Chapter 371 The Price of Letting Go
Rose hadn’t forgotten what happened before.
Evan had nearly thrown all her belongings out of the house just to make room for Samantha. It wasn’t as though Samantha had never set foot in the Moonlake Villa after that.
Rose had lived here for seven years, but somewhere along the way, it had stopped feeling like home.
At her words, something flickered in Ryan’s eyes, but he didn’t pursue the subject. Whether he simply didn’t want to argue with her assumptions or had no interest in mentioning Samantha again, Rose couldn’t tell.
They walked into the living room.
Martha was still working at that hour. The moment she saw Rose, surprise flashed across her face, followed quickly by delight.
“Madam, you’re back.”
Rose stopped her.
“Just call me Rose. I’m divorced from Mr. Knight.”
Martha’s smile froze. She glanced awkwardly at Ryan.
Ryan, however, seemed completely unaffected.
“Could you bring me the first-aid kit?”
Martha immediately seized the opportunity to escape the awkward silence.
“Of course.”
Once she was gone, Rose let out a quiet sigh before walking toward him.
“Let me see your arm. Lift it.”
Ryan raised his arm without protest.
She couldn’t deny that he was actually injured. He had already been hurt jumping from that building, and then he’d taken a blow meant for her.
A normal person’s body would have been pushed to its limits by now.
And if Ariel had walked away from everything without a scratch, Ryan had played a significant part in making that possible.
Whatever his motives were, she could separate the two things.
He had helped Ariel.
That was a fact.
Ryan seemed unsurprised by her attitude. Rose had always been like this—hard on the outside, soft where it mattered. She had been that way since she was young.
Martha returned with the first-aid kit.
Rose took a pair of scissors and carefully cut through the sleeve of Ryan’s expensive shirt.
The sight of his arm made her wince.
Several thin, deep cuts ran across his skin, and blood was still slowly seeping from them.
Rose pressed her lips together.
She lowered her head and began cleaning the wound without saying a word.
As a medical professional, she was meticulous. Every movement was careful and deliberate.
Ryan watched her from such close range that he could see every tiny change in her expression.
After a moment, he finally asked, “What happened to the divorce agreement?”
Rose wasn’t surprised.
Ever since she realized Ryan apparently hadn’t known about the agreement, she’d known they would eventually have to discuss it.
She continued tending to his wound without looking up.
“Didn’t I give it to you when I first asked for the divorce? You never read it?”
Then she glanced toward Martha.
“Martha, I gave you a folder last year. Do you remember? Could you bring it here?”
Martha thought for a moment before her eyes lit up.
“Oh, yes. I remember.”
She hurried upstairs.
Rose finished bandaging Ryan’s arm.
“Keep the dressing dry. Your blood doesn’t clot properly, so you need to be careful with it.”
Ryan said nothing.
A moment later, Martha returned with the folder.
Rose handed it to him.
Ryan opened it.
Inside was the divorce agreement from seven years ago.
He read every clause carefully.
There was nothing particularly surprising about the terms.
The Knight family had never been known for generosity. They were the kind of people who made sure they held the upper hand in every negotiation.
The agreement was no exception.
Rose had been required to comply with the Knight family’s arrangements throughout the marriage, and once she left, she would receive only three million dollars.
To the Knight family, that amount was practically pocket change.
For one of their branches, three million dollars wouldn’t even cover half a month’s ordinary expenses.
Ryan turned to the final page.
There was his signature.
He had no memory of when he had signed it.
Beside it was Rose’s signature, written in her familiar hand.
She had actually accepted those terms.
Ryan’s fingertip slowly traced the faded ink of her signature.
Then he looked up.
“You really are easy to deal with.”
Rose frowned.
“What?”
“You let the Knight family treat you however they wanted, accepted a settlement worth barely anything to us, and signed without putting up a fight.”
His voice was calm, but there was something beneath it that Rose couldn’t quite identify.
She simply stated the facts.
“The day I signed it, you were rushing to catch your flight to London. You left so quickly that I didn’t exactly have time to sit around negotiating with you or your family.”
She paused.
“And money was never what I wanted from the Knights.”
Ryan remained silent.
Rose looked away.
Back then, meeting him again had filled her with hope.
She had been so young when she first fell for him. She had spent so much time with him that she’d convinced herself their story couldn’t possibly end there.
Even after Ryan treated her with complete indifference, she stubbornly believed she could make him love her.
She hadn’t even told him that she was the person who had once saved his life.
She hadn’t wanted to use that debt to bind him to her.
She wanted him to choose her freely.
Looking back now, she could only see how foolish she’d been.
It had all been one-sided.
Her dream.
Her persistence.
Her mistake.
Ryan stared at her for a long time.
Just when Rose thought the subject was over, he suddenly asked, “So after you gave birth to our daughter, you kept her from me because you knew our marriage was going to end?”
Rose’s heart lurched.
A thin wave of panic crept through her.
She hadn’t expected him to get so close to the truth so quickly.
That had been exactly why she’d kept Ariel a secret all these years.
She hadn’t known what Ryan would do if he discovered the child.
And now...
The way he had said our daughter sent a chill through her.
He sounded like a father.
Rose’s fingers tightened.
She met his gaze but didn’t answer directly.
“You can think of it that way. I knew our marriage was temporary. I knew you would never love me. So I found another way forward—a safety net for myself.”
Her voice remained steady.
“I didn’t want to walk away from seven years of my life with nothing.”
Ryan neither agreed nor disagreed.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
There was something cold and almost mocking in his expression.
“So Trevor was your backup plan?”
Rose’s eyes narrowed.
Ryan continued before she could respond.
“You were already involved with him, but you didn’t ask me for a divorce first. Why? Were you unsure whether Trevor would really commit to you? Or were you still hoping I’d eventually change my mind?”
Rose’s irritation flared.
“That question is pointless.”
She looked him directly in the eye.
“And don’t flatter yourself.”
Her voice hardened. “I hope you don’t take this any further, especially after what happened today. You suggested trading me to Trevor in exchange for that land. You want to put a price on me, but I may not be willing to cooperate.”
The memory still infuriated her.
Ryan slowly closed the divorce agreement.
Then he leaned forward.
The sudden movement brought him much closer to her.
Rose instinctively went still.
His dark eyes moved over her face, calm and unreadable.
“If he’s willing to pay that price,” Ryan said quietly, “then it’s a good deal.”
Rose’s expression tightened.
Ryan’s gaze didn’t waver.
“But if he isn’t...”
He paused.
“Shouldn’t you ask yourself whether he’s worth marrying?”