Chapter 429 The Perfect Trap

Chapter 429: Chapter 429 The Perfect Trap

Ryan had a point.

When there were this many coincidences, they stopped looking like coincidences.

Grace stared across the room, her expression hardening.

“I never thought I could have someone like this living under my own roof.”

Her anger was quiet, but that somehow made it worse.

Grace had spent decades as the unquestioned head of the Taylor family. Her authority had never depended on her age. It came from the fact that everyone in the family knew exactly how much power she held—and how rarely she used it without reason.

Her eyes shifted to Derick.

He looked even worse than she did.

His jaw was tight, his face pale, and the disbelief in his eyes had slowly given way to something heavier.

Alicia finally found her voice.

“Grandma, I know nothing I say right now is going to change your mind, but I swear I had nothing to do with any of this.”

Tears streamed down her face.

“If Mr. Knight actually had proof, he wouldn’t be standing here talking about suspicions. He would have brought it.”

Rose gave a quiet, humorless laugh.

“So, you think that because there isn’t proof yet, there won’t ever be any?”

Alicia froze.

Rose’s voice was calm, but there was no warmth in it.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

Alicia took a hesitant step toward her.

“Rose, you know me. You know how much I care about you. How could I ever do something to hurt you? We’re family.”

Ryan spoke before Alicia could get any closer.

“What about the rumors at NYU?”

Alicia stopped dead.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop.

Ryan rose from his chair and walked toward her, his expression unreadable.

“You were removed from the research team. Within days, rumors about Rose started spreading around campus and online.”

Alicia’s face went white.

Ryan stopped a few feet in front of her.

“Those rumors cost her opportunities. They damaged her reputation. They put her professional future at risk.”

His gaze never left hers.

“And now her wedding has fallen apart, too.”

Alicia instinctively backed away.

“You’re saying I did all of that?”

“I’m asking questions.”

Ryan’s voice remained almost unnervingly calm.

“Rose was new to NYU. She had no reason to be involved in your life, and you had no obvious reason to care about hers. So why would anyone risk their own position to target her?”

He paused.

“Unless they had a reason.”

Alicia’s lips parted, but no words came.

Grace reached for the teacup beside her and slammed it onto the floor.

It shattered across the hardwood.

“Mr. Knight.”

Everyone went silent.

Grace’s eyes narrowed.

“Are you accusing Alicia?”

Ryan met her gaze.

“I’m telling you what I see.”

He glanced briefly toward Rose before looking back at Grace.

“I don’t expect you to take my word for it. You can decide what the pattern means.”

That was all.

He didn’t push.

He didn’t demand that anyone agree with him.

And somehow, that made the accusations harder to dismiss.

Grace looked at Alicia.

Then at Victoria.

Then at Derick.

No one spoke.

Ryan knew there was no smoking gun—not yet.

But he didn’t need one to make the Taylor family question what they had been willing to overlook.

Once doubt took hold, every previous incident looked different.

Grace finally exhaled.

“Whether there’s enough evidence to take this to court is one question.”

Her gaze hardened.

“Whether I want someone around Rose whom I no longer trust is another.”

Alicia’s face drained of color.

“Grandma...”

Grace cut her off.

“You aren’t my biological granddaughter, Alicia. I’ve treated you as family because I believed you deserved that place.”

Alicia stared at her.

“But if you can’t understand the responsibility that comes with being part of this family, then I won’t keep pretending nothing has changed.”

“Please...”

“Start making arrangements.”

Grace’s tone was final.

“You’ll withdraw from NYU. The family will arrange for you to continue your education somewhere overseas, and we’ll make sure you have what you need to get settled.”

Alicia stared at her in disbelief.

“Overseas?”

“You heard me.”

Grace didn’t soften.

“You’ll stay there. You won’t return here expecting the family to step in and restore your old position.”

Alicia’s breathing became uneven.

Grace hadn’t called it disownment.

She hadn’t needed to.

The meaning was perfectly clear.

No more Taylor family protection.

No more access to their connections.

No more living in Rose’s home.

No more assuming that the family would clean up her problems or defend her simply because she belonged to them.

Alicia’s knees nearly gave out.

“Dad...”

She turned desperately toward Derick.

“I didn’t do anything. You know me. Please talk to Grandma.”

Derick didn’t answer.

He stood completely still, his face grim.

Victoria looked at him.

“Derick.”

Her voice was gentle, almost pleading.

“I know you’re worried about Rose. You don’t have to choose sides right now. If Alicia stepping away for a while will give everyone some peace, then maybe that’s for the best.”

She didn’t actually defend Alicia.

She couldn’t.

Not anymore.

Victoria understood what Ryan had done.

He hadn’t stormed into the Taylor family and demanded that they turn against Alicia.

He had simply laid one question after another on the table and let the family reach its own conclusion.

And now there was no easy way to defend Alicia without appearing to defend everything else that had happened.

Derick slowly nodded.

“Mom, I understand.”

Victoria’s heart sank.

He didn’t even look at her.

“At this point, whether Alicia did these things or not, her name is attached to too many incidents involving Rose.”

His voice was heavy.

“If I protect her again, how am I supposed to face Rose?”

He looked toward Rose.

She didn’t look back.

Derick swallowed.

He had already failed her once when she was kidnapped.

He couldn’t bear the thought of making the same choice again.

Whatever happened between Victoria and Alicia after this, he would deal with it later.

For now, he wasn’t going to stand between Rose and the rest of the family.

Alicia sank into the nearest chair.

Her entire body felt numb.

All those years.

Everything she had fought to keep.

Her place in the Taylor family.

The life she had built around that name.

It was disappearing in front of her.

She looked at Rose.

Then at Ryan.

A cold fear settled in her chest.

Ryan had cornered her without ever directly accusing her.

Every time she tried to defend herself, another question appeared.

There was nowhere left to move.

Grace looked toward the others.

“And starting today, everyone moves out of the garden under Rose’s name.”

Her voice was icy.

“I don’t want anyone making her uncomfortable in her own home.”

No one argued.

Then Grace turned toward Ryan.

Her expression sharpened.

“Mr. Knight, you’re very good at getting people exactly where you want them.”

Ryan said nothing.

“I’ve lived long enough to recognize when someone has played their hand carefully,” Grace continued. “You gave us just enough to make us question everything without ever forcing us to agree with you.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“You’ve made your point.”

She paused.

“But you told me you have no intention of getting back together with Rose.”

Ryan lowered his gaze.

“Don’t make me regret believing you.”

He didn’t answer.

That silence irritated Grace more than anything else.

“Fine.”

She turned toward James.

“James, come with me. I want to see Nathan and meet my great-granddaughter.”

James hesitated.

His eyes flicked toward Ryan.

He clearly didn’t like the idea of leaving Rose alone with him.

But Grace had already made up her mind.

James gave Ryan a hard look.

“Whatever happens next is family business. You should probably go home and deal with your own problems.”

Ryan looked at him.

“Thanks for the advice.”

James stared at him.

For a moment, he seemed genuinely speechless.

Then he muttered something under his breath and followed Grace toward the door.

Rose understood what had just happened.

Given the lack of hard evidence, Grace had already gone as far as she could.

She couldn’t accuse Alicia publicly without proof.

She couldn’t turn a suspicion into a legal judgment.

But she could decide who she trusted under her own roof.

And she had.

Derick remained where he was.

He looked at Rose as though he wanted to say something.

Rose didn’t give him the chance.

She didn’t look at Alicia, either.

She simply turned and walked away.

Behind her, Ryan followed.

He said nothing.

He just kept pace with her as she left the room.