Ryan's mouth opened, but no words ca out. His mind was swirling with guilt, regret, and confusion. He had tried to justify it to himself before, but now, standing before his mother's raw, unfiltered rage and grief, he had no defence.
Beca shook her head, stepping back as if repulsed by her own son. "If Arwen had died that day, Ryan, you would have been responsible. You left her to die!" She wiped away a stray tear, her hands trembling as she held herself, trying to contain the flood of emotions threatening to overwhelm her. "The son I raised… wouldn't have done that."
Ryan's voice finally broke through, weak and pleading. "Mom, it wasn't like that. It happened so fast. I didn't realize …"
"You didn't realize?" Beca's laugh was hollow, bitter. "You didn't realize you left her there to suffer while you saved soone else? I almost thought that maybe Arwen was exaggerating it to reason her actions, that maybe she misunderstood what happened. But now …I see it was worse. You didn't just hurt her, Ryan. You abandoned her.
And now, you were pretending as if you care. Like she ant sothing for you. Like you would have stirred a war to have her in your life."
Ryan took a shaky step forward, trying to explain, but Beca raised a hand to stop him. "Don't," she hissed, her voice low but full of fury. "I don't know who you have beco, but you are not the man I raised. And if Arwen never forgives you, I wouldn't bla her."
With that, she turned her back on him, her posture stiff with hurt and anger, leaving Ryan standing alone in the garden, his guilt hanging heavy in the air.
"Also, Ryan, Arwen has moved on. Now your desperation won't change anything. You have spent so long taking her for granted that you didn't even realize how and when everything got over between you two. You let her down, not once but every ti." Beca paused as she rembered Arwen's resolute expression. "She is not coming back. Not anymore —not just because she is no longer your finacée.
But because she has soone else wife now. Soone else who treats her better. The sooner you accept that, the better."
Ryan's brows furrowed, feeling the ground beneath his feet slip away. "Soone else wife?" he asked, horrified at just the thought of it.
But Beca didn't stay to answer him. She walked back inside, leaving him to his own turmoil. As he stood there, the weight of her words pressed down on him.
Soone else's wife? Did Arwen marry soone else? The thought was more unbearable than he had thought.
Shaking his head, he denied it. No, that can't be true. She couldn't marry soone else other than . She has always wandered around . If not for marrying him, there was no way she would have indulged him so much.
With that thought, he ran his fingers through his hair. His gaze dropped back to the velvet box there. "Arwen, that can't be true," he murmured to himself before reaching to take the box in his hand.
Opening it, he looked at the familiar ruby inside, "Arwen, this belongs to you. And if I have to make you wear this again then I would do it. Happily." He muttered to himself before leaving the garden with determination in his eyes.
On his way out, the butler stepped to ask him about the lunch but before Mr. Jas could say anything, Ryan was already off.
***
anwhile, Arwen has returned to Winslow estate, when she overheard soone whispering in the corner.
"Is it true?"
"Yes, I heard it with my own ears. Amanda didn't quit. She was thrown out."
Arwen's brows furrowed slightly, but she didn't stop until she heard Amanda's na in the conversation. Her steps slowed before she stopped completely to listen.
"Thrown out?" soone gasped, surprised even Arwen. As far as she rembered, Mr. Jones had said that Amanda had quit her job to take care of her sick mother.
"But wasn't it for her mother?"
"Heh! Her mother? Have you ever seen her care for her? She only paid for her dical bills, and not out of love, but because our wages are had a separate component that covers our parents' dical bills. Otherwise, she wouldn't have spent a single penny on her."
"True. I used to share the quarters with her and never heard her speak kindly of her old lady. She always acted superior, boasting about how she single-handedly improved her family's circumstances."
"Yes, that woman has always been cruel. She only pretended to be kind in front of Mr. Jones. But around Mr. Winslow, she spoke differently. I even heard her say once that she would soon beco Mrs.
Winslow. She always used to dream superficially."
"Pity she learned her place when Madam appeared. Who did she think she was? Mr. Winslow had never cared to speak even a word to her, yet she always pretended as if she was favoured and appreciated."
"So was it because of Madam, she was thrown out?" soone asked, and even Arwen furrowed her brows.
But her expression eased when she heard a click of soone's tongue. "Madam is too kind. How can it be because of her? Amanda brought this on herself. I am not sure of the full details, but frown what I have heard, she was caught plotting against Madam."
"Really?"
"Yes, Mr. Jones overheard her talking to others. She was trying to tarnish Madam's image in front of the staff. When Mr. Winslow found out, he imdiately had her dismissed. Not just that, he asked Mr.
Jones to make sure that she wouldn't find any decent work in the future."
The maids gasped. "Doesn't that an that she is ruined?"
"So what? She asked for it. Who told her plot against Madam?"
"True, she was wicked to even think of such a thing. But what about her sick mother? Won't she suffer?"
Arwen felt a pang of sympathy. While Amanda deserved her fate, her mother did not.
"That old lady is been taken care of." Arwen's confusion grew until she heard the explanation. "Madam asked Mr. Jones to handle her dical bills. Mr. Winslow didn't refuse. In fact, he instructed the butler to ensure the old woman receives proper care as per Madam's order."
Arwen was taken aback. Were her words so important to Aiden that he couldn't go against them, even when it involved soone he didn't favor?
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