The Billionaire's Silent Wife (Ryan and Eve) novel Chapter 172

Chapter 172 The Reluctant Help

Ryan didn’t say no at first.

He just stood in the doorway of the study, keys in his hand, face carved into that controlled stillness Eve had learned to read as danger, not danger aimed at her, but danger aimed at anything that threatened to

pull him into chaos he didn’t choose.

“Steven called you,” Eve said quietly, because the silence was starting to feel like denial.

Ryan’s gaze stayed on his phone. “Yes.”

“And Alissa is missing.”

“Yes.”

Eve’s hand drifted to her belly again, the movement automatic now, an instinct that had nothing to do with comfort and everything to do with fear. “Then we can’t stay here pretending this will solve itself.”

Ryan’s jaw tightened. “We don’t know she’s missing. We know she’s not answering.”

Eve stared at him. “That’s missing.”

Ryan’s eyes lifted, sharp. “Eve,”

“She met me,” Eve cut in, and her voice trembled despite her effort to keep it steady. “She sat across from me. She talked about the baby. She said she wanted to be there for me. She walked out of that café and

then… nothing.”

Ryan’s silence deepened. He looked like he was absorbing the truth by force, slotting it into an internal structure where emotion was handled like evidence.

“What exactly do you want to do,” Ryan asked finally, voice low.

Eve stepped closer. “Help him.”

Ryan’s expression didn’t change, but the air around him cooled. “No.”

The single word was flat. Clean. Final.

Eve’s chest tightened. “Ryan.”

“You don’t understand what helping him means,” Ryan said. “Steven doesn’t come with a simple request.

Steven comes with hooks.”

Eve swallowed. “This isn’t about hooks. This is about a woman who might be in danger.”

Ryan’s jaw flexed, irritation flashing. “And you think Steven is the only one who can make this dangerous?

My parents are involved in his life like poison. You want me to walk into that again?”

Eve held his gaze. “I want you to walk into it because someone might disappear.”

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Chapter 177 The Reluctant Help

Ryan’s eyes narrowed further. “Eve.”

She didn’t soften. She couldn’t. Not with Alissa’s calm smile still in her memory. Not with the word heinous

crimeechoing like a warning siren.

“You can hate Steven and still help her,” Eve said, voice tight. “You told me people disappear when others

hesitate.”

Ryan went still.

Eve pressed on, because she felt him resisting, felt him trying to shut it down by sheer force of refusal.

You don’t have to do it for him. Do it because it’s right.”

Ryan’s mouth tightened. “You’re asking me to involve myself in the mess between your father and my

parents.”

Eve’s voice lowered. “I’m asking you to involve yourself in a missing woman’s life.”

Ryan stared at her for a long moment, like he was deciding whether her words were enough to justify breaking his own boundaries.

Then he exhaled through his nose, slow.

“Fine,” he said.

Eve blinked. “Fine?”

Ryan’s eyes stayed hard. “We go to Steven’s house. We get facts. We cooperate with police. We do not, his gaze sharpened, “, become Steven’s rescue team.”

Eve nodded quickly. “Okay.”

Ryan’s jaw flexed again. “And you don’t say anything unnecessary.”

Eve’s mouth tightened. “I’m not going to lie.”

“I didn’t say lie,” Ryan said. “I said unnecessary.”

Eve swallowed. “Okay.”

Ryan glanced down at his keys, then back at her. “Put shoes on.”

Eve moved fast, relief and dread colliding in her chest.

As she turned down the hallway, Ryan’s voice followed her, controlled but edged. “Eve.”

She paused, looking back.

Ryan’s gaze held hers. “If this turns into a trap, you leave with me immediately.”

Eve’s throat tightened. “I won’t fight you.”

Ryan didn’t respond, but something flickered in his eyes, approval, perhaps, or just the smallest

recognition that she was learning how to survive without sacrificing herself.

Chapter 172 The Reluctant Help

Eve went to get ready.

When she returned, Ryan was already by the front door, jacket on, phone in hand, expression carved into focus. He didn’t look like a man going to help. He looked like a man going to war.

The drive to Steven’s house was quiet in a way that made Eve’s teeth ache.

Ryan drove with both hands on the steering wheel, posture rigid, eyes forward. He didn’t talk. He didn’t

play music. The silence felt like a deliberate shield.

Eve tried not to fill it.

She sat with both hands folded over her belly, watching streetlights blur past, her mind replaying the last

time she’d seen Alissa.

The way her voice had softened when she said she didn’t want Eve alone.

The way her face had twisted with disgust at Leah’s name.

The way she’d said Steven hadn’t retired, he’d been dismissed for refusing to cover up a crime.

Eve swallowed hard.

“Ryan,” she said finally, careful.

Ryan didn’t look at her. “What.”

Eve’s voice was quiet. “Do you think Alissa is missing because of me.”

The car felt colder.

Ryan’s jaw tightened. “No.”

Eve didn’t believe how quickly the answer came. “You didn’t even think.”

Ryan’s eyes stayed on the road. “I did. You’re not the reason Leah does what she does.”

Eve’s throat tightened. “You’re saying you think it was Leah.”

Ryan’s grip tightened slightly on the wheel. “I’m saying Steven believes it. And I know my mother.”

Eve’s chest tightened again, fear blooming.

Ryan’s voice dropped. “Don’t spiral.”

Eve let out a small, broken breath. “I’m trying.”

Ryan didn’t soften, but his next words were quieter. “You did nothing wrong by meeting her.”

Eve stared at him, startled by the sentence.

Ryan’s eyes flicked briefly to her, then back to the road. “If someone targeted her, that’s on them.”

Eve’s eyes stung.

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Chapter 172 The Reluctant Help

She looked away before emotion could betray her.

When they pulled into Steven’s neighbourhood, Eve’s stomach tightened further. The houses here were comfortable, well-kept, the kind of place that looked safe even when it wasn’t. The street was unusually

crowded.

Two police cars.

Lights flashing.

People watching.

Eve’s heart thudded.

Ryan slowed, then parked at the curb. His expression didn’t change, but his eyes hardened, assessing the

scene like a battlefield.

Eve swallowed. “The police are already here.”

Ryan’s voice was flat. “Good.”

They got out.

The air outside was cold and smelled faintly of damp pavement and petrol. A neighbour stood across the

street with a folded arm and a hungry expression.

Eve’s skin crawled.

Ryan stepped slightly in front of her as they approached the house, not touching her, but shielding by

position alone.

The front door was open.

Inside, voices echoed.

Eve saw a uniformed officer at the entryway, another deeper inside, and Steven, standing in the living

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