Chapter 452 The Truth They Buried
Ryan’s words cut through the chaotic room like a blade.
The chill in his voice was enough to make everyone fall silent.
Edward’s head snapped up.
He had caught the key point immediately.
His sharp gaze shifted to Margaret, whose expression had changed just as dramatically.
Rowan pressed her lips together and met Ryan’s stare.
“What exactly are you trying to say, Ryan?”
“Ryan, have you misunderstood something?”
Margaret’s cheeks trembled, whether from anger or shock, it was impossible to tell.
“How could you possibly think that about what happened all those years ago?”
Ryan looked at her without the slightest expression.
“Do you want me to show you the evidence?”
He paused.
“Or would you rather I tell everyone exactly what I want?”
His voice remained calm.
That was what frightened Margaret most.
Her face slowly drained of color as she stared at her grandson.
How could Ryan possibly know about that night?
So many years had passed.
There shouldn’t have been any evidence left.
Unless...
Unless Ryan had discovered the truth back then.
But if he had, why had he never said a word?
Why had he spent all these years pretending nothing had happened?
A chill ran down Margaret’s spine.
For the first time, she looked at her own grandson with genuine fear.
Edward forced himself to suppress his anger.
“What happened between you and Rose?”
He shot Margaret a cold glance before turning back to Ryan.
Ryan let out a quiet, dismissive laugh.
“As for Rose and me, you have Margaret to thank for all of it.”
His gaze settled on his grandmother.
“She was worried I’d end up with the wrong woman, so she went out of her way to arrange a wife I couldn’t refuse.”
His voice remained eerily calm.
“You drugged both of us, staged the entire situation, and then used it to publicly tie Rose to me. You destroyed a young woman’s reputation just to...”
Ryan tilted his head slightly toward Rowan.
“...weaken my influence and strengthen your favorite grandson’s position.”
The room went silent.
Marriages between powerful families had never been purely about love.
They could be alliances.
Connections.
Business strategies.
Even though Edward had already chosen Ryan as his successor, the transfer of power within Knight Group had not yet been completed.
And Rowan had been one of the people who stood to benefit most from Ryan losing influence.
Back then, Rose had been in love with Rowan.
A flicker of tightly suppressed emotion crossed Rowan’s refined features.
He said nothing.
Margaret, however, could no longer remain calm.
She shot to her feet and slammed a hand against the table.
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Her voice shook.
“I knew nothing about any of this! All I knew was that you and Rose had spent the night together, and everyone already knew about it. For the sake of the Knight family’s reputation, I announced that you were married. How could you possibly twist that into something so disgusting?”
Ryan gave a quiet laugh.
“You really won’t admit anything until you’re cornered.”
There was something unsettling in his tone.
A hint of madness beneath the calm.
Margaret’s lips trembled.
“What are you talking about?”
“Do you want me to bring everyone involved back here and question them?”
Ryan’s gaze sharpened.
“Or should I tell the public that this was part of Rowan’s scheme to frame his own brother and strengthen his position within Knight Group?”
Margaret’s expression changed instantly.
She had never expected Ryan to say it so openly.
Her eyes darted toward Rowan.
She had no intention of letting Ryan drag Rowan down with her.
After several rapid changes of expression, she finally went pale.
“So, you knew.”
Her breathing grew heavier.
“You knew everything all along, and you still pretended this family was perfectly harmonious.”
She stared at Ryan in disbelief.
“You have incredible self-control.”
Then, as though she’d decided there was nothing left to lose, Margaret’s restraint finally snapped.
“What was so wrong with what I did?”
Her voice rose.
“Was Rose even worthy of Rowan? Did she have any right to set her sights on him?”
She pointed accusingly.
“She even secretly kept the jade pendant your grandfather gave Rowan. She was obsessed with him! If Rowan had developed real feelings for her, how could he possibly compete with you?”
Margaret’s eyes burned with conviction.
“Without a powerful family behind him, how could he ever stand against you?”
“You’ve had everything since you were a child. Talent. Recognition. Everyone’s expectations. People called you a genius before you were even old enough to understand what it meant.”
Her voice cracked.
“Rowan was different.”
“He was the son of my youngest son—the one who died so young. As his grandmother, if I didn’t protect him, who would?”
She looked at Ryan as though she genuinely believed she had done nothing wrong.
“You could get anything you wanted on your own. Why couldn’t I help Rowan?”
A flash of ruthlessness crossed her eyes.
“Rose brought it on herself.”
Ryan’s expression didn’t change.
