CHAPTER 37: ROSE

I woke up with an extreme headache. The same headache I felt before everything blacked out.

My vision was blurry, I squeezed my eyes shut then opened them again to find myself in a… Warehouse?

I turned my head to look around but the headache came back with an unbearable pain.

"Ryan?" I tried to move but my hands were tied up behind the chair.

I closed my eyes trying to remember how I ended up tied to chair.

𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩-

𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬.

My eyes flew open when the door shut. Footsteps came closer to me.

"Look who's awake."

I lifted my head up to find John standing in front of me with a mocking grin.

Fear came rushing into my body as he leaned down to my face.

"You seem quite. Have you always been this way?"

I didn't answer. He smirked and lifted his hand to put a strain of my ear behind my ear.

The action made me flinch, he chuckled. He stood up straight.

"What do you want?" I asked, not looking at him.

"Oh, found your words?" I looked at him with a hard glare which only made him grin wider "you're

cute." He said "anyways, you see, you know something which could ruin my image in front of your so-called husband. Not only in front of him but in the business world."

"That doesn't answer my question."

His grin widened "I'm going to do the same thing I did to Jack." He said as he took out a gun from inside his jacket.

I swallowed, the fear in me growing every second I was in the room with John.

John placed the gun on my chin lifting my face up as he leaned down.

"Your father was able to keep his mouth shut for as long as he lived. Didn't think he would be clever enough to leave you a letter."

"Why did you kill him?" I whispered.

"Why would I tell you?"

"You're killing me either way." I said, tears forming in my eyes "I want to know why did you kill Jack. He

never did anything wrong-"

"But he was about to." John said grabbing the back of my hair and putting the gun on my neck. "He was there that night when I was planning to ruin Ryan's life. He heard every fucking thing and he was going to tell him."

A sob released my mouth but I was able to ask "why would you want to ruin Ryan's life? He never did anything."

"He didn't but his dad did." He pulled my hair tighter "his dad ruined my dad's business. He made him an alcoholic who abused my mother and his children. Because of him, my mother took her life and my father died in an accident. I lost my family."

I shook my head "it wasn't Ryan's fault. Ryan doesn't know." Another sob left my mouth "you can't blame Ryan for this."

"Why do you care so much about him?" John released my hair and stood up, removing the gun from my neck, my head fell down as I tried to breath "Ryan has been lying to you for months."

I looked up at John "what are you talking about?" The ache came back "lying about what?"

John smirked and squatted so he could face me "you don't really think Ryan loves you? Do you?"

I didn't answer. Ryan never admitted that he loves me but he always showed. I always feel loved when I'm with him.

John's smirk grew "you do, Don't you?" His head fell down as he chuckled "damn, he's good."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

John looked at me "I told Ryan to use you. To pretend that he loves you so that you could get close with him and somehow… He finds out who killed his brother."

"That's stupid." My voice cracked "why would I know who killed Jack?"

"Because he suspected that your father knows something and that you and your father share everything."

John's words stabbed my heart.

Suddenly, everything made sense.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.

𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯- oh my God, the honeymoon.

Tears came rushing to my eyes.

𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘏𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘱.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦.

But he did.

I shook my head "I-I don't believe you."

John sighed then took out his phone from his back pocket "he got you good." He said as he scrolled down his recordings and clicked a certain one "listen to this."

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵?" 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯'𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨.

"𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶?" 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 "𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴."

"𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘦." 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 "𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰?"

No…

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?"

"𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦. 𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘦."

Ryan's words stabbed painfully into my heart. The ache came rushing back.

"𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦." 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥 "𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳." 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥.

"𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴?" 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥

"𝘕𝘰. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵… 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥."

"𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵."

"𝘉𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵." 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳, 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 "𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴?"

𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 "𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦."

Oxygen left my lungs as the recording finished.

Ryan lied. He lied. He was lying all this time and I believed his every word.

My vision got blurry because of tears, I squeezed my eyes shut as a sob released my mouth.

Just when I was thinking I found the love I've always dreamed of. It all turned out to be a lie.

𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵.

Especially not me.

John lifted my head up and I felt a metal placed on my forehead. I opened my eyes to find John smirking down at me with the gun placed on my forehead.

"Now that you know everything, there is no way, I'm letting you live." John said.

I squeezed my eyes shut as every moment flashed before my eyes.

𝘔𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.

𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.

𝘔𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘮'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩.

𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘥'𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩.

𝘔𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘙𝘺𝘢𝘯.

𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.

Only for me to find out it was all a lie.

I heard John pull the trigger and the next thing I heard was a bang as the bullet left the gun.

Something wet splattered on my face but I didn't feel pain anywhere.

I opened my eyes to find John standing infront of with a bullet hole in his head, blooding rushing out, his

eyes wide open with shock.

Another bang. A bullet to his chest, making him fall on the ground along with his gun.

What the hell?

I looked towards the direction from where the shot was taken to find Ryan and Finn standing towards the exit, Ryan with a gun in his hand pointed towards John's dead body. His jaw tightened as his hard glare was fixed on John's body.

From all the emotions I could've felt from seeing Ryan. I didn't feel relief.

All I felt was one emotion I didn't think would come from seeing him.

Pain.