Chapter 29%
Ryan exhaled sharply, his fingers tightening around the table as if steadying himself. He did not answer immediately, his gaze locked onto the screen where the footage replayed, over and over again, showing the man who looked exactly like him.X
The room fell into a suffocating silence.
His secretary, sensing the tension, cleared her throat before speaking carefully. “Sir, if I may, this information….
“Leave.” Ryan’s voice was firm, his usual composure returning in an instant.X
The secretary hesitated for a moment before nodding. Understood, Sir”
As soon as the door shut behind her, I turned to Ryan. “Ryan, tell me what’s going on. Who is he?”
Ryan ran a hand through his hair, exhaling slowly. He looked at me for a long moment, as if debating whether or not to tell me the truthu
His hand even shaking and panic attacks started to attack him.
I squeezed Ryan’s hand tighter, grounding him. His skin was cold, his breathing unsteady. The weight of his past had resurfaced so suddenly, and I could see it crushing him in real–time.
“Ryan, look at me.” My voice was steady, but gentle.
He lifted his gaze, his dark eyes filled with an emotion I could not quite place. Was it fear? Guilt? Maybe both.
“Ethan shouldn’t be here he muttered, almost to himself. This isn’t right. It’s not possible.”
I did not know who Ethan truly was, but I knew what I saw–Ryan, the composed and unshakable man I had come to trust, was unraveling.
I pulled him into a hug, resting my chin against his shoulder “Ryan, breathe. Whatever this is, we’ll face it together”
His body was rigid at first, but then, slowly, he exhaled. His arms wrapped around me, holding on as if I was his last anchor to reality.
A long silence stretched between us before Ryan finally whispered, “Jocelyn, we’re not safe. I’m sorry”
His words sent a shiver through me..
I pulled back slightly, just enough to meet his eyes. “Can you explain why?“)
Ryan’s jaw tightened. He was debating something, weighing whether to tell me the truth or not. But I did not back down.
“Ryan,” I said softly, but firmly. “If you don’t explain, how can I believe you? I need to hear it from you–not from Leo, not from your enemies, but from you!!!
Ryan exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair.
“He’s my twin brother, he finally admitted. “Ethan.“”
Twin brother? My breath hitched
“But… I’ve never heard of him. Your parents never mentioned him. Even my mother, who has known your family for years, never said anything about you having a twin”
Ryan’s expression darkened. “Because, as far as they were concerned, Ethan was gone“%
“Gone?” I frowned. “As in missing?“B
Ryan hesitated before nodding. “He disappeared years ago. Our family believed he was dead -until now.”
The weight of his words settled heavily in my chest
“And now he’s back, I whispered.§
Ryan nodded, his hands clenched into fists. And he’s working with Lea”
I let that sink in. The man who had been manipulating things from the shadows, the one who had helped Lea, the one who had gotten close enough to me to take me to a hotel that night was Ryan’s twin brother!
It was almost impossible to believe, yet the evidence was right in front of us
“Ryan.” I hesitated, unsure if I should ask. “Why did he disappear? What happened to Ethan?”
Ryan’s lips parted, but no words came out.
Silence stretched between us, heavy and suffocating. I wanted Ryan to say more to explain, to ease the storm of confusion raging inside me–but he remained tight–lipped, his expression unreadable.
Neither of us spoke. The weight of unspoken truths settled between us like an invisible wall
Then, at last, Ryan broke the silence. His voice was steady, but there was an edge to it.
“Jocelyn, I need to tell my parents about this. You should stay here–don’t go anywhere. Here is the only place where you’re safe. Can I ask you to do that for me?
A part of me wanted to argue, to demand answers, but another part–the part that trusted Ryan–hesitated.
I was tom, caught between my instincts and the growing doubts taking root in my heart.3
In the end, I simply nodded. “Alright”
Relief flickered across Ryan’s face, and he reached out, gently squeezing my hand. “Thank you“l
With that, he turned and left, leaving me alone with a mind full of unanswered questions.
But I was not the type to sit and wait for answers. If Ryan would not give them to me, I would find them myself.
But I was not the type to sit and wait for answers. If Ryan would not give them to me, I would find them myself.
I pulled out my phone and stared at the last message
sage I had received and believed if there was only one way to find out the truth!!
I typed back a reply. [Then who should I trust? You?
A response come almost immediately. [Yes]
I hesitated before typing again. Explain, Ethan.]
[Oh? So you already know who I am? As I suspected, Lucy, believe me, Ryan may not be as innocent as you think.]
My stomach tightened. It was one thing to suspect that Ryan was hiding something, but to have his own twin brother confirm it, made me feel a dilemma.
Ethan claimed that Ryan had orchestrated my escape to Melbourne for his own reasons. That Ryan had always been obsessed with taking what belonged to Ethan–even if it meant killing him to get it
The words confused me more. But suddenly, Leo’s taunts echoed in my mind. “You never change, stealing what isn’t yours. Even worse, you silence the ones you steal from.”
Was this what he had ment?
And if so, why had the entire Donovan family gone to such great lengths to erase Ethan’s existence?
I stared at the screen, my fingers frozen above the keyboard. I had not replied in minutes, but Ethan was not done.!
[We need to meet. I’ll show you proof that Ryan isn’t the man you think he is. Tomorrow, I’ll be at the café in front of your campus Whether you come or not, I will still wait for you, my childhood friend]
“Childhood friend?
The words lingered in my mind long after I set my phone down.
I could not sleep that night. Every time I closed my eyes, I kept repeating words Ethan told me, like a whisper I could not ignore.
By the time the first rays of dawn peeked through my curtains, my decision was made.X
I would meet Ethan alone
