The Coldest Man in the Room Melted Only for Me novel Chapter 66

When she didn't blink, he waved a hand in front of her face, his voice pitching higher. "Are you okay?!"

Riley's mind was violently spinning out of control. She turned to him with vacant eyes. "I need to be alone. Get a cab for the rest of the way."

"But you look—"

"Get out," she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. She sounded so profoundly shattered that it scared him.

Ross unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out, looking back at her anxiously. "Drive safe, alright?"

Seeing her slouched against the headrest with her eyes closed, he assumed she was just exhausted from dealing with his mess. He quietly shut the door and flagged down a taxi.

In the deafening silence of the car, Riley forced herself to trace back exactly when "Manager Walsh" had entered their lives.

Slowly, the chaotic timeline pieced itself together in brutal clarity.

It had started on Valentine's Day. They had gone to Ink & Aroma for a romantic dinner, and Pierce's phone had been bombarded by an unsaved number.

He had dismissed it as a spam call at first, but when it rang again, he suddenly claimed there was a corporate emergency he had to personally handle.

That was the very first time the phantom manager had dragged him away.

He had been lying to her for that long.

The unsaved number kept calling relentlessly after that. When she finally demanded to know who it was, he casually lied that it was the new manager of the planning department and changed the contact name right in front of her.

He had meticulously built an entire alibi for this person.

From that day on, Manager Walsh became a permanent fixture in their marriage.

Calling Pierce away under the guise of work at all hours of the day and night, constantly ripping him from his family without a shred of hesitation.

On her first night of maternity leave, the manager had called twice in a row, only stopping when Pierce finally turned his phone off.

She slumped against the seat, her eyes screwed shut, as silent, burning tears cascaded down her face and gathered at her chin.

Pooling.

Shattering.

Drip, drop.

One after another.

The tears hit her shirt, coming faster and faster until her chest was completely soaked.

Her lips trembled, and her shoulders began to violently shake. She collapsed over the steering wheel, her silent weeping devolving into broken, gut-wrenching sobs that filled the empty car.

Right as she was drowning in absolute agony, Pierce called her.