Chapter 62 I call that payback

Aubrey's pov ;

Ryder and I stood off to the side, away from the main bustle of the wedding. I hadn’t even meant to get into this conversation with him, but somehow, here we were, arguing like schoolchildren.

He smirked, his expression so smug I wanted to punch it right off his face. "You really thought that little stunt would break me?" he asked, his voice low and almost amused. "I don’t care that you did it. Even if that deal had been ruined, I would’ve survived." He stepped closer, his hand brushing a strand of hair away from my face. "But I underestimated you, Aubrey. I didn’t know you were capable of pulling something like this off."

His words hit me like a punch to the gut. It wasn’t the content of what he said, but the way he said it—like he was impressed, like my efforts had been a game and he’d simply underestimated the player.

“I’m impressed,” he added, voice dipping to a low, mocking tone. “Guess I’ll have to be more careful around you from now on.”