"Thank you for your time. I look forward to working with you in the future,"

After seeing his potential business partner off, Ryan did not immediately leave the restaurant.

Instead, he set back down, enjoying his wine and thinking.

Not about the business that had just concluded as many would expect, but about a woman, one woman in particular... Vivian Rose.

Ryan was the type of person who gave gifts freely, and he was so used to having people easily accept them that he had never realized that gift-giving was how he showed care.

But after buying the necklace for Vivian and being able to convince her to take it. He had felt a thrill like never before, and when he’d seen it around her neck, as he had rammed into her, Ryan had found himself feeling giddy in a way that he had never felt in his life.

Just seeing Vivian wearing something that he had personally gotten for her had made him want to crow about it. To let everybody within hearing distance know that she was wearing something that he had given her.

Getting her to accept that one thing should have been enough for Ryan, but he felt like he had barely scratched the surface.

They had been sleeping together for months, and it was the first time that he had given her anything. He wanted to keep giving, and giving until she was buried in a pile of his presents.

The only downside to that would be that if she were buried beneath all of his gifts, he would not be able to see her. But the thought was so very tempting, swirling the wine in his glass around Ryan lost himself to thoughts of gifts that he could give to Vivian and creative ways he could get her to accept them.

He was so deep into his daydream that he almost did not notice when a shadow fell over him.

***

Eyes moving from the form-fitting black dress obscuring his vision, up to the face of the woman who wore it. Ryan had only a split second to push away the surprise and hurt that instantly sprang to the surface when he saw the familiar face.

"What do you want?" He asked, his tone biting.

Either not reading his mood or not caring at all.

Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth smiled at him as she pulled out her own chair and took a seat.

"Hello to you too Ryan, fancy meeting you here,"

It might have been a coincidence that she was there. But from the satisfied smirk on her face he got the feeling that Gwendolyn had shown up specifically in order to catch him off guard.

"I will ask again. What do you want, Gwendolyn? Do not waste my time playing games, state your business or I will leave,"

Surprise flashed in her green eyes briefly before the expression vanished completely.

Instead of settling back and looking satisfied with herself, or getting angry, she did something that Ryan had not expected at all.

Trembling slightly, Gwendolyn’s eyes widened, and she looked sorrowful all of a sudden. The next thing Ryan knew, there were tears falling down her cheeks. The heiress looking incredibly pitiful.

The sadness on her face was the kind that would have a person dropping whatever they were doing just to rush over and comfort her. But when Ryan looked at her, that barely registered, all that he could see when he looked at her, was the woman who had slept with his brother.

The longer he stared at her silent tears, feeling unmoved, the more he began to notice some things. Like the fact that despite the waterworks, her mascara was not running, meaning the one that she had on was waterproof.

It was almost as though she had planned the entire thing, and had taken measures to ensure that her looks were not degraded by tears.

Once upon a time Ryan would have immediately admonished himself for thinking such a thing. But ever since Gwendolyn had done what she had done, he did not put anything past her. Taking a sip of his wine he continued to look at her. Communicating to her without words just how unbothered he was by the whole display.

Opening her purse with shaky hands, Gwendolyn pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away her tears. Then she looked over at him and gave him a sad smile.

"I’m so sorry, I just got overwhelmed,"

"Overwhelmed by what?" Ryan asked, knowing he’d made a mistake the moment the words left his mouth, but unable to take them back.

***

Placing her hand on the table, Gwendolyn reached for Ryan’s hand and he pulled back, placing it on his lap instead, pretending like she had not noticed, the brunette spoke up.

"After all of these years, I have just realized that I never apologized to you for what happened between Brian and I," Oh, now she was just realizing that.

"I never should have slept with your brother, and given that he is now no longer with us, my guilt amplifies every time that I see you, can you ever forgive me, Ryan?"

She wiped away more tears, then she looked at him.

"In fact no, I have no right to ask you for forgiveness, but what I can do is ask that you give me a chance to make it up to you. Whatever you need, whatever you want. I will do it, just please help me ease this burden on my soul,"

She ended by giving him a pleading look, a soft yet hopeful smile on her lips. The expression seemed genuine. Everything that she had done since sitting down seemed genuine, but Ryan could not shake the feeling that something was off.

Every expression that Gwendolyn made, he couldn’t help but compare to ones that he had seen on Vivian. Gwendolyn had executed each one perfectly from the smiles, to even her heartbroken expression, and yet when he compared them to emotions that he had seen on Vivian’s face, something about Gwendolyn just screamed fake.

She was like a watercolor trying to pass itself off as being acrylic, but still washing away in the rain, showing what truly lay beneath.

Not wanting to look at her anymore, and wonder if she was lying the same way she had been lying when she had sworn up and down that there was nothing between her and Brian. Ryan got to his feet and left without another word, not turning back even once.

The billionaire not realizing that the moment he was no longer in sight, every single expression that he had seen fell from Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth’s face, leaving behind nothing but blank fury.