Chapter 11 - THE TRUTH MALLORY COULDN'T HIDE
Mallory requested a private meeting with Ryan.
He agreed.
But insisted that the company's attorney attend.
That offended her.
“You don't trust me?”
Ryan looked at her.
“Not anymore.”
She stared.
For years, those words had been impossible to imagine.
Ryan had always trusted her.
Always answered her calls.
Always defended her.
Now he sat across from her like a stranger.
Mallory began crying.
“I didn't mean for things to get this far.”
Ryan said nothing.
She continued.
“I was angry.”
“At what?”
She looked down.
“At Katherine.”
Ryan stared.
“Why?”
Mallory swallowed.
“Because she took my place.”
Silence.
Then Ryan laughed bitterly.
“Your place?”
She looked up.
“We were supposed to build something together.”
Ryan shook his head.
“We were friends.”
“I know.”
“No, Mallory.”
His voice hardened.
“You don't.”
She began crying harder.
“I loved you.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
For a moment, he looked genuinely stunned.
Then he whispered:
“Mallory.”
She leaned forward.
“I thought if Katherine saw how close we were, she'd eventually leave.”
Ryan stared.
The room went silent.
Then he asked:
“You came to Provence because you wanted to destroy my marriage?”
Mallory looked down.
She didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
Ryan stood.
May you like
For the first time in his life, he understood that the woman he had defended for years had been deliberately undermining the woman he married.
And he had helped her do it.
