Chapter 487 A Suspicion She Couldn’t Ignore

Chapter 487: Chapter 487 A Suspicion She Couldn’t Ignore

Liam’s car was parked behind a cluster of shrubs, with nearly half the vehicle hidden from view. It was easy to overlook unless someone happened to be looking in that direction.

Rose frowned as she stared at it.

If she wasn’t mistaken, Liam’s car had been waiting for the woman she’d just seen.

She took a few steps forward, hoping to get a better look at the mysterious passenger.

But before she could get close enough, the car’s engine started, and it pulled away.

Rose watched until it disappeared into the distance, an uneasy feeling settling in her chest.

What kind of woman could get Liam to come pick her up personally?

Was she the same woman Rose had noticed at the birthday party?

Rose couldn’t make sense of it.

Something about the whole situation felt off.

But what could she possibly say to Diana when she had so little information to go on?

If she was reading too much into an innocent encounter, wouldn’t bringing it up only create unnecessary doubts in Diana’s mind?

What if there was a perfectly reasonable explanation and Rose was simply letting her imagination run wild?

The last thing she wanted was to cause a fight between two people she cared about over a misunderstanding.

She rubbed the bridge of her nose.

For now, she’d focus on her work and put the matter aside.

Even so, when lunchtime came around, she occasionally overheard her colleagues discussing the film crew shooting on campus.

After thinking it over, Rose finally opened her messages and sent Diana a tentative question.

[Rose]: [You and Liam really aren’t planning to have a wedding ceremony?]

[Diana]: [It depends. You know what things are like with the Mercer family. If Liam hadn’t spent the past few years proving himself and making himself valuable to them, they never would’ve let him have a seat at the table.]

Rose fell silent, lost in thought.

Diana had told her about the Mercer family’s internal politics before.

Liam had never been trusted with much responsibility within the family. He’d been pushed to the sidelines from childhood for one simple reason: he was the illegitimate son brought into the family by one of its junior branches.

The Mercer family cared deeply about its reputation, so Liam’s true parentage had never been made public.

To outsiders, he was simply another young heir of the Mercer family. But inside the family, his position had always been awkward, and he hadn’t been given many opportunities in his early years.

If Liam hadn’t gradually established himself through years of ruthless business dealings, he might never have escaped that position and built a successful company of his own.

Getting to where he was now had taken more than money or a famous family name. He’d fought his way up from nothing, and the business world was hardly a forgiving place.

Liam was clearly no ordinary man.

Rose thought carefully about how to phrase her next question.

[Rose]: [Do you know much about his work? Businesspeople have to attend all kinds of social events, don’t they?]

Diana replied with a voice message.

"My work is completely different from his, so I don’t know much about that side of things. But as far as business dinners and socializing go, I’ve already told him not to drink too much."

Rose chewed on the cap of her pen.

[Rose]: [As the newlywed Mrs. Mercer, aren’t you worried someone might try to get close to him? Telling him not to drink too much doesn’t exactly cover everything.]

Diana immediately sent back a voice message, laughing.

"Wait, do you not trust Liam? Are you worried he’ll cheat on me?"

Then her tone softened.

"Rose, I’ve been with him for years. You know what my life in the Robinson family was like. We got through those years together, pulling each other out of the mess one day at a time. Remember when my grandmother made me kneel in the snow? Liam was the one who carried me away. What we have goes way beyond the six years we spent dating."

Rose knew that was true.

Diana had suffered at the hands of her grandparents, who favored boys over girls, and even her own parents hadn’t treated her the way she deserved.

Once, her grandmother had forced her to kneel in the snow for so long that her legs had nearly been ruined.

Liam had held her in his arms and cried. He’d sworn that he would rise above the people who had hurt her and put himself in a position where no one could ever treat her that way again.

He’d never forgotten that promise.

Over the years, he’d worked himself to the bone, seizing every opportunity to climb the ladder and build the influence he had today.

Rose knew that much of his ambition came from the helplessness he’d felt back then. He hadn’t been able to protect Diana when she’d needed him most, and he’d spent years making sure he’d never be powerless again.

