All Chapters of Losing Ryker: The Billionaire's Second Chance : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Zerah I stared blankly at my monitor, the screen glowing with half-typed figures and forgotten emails. But I couldn’t focus—not after what Nathan had just told me. Ryker had told his family. Without asking me. Without warning. My hands trembled slightly as I picked up my coffee cup, only to realize it had long gone cold. Nathan hadn’t looked at me the same after our conversation, and I could feel the shift—subtle, but growing. He was going to find out eventually. And then what? Would he start treating me like some homewrecker? Like the villain in the story Ryker had painted? I didn’t realize I was gripping the edge of my desk until my fingers started to ache. How DARE he. How dare Ryker throw me under the bus like this? I stood up suddenly, the legs of my chair scraping against the floor with a screech. A few heads turned, but I didn’t care. I walked out of the room with quick strides, heading down the hall toward the executive offices. Ryker’s assistant looked up as I approa

Zerah The sun peeked in through the curtains, brushing soft gold across the floor. I opened my eyes slowly, my body heavy, like it had soaked up all the tension from last night and refused to let it go. I sat up and rubbed my hands over my face. The dinner. The way the Falloway family had talked to me like I wasn’t even human. The way Nathan just sat there, stuck between defending me and listening to his mother. But at least HE had defended me, hadn’t he? I stood and walked over to the mirror, picking up my brush. My hair was a mess. I started brushing it out slowly, watching my reflection. Nathan didn’t have to say anything. After finding out my true identity, that the same person he worked with for the past few years was the same contract wife he'd spoken about, he must have felt betrayed. He could have stayed quiet like Ryker did. But he didn’t. He spoke up. That had to mean something… right? Maybe he still believed in me. I pushed the thought aside and changed into my wor

Ryker I had gone through three meetings, skimmed two contracts, and even tried drowning myself in spreadsheets, but it was no use. Zerah’s words kept echoing in my head like an annoying ringtone I couldn’t shut off. "You’re being possessive." "I’m not your property." "Don’t gaslight me." Each sentence ran laps around my brain, refusing to let me breathe. She made it sound like I had something personal to lose. Like she meant something to me. She didn’t. She couldn’t. I rolled my pen between my fingers, sitting behind my desk, trying to keep myself from marching out of this office and demanding an explanation. I wasn’t possessive. She was just twisting things. That’s what people like her do. Gold diggers. They make a mess, then play victim. They’re good at reading people, turning the truth upside down until you start questioning your own damn sanity. I’ve seen her type before, pretty face, sharp tongue, clever charm. The kind of woman who knows exactly how to reel you in befor

FLASHBACK: SEVEN YEARS AGO CONTINUED Ryker My head was pounding. The room spun a little as I opened my eyes, blinking against the dim light filtering in through the curtains. The faint scent of perfume lingered in the air. Sweet, soft, unmistakably Zerah. The next thing I knew, we were already home. I had no memory of the cab ride except her shoulder under my cheek. Now we were at the front door, and she was holding me up. Her arms were smaller than I remembered, but stronger somehow. Maybe it was the drinks. Or maybe it was her. "Come on," she said softly, slipping one of my arms over her shoulders. "Let's get you to bed." My legs wobbled under me, and I leaned into her. She smelled like something floral, with a little hint of vanilla. Comforting. Distracting. She helped me up the stairs, her arm tight around my waist as she pushed open my bedroom door. "You're almost there," she muttered. Her voice was low, gentle, and patient. It was the kind of tone that made me paus

Ryker The doors to the elevator slid shut behind me with a soft mechanical sigh, muffling the distant chatter of the office. Alone inside the mirrored box, I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. My shoulders slumped slightly as I reached up to loosen my tie. Zerah’s laugh was still playing in my head like a broken record, looping again and again, even as I tried to shake it. It was just a damn laugh. So why did it feel like someone had knocked the wind out of me? I straightened as the elevator dinged, the doors opening to the executive floor. The boardroom doors were already open. The heavy tension inside hit me before I even stepped across the threshold. Twelve people sat around the massive, polished mahogany table. The board of SparkForge, my family’s company. My birthright. And yet, as I looked around the room, it felt more like a courtroom than a business meeting. Cold faces. Sharpened eyes. Judgement. I had to set the meeting here at this location, Falloway c