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All Chapters of The Bride He Never Wanted : Chapter 171 - Chapter 180

192 Chapters

A problem for tomorrow

RYANThe penthouse elevator opened directly into the entrance hall, and the moment the doors slid apart, I could feel her.Not hear her… feel her. The particular quality of silence that Olivia produced when she was angry was different from ordinary quiet. The whole apartment felt like it was holding its breath.The lights in the living room were on. The Barcelona skyline stretched out beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, and Olivia was sitting on the couch with her legs curled beneath her, a glass of wine on the table in front of her that looked barely touched, still dressed in what she’d clearly thrown on after I left- one of my oversized shirts, loose around her shoulders, her hair pulled up in a way that looked like she’d done it without thinking.She looked beautiful. She also looked like she might actually kill me.She didn’t look up when I walked in.“Hey,” I said.Nothing.I crossed the room, set my keys and wallet on the kitchen counter, and turned to face her properly.“Oliv

The anonymous video

OLIVIAI wasn't entirely convinced by Ryan's excuse about the client emergency and the aggressive lemonade. Something about the way he'd said it felt... off. Not quite like a lie, but not quite like the whole truth either.But I also knew Ryan had been dealing with a lot. The rescue, his recovery, now Logan's stalking situation. Maybe he'd gone to the police station to file additional reports or speak with investigators about protective measures. Maybe he didn't want to worry me with more details about the Logan situation when I was already stressed.So I let it slide for now.I watched him move around the kitchen. He'd pulled out a pot for the pasta, filled it with water, and was now staring at the stove with the intensity of someone trying to solve a complex equation."You know you have to turn it on, right?" I said from the couch.He shot me a look over his shoulder. "I know that.""Just checking. You were staring at it like maybe if you focused hard enough, it would heat up throug

Betrayal

OLIVIAThey were kissing. His hands were in her hair. She was straddling him, and they were both clearly… having sex.The phone slipped from my suddenly numb fingers, clattering onto the table."Olivia?" Ryan's voice sounded far away. "What's wrong?"I couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't do anything except stare at the frozen frame of the video on my screen… Ryan's face, his hands on another woman, his mouth on hers."Olivia, what…” He reached for my phone, and I watched his face go completely white as he saw what I'd seen. "No. No, this isn't…""Don't." The word came out broken."Olivia, please, let me explain…""Explain?" I looked up at him, and I could feel tears streaming down my face even though I hadn't been aware I was crying. "Explain what? Explain how you left here this afternoon and went to fuck your ex?""It's not what it looks like…""It's a VIDEO, Ryan!" My voice cracked, getting louder. "I can see exactly what it is! You're kissing her! You're…" I couldn't finish

Completely falling apart

OLIVIAI made it to my car somehow, though I couldn't remember walking through the parking garage or finding my keys. My hands were shaking so badly it took three tries to get the key in the ignition.Then I just sat there.The engine idled quietly. The parking garage was empty and silent except for the hum of fluorescent lights overhead. And I completely fell apart.The sobs came from somewhere deep inside me, tearing out of my chest in waves that left me gasping for air. I gripped the steering wheel so hard my knuckles went white, my forehead pressed against my hands, and I cried like I hadn't cried since the day my father banished me from the pack.Maybe harder.Because this hurt worse. So much worse.My father had rejected me due to the fact that he thought I poisoned him… even though it was a set up. It had been cruel and unfair and devastating, but at least I'd understood his reasoning, even if I hated it.But Ryan?Ryan had chosen this. Had gone to Daisy's apartment, lied about

Be safe

OLIVIA"As soon as possible. But first..." I pulled out my phone again, this time pulling up Lena's number. "I need to talk to Lena. Tell her what's happening. Make arrangements for the restaurant.""Of course. Take your time."I stood and moved to the window, looking out at the Barcelona skyline as I dialed Lena's number. It was late, but I knew she was probably still at the restaurant.She answered on the second ring."Liv? Everything okay? I was just about to call you—the dinner service went great tonight, and we had that food critic come in, the one from—""Lena." My voice came out flat and emotionless. "I need to tell you something."There was a pause, and when she spoke again, her voice had changed completely. "What happened? Are you okay? Is it Logan?""No. It's Ryan."I told her everything. The video. The fight. The way I'd left him standing in his penthouse looking destroyed. My decision to leave Barcelona and go to my father's pack.Lena was silent through most of it, though

