Chapter 8

The air went still for a moment, and the officer looked uncomfortable. Under Ryan's intense stare, he finally stammered, "Uh... Sophie... she ran off. We're still trying to track her down."

Ryan looked stunned for a moment, his expression completely blank.

She ran off? Where did she go?

He sat up abruptly, blood seeping through the bandages on his abdomen, but he ignored the pain and strode straight for the door. "I'm going after her!"

His team members and the officer rushed over to block Ryan. They shot each other a worried look, and when it was clear they couldn't hold him back, one of them blurted out, "Mr. Cole! Don't go after her! Sophie was deliberately planted by your side as a spy!"

Ryan stopped dead in his tracks, stunned by the revelation.

"When Sophie left, she was still carrying our internal comms device. She must've forgotten about it, so we ended up catching some info on tape," the officer explained.

Ryan's lips were parched as he muttered, "Give it to me."

Soon, the comms device was handed to him. After a burst of static, an unfamiliar male voice came through.

"What's going on?" the man asked.

Sophie's voice trembled as she replied, "They pushed me out as a hostage. I was so scared... I ended up pushing Ryan right into the line of fire. The organization will never forgive me for this!"

"You idiot! The boss went through hell to get you close to Ryan, and you still managed to screw everything up! You're nothing but a good-for-nothing loser!" the man spat.

"What was I supposed to do? I told you—I can't be a negotiator!" Sophie protested, her voice shaking with fear.

"If you can't be a negotiator, how else were you supposed to get close to Ryan?" the man snapped.

"So what about Emily Grant? What's her deal?" Sophie blurted out.

"What do you know? She's... Wait, what the hell are you carrying on you, you idiot!" the man suddenly barked, suspicion flooding his voice.

There was a sharp, screeching noise, and then the channel went dead. Silence hung thick in the hospital room.

Ryan's arm fell limply to his side, and the comms device clattered to the floor with a crisp sound.

"Hey... Mr. Cole, don't let it get to you..." the officer said, trying to comfort him.

Ryan couldn't hear a thing anyone else was saying. Memories crashed over him, and he finally realized just how foolish he'd been.

Suddenly, it hit him—he'd only decided to punish Emily because Sophie had just tossed out that idea about the island.

A jolt shot through Ryan, and he barked, "Look into every detail about Sophie and that boat! And everything before—dig up everything about her, past and present. I want the whole story!"

The officer nodded, looking a little stunned, then rushed off to handle it.

Just then, the officer's phone rang. He picked up, his face changing slightly, then suddenly looked up at Ryan. "Mr. Cole! Sophie's been caught!"

*****

When Ryan entered the interrogation room and saw Sophie sitting there, she was almost unrecognizable to him.

She was cuffed to the chair, her once carefully styled curls now greasy and stuck to her face. Her eyes were ringed with dark shadows, and she looked like a total wreck.

The moment Sophie spotted Ryan, her face suddenly broke into a look of joy.

"Trust me, Ryan! I swear, I never meant for any of this to happen—I was just so scared!" Sophie cried, her voice shaking.

Ryan stared at her, his face blank, the icy look in his eyes sent a chill straight through her.

Her voice faltered, and Ryan loomed over her, slamming the evidence he'd found right onto the table in front of her.

"Every single document—from your birth certificate to your college diploma—is a forgery. Sophie, you really had the guts to pull this off," Ryan said, his voice cold as ice.

Sophie's expression faltered, her eyes filling with panic. She shook her head, her voice trembling with emotion. "I... I just loved you so much. All I ever wanted was to be with you."

"Don't give me that nonsense!" Ryan spat, his teeth grinding. "You got close to me on purpose, didn't you? All that talk about negotiation skills—how long did you rehearse those lines? You're not even a real negotiator. Who gave you the nerve to fake it?"

Every time Ryan thought about it, it felt like his heart was being torn to shreds.

After Ryan started working with Sophie, he got hooked on her so-called negotiation theories. They talked for hours, all night long, and for a while, it felt like they really clicked.

Later, during a kidnapping case, Sophie was the negotiator closest to the action, but she screwed up big time. Ryan thought it was just a fluke.

But now, in retrospect, it was clear—she didn't care if people lived or died!

That incident was what made Emily lose her mother forever. Ryan had approached Emily out of remorse and a need for redemption, but as they spent time together, he truly fell in love with her.

It was only when Sophie suddenly returned to the country that Ryan was reminded of their old bond.

But all those feelings turned out to be fake—nothing but a complete deception!

Sophie sat there, pale as a ghost, shivering from the cold, hard look Ryan was giving her.

Sophie had never seen Ryan angry before. He'd always treated her with kindness and acted like a true gentleman.

"Who's behind all this?" Ryan demanded.

Sophie trembled, her voice shaky. "I... I really don't know. They paid me to learn these lines and drop them casually when you were around. Everything I did after that was exactly what they told me to do!"

"Damn it, you should pay for this!" Ryan's eyes blazed with anger.

"I... I was forced! They threatened me!" Sophie panicked, clutching Ryan's sleeve. "Please, I'm pregnant with your child! For our baby's sake, help me! I don't want to go to jail!

"Y-You said you liked me once!" Sophie pleaded.

Ryan pulled his arm away, then suddenly seized Sophie by the throat, his grip tightening bit by bit.

"Tell me, did you do something to that boat?" Ryan demanded.

Sophie's eyes went wide with fear as she shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Speak!" Ryan barked.

"Help... help me..." Sophie gasped, her voice barely a whisper.

"Mr. Cole!" Ryan was pulled away, and Sophie collapsed onto the table, coughing so hard it shook the room.

"Mr. Cole! She's pregnant—please don't lose control!"

Ryan's fists clenched so tightly his knuckles audibly popped. His voice was hoarse as he said, "Get a DNA test on the baby... I don't believe that child is mine."

Everyone around wore unreadable expressions, but Ryan couldn't care less. He took a deep breath and barked, "The moment you get any information on her, bring it to me!"