Total pages in book: 148
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
I tried turning to Ryder for shelter, but he’s been avoiding me since he returned, always in that stupid studio, and those men he’d brought home with him acted more like guard dogs than coaches, never letting me get too close to him.
Even at night, when he retired to his bedroom, which was clear across the house from mine, they were standing like sentinels or somewhere lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce as soon as I got too close. I tried bringing it up to Ryder once, but all he’d said was to deal with it and carry on with his day.
Now my dad was yelling at me with fear in his voice, and his fear made me feel even more afraid than I had, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I live in constant fear of what she’d post next, what new bit of information she’d expose to the public that made them look at me like some kind of monster who’d trapped Ryder, who’d taken him from his one true love.
Things that had been put to bed in that first year after our wedding were now up for review again, and people were going through our entire history with a fine-tooth comb.
This was my biggest fear come to pass, something I thought we were long past and were in the clear of ever facing again. Every interview I’d ever done was being brought up again and held up to the light, and I was not looking good. Now, the masses were turning against me and acting as if I were holding Ryder, hostage. They were treating me like the other woman, me, his wife, and it was driving me crazy.
I hate reading the stupid comments that put the two of them together, the ones that paint Elena as some kind of saint who’d been done wrong by the wicked witch. I could’ve dealt with it all if Ryder was by my side, but I’m afraid that now that he was no longer under the influence, something else I had failed at and had to hear about from Scott and Mary, I was losing there as well.
I’d tried getting the drugs into him any way I knew how but to no avail. Those two men have been watching everything he puts in his mouth as if expecting me to poison him or something. They claim he’s on a strict diet because of the part he’d been hired to play, and I guess that’s true, but they won’t even allow him to drink the coffee I try to bring him in the morning.
“Dad, I have enough to deal with here alone. Okay, I don’t need you yelling at me on top of it.” That’s another thing. Ryder had forbidden entrance to anyone to the house, including Nicole and Noel, who were the only ones I trusted to help me get to him.
I even thought that with their skills, they might’ve been able to get those two men away from Ryder, but they’ve proven to be immune to female flattery because they barely even look at me long enough to know I exist, and I’ve tried.
It’s the first time I haven’t been able to get my way when it comes to the male sex. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d had to use my wiles on one of Ryder’s men to get what I wanted, but these two didn’t seem even a little bit interested.
“Don’t tell me about your problems. I did everything to get you where you are; now you get me what I want or else.”
“Or else what, Dad?” Are you going to tell the world what you did? I didn’t voice that last part out loud, but I’m sure he got the message.
I hung up in his ear for the first time and got a great sense of satisfaction doing it. So much so that it led me to think that maybe it was time I stood up for myself. Maybe it was time I started fighting for what I wanted, and what I want more than anything else in this world is to be Mrs. Ryder Sumner. No one, not Mary Hudson, Scott, Matt, or some little bitch hiding behind the scenes, was going to take that away from me.
It’s high time I let someone else know that as well. High time that Ryder started acknowledging the fact that I am his wife, not her. And if he doesn’t start acting like it, maybe I’ll just have to do something about it.
Chapter 36
*Ryder*
Well, this is interesting. No wonder they allowed Mary into the house today. They must’ve known what was coming and were planning some scheme to put her visit to good use. Both Tyler and Zak seemed too laid back and unbothered while the rest of the world was about to crash and burn. At least L.A. Was.