CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

After gently settling the trembling girl on the ground,

Ryker’s blazing eyes immediately turned to the men lying on the ground.

Walking coldly toward them, he raised one of the trembling man’s hands and asked coldly,

“Which hand did you just touch her with?” his face grim, like a grim reaper.

When they didn’t respond, he calmly broke each of their limbs.

Although his face was devoid of any emotion except calmness, Ember could clearly see the anger and jealousy that were barely contained in his eyes.

And it broke her.

The fact that she had spent three years trying to see any of this emotion was heartbreaking.

Even when thugs tried to harass her, he didn’t show any emotion. Rather, he handled it calmly, as if he were dealing with an unsolved business problem.

Even when she openly flirted with other men,

He simply calmly looked at her and dragged her back.

Nothing she did ever evoked the emotion she dearly desired from him.

Yet here he was, looking like someone had punched him right in the gut.

It appeared he wasn’t really born without emotion; he simply didn’t love her.

“Ryker, stop. Please, I’m scared,” the little white Lotus said weakly, her hands wrapped around her knees.

Her voice was barely a whisper, but that was enough for Ryker to hear, as he immediately rushed back to gather her in his arms, his face full of worry and anxiousness.

“I’m scared, Ryker…”

“Don’t worry. I’m here. Let’s take you to the hospital.”

Without looking back or caring about the people around him, he carried her in his arms and rushed off.

Someone who didn’t know might think his wife was due for labor, with the way his face was filled with panic and worry.

Ember wanted to laugh.

It was ironic.

What was even more ironic was the fact that he had just walked past her without even realizing she was standing there.

To everyone, he was an unfeeling iceberg, a cold Alpha, but just for this woman, he became a sea of emotions.

She was a woman,

And she knew exactly when a man looked at a woman with love.

That was exactly the way her unfeeling husband had been looking at his little Lotus.

“Ember, are you okay?” Her friend Pearl approached her, worry written all over her face.

Ember wiped the trail of tears she didn’t even know when they had fallen and forced a smile.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied.

Around them, the people standing there whispered in groups while looking at her. Although it was discreet, Ember could hear all their words clearly, and each word broke her heart.

“Isn’t she the Luna?”

“What’s she doing standing there?”

“Her husband just took his first love out.”

“First love?”

“Yeah, that Linda Carol—his childhood sweetheart, the one he’s madly in love with and would have married. She’s back now.”

Childhood sweetheart?

Married?

What was going on?

Seeing Ember’s heartbroken face, Pearl immediately led her out.

Once in the car, after taking several breaths, she faced Pearl.

“I need every piece of information about that girl,” Ember said.

Pearl wanted to ask, Are you okay? But seeing how moody Ember looked, she chose to stay quiet instead. Ember Valen was dangerous when she was like this.

After a few clicks on her phone, Pearl found what she was looking for.

“Linda Carol, the only daughter of Mr. Carol, who was known as a traitor. She was Mr. Ryker’s childhood sweetheart, but due to her family background and the fact that she’s a traitor’s daughter, the Hale family didn’t accept her. Linda threatened her life by cutting her wrists and eloped with Ryker to a far place. But eventually, after the Hale family repeatedly threatened to kill Linda and asked him to choose between a marriage of status or her death, Ryker came back home and married you.”

Ember felt her bones turn cold.

For once, she thought she had someone who loved her.

Someone who cared about her.

But the fact that he married her just to protect his loved one was something Ember couldn’t accept.

She loved Ryker, yes.

But being used as a tool wasn’t pleasant.

She could have patiently waited to melt his icy heart,

Tried to see him love her insanely.

But the fact that he loved someone else—

The fact that his heart was already given to another woman—

Yet he gave her fake love,

Made her believe their marriage was real and true,

Made her believe she could melt his heart.

All this made Ember’s heart twist painfully.

It hurt.

But nothing hurt more than being used as a tool.

She was Ember Valen,

The girl who was wild and scandalous.

She loved Ryker, yes, but she wasn’t someone who would stay and be a tool.

No!

Ember Valen would never be that kind of woman.

The next day, just as she was in the dining room alone, having breakfast, Ryker strode in.

He looked as handsome as ever in a black suit—the same suit he wore yesterday—but his face was cold, so cold that even the room temperature seemed to drop.

He didn’t come back yesterday because he stayed with Linda at the hospital.

Only to get the information that Ember had researched about Linda.

Striding toward her, he caught her wrist so tightly that Ember turned pale in pain.

“Ryker Hale, what’s this about?!”

Ember snapped, feeling the pain and hurt from yesterday seeping in.

But her reaction made Ryker believe she had a hand in it.

“Ember, follow me to the hospital to apologize to Linda.”

“What?”

Ember was momentarily dazed.

Ryker faced her with a cold expression.

“You sent those thugs to molest Linda, and now she’s in the hospital. Isn’t the only thing you’re supposed to do to apologize?”

“I didn’t even know her!”

“But you researched about her,” Ryker snapped.

Ember felt a bang in her head.

Here she was, furious that her husband spent the night with another woman, and all he did the next morning was accuse her of hurting his sweetheart.