Rose blinked, unable to find a response.

She knew some of what Diana and Liam had been through together.

If Liam hadn’t spent the past two years building his influence and strengthening his position, Diana wouldn’t have the standing she had within the Robinson family today.

The last time Diana had stepped in to help Rose, the Robinson family would almost certainly have made Diana pay for it. They might even have had her legs broken.

But Liam’s growing power had made the family think twice before acting against her.

Rose slowly shook her head.

Diana had a point.

Maybe she really was overthinking things.

After everything she’d been through herself, perhaps she’d grown too suspicious of situations that reminded her of past betrayals.

She pressed the voice-message button.

"All right, all right. You’re a married woman now, and marriage takes work from both sides. I’ll let you get back to your day. I’ve got work to do, too."

She didn’t mention what she’d seen earlier.

After all, the woman had simply gotten into Liam’s car. That alone didn’t prove anything.

For the time being, Rose decided to leave it alone.

*****

Around lunchtime, Rose happened to pass the area where the film crew had been shooting as the crew members began packing up and leaving campus.

She didn’t see any of the actors, only the crew.

Still, she paused to watch for a moment.

"What are you thinking about?"

A deep, husky voice sounded behind her.

Rose froze.

Then she turned around.

A car was parked beneath the cypress trees behind her. At some point, the man beside it had gotten out and leaned casually against the driver’s door, watching her in silence.

Ryan straightened and walked toward her.

When he reached her, he bent down slightly.

"Baby."

Rose snapped out of her thoughts.

"Why are you still calling me that, Ryan? You’ve had your memory back for a while now."

He glanced toward the area where she’d been looking, his expression seemingly indifferent.

"If I don’t call you baby, what should I call you?"

He paused, then added thoughtfully, "Sweetheart?"

His gaze lowered, and the corners of his lips slowly curved upward.

"That works, too."

He’d somehow managed to ask the question and answer it himself, leaving her no room to object.

His low, even voice had always had a way of getting under her skin. Apparently, he knew exactly how effective it was, because he made absolutely no effort to hold back.

Rose stared at him.

Then she lifted her head and glared.

"You’re unbelievable, you know that?"

Even after regaining his memory, he was still shamelessly bold.

This wasn’t the Ryan she remembered.

"I thought you’d tell me you didn’t like it," he said, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Or call me shameless."

He studied her face for a moment.

"But you didn’t. So you like it after all."

Rose was speechless.

This man has completely lost his mind.

Ryan leaned closer and gently adjusted the collar of her coat, tucking it around her neck to shield her from the cold wind.

Then he cupped her ears between his hands, warming them as they reddened from the chill.

His expression remained perfectly composed, and his tone was almost conversational.

"Since you haven’t officially agreed to be with me again, calling you my wife would be premature. You’re right about that. So I suppose ’baby’ is perfectly appropriate."

Rose stared at him in disbelief.

What had she actually said?

She’d merely pointed out that he’d regained his memory. When had she agreed to any of this?

She swatted his hands away from her ears.

"What are you doing here?"

"Taking you out to lunch."

"Now that you’ve got your memory back, shouldn’t you be returning to the office?"

"There’s no hurry. I’ve delegated things to someone I trust, so I’m taking some time off."

Ryan said it as casually as if taking an extended vacation from his company were the most ordinary thing in the world.

Rose realized there was no point arguing with him.

"Fine. Do whatever you want."

Ryan fell into step beside her, glancing down at her as they walked.

"What were you looking at earlier?"

At that question, an idea suddenly occurred to Rose.

"Do you know Liam Mercer?"

"Why?"

Rose hesitated, choosing her words carefully.

"What’s his reputation in business circles? I’m talking about his business dealings, the people he associates with, the things that go on behind closed doors. What kind of man is he, really?"

Ryan gave her a sidelong glance.

"Are you trying to investigate him?"

He studied her for a moment, his perceptive gaze sharpening.

"Did you find out something suspicious about him?"