It was the third year since I broke up with Ryan, and I returned to the States brimming with a fierce determination for revenge. But to my surprise, Ryan had completely vanished from the city of Fairview. I thought I would never see him again, until, while visiting my uncle at the mental health hospital, I heard a nurse call out: "Ryan Shaw, come take your medicine." My steps faltered. As if drawn by an invisible thread, I turned back and saw Ryan sitting on a hospital bed, his face stretched into a goofy, childlike smile. I felt as if I’d been struck by lightning. I never thought I would reunite with him in a place like this. 1 For the three years I was exiled, I dared not slack off or stop for a single moment—all to return with enough power to crush the Shaws and send Ryan to hell. When I finally returned to Fairview, Ryan had vanished like smoke. I scoured every alley, every shadow, but the city swallowed him whole. Just as despair clawed at me, a nurse’s voice pierced through the sterile hospital air — "Ryan Shaw." My steps halted. "Ryan Shaw, come take your medicine." My heartstrings tightened. I instinctively turned, stepping back a few paces, and there he was: sitting on a hospital bed, my ex, Ryan, the man I wished I could slice into a thousand pieces! He was smiling foolishly, innocently. "..." In that moment, I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. Before I could even react, I saw Ryan pull a ring from his pocket and place it in front of the nurse, his face beaming with pride. "It's for Riley." I recognized that ring. Years ago, Ryan, the heir apparent to the Shaw family, fell in love with a humble, ordinary girl. His mother spoke to the girl, telling her to be sensible and leave her son. The girl, her pride as high as the sky, began to waver. Ryan suddenly arrived, took her hand, and declared firmly, "I won't leave Riley." Ryan tossed his wallet and phone onto the table, his stance clear. "I'm willing to give up my inheritance of the Shaw family. Please, Mother, don't make things difficult for the one I love." Later. The Shaw family's golden boy gave up everything for love, moving with the girl into a damp, dark fifteen-square-meter basement apartment. It was perpetually damp and dim, but those were the happiest times for the girl. She tried to grow like a wild weed, even in such adversity, hoping to build a good life with the man she loved. Even if it wasn't lavish, at least they would escape that perpetually sunless basement. And Ryan. He showed no trace of the spoiled arrogance of a rich young master. For the one he loved, even when facing setbacks at work, he was willing to carry bricks at construction sites, to wash dishes in restaurants. He worked twelve hours a day, saving his first bit of money. With it, he bought this ring. He held the ring, his eyes reddening, like a puppy waiting to be taken home by its owner, and asked the girl: "Riley, will you be with me, a man with no special talents, but willing to work hard?" The girl stood by the bed in the basement, tears streaming down her face. Her eyes red-rimmed, she nodded frantically, "Yes, I will." She told Ryan with all her might, "Yes, I will. Yes, I will!" That day was the happiest day in her bleak life, and the most complete day she had ever felt as an orphan. She gave her all, completely merging with the man she loved. She finally felt whole. She woke up in the arms of the man she loved, and just looking at that ring made her feel so happy. But happiness was too short. Now. Three years later. Reunited. Everything had changed. I stood outside the hospital room, watching Ryan lovingly cradle the ring as if it were a precious treasure. Under the nurse’s coaxing, he earnestly asked her, " If I take these pills... will Riley come back to me?" His voice trembled, fragile as the hope he clung to. But I wouldn't fall for it again. Watching Ryan’s extraordinary acting, it was hard not to believe he was setting another trap for me. I smiled and walked into the hospital room, raising my hand to take the ring from Ryan’s grasp, sliding it onto my ring finger, and raising an eyebrow at him. "Ryan, what are you playing at?" 2 Three years ago. Ryan personally forced me to leave the country, looking down at me with an arrogant demeanor, uttering the words: "Skylar Olsen, playing seriously with me? You're not worthy." He smiled cruelly. "Someone like you, from the slums, only wants to use my status to cross social classes." He sneered. "Now, I'm tired of playing. You don't need to be in the country, bothering my eyes." Back then. I simply couldn't believe that was Ryan. I cried, begging him not to drive me away. I even shamelessly pressed him, "Is someone forcing you?" I thought of the Shaw family and, with red eyes, demanded, "Is it your mother? Is she forcing you to say these things?" I frantically grabbed Ryan's hand, placing it on my lower abdomen, crying as I told him, "Ryan, we're having a baby. We're having a baby, Ryan." I thought Ryan would love that child. That's why his expression softened, why his eyes involuntarily grew tender, why his body stiffened as he instinctively looked at my still-flat belly. But the next second, my dream completely shattered. Ryan, utterly disregarding our past affection, spoke in a cold, indifferent voice from above my head. It was he who said: "Bearing a Shaw