Chapter 85

Elena looked up at him, her lashes trembling slightly, her clear eyes bright with a watery sheen.

She lifted a hand to Richard's face, tracing the line of his cheekbone with her fingertips.

"Then hurry. They'll be back in a minute—"

She didn't get to finish.

Richard kissed her.

His hand tightened at the back of her head as the kiss deepened, leaving Elena barely enough time to breathe.

"Mmph..."

Her arms tightened instinctively around his neck. She straightened slightly on his lap and kissed him back, meeting his intensity instead of retreating from it.

The dining room was dim and quiet, while the darkness beyond the windows seemed to close softly around them.

It was a long while before Richard finally pulled back. Even then, he stayed close, brushing another slow kiss over her swollen lips as though he still wasn't quite willing to let her go.

Elena drew in several quick breaths. Her eyes were misty, the corners faintly flushed.

Richard looked at her and took a slow breath, visibly forcing himself to settle down. Then he lowered his head into the curve of her neck, breathing in the faint scent of her skin.

"When you're out there, do what you want," he murmured, his voice low and slightly hoarse. "Don't force yourself to put up with things just to accommodate other people."

Elena rested against his chest, listening to the strong, rapid beat of his heart.

"If the sky falls," Richard continued, "I'll hold it up for you."

A smile tugged at her lips.

She playfully curled her fingers into the lapel of his finely tailored suit.

"And what if I'm the one who puts a hole in the sky?"

"That's fine too."

Richard laughed softly and kissed her warm cheek.

"Even if you tear a hole straight through it, I'll patch it for you."

Elena burst out laughing.

She wrapped both arms tightly around him and tucked her face against his neck, shamelessly soaking up his warmth.

For that moment, her anxiety about the original story, her worries about the future, and all her fear of what she still couldn't predict seemed to fade inside the warmth of his embrace.

"Speaking of which..." Elena suddenly remembered something else. "Adrian got taken to the police station. Was that you?"

Richard lowered his eyes to her.

"What kind of question is that? You make it sound like I framed him."

His words were innocent enough.

His amused tone was not.

Elena had only just remembered Adrian.

Richard found that rather satisfying.

Apparently, the man had already become so unimportant to her that she could forget about him entirely.

"My people handled it," Richard said, giving her cheek a light pinch. "He wanted my car traced and hired Derek Walsh to do it. Walsh happened to be a hacker with plenty of crimes already attached to his name."

Elena understood immediately.

"So they went after Derek and Adrian got dragged in with him."

"More or less."

"Your people really do love making someone else do the dirty work, don't they?"

"He's still alive."

Richard's lips curved.

"By now, he's probably already been released—assuming he has any brains at all."

Elena stared up at him for several seconds.

"You're planning something bad, aren't you?"

She called it bad, but the look in her eyes was pure anticipation. There wasn't a trace of concern for Adrian.

Satisfied, Richard kissed her once.

"I think it's a very good idea."

After dinner, Elena returned to her room to prepare for several midterm exams, then kept up her workout routine until late into the night.

Before going to bed, she requested another background report.

That was when she learned Ryan Foster was Charlotte Whitmore's boyfriend.

Elena stared at the screen.

Ryan Foster.

Charlotte's boyfriend.

In the original novel, he had been one of the people involved in her death.

There had been more than one person responsible, and Elena had read the later parts of the book quickly, sometimes skimming entire sections. She hadn't remembered Ryan's name when she met him.

But she did remember Charlotte's boyfriend.

And now Ryan was finished.

Elena looked at the cold, impersonal report on her phone and felt an extraordinary sense of satisfaction.

"What? What happened to Ryan?"

At almost the same time, Victoria shot to her feet in her villa, phone pressed to her ear.

She had been trying to get the one million back from Ryan.

Earlier that day, she had transferred the money to Elena to put an end to the confrontation. But Victoria certainly didn't think she should be the one paying for it.

Ryan had been the idiot who carried a cup of hot coffee toward Elena.

Victoria disliked Elena, but she had never asked him to do anything like that.

She had called Ryan several times.

No answer.

