Chapter Eight

Vanessa woke up to the sound of soft music playing somewhere outside her bedroom.

For a moment, she stayed underneath her blanket, staring at the ceiling with a sleepy smile. Then she remembered.

Her birthday.

She sat up immediately.

Today was the day.

For the first time in a long while, the thought of her birthday didn't make her feel like crying. Instead, there was a strange excitement sitting in her chest. She was finally turning eighteen. She was officially an adult, and, according to the arrangements her parents had made before their death, she would soon have access to the inheritance they had left for her.

But more than the money, Vanessa wanted one thing.

She wanted to feel loved.

She wanted the kind of birthday her parents would have given her if they were still alive.

She wanted the fuss, the ridiculous amount of attention, the embarrassing pictures, the cake, the gifts, and her mother's voice telling her how quickly she had grown.

She missed them terribly.

A knock sounded on her door.

Before she could answer, it opened and Tara walked in with a huge smile.

"Happy birthday, birthday girl!"

Vanessa's face immediately brightened.

"Tara!"

She jumped out of bed and hugged her.

Tara pulled away and looked at her teasingly. "You look old already"

Vanessa rolled her eyes.

She had no idea what Ryan had planned.

If she had known, she probably would have spent the entire morning trying to figure out how he managed it.

By the time she came downstairs, the entire house looked different.

The usually quiet mansion had been transformed.

There were flowers everywhere, but not the ordinary kind. Huge arrangements of white roses and deep red flowers decorated the halls and tables. Warm lights had been placed around the garden, making the entire property look almost unreal.

A large white tent had been set up outside with elegant tables underneath it. There was a stage, a live band, a dance floor, and a beautifully decorated birthday table sitting at the center.

Her name was written across the backdrop in elegant gold letters.

HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY, VANESSA.

Vanessa stopped at the entrance.

"Oh my God."

Ryan stood a few feet away, watching her reaction.

He was dressed in a perfectly fitted black suit, his expression calm as usual.

"You like it?"

Vanessa turned toward him.

"You did all this?"

"Who else?"

She stared at him.

For someone who rarely showed emotion, Ryan had gone completely overboard.

There were chefs preparing an entire menu, waiters moving quietly around the property, a professional photographer, musicians, and even a private fireworks display planned for later that night.

Ryan had also arranged for some of Vanessa's closest friends to attend.

He had remembered the little things she had mentioned in passing during their conversations.

Her favorite cake.

The food she liked.

The flowers she preferred.

Even the kind of music she enjoyed.

He had paid attention.

And that somehow meant more to Vanessa than all the expensive decorations.

"You really did this for me," she whispered.

Ryan looked at her for a moment.

"Your parents would have spoiled you today."

Something in Vanessa's expression changed.

Ryan continued quietly, "I couldn't give you them back. But I wasn't going to let you spend your birthday feeling like you had been forgotten."

Her eyes immediately became watery.

She looked away before he could see.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Ryan nodded.

Then he handed her a small black box.

"This is from me."

Vanessa stared at it.

"You already did all this."

"Open it."

She slowly lifted the lid.

Inside was a beautiful diamond bracelet.

It was delicate but clearly expensive, with a small pendant engraved with her initials.

Vanessa's mouth fell open.

"Ryan..."

"Happy birthday, Vanessa."

She looked at him, and for a second, she forgot what she wanted to say.

She threw her arms around him.

Ryan stiffened slightly before allowing his arms to settle around her.

Vanessa smiled against his shoulder.

She wished she could stay there forever.

But then someone entered the garden.

A woman.

Vanessa's smile disappeared.

She knew that face.

Her heart skipped.

The woman from the wardrobe.

The same woman she had seen in Ryan's room weeks ago.

Vanessa immediately looked at Ryan.

His expression changed.

It was subtle, almost impossible to notice.

But Vanessa noticed.

His shoulders became slightly rigid, and the warmth that had been in his eyes disappeared.

The woman approached them with a pleasant smile.

"Hello Ryan"

Vanessa didn't like the way she called his name.

"Happy birthday, little Vanessa."

Vanessa's smile became forced.