Margaret continued.
“She had feelings for Rowan. When I realized she carried that jade pendant everywhere, I had someone take it while she was bathing and had left it outside.”
Her voice grew quieter.
“We threw it into the lake.”
Ryan’s eyes darkened.
“But I never expected her to run straight outside and jump in the moment she realized it was gone.”
Rose couldn’t swim.
She had jumped in without thinking.
All because the pendant meant too much to her.
Margaret’s expression twisted with old resentment.
“That only made me more certain she was dangerous.”
She had been terrified that Rose would win Rowan over and cloud his judgment.
If Rowan had abandoned the family strategy for a woman Margaret considered beneath him, his position against Ryan would have become even weaker.
“So, she jumped into the lake.”
Margaret swallowed.
“Only afterward did I find out that you were the one who jumped in and pulled her out.”
The pendant was never recovered.
But that moment had given Margaret another idea.
Rose was a problem.
And if she could push Rose toward Ryan, then the problem would solve itself.
Rose would stop pursuing Rowan.
Ryan’s perfectly planned life would also be thrown into chaos.
To Margaret, it had been the perfect solution.
She had simply never imagined that the truth would come back to haunt her years later.
Ryan’s gaze turned cold.
“It was never Rose who was unworthy.”
His voice was quiet.
“It was you.”
Margaret froze.
“Your schemes. Your selfishness.”
Ryan’s gaze shifted to Rowan.
“And his cowardice.”
Rowan’s pupils trembled.
Ryan didn’t look away.
“His self-righteousness.”
Something inside Rowan finally snapped.
His expression hardened.
“Ryan.”
His voice was low.
“Do you actually care about Rose now?”
For years, Rowan had believed Ryan couldn’t stand Rose.
He had believed Ryan resented her.
But everything had changed.
Rose had given Ryan a daughter.
And whatever had once existed between them had clearly become more complicated.
“Rowan doesn’t know anything.”
Margaret immediately stepped in.
“If you want someone to blame, blame me!”
Ryan gave a quiet laugh.
“He doesn’t know?”
His gaze returned to Rowan.
“That’s not true.”
“It’s not that Rowan wasn’t attracted to Rose.”
Ryan’s voice remained calm.
“It’s that whatever feelings he had for her were never stronger than his ambition.”
Rowan’s expression tightened.
“He knew she was being pushed away from him. He knew other people were manipulating the situation for his benefit.”
Ryan’s eyes were cold.
“And he let it happen.”
“He liked Rose, but he decided she wasn’t good enough for him. Then he let her become a pawn in the fight for power and walked away pretending his hands were clean.”
Ryan’s voice sharpened.
“That night on the cruise ship—did he really not know that Margaret was going to send Rose into my room?”
Rowan’s face went rigid.
“He knew.”
“He simply knew he’d benefit from it.”
Ryan clicked open his lighter.
The small metallic sound seemed unnaturally loud in the silent room.
“He knew exactly how much being associated with Rose would affect his position.”
“So, he looked the other way.”
Ryan lowered his gaze.
“And then he played innocent.”
His words stripped away every layer of pretense that had protected Rowan for years.
The emotions Rowan had buried deep inside himself finally erupted.
His usual gentle, easygoing expression disappeared.
His eyes reddened.
“What?”
His voice shook.
“Are you jealous, Ryan?”
He laughed bitterly.
“Jealous that Rose once had feelings for me?”
Ryan didn’t answer immediately.
He simply flicked the lighter open and closed.
Then he looked at Rowan.
“As it turns out, you weren’t worthy of her.”
Rowan’s face went pale.
“So, you’ve spent the past seven years calling her your sister-in-law instead.”
The words struck harder than any accusation.
Rowan’s expression stiffened.
That was the one thing he’d buried deepest.
The memory he’d spent years trying to forget.
It wasn’t that he had never considered starting over.
He had told himself countless times that Rose wasn’t suited to his world.
She didn’t have the family background he needed.
He had never intended to build a future with her.
And marrying Ryan hadn’t seemed like the worst possible outcome.
If anything, it removed one more potential political alliance from Ryan’s side.
That should have been enough.
But life rarely followed the plans people made for it.
No matter how perfectly Rowan played his part, every time he saw Rose, it felt as though something sharp was being driven straight into his chest.
And even after Margaret had schemed against her, Rose had still married Ryan without hesitation.
She had chosen Ryan.
She had become Ryan’s wife.
And somehow, Rowan had spent years resenting her for it.