Chapter 242: Suspicion
Ryan’s POV
Given the glacial pace of the investigation ever since the attack, Ryan had not expected any feedback so soon after Vivian’s interview. In fact he had been fully ready to raise hell with the police to get answers. But the very officer who had questioned Vivian was back. The woman who had seemed to be working only thanks to coffee and pure determination when she had first come to them somehow looked even worse.
Her eyes bloodshot, a faint, but foul stench clinging to her, the harried looking woman gave both of them a long look before she began speaking.
"I am here to inform you that your ex boyfriend has been located," At the words Vivian sagged against his side, and Ryan did not blame her even a little bit, how could he when he too found himself sagging against her in relief.
Bryce had been found!
At long last some good news. Though he had tried to not let it dictate his life, Ryan had been getting more and more worried as the days had passed with Vivian’s ex still being in the wind. Even with all of the security that he had around the penthouse, his fear for Vivian’s safety had been very real.
Ryan had worried that Bryce would find some weak spot in their defense and that he would use that weakness to come after Vivian and finish the job. But now that he had been found, the billionaire could finally breathe easier, and more importantly, his Vivian could stop stressing so much.
"Have you questioned him yet, has he given up Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth, or is he shielding her?" Instead of answering, Rogers cleared her throat in a way that very obviously betrayed her nervousness, (seriously how was this woman a police officer).
As he watched, detective Rogers looked to the side before redirecting her gaze back to them. After nibbling at her bottom lip, the woman finally took a deep breath and spoke in a tone that Ryan often heard from many professionals when they were doing a balancing act between being polite, and being straightforward.
"Miss Rose, your ex boyfriend was found. Unfortunately, he was not discovered alive,"
***
Not discovered alive.
The words rattled around in Ryan’s head before they were finally translated into something much simpler.
Bryce was dead.
Looking over at Vivian, Ryan found her looking absolutely stunned. Which was exactly how Ryan was feeling.
"Are you certain?" Ryan asked, still not quite able to believe it.
The woman nodded.
"I am a hundred percent sure that he is dead,"
Feeling Vivian’s hand slip into his, Ryan gently squeezed her finger, his gaze never moving from the detective.
" How did he die?" Vivian asked, her voice disarmingly soft. It was clear to him that she was in shock
But the detective, with her blunt nature, did not seem to notice it.
"Oh, he was found hanging in the woods. Right now, all of the cards are pointing to him having committed suicide. He even had what looked to be a suicide note in his pocket, but it could always have been a murder. Maybe somebody got their hands on him for what he did to you, or maybe he had a partner like you said Mr Terrell, and they wanted to silence him for good. Or maybe it was an accident, your ex seemed to have a thing for strangulation," The woman’s gaze slid to Vivian’s neck but she barely seemed to be seeing her.
"Maybe he was out in the woods trying to pleasure himself, and things got out of hand. Or maybe he felt guilty, and decided that ending his existence was the only way to make up for being such an-" Shaking her head, the woman blinked at them in shock.
"I am so sorry. I was being unprofessional again. Please report me. Your scumbag of an ex is dead and I- oh, I did it again. You know what, let me just go,"
After seeing the crazily blunt, and very apologetic woman off, Ryan immediately went back to Vivian. He found her still sitting on the couch, her gaze fixed on something only she could see.
***
Had he known her a little less, Ryan would have taken Vivian’s silence to mean that she needed to be poked and prodded until she said something. But Ryan knew his lady, as silent as she was, her mind had to be a very loud place at that moment.
As much of a scumbag as he had been, at the end of the day, Bryce had been her ex. Once upon a time, the man had meant something to her. Sure he had destroyed all of that with his constant mistreatment of her. But Ryan knew his Vivian, she was far too good for this world.
So even if it was in a small way, he was certain that she would grieve her good for nothing ex-boyfriend. So instead of pestering her, he just said next to her and allowed her to process all that was going on. While he sat there in silence, Ryan allowed himself to come to grips with the information that he had just been given as well.
Bryce was dead.
From the looks of it, it seemed as though it had been a suicide, but Ryan had some serious doubts. That parasite of a man had been far too attached to his own skin to have considered doing such an awful thing, let alone actually going through with it.
It had to have been Gwendolyn .
She was probably the one who had taken him out. Thinking of it that way, it made a lot of sense. With everything that had gone down he had been wondering why Gwendolyn had not acted out. It turned out she probably already had. If his suspicions were true, then his ex was really something else. In addition to all of the things that she had done, she was now capable of cold-blooded murder.
How terrifying. Could she truly have offed Bryce or was he just thinking the worst of her?