With no other choice, she finally called the Foster family estate.

"Miss Sterling..."

The Foster family's longtime butler spoke in a low voice.

"Mr. Foster is in intensive care."

"The hospital?"

Victoria froze.

The scene at Greenfield immediately flashed through her mind.

Had Elena's bodyguards hit Ryan harder than she realized?

Had they actually put him in the ICU?

A trace of malicious satisfaction rose inside her.

If Elena's bodyguards had seriously injured Ryan, that changed everything.

The Foster family wouldn't let it go.

No matter who Elena's wealthy backer was, getting out of something like that wouldn't be so easy.

But the butler's next words poured cold water over the thought.

"No. His injuries didn't happen at the club. He was found this evening in the restroom behind an old gas station in a half-abandoned industrial district. A passerby found him and called for help."

The butler hesitated.

"When he reached the hospital, he was covered in blood. Both of his legs had been broken with a metal bar. He had extensive soft-tissue injuries and three broken ribs. He was barely conscious."

"What?!"

Victoria sucked in a breath.

"Who did it? Did you call the police?"

"No."

The butler became noticeably evasive.

"Mr. Foster was still conscious when he arrived, but he became hysterical when anyone mentioned the police. He absolutely refused to let the family report it. He even threatened to throw himself off the hospital roof if anyone did."

He lowered his voice further.

"His sister and brother-in-law chose to respect his wishes. They gave the man who found him some money for his trouble and left it at that."

The butler was clearly more loyal to Ryan's sister than to Ryan himself. He offered no further details, made a few vague excuses, and quickly ended the call.

Victoria slowly sank back onto the sofa.

"No police..."

What kind of person could be beaten that badly and still refuse to report it?

She could think of two possibilities.

Either Ryan had done something he was terrified the police would uncover...

Or whoever had beaten him frightened him more than the beating itself.

Perhaps he was afraid that involving the police would bring even worse retaliation.

People who operated through gray businesses, violence, or other methods respectable society preferred not to acknowledge came to mind.

Victoria thought of the older man who had been sitting with Elena at Greenfield, along with those intimidating bodyguards.

The more she considered it, the more plausible it seemed.

What other explanation was there?

As far as Victoria was concerned, Elena had a terrible temper and no understanding of how people in their circle were expected to behave. Forget being a respectable wife—even most mistresses of powerful men didn't smash glass pitchers into people's foreheads whenever they lost their temper.

Ryan had been wrong to approach her with the coffee.

But another woman would never have responded as crudely as Elena had.

What kind of man would tolerate that?

Probably exactly the kind Victoria was imagining.

And if Elena had abandoned Adrian for a man like that, what else could she possibly want from him besides money?

Victoria's contempt deepened.

At the Foster estate, Ryan's sister sat rubbing her temples while the butler finished his report.

"So Miss Sterling called because she wanted the money back?"

She looked toward her husband.

His expression was equally strange.

He had never liked Ryan. After learning that Ryan had once nearly crippled their son, he had wanted to put a knife through him himself.

Now that Ryan had finally suffered for what he had done, the only thing stopping him from laughing was his wife's mood. It seemed inappropriate to celebrate while she was sitting beside him looking exhausted.

"So let me get this straight," her husband said incredulously. "Victoria Sterling paid one million earlier today on Ryan's behalf? Just to make Miss Hayes drop the matter?"

"Yes."

The butler lowered his head.

Ryan's sister waved a hand.

"Thank you. You should get some rest."

After the butler left, she gave a cold laugh.

"How ironic."

Victoria Sterling was adored wherever she went for one reason above all others.

She was Richard Sterling's only daughter.

And yet father and daughter were apparently so distant that Victoria didn't even know what was happening inside her own family.

"She doesn't know about Miss Hayes and the head of the Sterling family," her husband said quietly. "Otherwise, she'd have to be insane."

"She obviously doesn't know."

Ryan's sister shook her head.

"Richard Sterling clearly never told her."

Her husband was silent for a moment.

"He isn't raising Victoria as his true successor at all. In fact..."

The rest of the thought disappeared into the night breeze drifting through the open window.