The CEO's Rose

Vivian’s POV

Bryce’s death had officially been ruled as a suicide. Staring at the detective who had just informed her Vivian could only blink for a moment. She had expected as much, especially after his body had been released to his family. But a part of her had been hoping that it would be taken as a homicide.

"Are you sure?" She asked. The woman, as blunt as ever, just shrugged.

"Pretty much, no traces of anyone else’ involvement were found. He was a nasty piece of work, but at least he cannot bother you anymore," Detective Rogers with her awful people skills and lack of tact, spoke like she if Bryce were around she would stomp his face. It almost made Vivian smile, but the older woman’s words were too heavy for her to do that.

"So that means the attempted murder case against him is closed?" Vivian asked, not at all shocked when the other woman simply nodded.

She and Ryan had expected that things would most definitely go in that way. But now that it was all official, she almost did not want to believe it. After listening to the detective talk for a little while longer, the woman expressing genuine regret, Vivian and Ryan saw her out.

Only once the door closed behind her, did the two of them share a look. Without saying anything to each other, they returned to the living room and sat down on the couch.

***

"Do you truly still believe that Gwendolyn Stuart the fourth, is behind this, that she really killed him?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, Ryan nodded.

"I do not have even a shred of doubt when it comes to that. My gut is telling me that she definitely did him in. Despite the lack of evidence, I am in full agreement with my instincts," Being that between the two of them, Ryan knew his ex best Vivian knew that she had to trust him.

But trusting his gut meant believing that Gwendolyn was capable of murder. And having her be Bryce’s killer, meant that she was involved in the entire plot to kill Vivian.

That complicated everything all over again, especially now that the police had cleared her name by closing the case. It was a headache that Vivian did not want but it seemed impossible to dodge.

"What are we going to do to defend against her? In the court of law she is as innocent as you and I are," Ryan scoffed at that and she gently patted his thigh.

"It might not be true, but the law sees it like that. So whatever action you take against her, it will be viewed as an attack instead of as self-defense," She pointed out reasonably.

Running a hand through his hair, Ryan groaned in frustration. That one small sound had Vivian wanting to hug him in sympathy, but she held back, letting him speak.

"To be honest, I am as stumped as you are. Gwendolyn has really outdone herself with this. She manipulated the situation expertly. I have no idea whether Bryce ever realized that he was her fall guy. But right now, in death, he is her ultimate shield. If I send people after her now, the law will be on her side, but if I let her go, it will be similar to just releasing a bear into a playground and hoping that it does not attack any children," Realizing that the Gwendolyn matter was at least stressing him as much as it was stressing her as well. Vivian decided to give him an out.

"How about we let Gwendolyn be Gwendolyn. Whatever she does at the end of the day, it will either sink her or save her. If she stays hidden with whatever little cash you think she still has, then she would have beat us. But if she comes at us again, this time we will truly be ready for her. She will not be making it out,"

It was clear that Ryan did not like that. Sitting around and waiting to be attacked was not something that anyone really liked, but it was the only thing that Vivian could see them doing that would not result in them compromising themselves in order to capture the other woman. If she knew what was good for her, she would stay hidden. And Vivian really hoped that that was the case.

Rather than agreeing to her approach though, Ryan shook his head.

"As much as I would like to ignore her and hope she goes away, I cannot do that. I still have people looking for her. Allow me to keep searching, and I promise to be careful when going after her,"

From the look in his eyes, she could tell he would keep looking either with or without her. So she decided to give her blessing, but she added a condition to stop him from driving himself mad while looking for his ex.

"Alright, keep searching. But I want to be kept in the loop, and I only want you to hound her while she is in the country. If she leaves, you stop. I will not let you spend your life chasing her while she globe trots," This time the stubbornness bled out of Ryan’s gaze and he nodded in agreement.

***

After the night when Ryan had ended up asking her to marry him. Vivian had been sleeping through the night. But now, at a few minutes till midnight, she was wide awake and standing out on the balcony.

Unlike all of the other times, when she had been looking to quiet her mind, Vivian was instead seeking to quiet her soul. When she had told Ryan that she was done with the Bryce Chapter, she had not been lying.

But she felt that there was one last thing that she needed to do to truly bring the story to a close. After taking a moment, she grabbed the lighter that she’d brought out with her and used it to light the candle that she’d bought earlier that day.

The flame flickered to life and she watched it burn for a few seconds. Then, her hands cupped over the flame to keep it from going out, she began speaking.

"I forgive you, Bryce. You were an awful human being, but I forgive you. I hope that wherever you are, you are trying to do better. If you do come back, please, for your sake and for that of your loved ones, be good," Vivian blew out the candle.

After that, she stared at it for a little while longer, watching the smoke gently drift upwards.

Hoping that her prayer was answered, she turned and headed back inside. When she got back beneath the covers, careful not to wake Ryan, she was asleep in a matter of seconds.

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