All Chapters of The Billionaire's Marriage Investement : Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Sixteen Years Ago...“Mr. Ryder, the CEO requests for you in his office.”The butler stood outside the study with his hands folded neatly behind his back, his voice respectful but completely devoid of warmth.Ryder looked up from the stack of financial books spread across the library table. He had spent the better part of the afternoon studying by himself, since his father refused to give him any of the fancy tutors, that were teaching Rita the ins and outs of the company. He closed the book immediately. “I’ll be there.”The butler inclined his head and quietly disappeared down the hallway.Ryder arranged the books into a neat pile before rising from his chair.Most evenings, servants moved about preparing dinner while Rita filled the corridors with laughter as she entertained whichever friends she’d invited over. Today, however, the silence was almost unsettling.When the mansion was silent, it meant his father’s rage had just broken out, moments before. And it always took

Just like he’d been doing, Ryder continued to avoid Victoria.Before, she had merely suspected it, but now she had total confirmation.In the mornings when she came downstairs for breakfast, despite hearing his footsteps moving around the penthouse only minutes before, he would suddenly leave. When she returned from EVANGELINE meetings and noticed the light beneath his office door, only for it to disappear the moment she reached the hallway. Most of the time, he suddenly found his phone fascinating whenever they happened to be in the same room.One morning, Victoria walked into the kitchen just as Ryder was pouring himself a cup of coffee.He looked up. And for a second, neither of them said anything.“Good morning.” Victoria said, forcing herself to sound normal.“Morning,” Ryder replied, his tone completely monotonous. Victoria reached for the chair, to take a seat and have breakfast.Then he abruptly picked up his coffee and walked out.She stared at the doorway. “Ser

Ryder sat at his desk working, but his eyes occasionally went to the clock.Sam noticed this and said, “Sir, you can focus. I turned on a reminder for you.”Ryder slowly looked up from the document in front of him, and glared at his assistant. Sam was standing several feet away, and awkwardly cleared his throat. “I only meant that you don’t need to keep checking the time.” He added carefully., aware of how grumpy Ryder was, these days. “The reminder will notify you.”“I know what a reminder does.” Ryder replied sharply.Sam nodded. “Of course.”Ryder returned his attention to the document. For approximately twenty seconds though. His eyes moved across the same paragraph without absorbing a single word before drifting towards the clock again.Sam noticed.He said nothing this time, but the look on his face made it obvious that he was not fooled.Ryder grunted looked at him again, “What?”“Nothing, sir ” Sam answered.“You have a very expressive face for someone who clai

Ryder didn’t get a wink of sleep, that night. Victoria was still asleep when they arrived home, and he had carried her upstairs himself because she could barely keep her eyes open. She had complained about the stairs, complained that he was walking too fast, and complained that his coat smelled like him before finally going quiet against his chest.When he placed her on the bed, she barely moved. Ryder pulled the blanket over her and stood there for several seconds, watching her sleep before turning away.The lights from the hallway reached her face as he stepped toward the door. That was when he noticed her eyes. The skin around them was red.It looked like she had been crying. Ryder stopped with his hand resting against the door.For several seconds, he remained there, staring at her face while the memory of her vulnerability the car played through his mind.His fingers slowly curled against the door. He hated seeing her like that.Ryder stepped out of the bedroom and quie

Victoria woke up to her own head.Which was, at that moment, an extremely unpleasant place to be.She lay still for a few seconds with her eyes closed, slowly waking up. The pillow was soft. The room was hers. Everything seemed to be in its right place except for the steady throbbing behind her eyes that she had entirely brought on herself.She sat up slowly.On the bedside table, there was a glass of water, two white tablets in a small saucer, and a sleeve of crackers. She stared at them for a moment. Then she reached for the tablets and the water and took both before lying back down for another thirty seconds, waiting for the room to stop spinning.It took a while.When reached for her phone, she was met with six missed calls. Three investors whose names she recognised from the early sign-up list. One from Julie. Two from numbers she didn’t have saved.She called Julie but it rang twice and went to voicemail.“Seriously...” She muttered, and put the phone face down on th