Chapter 478 The Man Who Caller Her His

Chapter 478: Chapter 478 The Man Who Caller Her His

Rose quickly composed herself and looked away.

Ryan noticed.

A coldness entered his eyes.

He slowly turned toward the man who had just stepped out of a car nearby.

Trevor.

New York was still cold, with spring nowhere near close enough to warm the city.

Trevor stood beside his car, looking tired and somewhat lonely.

But the moment he saw Rose, something in his expression changed.

Then he noticed Ryan standing beside her.

The warmth disappeared.

Ryan’s expression remained calm.

But his fingers tightened around Rose’s hand.

He looked at Trevor, then casually asked, "Is that the man your friend was talking about?"

He had figured it out immediately.

The way Trevor looked at Rose made his intentions obvious.

Rose glanced at Ryan.

His tone sounded perfectly relaxed.

His jaw, however, was tight.

It was instinctive.

He simply disliked seeing Trevor near her.

Rose found it strangely amusing.

In all the years she’d known Ryan, she’d never seen him react this way to Trevor.

He had always been cold and indifferent.

Now he looked as though he’d just identified a serious threat.

"Yes," Rose said. "That’s Trevor. He’s Diana’s brother."

Ryan’s brows moved almost imperceptibly.

And he wasn’t some stranger who had appeared recently.

He was Diana’s brother.

A friend.

Someone who had apparently been close to Rose for years.

That made things considerably more complicated.

Trevor’s attention shifted to Ryan.

He had been trying to contact Rose for days without success.

The Taylor family had also kept Ariel well protected. He had tried several times to see the child and had been turned away.

Today, he’d come to the school hoping he might finally get the chance.

Instead, he’d found Rose.

And Ryan.

Ryan had disappeared from the public eye for quite some time.

The Knight family’s problems were still unresolved, and the company’s headquarters remained under considerable pressure.

The Robinson and Knight families had openly clashed several times during that period.

Yet Ryan, the person at the center of it all, had never appeared.

Trevor had wondered where he was.

Now he knew.

The moment their eyes met, Trevor saw something he hadn’t expected.

Possessiveness.

Undisguised and unmistakable.

Ryan seemed like a completely different man from the one Trevor remembered.

"You came to see Ariel?"

Rose held Ryan’s hand a little more firmly, silently asking him to calm down.

Then she turned to Trevor.

"Yeah," Trevor said. "I miss her."

He collected himself and walked toward them.

"I couldn’t get hold of you. I was worried."

He looked at Rose carefully.

"Has something happened? You’ve been gone for a while."

Trevor knew Rose was aware of what had happened with his mother.

He knew she might believe he’d failed her when she’d needed him most.

That he hadn’t done enough.

That perhaps he no longer deserved a place in her life.

But knowing that didn’t make it any easier to let her go.

He still couldn’t.

His gaze never left Rose.

He didn’t even acknowledge Ryan.

Rose shook her head.

"Nothing you need to worry about. Thanks for asking."

Trevor’s expression changed.

He’d expected Rose to be distant.

But this was different.

She was being polite.

Careful.

Considerate.

And completely detached.

It was the kind of politeness people used when they had already decided where the boundary was.

Trevor felt something twist painfully in his chest.

He instinctively reached toward her.

"Please don’t."

Ryan stepped forward.

He positioned himself between them before Trevor could get any closer.

His eyes were dark.

There was the faintest curve to his lips, but there was nothing friendly about it.

"You should respect her boundaries."

Trevor stopped.

Ryan continued calmly.

"She was polite to you. That doesn’t mean she invited you to touch her."

Trevor’s expression hardened.

He finally looked directly at Ryan.

"President Knight, what exactly gives you the right to judge me?"

His voice was cold.

"As far as I know, you and Rose have been divorced for some time."

He glanced at Rose.

"She doesn’t need your permission to speak to someone, and she certainly doesn’t need your permission to decide who she spends time with."

Ryan smiled.

"She doesn’t."

His gaze remained on Trevor.

"But I’m currently living with her, traveling with her, and eating with her."

His smile faded slightly.

"So, when someone ignores her boundaries right in front of me, I’m obviously going to say something."

Rose couldn’t help looking at him.

He was doing this deliberately.

Trevor’s lips tightened.

"You’ve been with Rose this whole time?"

Ryan didn’t answer immediately.

Trevor’s voice lowered.

"You’ve even been living together?"

Ryan gave him a calm look.

"You seem unusually interested in Rose’s private life."

Trevor’s expression darkened.

Ryan continued.

"If you’re not aware of what happens between her and me, then you should understand that it’s none of your business."

His voice remained perfectly even.

"Rose doesn’t owe an explanation to someone outside our relationship."

Each word was calm.

And each one landed exactly where Ryan intended it to.

Rose could feel the aggression between them.

She knew Ryan well enough to understand what he was doing.

If he wanted to make things difficult for someone, he didn’t need to raise his voice.

Trevor’s expression turned cold.

"There’s no need to be hostile."

He glanced toward the school entrance.

"Ariel and I have had a father-daughter relationship for years. It’s natural that I want to see her."

Ryan’s eyes narrowed.

Father and daughter.

So this was the man Ariel had called Dad.

He studied Trevor for a moment.

Then he smiled.

"If you care that much about having a child, why don’t you have one of your own?"

Trevor’s expression froze.

Ryan added casually,

"Unless that’s not an option."

Rose stared at him.

"...Ryan."

She genuinely hadn’t expected this.

He had lost his memory, not his ability to be vicious.

Every sentence was carefully aimed.

He wasn’t merely objecting to Trevor seeing Ariel.

He was making it perfectly clear that Trevor had no place between Rose and their daughter.

Trevor’s face became colder.

Rose frowned.

But there was something else she noticed.

Trevor had already said what she herself had been unable—or unwilling—to say for a long time.

After everything that had happened with Julia, Rose had no intention of rebuilding that relationship.

They could remain civil if they crossed paths.

That was enough.

She didn’t want complicated relationships.

She didn’t want to be pulled into old conflicts.

And she certainly didn’t want Ariel caught between adults who couldn’t let the past go.

Rose took a step toward the school entrance.

"I’m going inside to get Ariel."

She looked at Ryan.

"You wait here for me, okay?"

Ryan took a slow step back.

"Okay."

His expression softened immediately.

"I’ll listen to you."

Rose’s footsteps faltered.

She turned around and gave him a warning look.

Ryan merely smiled.

Rose shook her head and walked through the school gates.

Once she was gone, the smile disappeared from Ryan’s face.

He leaned casually against the side of the car.

Then he looked at Trevor.

"My wife and I are here to pick up our daughter."

Trevor’s expression changed.

Ryan’s voice remained calm.

"I don’t know what the relationship between you and Ariel is."

He paused.

"But whatever your history is with Rose, don’t make things uncomfortable for her in front of our daughter."

His gaze sharpened.

"Ariel is young. She shouldn’t have to deal with adult problems that have nothing to do with her."

Trevor stared at him.

Ryan’s tone hadn’t changed.

But the message was unmistakable.

He was drawing a line.

And he was doing it as Ariel’s biological father.

Trevor’s expression darkened.

Ryan was using that fact to pressure him.

But there was one word that bothered him more than anything else.

Wife.

Ryan had actually called Rose his wife.

As though the divorce had never happened.

As though, in Ryan’s mind, there had never been anyone else who could occupy that place.