I lowered my head, my body trembling—not just from the cold creeping into my bones, but from the crushing humiliation. I glanced at Ryan one last time, hoping for something—anything—but he had already turned away. He sat on the couch, swirling whiskey in his glass, laughing softly with Vanessa as if I had already disappeared.
I took a step toward the towering front doors, each movement feeling heavier than the last, when a presence behind me made the air shift.
Footsteps echoed from the staircase.
George.
Ryan’s father descended slowly, his expression unreadable. He was a man everyone feared—a billionaire who had built his empire from nothing, known for his silence and his ruthless discipline. In the five years I had lived under his roof, he had barely spoken to me. I had always believed he despised me just as much as his wife did.
He stopped in front of me.
In his hands, he held a large black garbage bag, tightly tied.
“Perfect timing,” Margaret said with a mocking smile. “I was just about to take the trash out.”
George didn’t even glance at her. His cold eyes locked onto mine, and without warning, he shoved the heavy bag into my arms. The weight nearly knocked me backward.