"I'm eighteen."

The woman laughed softly.

"Of course you are."

She handed Vanessa an elegantly wrapped gift.

"I brought something for you."

"Thank you."

Vanessa accepted it politely.

But she didn't like being called little Vanessa.

Not today.

Not on the day she had been waiting for her entire life.

She was eighteen.

She was an adult.

And she wanted everyone to see her that way.

Especially Ryan.

The woman turned toward him and smiled.

Ryan said nothing.

She stepped closer and lightly held his arm.

Vanessa's stomach twisted.

She stared at her hand.

Why was she touching him like that?

And why wasn't Ryan moving away?

Vanessa tried to convince herself she didn't care.

She failed.

She spent the rest of the party pretending to enjoy herself.

Her friends dragged her onto the dance floor. She smiled for photographs, cut her birthday cake, opened gifts and laughed at jokes.

But her eyes kept wandering toward Ryan.

And every time she looked, that woman was there.

Standing beside him.

Talking to him.

Touching his arm.

Eventually, Ryan disappeared with her.

Vanessa noticed.

She tried to ignore it.

Ten minutes passed.

Then twenty.

She could not enjoy herself anymore.

She finally excused herself from her friends and went inside.

The mansion was much quieter now.

She walked through the hallway, looking for Ryan.

She didn't even know what she planned to say.

Maybe she just wanted to ask him why he had disappeared.

Maybe she wanted to remind him that it was her birthday.

Maybe she wanted his attention.

She reached a closed door.

There was no answer when she knocked.

She frowned.

"Ryan?"

Nothing.

She slowly opened the door.

And froze.

The woman was sitting on Ryan's lap.

Her arms were around his neck, and their lips were pressed together.

Vanessa couldn't breathe.

For several seconds, she simply stood there.

Ryan looked toward the door.

Their eyes met.

Vanessa felt something inside her crack.

She quickly shut the door.

Then she ran.

She didn't stop until she reached her bedroom.

The moment the door closed behind her, the tears came.

She covered her mouth as a sob escaped.

Today was supposed to be perfect.

It was supposed to be the day she finally became an adult.

The day she received her inheritance.

The day she had secretly planned to tell Ryan how she felt.

She had rehearsed it so many times in her head.

She had imagined standing in front of him and finally telling him that what she felt wasn't the childish crush she had carried when she was younger.

It was different now.

She had spent two months living with him.

Two months watching him take care of her.

Two months discovering the quiet side of a man everyone else seemed to fear.

And somewhere along the way, her feelings had grown into something she could no longer dismiss.

She had even told her friends.

They had immediately told her to confess.

But Vanessa had refused.

She could not forget the humiliation she had felt years ago when she had first confessed her childish feelings to Ryan and been rejected.

She couldn't go through that again.

Except this time, it wasn't childish.

She knew that.

And perhaps that was what scared her most.

She wiped her tears angrily.

Technically, Ryan had not betrayed her.

He isn't her boyfriend.

He had never promised her anything.

As far as he was concerned, she was probably still just his best friend's daughter—the girl he had taken responsibility for after losing her parents.

She knew that.

She understood that.

But understanding something didn't make it hurt less.

She sat on the edge of her bed and looked at the birthday bracelet on her wrist.

The room was beautifully decorated with the flowers Ryan had arranged for her.

Her birthday cake was downstairs.

Her friends were still celebrating.

There were expensive gifts waiting for her.

Everything she had wanted was right there.

Yet she felt completely empty.

And then, for the first time since she had moved into Ryan's house, she missed her parents with an ache she could not control.

She wanted her mother.

She wanted her father.

She wanted to be that little girl again, sitting between them while they made a huge fuss over her birthday.

Instead, she was alone in a massive bedroom, crying over a man who had never promised to be hers.

Vanessa pulled her knees toward her chest and buried her face against them.

"It is my day ," she whispered through her tears.

Another sob escaped.

"And I hate her."

She didn't know whether she hated the woman or the fact that she had allowed herself to hope for something Ryan had never offered.

But tonight, none of that mattered.

For the first time since losing her parents, Vanessa felt completely alone.