Divorced After His Livestream Affair Chapter 09

Divorced After His Livestream Affair Chapter 09 His Last Mistake

Three days after Ryan left my office, the storm finally hit.

Not the scandal.

Not the affair.

Not Sophia.

The money.

The money always hurt the most.

I was sitting in a conference room at Hart Group when Margaret Reynolds walked in holding a tablet.

The expression on her face told me everything.

“It’s happening.”

I immediately stood.

“What happened?”

Margaret slid the tablet across the table.

The headline nearly made me laugh.

Federal Investigation Opened Into Cole Enterprises Financial Records

Below it were dozens of articles.

Analysts.

Reporters.

Financial experts.

Everyone was asking the same question.

Where had the money gone?

I slowly sat back down.

“Oh.”

Margaret smiled.

“Oh indeed.”

A week ago, nobody cared about Ryan’s finances.

Now every journalist in New York wanted answers.

And Ryan didn’t have any good ones.

My phone buzzed.

Alexander.

Of course.

I answered immediately.

“You did this.”

“That’s a serious accusation.”

“You absolutely did this.”

“I prefer the term encouraged transparency.”

I laughed.

“You’re impossible.”

“So I’ve heard.”

I stood and walked toward the window.

“How bad is it?”

A pause.

Then:

“Worse than he thinks.”

My smile faded.

“What does that mean?”

“It means Ryan has spent years convincing people he’s smarter than everyone else.”

“Okay.”

“And people really hate discovering they’ve been lied to.”

That made sense.

Investors could forgive mistakes.

They rarely forgave humiliation.

Ryan had given them both.

“How long?”

“Before what?”

“Before everything collapses.”

Alexander’s answer came immediately.

“Not long.”

That afternoon I received another surprise.

Sophia Lane requested a meeting.

I stared at the email twice.

Then three times.

Surely not.

Unfortunately yes.

Sophia wanted to talk.

I almost declined.

Then curiosity won.

An hour later she walked into my office.

Gone was the glamorous influencer.

Gone was the confidence.

Gone was the arrogance.

She looked exhausted.

Honestly?

It was refreshing.

Sophia sat down.

Neither of us spoke.

Finally she broke first.

“He’s lying to both of us.”

I nearly laughed.

“Welcome to the club.”

Her jaw tightened.

“I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

Sophia looked away.

For the first time, she seemed embarrassed.

“Ryan promised me he’d leave you.”

I smiled.

“That’s your opening statement?”

Her face reddened.

“I’m trying here.”

“You slept with my fiancé.”

“I know.”

“You mocked me online.”

“I know.”

“You called me pathetic.”

Sophia winced.

“I know.”

I leaned back.

“So why exactly are you here?”

For several seconds she remained silent.

Then she dropped a folder onto my desk.

Apparently everyone in New York communicated through folders.

I opened it.

My eyes widened.

Bank transfers.

Private messages.

Property documents.

Evidence.

Lots of evidence.

“What is this?”

Sophia laughed bitterly.

“My revenge.”

Interesting.

Very interesting.

I looked up.

“You hate him now?”

Her smile disappeared.

“No.”

The answer surprised me.

“No?”

Sophia shook her head.

“I hate that I believed him.”

For a moment neither of us spoke.

Then she said something unexpected.

“He never stopped talking about you.”

I froze.

“What?”

Sophia looked miserable.

“The entire time.”

I frowned.

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“It didn’t to me either.”

She laughed humorlessly.

“Every restaurant. Every trip. Every vacation.”

My stomach tightened.

Sophia continued.

“Emily likes this wine.”

“Emily would order that.”

“Emily hates that movie.”

She looked directly at me.

“Do you know how insane that is?”

Honestly?

A lot, actually.

Sophia shook her head.

“I thought if he chose me, it meant he loved me.”

The bitterness in her voice was unmistakable.

“Turns out he just wanted both.”

Neither of us spoke after that.

Because what was there to say?

Ryan hadn’t just betrayed me.

He’d betrayed everyone.

Eventually Sophia stood.

“I should go.”

I nodded.

Then she hesitated.

“Emily?”

“Yes?”

For a moment she looked almost human.

Almost vulnerable.

“I’m sorry.”

The words hung between us.

Late.

But real.

I could tell.

So I nodded once.

“Goodbye, Sophia.”

And just like that, she left.

I stared at the folder for several seconds.

Then called Alexander.

He answered immediately.

“Tell me you recorded that.”

I blinked.

“What?”

“You recorded the meeting, right?”

I laughed.

“You are terrifying.”

“That’s not a no.”

I looked at the recording app on my phone.

Still running.

Alexander sighed happily.

“Good.”

“Should I be concerned about how much that excites you?”

“Absolutely.”

For the next hour we reviewed everything Sophia had provided.

And it was devastating.

Not for me.

For Ryan.

The evidence connected everything.

The shell companies.

The transfers.

The penthouse.

The merger plans.

Everything.

One mistake.

One final mistake.

Ryan had trusted the wrong person.

And now she was helping destroy him.

By evening my phone buzzed again.

This time it was Ryan.

I stared at the screen.

Then answered.

“Hello.”

The silence on the other end felt different.

Heavy.

Broken.

Finally he spoke.

“They froze the accounts.”

I closed my eyes.

So it had begun.

“What accounts?”

A bitter laugh.

“All of them.”

For the first time since I’d met him, Ryan sounded defeated.

Completely defeated.

“They think I’m guilty.”

The words were almost childlike.

Like he couldn’t believe consequences existed.

I looked out across Manhattan.

The city lights were beginning to appear.

Beautiful.

Cold.

Unforgiving.

“Ryan.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you guilty?”

Silence.

Long silence.

Then:

“…Yes.”

I closed my eyes.

Not because I was shocked.

Because hearing it felt final.

Ryan exhaled shakily.

“I never thought it would end like this.”

“I know.”

Another pause.

Then:

“I loved you.”

The words arrived too late.

Months too late.

Maybe years.

I looked down at my engagement ring.

Still sitting inside a drawer.

Forgotten.

Then I answered honestly.

“You should have remembered that sooner.”

Ryan laughed.

A broken sound.

Then the line went dead.

I stared at the phone.

For a long moment I felt absolutely nothing.

No anger. No sadness. No satisfaction.

Just peace.

Because the war was over.

Ryan just didn’t know it yet.

Tomorrow the final story would break.

Tomorrow everyone would know the truth.

Tomorrow Ryan Cole would lose everything.

And for the first time in a very long time…

I was ready to move forward.