Chapter 431 The End Of Their Debts

Chapter 431: Chapter 431 The End Of Their Debts

His tone was flat.

Rose, however, caught the unmistakable sarcasm beneath his words.

She tried to pull her hand free.

Ryan instinctively tightened his grip, his warm palm closing around hers. But only for a few seconds. Then, just as suddenly, he released her.

“Victoria and Alicia will be sent away by the Taylor family. Now that you’ve become part of the Taylor family, there’s at least a chance to repair some of the damage between you and them. Ariel staying with you and the Taylors is the best possible outcome.”

The warmth of his hand lingered against the back of hers.

Rose slowly curled her fingers into a fist.

“Aren’t you going to tell me what’s really going on with you?”

She wasn’t asking about what he’d done to Alicia.

She wasn’t asking why he’d refused to remarry.

She wanted to know when he’d made this decision—and what exactly he intended to do about Ariel.

For so long, Rose had been waiting for Ryan to make a move.

She’d been prepared for him to fight her for their daughter.

Instead, he’d quietly stepped back.

He had handled everything behind the scenes. He’d shut down the Knight family’s hopes of taking Ariel back and left the Robinson family with no real room to interfere.

And the strangest part was that Ryan didn’t seem to care what surname Ariel carried.

“You don’t want Ariel going back to the Knight family, and neither do I,” he said. “We both know what kind of family the Knights are. They’re not exactly known for putting a child’s feelings first, and I don’t think that’s the kind of environment Ariel should grow up in.”

Ryan looked directly at her.

“Ariel is my daughter. That doesn’t change because of a last name. Knight, Taylor, whatever she chooses to call herself someday—it doesn’t change the fact that she’s my daughter.”

His voice softened slightly.

“She’s proof that I existed in your life. Proof that we had a child together.”

Rose frowned.

“Ryan, you really are incredibly sure of yourself.”

Almost arrogant.

As though none of the rest of it mattered.

Ryan didn’t deny it.

“If you’re asking how I found out Ariel was biologically mine...” He slipped one hand into his pocket. “At this point, does the process really matter?”

Rose stared at him.

He continued calmly, “You have the result.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“You already knew when you jumped off that building to save Ariel?”

Ryan met her gaze.

He said nothing.

For a long moment, neither of them moved.

Then Ryan was the first to look away.

“I knew.”

Rose wasn’t surprised.

If anything, it only confirmed what she’d already suspected.

How could Ryan have risked his life to save Ariel if he’d still believed she was Rose and Trevor’s daughter?

“Right.” Rose let out a quiet breath. “That was a pointless question.”

What unsettled her was the timing.

He had known for so long.

And yet, all this time, he’d shown no interest in taking Ariel away from her.

That realization sent a brief chill through Rose.

If Ryan had ever truly wanted custody—even with the parental-rights waiver she’d made him sign—his money, influence, and connections would have given him countless ways to challenge her.

She looked at him steadily.

“What about you?”

Ryan raised an eyebrow.

“The Knight family is going to find out eventually. Aren’t you going against them?”

Edward Knight was not a man who tolerated defiance. Going directly against him could have serious consequences.

Ryan’s mouth curved faintly.

“What? Are you worried about me?”

Rose nearly rolled her eyes.

That’s not what I meant.

But she didn’t bother arguing.

She pressed her lips together before saying quietly, “I’ve come this far with you. We’ve caused one hell of a scandal together.”

Her gaze was calm.

“But Ryan, as of today, we’re even. Whatever we owed each other before ends here.”

No matter how much pain he’d caused her.

No matter how much she had once loved him.

After today, it was time for both of them to move on.

Ryan had genuinely helped her secure the one thing she cared about most—Ariel.

Rose had never been the kind of person who couldn’t distinguish right from wrong. She wasn’t going to pretend his help meant nothing simply because of everything that had happened between them.

They were even.

She looked straight at him.

“From now on, you don’t owe me anything, and I don’t owe you anything. No more love. No more hate. If we run into each other somewhere, we’ll say hello like normal people.”

She paused.

“If you want to see Ariel, ask her. I’ll respect whatever relationship she wants with you. I won’t interfere.”

Her voice remained steady.

“But outside of that, let’s live our own lives.”

After everything they’d been through, Rose finally understood something.

Life was too long to spend carrying the same person in your heart—whether through love or resentment.

She had spent far too many years doing exactly that.

It was time to live for herself.

Now that Ariel was officially part of the Taylor family, Rose no longer had to live in constant fear that someone would take her daughter away.

For the first time in a long while, she felt herself breathe easier.

Sooner or later, Ariel would learn that Ryan was her biological father.

When that day came, Rose wouldn’t make the decision for her simply because she was young.

That was the one concession she was willing to make.

The rest would be Ariel’s choice.

Ryan watched her quietly.

Rose used to smile often.

