Chapter 58
Chapter 58:
Earlier, after leaving the hospital, he had returned to find that Kailey had already left for Jucridge on her own. He had consoled himself with the thought that since they were heading back soon anyway, he could sit her down once they arrived. But the moment he dropped Olivia off and checked his phone, Vernon’s message had appeared—along with the photographs.
In that single instant, Ryan felt the last thread of his composure snap. He had never once heard of another man in Kailey’s life. So who in the world was this stranger? Was she truly acting out just to provoke him?
Sensing the storm rolling off him through the phone, Kailey found her heart oddly steady—untouched by the turbulence that would once have shaken her to the core. She lowered herself onto the couch and turned toward the window.
“I think you and Olivia are right. I need a life that belongs to me. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me over the years, but from now on, I want to stand on my own. I want to grow up—so that one day I can properly repay what you’ve given me p>
When her words faded, a full minute passed in heavy silence. All she could hear through the phone was the ragged rise and fall of his breathing.
Sav𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝗎𝘳 𝘧a𝘷оr𝗂𝘵e 𝗇о𝗏𝖾𝗅𝘴 𝗈ո.сo𝗆
At last, Ryan dragged in a slow breath and said, his voice rough, “Kailey, do you honestly think saying that will make me forget everything that happened? Do you really believe you can simply skip apologizing to Olivia p>
Her lips pressed together. She said nothing.
Mistaking her silence for reluctant agreement, Ryan pressed on. “Whenever you make a mess, you face the consequences. And even if I can’t control all your reckless choices, the moment I find out you’ve gotten tangled up with some unsuitable man, don’t even think about stepping outside. Stay where you are and seriously reflect on yourself first p>
Hearing him raise his voice like that, Kailey nearly laughed. He still had no idea she had already moved out.
After a brief pause, she answered with quiet composure. “Weren’t you the one who told me I was allowed to date? That as long as it wasn’t you, anyone else was acceptable? He’s wonderful—nothing like the unsuitable man you were warning me about. I’m serious about him, and when the time feels right, I’ll bring him to meet you p>
Each word drifted out slowly, her voice steady and strikingly light—free of resentment, free of hurt.
In that moment, she realized she had truly let him go.
With a soft breath, she murmured, “Goodbye, Uncle Ryan.” She ended the call with a gentle tap of her finger.
Ryan was still turning her words over in his mind when the silence finally registered. By the time it did, the line had already gone dead.
A vein pulsed sharply along his neck as a rush of fury surged through him. He nearly hurled his phone out the window. “She hung up on me again p>
He threw the device onto the passenger seat, slammed his foot down on the accelerator, and sped off—jaw clenched, jaw set—with the stubborn resolve to find Kailey and make her understand exactly where things stood.