My Husband Wants An Open Marriage (Julie and Ryan)

CHAPTER 099: Lying Is Something People Do CHAPTER 090: Lying Is Something People Do

Julie follows his gaze to her hand. "It's a ring, Ryan."

"Don't play dumb with me. You're engaged?"

"Yes."

"To him? Lucas?" His voice rises, disbelief and fury mixing in his chest.

"Yes," she repeats.

Ryan stares at her, his mind reeling. He came here expecting to find her waiting, miserable without him. Instead, she's wearing another man's ring.

Ryan's eyes are glued to the ring, that massive, glittering diamond mocking him with every glint of light it catches. His throat tightens. His fingers curl into fists at his sides. He can feel his pulse throbbing in his temples.

"How could you do this?" he says. "You let that man brainwash you. You think he's any better than me? His first wife left him, Julie. That's a pretty damn telling sign, don't you think? What are you going to do when it gets rough? Run to another man?"

Julie crosses her arms, leaning back against her desk. "Even when you're dying, you're still an arrogant piece of shit. Do you have any business with me today, Mr. O'Brien, or did you just come here to give me another lecture? Because I have a lot of work to do." Ryan flinches at the way she addresses him. So formal. So distant. Like they didn't share a bed, a life, dreams. "I was getting the baby for us, Julie," he says. "When Emily has the baby, who's going to take care of it? Who's going to be its parent?" "Emily and you, I suppose."

"No," Ryan snaps. "I got the baby for you."

"Ryan, I don't want your baby. I've got mine."

He stares at her, his mind scrambling to process what she just said. "You're... pregnant?"

"I am."

"That can't be," he whispers, shaking his head as if denying it will make it less real.

""It is," she says.

The room seems to tilt around him. He stumbles back a step, his hands gripping the edge of the chair for support.

"Julie..." His voice cracks. "We've all made mistakes. It's alright. We can raise the babies

together-your baby, Emily's baby. It doesn't matter. We'll finally have children, Julie. The family we always wanted.".

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CHAPTER 090: Lying is Someiling People Do

Julie stares at him, her eyes cold and unyielding. For a long moment, she says nothing. Then she says, "I've tried to be the bigger person. To let fate take its course. But you keep pushing me, Ryan. You keep pushing me into a corner."

"As long as it makes you see me," he pleads, stepping closer.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I don't give a fuck about you anymore, Ryan?" Her voice rises. "The babies aren't yours. Mine, Emily's. None of them are yours. You made me feel like shit for not having a child, made me feel like less of a woman. I did everything -everything-to make it work. But you were the problem all along!"

Ryan freezes. "What did you say?"

"I said a lot of things, Ryan."

"No. About Emily's baby."

She crosses her arms. "It's not yours. If I were a bad person, I'd let her keep running her little con on you. But even you deserve to know the truth before you die."

Ryan feels the floor drop out from beneath him. "She lied to me?"

Julie shrugs. "Hate to break it to you, but lying is something people do."

His head spins. His legs feel weak. He stumbles towards the door, his hand trembling as he grabs the handle.

"Ryan," Julie calls out behind him.

He pauses, his back to her.

"I wish you good luck on your chemo."

He turns his head slightly. "I'm not dying."

"What?"

"I lied," he says. "Just as you said, lying is something people do.'

He walks out, leaving Julie sitting there, her eyes wide with shock.

"Can't you go any faster?" Ryan barks, his fingers drumming against the leather seat.

Justin, his chauffeur, meets Ryan's glare in the rearview mirror. "We're already pushing the speed limit, sir."

"I don't give a damn about the speed limit. I said faster."

Justin sighs, the sound heavy with resignation, and presses the accelerator. The engine growls, and the car shoots forward, weaving through traffic.

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CHAPTER 090 tying is netfang People Do

Ryan barely notices. His mind is elsewhere.

'It's not yours. She lied to you.'

Julie has to be wrong. She's bitter, vindictive, hell-bent on revenge. She wants to hurt him, destroy him. That's all this is a desperate, venomous lie designed to make him doubt everything. Emily wouldn't... She couldn't... But the seed of doubt is planted, its roots coiling tighter around his sanity with every passing second.

The building of Paragon Jewels looms ahead.

Ryan doesn't wait for the car to fully stop. He flings the door open and steps out.

Karen, the ever-cheerful receptionist, lifts her head from her desk, her bright smile faltering. "Mr. O'Brien! Welcome back. Your mother mentioned you were

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He cuts past her without a glance, his pace relentless. His long strides carry him to the elevator bank, and he slams the button with unnecessary force.

Karen's voice trails after him. "Mr. O'Brien, your mother asked that

you-

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The elevator arrives with a soft ding, mercifully cutting off her words. Ryan steps inside, jabbing the button for the top floor. His reflection stares back at him from the polished metal walls-face hard, eyes blazing. He doesn't recognize the man staring back. This is someone else. Someone pushed to the edge.

The elevator hums its way up. When the doors finally part, he steps out onto the executive floor, every muscle coiled tight.

Emily sits at her desk outside his office, blonde hair pulled into a neat bun, fingers dancing across her keyboard. At the sound of his footsteps, she looks up, her blue eyes widening in surprise.

"Ryan? You shaved your head?"

He closes the distance in three strides, yanking her from her chair.

"Did you lie to me about the baby?" His voice is low, trembling with rage.

Emily gasps, struggling against him. "What? Ryan, let me go right now! You're hurting me!"

He tightens his grip, his knuckles white. "You tried to pass off another man's child as mine."

"So what if I did? That's what you wanted, wasn't it? A baby? I got you one."

He can't believe this. "You bitch," he hisses, pushing her some steps backwards and backing her up against the wall.

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CHAPTER 090, Lying la Something People Do

"Let me go, Ryan! You're scaring me!"

"You used me! You made me believe"

"Let her go, Ryan."

The command stops him cold. Ryan turns, his chest heaving, to find his mother standing in her office doorway. Her gaze is icy.

"Let her go. Right. Now."

"The baby isn't mine," Ryan says. "She lied."

Adeline's gaze remains steely. "I said, let her go."

His hands tremble as he releases Emily with a shove. She crumples to the floor, sobbing.

"You're fired," Ryan says. "Pack your things and get the hell out. Don't bother coming home for your stuff. I'll burn them."

"You'll pay for this," Emily spits. "I'll bleed you dry for daring to put your hands on me.

Ryan's smile is bitter, devoid of warmth. "I'd like to see you try."

Emily wipes her tears, her hands trembling, and throws one last venomous glare at him before storming out, her heels clicking furiously against the marble. The silence that follows is deafening.

Adeline steps forward, her eyes narrowing. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"What was I thinking? I was thinking I've been played, and I'm done with it."

"

"You've lost control. You're dragging this company's name through the mud."

Ryan whirls around, his finger jabbing the air. "Your company? Your name? What about me, Mom? That baby isn't mine! Do you even care?"

"What I care about is salvaging our reputation. Leave. Now. Or you'll be fucking fired too."

Ryan's jaw tightens, his gaze locked on hers for a tense, silent moment. Then, without another word, he turns and strides toward the elevator. Before the doors close, he says, "You don't love me. You never did."