The Billionaire's Silent Wife (Ryan and Eve) novel Chapter 189

Chapter 189 Leah Cracks, the Raid, and the Aftermath

Leah Ashbrook sat in the interrogation room like she was waiting for a delayed flight, not facing a

kidnapping investigation.

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Her robe had been swapped for a simple holding jumper. Her hair was pulled back neatly. Her hands were folded on the table, fingers relaxed, posture upright. Even under harsh fluorescent lights, even with the weight of suspicion pressing down, she carried herself like a woman who expected the world to bend.

Chief Claude watched her from the other side of the table without blinking.

He wasn’t impressed by posture.

He wasn’t moved by tears.

And Leah, to her credit, didn’t waste time pretending to cry tonight.

Ryan sat outside the interrogation area, pacing the corridor like his bones didn’t fit inside his skin. Tevin leaned against the wall with his arms folded, expression tight. Maxwell stood a little apart, quiet and still, eyes tracking every officer who passed.

Steven sat on a bench, elbows on his knees, hands clasped, face wrecked with exhaustion and fear. He looked like a man who had finally run out of denial.

Every few minutes, Ryan’s gaze snapped toward the closed door of the interrogation room, as if sheer will

could pull answers through it.

The chief had made one thing clear the moment they arrived back at the station:

No press.

No leaks.

No noise.

Not yet.

“If Leah has accomplices,” Chief Claude had said, voice firm, “then the minute the world knows she’s in custody, the minute those accomplices sense the rope tightening, they’ll do what desperate people do.”

Ryan’s jaw had tightened. “They’ll kill them.”

Chief Claude had held his gaze. “Or they’ll flee. Either way, your wife and Steven’s fiancée become

liabilities.”

Ryan’s throat had gone tight. He’d nodded once, clipped, because he understood strategy even when it

made him sick.

Steven hadn’t looked as composed.

He’d gone pale and had to brace himself against the wall.

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Chapter 189 Leah Cracks the Raid, and the Aftermath

“Did you leave your home at any point.”

“No,” Leah replied.

“Did you have contact with Steven Reynolds.”

Leah’s eyes widened just enough to look offended. “Of course not.”

Chief Claude’s voice stayed even. “Did you send him messages.”

Leah’s tone sharpened a fraction. “No.”

“Did you instruct anyone to harm or abduct Evelyn Ashbrook.”

Leah’s mouth tightened. “No.”

“And Steven Reynolds’ fiancée,” the chief added.

Leah’s gaze flicked briefly, too quick, too small.

“No,” she repeated.

Chief Claude watched her in silence for a moment, then slid a file across the table.

Leah didn’t touch it.

“What is that,” she asked, voice soft.

“Evidence,” Chief Claude said.

Leah’s brows rose slightly. “Evidence of what.”

Claude didn’t answer immediately. He reached into the file and pulled out a sealed evidence bag.

Inside it, the brooch glittered under the light, silver, ornate, unmistakable.

Leah’s eyes fixed on it.

For a second, the composure in her face shifted, not collapsing, not panicking, but tightening. Like a woman realising the room had teeth.

Chief Claude spoke calmly. “Recognise it.”

Leah’s lips parted. She inhaled slowly. “That could be anything.”

Claude’s gaze didn’t change. “It’s yours.”

Leah’s mouth tightened. “Plenty of people own brooches.”

Claude slid another paper forward. “And these are the texts you sent to Steven Reynolds.”

Leah’s eyes flicked to the paper, then away.

The chief’s tone was steady. “Do you want to claim someone cloned your phone as well.”

Leah’s gaze sharpened, annoyance flickering now. “This is ridiculous.”

Chapter 189 Leah Cracks, the Raid and the Aftermath “Is it,” Chief Claude asked quietly, “or is it inconvenient.”

Leah let out a controlled breath. “You’re wasting time.”

Claude held her gaze. “Your time is not the priority here.”

Leah’s eyes narrowed. “Then what do you want.”

Chief Claude leaned back slightly. “I want your victims alive.”

Leah’s lips curled faintly. “Victims.”

Claude didn’t rise to the mockery. He waited.

Leah stared back, silent now, calculating.

Then she did what powerful people always did when they sensed the room might not bend.

She tried money.

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Leah leaned forward slightly and softened her voice into something almost intimate. “Chief,” she said, “we don’t have to do this in a way that embarrasses everyone.”

Claude didn’t respond.

Leah continued, eyes steady. “You have a family.”

Claude’s expression didn’t change.

“You have a career,” Leah added. “A future. Men in your position… they understand compromise.”

Claude’s voice stayed calm. “What are you offering.”

Leah’s eyes gleamed with certainty, like she believed this was the only language that mattered. “Enough.”

Claude tilted his head slightly. “Enough for what.”

Leah smiled faintly. “For this to disappear.”

Silence.

Then Chief Claude did something Ryan’s world did often and Leah’s world did instinctively.

He lied.

He leaned forward, voice dropping a degree. “If you tell me where they are,” he said, “this can die quietly.”

Leah paused.

It was the first real pause.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, studying him.

Claude didn’t blink.

Leah’s gaze flicked to the brooch again, then to the texts, then back to Claude’s face.

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1. Chapter 189 Leah Cracks the Raid, and the Aftermath

She measured risk the way other people measured weather.

And for the first time, she looked like she understood she might not win this room with posture alone.

“What exactly do you want,” Leah asked softly.

“Location,” Claude said. “Now.”

Leah’s mouth tightened. “And in exchange, you make it disappear.”

Claude nodded once, calm. “Yes.”

Leah held his gaze for a long beat.

Then her shoulders eased just slightly, like a woman making a decision.

She exhaled slowly.

And she confessed.

It wasn’t emotional.

It wasn’t dramatic.

It was clipped and cold, details delivered like instructions.

A small house.

A back street.

A location in the rougher part of Bexlin City where no one asked questions and police sirens were background noise.

Chief Claude didn’t let his face react. He only asked, “How many men.”

Leah’s eyes narrowed. “Enough.”

Claude’s voice stayed level. “Are they armed.”

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