Whenever she did, the cool distance that usually surrounded her disappeared completely. The small dimples at the corners of her mouth made her look almost carefree.

That was who Rose really was.

Soft when she wanted to be, sharp when she needed to be, and strong enough to hold on when she loved someone—and strong enough to let go when it was time.

And now she was telling him, without bitterness or anger, that she had finally let him go.

She was moving forward.

Ryan stared at her for a long time.

It was the first peaceful conversation they’d had in what felt like forever.

And somehow, it was also the conversation that brought everything to an end.

His throat tightened.

It took him several seconds before he finally managed to answer.

“Mm.”

Rose turned away.

She had barely taken a few steps when she stopped and looked back.

“Thank you.”

Then she walked away.

Ryan remained where he was.

The wind moved quietly through the trees, carrying the sharp chill of winter with it. A few tiny flakes drifted through the air and melted against his skin.

He lowered his eyes.

When he looked up again, his expression had already returned to its usual unreadable calm.

He turned and walked toward his car.

“Take me to the family estate.”

*****

Meanwhile, the Knight household was in complete chaos.

Rowan had rushed home.

Margaret had suffered a hypertensive crisis, and even after taking her prescribed medication, her blood pressure had refused to come down properly.

And everyone knew what had triggered it.

The disaster at the Robinson wedding.

By now, practically everyone in the city had heard about it.

Rose wasn’t simply Aster.

She was also a professor at NYU and the granddaughter of the renowned Dr. Grace Taylor.

And then she’d publicly announced that she would take the Taylor surname, effectively placing herself and Ariel under the protection of the Taylor family.

What made the situation even more humiliating for the Knights was that Ryan—the child’s biological father—had personally arranged for Rose to secure that protection.

The divorce had already separated Rose from the Knight family.

Now the change of surname had made her connection to the Taylors even more official, giving her the backing of a powerful family on her mother’s side.

The Knight family had walked away with nothing.

Under the circumstances, they had little choice but to abandon their fight for Ariel.

The irony wasn’t lost on anyone.

The Knight family had been undermined from within.

The Robinson family had become the city’s favorite subject of gossip, and now the Knights were being dragged into the same scandal.

By the time Ryan arrived home, the situation was already out of control.

The moment he stepped through the front door, a teacup came flying toward him.

It struck the floor at his feet and shattered.

Ryan merely glanced down at the broken porcelain before continuing inside.

Rowan saw him and immediately walked over.

“Ryan.”

His voice was strained.

“Grandpa has never been this angry. You know how much the family’s reputation means to him. Please. Just sit down and talk to him.”

Ryan didn’t answer.

He walked into the sitting room.

Edward was already there, sitting stiffly in an armchair with both hands wrapped around his cane.

His face was dark with anger.

The moment he saw Ryan, he snapped, “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

Ryan calmly took a seat across from him.

Edward’s voice rose.

“You’ve humiliated this family! You took a Knight grandchild and practically handed her over to another family without getting anything in return. And then you allowed Rose to make our private negotiations public!”

His grip tightened around his cane.

“The entire Knight family is being torn apart because of you!”

Ryan looked at him.

“What do you mean, ‘another family’?”

Edward froze.

Ryan leaned back.

“Rose carried Ariel and raised her. She’s her mother. Ariel came from her, and Rose has been the one raising her all these years.”

His voice was calm but firm.

“If Ariel is going to grow up with her mother, then what’s wrong with her being part of Rose’s family?”

Edward’s expression hardened.

“You don’t even want your own daughter? You’re just giving her away to someone else?”

A faint smile touched Ryan’s lips.

“Is that really how you see it?”

He looked around the room.

“Because if we’re talking about family and blood ties, I’d love to know when the Knight family became so concerned about those things.”

The room went silent.

Edward’s expression changed.

Rowan stared at Ryan as well.

For the first time, he had the strange feeling that something had fundamentally shifted.

Ryan wasn’t fighting anymore.

He wasn’t trying to preserve appearances.

He wasn’t even pretending.

He was ripping away the polite façade the family had maintained for years.

“Ryan,” Rowan said carefully, “Grandpa and Grandma are getting older. All they want is to have their children and grandchildren around them.”

He tried to soften the tension.

Ryan said nothing.

Instead, he reached for the teapot on the table and poured himself a cup.

He took a slow sip.

Then he looked at Edward.

“No matter how ugly things get, we still have to keep pretending we’re one big, happy family, right?”

Edward’s face stiffened.

Ryan’s voice remained remarkably calm.

“Just like we did more than a decade ago.”

He set the cup down.

“Nicholas nearly killed me, and we still sat around the same table afterward, smiled for everyone, and acted like nothing had happened.”

His gaze swept across the room.

“Because apparently, keeping up the appearance of a perfect family has always mattered more than what happens inside the family.”

No one spoke.

The silence that followed was heavier than any argument.