The Billionaire's Silent Wife (Ryan and Eve) novel Chapter 79

79 THE CRISIS CALL 2

For a long moment, he stood there in the quiet alley, the weight of years pressing on his shoulders. Then his phone buzzed again, another call. He glanced at the screen and saw Kim berly. Of course.

He answered.

“Ryan! I’m trapped, reporters outside the house, Mom’s losing it, Dad won’t wake up, please, you have to come,”

He ended the call mid-sentence. He couldn’t deal with her hysteria. Not now.

When he returned inside, the noise of the restaurant washed over him like balm. Laughter, music, the sizzling of oil. For a few seconds, he could almost pretend the world outside didn’t exist.

Eve looked up from behind the counter. “Everything okay?”

He nodded. “Just work.”

But his eyes were darker now, the storm barely contained.

After closing, they gathered around a small table at the back of the restaurant, Camila, Mitre, Eve, and Ryan. The night crowd had thinned; the chairs were upturned, the lights dimmed. Camila poured coffee into mismatched cups, her motherly fussing a comfort Eve hadn’t realised she needed.

Mitre was telling an old story about how he and Camila had met when Ryan’s phone vibrated again across the table. He reached for it, hesitated, then ignored it. Eve caught the motion but pretended not to notice.

Camila leaned toward Eve. “You should eat more, niña. You’re getting thin.”

Eve smiled weakly. “I’m fine, mamá,”

Mitre patted her shoulder. “You’ve always been too brave for your own good.”

Ryan smiled faintly at their banter, though his thoughts were far away, back in Bexlin, in the corridors of his father’s empire now trembling under the weight of scandal. He didn’t want to tell them what was happening. Not tonight. He just wanted a few hours of peace.

Then, out of nowhere, the phone rang again. The sound cut through the laughter like a blade.

This time he answered.

It wasn’t Leah or Kimberly. It was his lawyer.

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