The Billionaire's Silent Wife (Ryan and Eve) novel Chapter 53

Chapter 53 The Cost of Blood

Eve’s POV

The moment Steven Reynolds stepped through the doorway, the air shifted.

Eve barely had time to breathe before his hand came down across her face.

The sound cracked through the foyer like a gunshot.

Her head snapped to the side. Her cheek burned. For a heartbeat, everything went white.

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Ryan moved instantly, faster than she’d ever seen him. His body surged forward, fury sharp and unfiltered in his eyes. He was a second away from landing a punch that would have

broken her father’s jaw, but Eve raised a trembling hand and stepped between them:

“No,” she whispered, her voice shaking but firm.

Ryan froze, his fist halfway in the air, his chest heaving. For all the pain she had endured from him, he had never hit her. Never raised his voice that way. Never starved her or left her without care. He had treated her like a possession, not a partner, but he had never been cruel

in that way.

And she wouldn’t let this turn into violence. Not again. Not because of her.

Steven sneered, brushing off his sleeve as though the confrontation bored him. “Pathetic,” he muttered, his eyes cutting toward Ryan. “You’ve lost control of your own household, Mr. Ashbrook.” Then, turning back to his daughter, he let the venom pour freely. “And you, worthless bitch. Running away, getting yourself knocked up like a common slut. You should be grateful anyone still claims you.”

Eve flinched at the words but refused to lower her gaze.

“I won’t blame the Ashbrooks if they throw you onto the street,” Steven continued, pacing now, feeding off his own disgust. “You don’t even realize how good your life is. How many women would kill for what you had.”

He was performing, she could see it. His insults were deliberate, each word a calculated attempt to humiliate her in front of Ryan, to prove he still held authority, still mattered.

“I even accused your husband of foul play,” Steven said with false righteousness. “Had Kimberly not found you, this entire mess would have destroyed his family. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

Eve gave a soft, bitter laugh. Her eyes glistened, but there was no submission in her tone

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<Chapter 53 The Cost of Blood

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when she finally spoke. “No,” she said quietly. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Mr. Reynolds.”

The name hit the air like a stone dropped in water.

Both men looked at her, startled.

“You dare call me Mr. Reynolds?” he asked, incredulous.

She nodded once, her expression steady even as her hands shook. “I must have done something terrible in a past life to deserve a wicked man like you as my father,” she said. “But you’re not my father anymore. Any man who can sell his own child for personal gain isn’t worthy of that title.”

Steven’s face twisted. “You think you’d have married well if not for me? I gave you a good life,

Eve. A better life.”

He gestured toward the house, toward Ryan as if the proof stood before her. “Look around you, marble floors, wealth! I gave you this. You should be thanking me.”

Eve’s jaw clenched. “You didn’t do this for me,” she said, voice tight. “You did it for yourself. For what you could take from it.”

“Ungrateful,” he began, but she cut him off.

“You knew Ryan didn’t love me. You knew he had someone else, and you didn’t care. You blackmailed his family into marrying us anyway. And you’re still doing it, aren’t you?” Her voice trembled with anger. “You’re the shameless one, Father, not me.”

Ryan stood frozen, silent, his gaze flicking between them, the tension in his jaw betraying everything he wasn’t saying.

Steven took a step closer, his hand lifting again in rage, but this time Ryan caught it mid-air. His fingers clamped hard around the older man’s wrist, stopping him cold.

“Enough,” Ryan said, his voice low, dangerous. “Leave my house, Steven. And leave wife alone.”

my

Steven laughed, a bitter, hollow sound that echoed off the walls, “Wife?” he scoffed. “You call this disgrace your wife? Don’t make me laugh.”

“Leave,” Ryan repeated, his voice sharper now.

Steven’s smile faded, replaced by a cold glare. “You think you understand her? You don’t know the half of it,” he hissed. “You think I wanted this? Nana was dying. I did what I had to do. You think I’m the villain here? Then tell me, Mr. Ashbrook, what about her? The thief. The

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