold edge came into it, the same edge that had appeared

at the station when he said, We need to be careful.

Eve’s fingers hovered over the screen.

ALISSA MONROE.

Steven’s fiancée.

A woman who looked like warmth when Eve first saw her. A woman whose smile had made Eve more

unsettled than hostility would have, because hostility was honest. Warmth was confusing.

Eve pressed accept.

“Hello?” she said quietly.

Alissa’s voice arrived soft and bright, careful not to startle. “Eve. Hi. It’s Alissa.”

“I know,” Eve replied. Her tone was polite. Neutral. Not unkind, but not open enough to be wounded.

There was a small pause on the other end, as if Alissa had expected colder.

“I hope I’m not calling at a bad time,” Alissa said. “I just… I’ve been thinking about you.”

Eve’s stomach tightened. “Why?”

Alissa let out a small laugh that carried no sharpness. “Because you’re pregnant and you’ve been through a lot, and because your father, Steven, he’s… he’s been a storm lately.”

Eve’s grip tightened around the phone. The word storm landed too accurately.

Alissa continued quickly, as if she didn’t want Eve to misread the intention. “I’m not calling to lecture you. I’m not calling to push you into anything. I just wanted to ask if you’d… if you’d like to meet me. Just for a

while.”

Eve didn’t answer immediately.

The silence stretched..

Alissa filled it softly. “I thought maybe we could have tea. Somewhere public. Somewhere you feel

comfortable. If you don’t want to, that’s okay. I’ll understand.”

Eve’s mind ran through possibilities like a courtroom argument.

Was Alissa naïve?

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Manipulated?

A new extension of Steven’s control?

Or genuinely good?

Eve swallowed hard. “Steven asked you to call me.”

“No,” Alissa said, immediate and firm enough to be real. “He doesn’t even know I’m calling.”

That made Eve pause.

“Then why are you doing it?” Eve asked.

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Alissa’s breath came through the line, steady. “Because I’ve watched you in rooms with people who wanted you small. And you didn’t become small. And because… I think you deserve someone who isn’t

trying to compete with you.”

Eve’s throat tightened, unpleasant emotion rising because the words were too gentle to defend against.

“I’m not asking you to trust me,” Alissa added. “Just… give me an hour. If you hate it, you can leave. I won’t

be offended.”

Eve looked toward the study door. Ryan’s voice was a low rumble inside, nothing she could make out. Just

the sound of focus.

Eve didn’t want to ask him. Not because she was hiding it, but because she knew what he would do.

He would try to control it.

He would say it was risky.

He would insist on accompanying her.

And then the meeting would stop being about Eve and become a battlefield between Ryan and Steven’s

orbit.

“I’ll meet you,” Eve said before her fear could change its mind. “One hour.”

Alissa’s relief sounded like it softened her entire voice. “Thank you. Truly.”

“Where?” Eve asked.

“There’s a small place near the lake,” Alissa replied. “Quiet. Not too busy. I can text you the address.”

Eve hesitated. “I’ll drive myself.”

Alissa didn’t push. “Okay. That’s fine.”

Eve’s mouth went dry. “And Alissa,”

“Yes?”

“If this is a trap,” Eve said softly, “I’ll know.”

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Alissa’s reply didn’t come defensive. It came sad. “I believe you. And it isn’t.”

They ended the call.

Eve sat still for a moment, phone in her hand, pulse steady but heavy.

Then she stood and walked to the study door.

She knocked lightly.

Ryan’s voice stopped.

“Come in,” he said.

Eve pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Ryan was standing by the window with his phone in his hand, jacket on, expression controlled. The moment his eyes landed on her face, something sharpened.

“What is it?” he asked.

Eve’ didn’t bother pretending. “Alissa called me.”

Ryan went very still.

Eve could see the shift in him, the quick assessment, the internal calculations.

“What did she want?” he asked, voice low.

“She asked to see me,” Eve replied. “For tea. To talk.”

Ryan’s jaw tightened. “And you said yes.”

Eve held his gaze. “Yes.”

A pause.

Ryan’s voice came colder. “Why.”

Clam

Eve’s shoulders tensed. “Because I’m tired of everyone in my life being a storm. Because she sounded…

normal.”

Ryan’s eyes narrowed. “Normal doesn’t mean safe.”

Eve exhaled. “I know.”

Ryan took a step closer. “Where is she meeting you.”

Eve’s instinct flared, defensiveness, old habit, the need to protect her decisions. “Ryan, ”

“Eve,” he cut in, controlled but firm. “Tell me.”

Eve swallowed. “Near the lake. A tea place. Public.”

Ryan stared at her for a beat, as if weighing whether to allow this at all. Then his voice came measured.

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I’m driving you.”

“No,” Eve said quickly.

Ryan’s eyes hardened. “Eve.”

“I need this to be mine,” she insisted, voice shaking slightly. “Not another thing you manage.”

Ryan’s jaw flexed. He looked like he wanted to argue. Like he wanted to clamp control around her life

again in the name of protection.

But then his gaze flicked, briefly, to her belly.

His voice dropped a degree. “You don’t go alone.”

Eve’s throat tightened. “I won’t be alone. It’s a public place.”

Ryan didn’t soften. “Public places are full of people who mind their business.”

Eve held his gaze. “Then I’ll call you when I arrive and when I leave.”

Ryan’s eyes narrowed, not satisfied.

Eve forced herself to keep speaking, because if she stopped now, he’d win by silence. “If you come with

me, it becomes something else. It becomes a power struggle. And I need… I need to know if she’s real

when it’s just me.”

Ryan stared at her for a long moment.

Then he exhaled slowly through his nose. “Fine.”

Eve blinked, surprised.

Ryan’s voice stayed controlled. “But you keep your phone on. You don’t let her take you anywhere else. And if anything feels off, anything, you leave.”

Eve nodded. “I will.”

Ryan’s gaze held hers. “You call me.”

“I will.”

He paused, then added, quieter, “And you don’t apologise for leaving.”

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