All Chapters of OUR MOON HAS STRINGS: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

PRESENT DAY…Ryan returned to headquarters at Tema. The morning sun glared off the glass towers, and though the world around him hummed with life, Ryan walked the corridors with the composure of a man who could not quite shake his ghosts.The boardroom was already alive when he entered. Polished tables. Men and women in suits murmuring over fresh documents. Hecate, his mother, introduced the two new members now officially joining Woods Conglomerate. Applause rang politely.Ryan sat through it, stone-faced. His mind was elsewhere.No matter how hard he tried to drown himself in figures and forecasts, Valery’s voice pressed against the walls of his thoughts.‘You’re not Riley...’‘I was foolish enough to think you could ever be the real thing.’‘You’ll never be the one I fell in love with.’Those words continued to chip away any hope he had of fixing things. He remembered the look in her eyes - not of anger, but of a wound too deep to be healed. Ryan blinked sharply, dragging himself ba

Valery looked up at the older woman, bubbling with laughter. “Ha! What sort of superstitious diagnosis is that?”It was almost a reflex in this part of the world. Once a woman felt a little dizzy or nauseous, the verdict from older women was automatic: pregnant.The head servant’s eyes softened. “Do not be upset, my dear. I am a woman too. I know these things. Tell me, when last did you see blood?”Valery shook her head, still laughing, though a nervous edge threaded through it. “Come on… forget it. I practically live at the hospital these days. If I were pregnant, someone would’ve said something.” She brushed that idea off with ease. “Please, don’t go telling my mum these things, you know how she gets.” She reached out and clasped the woman’s hand.“Okay, if you say so.” The servant yielded. “Nonetheless, I’ll make you some tea to settle your tummy.”“Alright.” Valery collapsed back onto her bed with a sigh, sprawled like a child. The ceiling spun just a little, her head heavy, her b

Derrick sat hunched in the waiting area, elbows digging into his thighs, his face buried in his hands. His foot tapped a frantic rhythm against the floor. Moments ago, his signature had sealed the papers authorizing a D & C. His hand had shaken as he wrote his name. He was now a father discarding his dying child with the stroke of a pen.Valery was still inside. Cold doors shut between them. There was nothing he could do but wait. Nothing but breathe - and even that hurt.The questions circled him like vultures. How long had she known? Why hadn’t she told him? Was that why she pushed him away, shutting her ears every time he begged her to talk?“Derrick!”He looked up. Jennifer came rushing toward him, her steps quick, her face already written with fear. She dropped into the chair beside him, clutching his arm.“How is she?”Her brows knitted when Derrick lifted his head. One look at his face and her heart sank.“What’s happened to my sister?” Her voice pitched higher, sharp with pani

Ryan sat still and let the house nurse do her job. She checked his pressure, drew some blood, handed him his pills. Without a word, he swallowed them and sipped on water. This was the routine, one of the few requirements left to keep the disease under control. Yet the medicine felt more like chains than an agent of recovery. His body grew heavier with each dose. He felt more reluctant getting out of bed, more unwilling to work and even more - to live.It wasn’t just his body that was failing him. His mind was the true battlefield. His thoughts kept sinking lower, dragging him into shadows. These days he didn’t dare to dream. Even the sleeping pills were fed up with him, leaving him staring at the wall night after night. He had nothing but silence for company.Just as the afternoon session was ending, a maid announced a visitor. But the visitor did not wait to be announced - Margret was already there, leaning against the door.“How is he?” she asked the nurse.“His pressure is lower th

Years Back....High School.The hallways had a way of making one feel both suffocated and alive. That week, it was Ryan who walked them in Riley’s skin.It began one restless night. Riley stood by his brother’s bed while Ryan bent over his book, the lamp glow catching in his sharp features.“Swap places with me,” Riley said. His was blunt, almost too casual.Ryan looked up slowly, one brow raised. “That’s all? No explanation? You want me to play dress-up again after all the mess you’ve made?”“There’s another field trip before the mock exam,” Riley pressed. “Aren’t you always complaining about not being able to go outside?”“I’ll pass,” Ryan muttered, turning the page, though his eyes no longer moved across the words.“The pressure is too much this time,” Riley admitted, pacing with an unease that betrayed him. “I need your help.”Ryan smirked faintly. “I thought you didn’t want it.”“Derrick is asking questions I can’t keep up with,” Riley sighed. “It’s you he wants nearby. It’s alway