All Chapters of After Divorce, I Married His Half-Brother: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

RYKER _ _ The day had been going impeccably well. Had fun watching Grant's men cry like starved morons. Their fingers being plucked out with pliers, electricity zapping out every audacity to go against me out of their body. It felt so good watching them beg, scream, and call for help in the middle of nowhere. Far from town. But not far from my cruelty. I sat on a chair in the far end of the room, one leg on the other, eyes locked on the scene unfolding before me while flipping the switch of my lighter. It was entertaining so far. Until I got that call. Derek was found carrying Vanessa out of his office, his suit on her as he passed through the back door of his little shithole called a company. Something twisted and dark unfurled in my stomach just by hearing it. Derek had Vanessa. I knew damn well Vanessa wouldn’t go with him willingly. Not because she’s mine, or about her love for him. It only meant one thing. She was in trouble. I pushed myself off the

VANESSA _ _ He’d guessed correctly. I’d planned to pin the office incident on him. Taking the B&G project came with consequences I didn’t want to shoulder. I intended to make Derek swallow every blow. I wanted him to suffer for it. “He’s been sneaky with the business, and I want to outplay him,” I said, reaching for the bandage wrapped around my head but Ryker stopped my hand with a quick, gentle grip. “Careful. You don’t want to reopen it,” he said, voice soft. “Does it still hurt?” “No.” I tried to pull my wrist free, but he held on. His eyes searched mine while he kept my hand. “Was this injury part of your plan?” he asked. “Not exactly.” I scratched the back of my head and shrugged. “I wanted to rile him so he’d get physical…but this turned out even better than I’d hoped.” He let go almost too fast. “…He exceeded my expectations. He’s always been like that though. Getting mad as quickly as getting turned on.” I added, trying to make it sound casual. Ryker’s

“No. Don’t say that…”The words barely left my mouth as I slammed the laptop shut. I turned around sharply to face her.Vanessa had already backed up a few steps, her arms hugging her stomach like she was trying to hold herself together. Her lips trembled, her eyes glassy with unshed tears, like she was suffocating.“I’m ruined,” she whispered. Then again, louder. “I’m… I’m ruined.”“Vanessa, hey—” I stood up, my hands instinctively reaching out to her, but she flinched, and it was enough for me to drop them back to my sides. “You’re not ruined. Listen to me. I can fix this. I will fix this. Whatever Derek has, I’ll destroy all of it. I just need some time.”But she wasn’t listening. Not really. Her eyes weren’t focused on me anymore. It was like she was seeing something else. Like she was seeing a version of herself that she couldn’t look at.She kept muttering the same thing under her breath like a broken mantra, her voice getting thinner with every repetition. “I’m ruined. I’m ruin

RYKER _ _ The folder was gone. Every file, every image, every recordings Derek ever sent me, they were gone. Deleted. Permanently. No backup. No cloud. Nothing. I sat there for a while, just staring at the empty screen, like it had no idea the kind of filth it had just swallowed and wiped out. I closed the laptop slowly, leaned back in my chair, and exhaled through my nose. It didn’t feel like relief. Not exactly. I should’ve done this sooner. Should’ve told her before it blew up like this. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through my contacts until I found Gabriel’s name. I hit call the button and placed the phone close to my ear. He picked up on the second ring. “Yes, boss?” “Status on the hack,” I said, not wasting time. “Did you get in?” “We’re halfway through,” Gabriel said. “His firewalls are tight, but not impenetrable. One of the techs found a loophole in his office’s mainframe system. We’re tracing every device linked to his IP. Once we’re in fully, w

“Two days.”His voice was steady, but something in it felt restrained, like he was holding back more than he was saying.I blinked, trying to process it. “Two days?”He nodded. “You passed out with a fever. The doctor had to keep watch overnight. I thought…” He stopped, rubbing a hand along his jaw. “Never mind.”I frowned slightly, tilting my head. “You thought what?”“Nothing,” he said.I didn’t push either. My throat was still raw, and I wasn’t in the mood for another emotional storm or a shocking revelation.One that was more shocking than knowing my ex-husband made graphic videos of me. And his brother had them in his collection.Ryker leaned forward slightly, elbows on his knees, watching me like he was trying to read the air between us.“How do you feel?” he asked.I shrugged. “Like someone used my head for target practice.”A faint smirk tugged at his mouth. “That’s the fever leaving. You scared the hell out of me, Vanessa.”“Well,” I muttered, staring at the blanket covering