child? You're not worthy." Ryan violently shoved me away. I fell to the ground, staring at him in disbelief, as he ordered the bodyguards beside him, "Don't let her leave with the child. It will become a liability." I cried out Ryan's name, desperately crawling towards him. But he didn't look back, letting the bodyguards drag me to the hospital. Despite my fierce struggles, I was no match for the burly guards, who pinned me to the hospital bed and administered anesthesia. Before losing consciousness completely, I thought I saw Ryan glance at me in a panic. But I wouldn't believe it again. Liar. As my eyes closed, I thought, Ryan, we are over. When we meet again, it will be either your death or mine. So, I looked at the perfectly fitting ring on my ring finger, then back at Ryan on the hospital bed. "You heard I was back in the country, so you hid in a mental hospital?" I raised an eyebrow, smiling. "Mr. Shaw, you really are—" I eyed him from head to toe. "—flexible, aren't you?" I scoffed. "What a shame." My gaze hardened. "Even if you hide here," I pressed my fingers into Ryan's neck, "what you owe me, you still have to pay." Ryan’s bewildered eyes were filled with my domineering reflection. I saw my own reflection, and the next second, as Ryan's eyes narrowed slightly, it fragmented into confusion. My hand was suddenly seized by Ryan. He gripped my wrist tightly, then called my name in a soft voice. "Riley." His voice was gentle, no different from the boy who had lived in the basement and swore to love me forever. "Are you here to take me home?" Ryan smiled, his eyes crinkling. "I've waited for you for so long. Have you finally come to take me?" I looked at Ryan, so innocent and bewildered, and my impulse to strangle him sharply diminished. I instinctively took a step back. I saw the nurse step in front of him, treating me like a dangerous beast. "Miss, Mr. Shaw is currently not of sound mind. Please do not take advantage of his condition." The moment the nurse finished speaking. Ryan peeked his head out from behind her. "Riley, she's Riley." Ryan seemed very happy. He pushed the nurse aside and explained for me, "She's the best Riley in the whole world." 3 I was startled by Ryan's sudden change in behavior, still unwilling to believe that the Shaw family's young master, who had once manipulated me so easily, had become like this. I suddenly felt an urge to flee. I didn't want to stay here for a second longer. I pushed Ryan away with force. Seeing his face twisted in hurt, I pulled the ring from my finger and threw it at his face. "You're not worthy!" Each word was enunciated clearly. "To receive my true heart! You're not worthy!" I watched Ryan, like a wounded puppy, looking at me with pitiful eyes. I turned and walked away without a second glance. Before I reached the door, Ryan caught up to me. He grabbed my wrist, looking bewildered and wronged. "Riley, don't be upset. It's my fault." His deliberately softened posture created an illusion of time warping, the young man before me overlapping with the boy from years ago. I remembered the first time I discovered Ryan working at a construction site, moving bricks. He had been maliciously targeted, fell from the second floor, and cut his head, but he tried to hide it from me, saying he accidentally bumped it. When I found out, I was furious. He also pulled at me, looking wronged, and said, "Riley, don't be angry. I was wrong, it's my fault." Back then, I looked at Ryan and felt a pain in my heart so intense I could barely breathe. Ryan was the golden boy, born with a silver spoon. He could have lived a life of luxury, yet I, living in the mud, had dragged him down from the clouds. I cried uncontrollably, not just out of heartache, but a heavy sense of guilt. I cried and asked Ryan if I should let him go, let him return to his original life path. I cried, saying I had dragged him down, but even if I had dragged him down, I still loved him so much. I still couldn't let him go. I cried hysterically in Ryan's arms. In the end, it was Ryan who consoled me, saying, "Wherever Riley is, that's my home." He gently kissed away my tears, his eyes filled with deep affection. "Wherever Riley is, I'll be there. So, stop talking nonsense. Don't make me a wanderer. Only with you can Ryan truly be Ryan." Such a good Ryan, such a heartbreaking Ryan, such a beloved Ryan – it was all a lie. How much of this Ryan was real? I pushed Ryan away with force, stepping back a few paces, warning him, "Don't come near me!" I kept my voice flat, suppressing the tumultuous emotions in my heart. "Ryan, I don't care if you're faking mental illness or playing dumb. It won't work on me." My gaze turned cold, just as cruel as he had been to me three years ago. "I'm telling you, I came back for only one purpose: to make your Shaw family pay for my unborn child!" I turned to leave. I bumped into Ryan's mother, Eleanor Shaw, who had just arrived at the hospital to visit him. Enemies meeting, eyes blazing with hatred. I simply looked at the elegant, aristocratic woman, the hatred I had hidden for three years now etched on my face. However. Eleanor didn't have her usual haughty demeanor towards me. Instead, she clutched at me as if I were a lifeline. "Skylar Olsen! You've finally returned!" She pleaded, "Please, save Ryan!"
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