I need to talk to her

RYANThe elevator doors closed, taking Olivia away from me, and I stood there staring at the empty space where she'd been, my entire world collapsing around me."No," I whispered to the silence. "No, no, no."I lunged forward, hitting the elevator call button frantically, but it was too late. She was already descending, already gone.I spun around and slammed my fist into the wall so hard the drywall cracked. Pain shot through my knuckles but I barely felt it. The physical pain was nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to the agony ripping through my chest.I'd lost her. The woman I loved more than anything. The woman who'd risked everything to save me. The woman who'd made me believe in futures and hope and second chances.Gone. Because of a video that made it look like I'd chosen to betray her when the truth was so much more complicated, so much worse, so fucked up that I didn't even fully understand what had happened at Daisy's apartment.I remembered the lemonade. The way the room

I would wait

RYANI knocked softly. "Olivia? Please. I know you're in there. Please just give me five minutes to explain."Silence."Olivia, please. I'm begging you. Just let me tell you what actually happened."More silence.I tried the doorknob—locked."I'm not leaving," I said, louder now. "I'll sit out here all night if I have to. I'll wait until you're ready to talk to me. But I'm not giving up on us. Not without a fight."I pressed my ear to the door, listening for any sound of movement inside.Nothing. No footsteps, rustling, or breathing.A terrible thought occurred to me.I pulled out my broken phone… the screen barely functional but still working enough to make calls… and dialed the restaurant's main number. I could hear it ringing inside, echoing through the empty dining room.After five rings, it went to voicemail.I hung up and tried Olivia's cell again.Straight to voicemail.She wasn't here. Or if she was, she was so committed to not seeing me that she wouldn't answer even the resta

Take over

OLIVIAI'd heard him.Last night, through the office door, I'd heard Ryan's voice… desperate, broken, begging me to just give him five minutes to explain.And I'd sat there on my office couch, frozen, my hand clamped over my mouth to keep from making a sound, tears streaming silently down my face as I listened to the man I loved plead for a chance I couldn't give him.*"I'm not leaving. I'll sit out here all night if I have to."*Part of me, a treacherous, stupid part, had wanted to open that door. Had wanted to hear what excuse he'd come up with, what story he'd tell to explain away the video of him kissing Daisy, touching her, being with her in ways that should have been reserved for me.But I couldn't. Because what explanation could possibly make that okay? What words could erase the image burned into my brain of his hands in her hair, his mouth on hers, his body moving with hers in a rhythm I recognized because we'd moved that way together just hours before?So I'd stayed silent.

I am Olivia Hunter

OLIVIAShe studied my face for a long moment, then nodded. "Okay. Show me what you've got."We spent the next two hours going through every detail of running the restaurant. I walked her through the kitchen, pointing out which suppliers delivered on which days, which staff members were most reliable for different tasks, which regular customers had special preferences or dietary restrictions."And Miguel has been asking about overtime," I said, pulling up the schedule on my laptop. "He wants to pick up more shifts to save for his daughter's quinceañera. If you can swing it budget-wise…""I'll make it work," Lena assured me. "Don't worry. I've got this, Liv. You taught me well.""I know you do. It's just..." I trailed off, looking around the kitchen that I'd built, the space that represented everything I'd accomplished on my own. "This place is my baby. Leaving it feels—""Like abandoning your child, I know." Lena squeezed my shoulder. "But you're not abandoning it. You're trusting me t

Obsession

LOGANI had been restless since three in the morning.There was this thing about her that I don't understand. Why was I acting like this?Well, my brain didn't care… It didn't care that I had a bed, or that the sheets were expensive, or that by all reasonable measures I should have been able to close my eyes and sleep like a man with a clean conscience. Instead I'd lain there in the dark, staring at the ceiling of my Barcelona apartment, listening to the silence and hating every second of it.I didn't know where Nyla was.That was the core of it. That was the splinter working its way deeper every hour I went without an answer. I'd tried her number four times… not obsessively, I told myself, just reasonably, just the way any concerned person might, and every time it had gone straight to voicemail. Her voice on the recording had made my chest ache.I'd driven past Ronan's place last night. Not in a way that anyone could call surveillance. Just a normal drive that happened to take me dow

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