Chapter 451 The Price Of Family

Rose’s answer had been painfully blunt.

The moment Ryan finished asking the question, she had answered without the slightest hesitation.

Ryan continued looking at her.

Rose tilted her head back to meet his deep, unreadable gaze and pulled her coat tighter around herself.

Her voice was light and calm.

“It’s impossible between us.”

She paused.

“Under any circumstances, we’re already two separate paths heading in different directions. There’s no way they’ll ever cross again.”

She didn’t understand why Ryan had suddenly asked her that.

She had thought everything between them had already been settled.

Ryan didn’t want to remarry her.

She had accepted that.

And she’d already put the past behind her.

His question had come completely out of nowhere.

But that didn’t mean she needed to hesitate.

There was no reason to leave room for misunderstanding.

Ryan simply looked at her in silence.

The elevator remained open.

After a long moment, he finally said, “You should go back inside.”

Then he turned and stepped into the elevator.

The doors slowly closed.

Rose stood there for quite some time.

For some reason, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Ryan’s eyes had held too many emotions she couldn’t understand.

For just a fleeting moment, she’d thought he looked almost as though he were asking her for help.

But the feeling had been so subtle that she wasn’t even sure she’d seen it correctly.

He hadn’t said anything.

And she couldn’t read his mind.

Rose rubbed the bridge of her nose, crossed her arms, and turned back toward the apartment.

*****

The Knight Residence

The Knight residence was brightly lit.

Yet on what should have been a night of family celebration, there was barely any trace of holiday cheer.

Investigators had arrived.

And no one had seen it coming.

Before the family had even touched their New Year’s Eve dinner, authorities had appeared at the door with official credentials and documents.

The already strained atmosphere had instantly descended into chaos.

By the time Ryan arrived, the living room was in complete disarray.

The home phone had been ringing nonstop, which was why he’d been delayed.

Selena’s face was pale.

“Why are they arresting him?”

Evan’s eyes were red. He looked as though he was about to cry but was too frightened to do so.

Nicholas was already in handcuffs.

One of the investigators spoke firmly.

“Mr. Nicholas Knight is under investigation for suspected embezzlement, misappropriation of funds, and circumventing regulatory oversight to secure preferential treatment for a business project through improper financial dealings with public officials. He’ll need to cooperate with the investigation.”

Nicholas’s face drained of color.

The New Year’s celebration he’d expected had been destroyed before it had even begun.

He was completely caught off guard.

Then the front door opened.

Ryan walked in.

“Is it really this lively at home?”

His tone was casual.

As if he hadn’t noticed the chaos around him, he walked through the crowd and sat down on the sofa.

The moment Nicholas saw him, his expression changed drastically.

“You…”

His eyes widened.

“Was this you?”

Edward’s expression was no better.

He valued family traditions more than anyone.

Tonight, however, everything he’d held sacred had been shattered.

His gaze turned cold.

“Ryan.”

He stared at him.

“Did you have anything to do with this?”

Before Ryan could answer, Selena rushed forward.

Tears filled her eyes.

“Ryan! He’s your father!”

Her voice broke.

“How can you put justice before your own family like this? Aren’t you afraid of what will happen to you?”

If Nicholas was arrested and eventually convicted, what would happen to her and Evan?

Evan was still young, but he was Nicholas’s eldest son.

If something happened to Ryan, Evan would stand to inherit a significant portion of his estate.

But if Nicholas fell, everything would change.

“Ryan, say something!”

Selena’s voice rose.

“There has to be something wrong with this! It’s New Year’s Eve. Do you really want to tear this entire family apart?”

Margaret was trembling with anger.

“Mom, I’ve told you all along that Ryan can’t be trusted!”

Selena suddenly broke down.

“He’s vicious and heartless! That fire years ago wasn’t an accident either. He really did want his own parents dead!”

Fear and hatred filled her eyes.

There was also something darker there—a flicker of regret that Ryan couldn’t quite place.

“Ryan.”

Rowan stepped forward.

He looked at him with his eyes tightly narrowed.

“Where have you been?”

Ryan raised his gaze.

“You’ve already decided I’m guilty.”

A faint smile touched his lips.

“So why bother asking me?”

His expression was almost careless.

“Looks like this branch of the Knight family won’t be celebrating New Year’s after all.”

“Ryan!”

Margaret’s voice trembled.

“I don’t care what methods you used. He’s still your father. You can’t just throw away family because you’re angry!”

She was frantic now.

“Your father can’t go to prison. Do something! Can’t family matters be resolved within the family? Why did it have to get this far?”

He was her eldest son.

If the allegations against him were proven, the consequences would be catastrophic.

No one had expected this.

One moment, they had been preparing for New Year’s Eve dinner.

The next, everything had collapsed.

Edward remained strangely silent.

He simply looked at Ryan with an expression that was impossible to read.

Nicholas, however, had completely lost his composure.

“Ryan, what the hell are you trying to do?”

He was furious.

Yet beneath that fury was something else.

Fear.

He remembered what Ryan had been like years ago.

He remembered just how ruthless his son could be.

Ryan’s gaze slowly swept across the room.

Representatives from different branches of the Knight family were there.

Older relatives.

Younger generations.

Family members who had once gathered together for celebrations, business meetings, and family dinners.

Tonight, however, the entire clan looked distorted.

Broken.

Ryan’s voice was calm.

“I want you dead.”

The words were so quiet that they seemed even more frightening.

They cut through the room like an invisible blade.

Everyone froze.

No one had expected him to say it so plainly.

Nicholas stared at him in disbelief.

“I’m your father!”

His voice shook with fury.

“How dare you—”

“You’re my father.”

Ryan gave a faint smile.

“So, I’m sending you somewhere you’ll be taken care of.”

His expression remained indifferent.

“What’s wrong with that?”

Nicholas’s eyes widened.

“Ryan! Have you lost your mind?”

Margaret stood up, trembling with rage.

Ryan didn’t even bother responding.

Nicholas was already being taken away for investigation.

If the allegations proved serious, the consequences wouldn’t stop with him.

They would inevitably affect Knight Group.

Ryan simply watched from the sidelines.

His expression was completely impassive.

Like an outsider watching someone else’s family fall apart.

Nicholas was escorted outside.

Selena hurried after him, shouting his name until her voice echoed through the entrance.

Inside the living room, silence descended.

Edward remained seated.

His expression was grim.

For most of his life, he had been decisive and forceful.

Yet now, strangely enough, he wasn’t as furious as everyone expected.

Ever since Ryan had revealed what Nicholas had done in order to secure his inheritance, Edward had already suspected that this day would come.

Sooner or later, the truth would surface.

And Edward himself had helped bury it.

If he hadn’t suppressed the matter of Nicholas trying to kill his own son all those years ago, perhaps things would have turned out differently.

“You hate your father.”

Edward’s voice was low and weathered.

“You hate the entire Knight family.”

Ryan slowly rose.

Edward looked at him.

“Even if it means destroying the entire family?”

Ryan didn’t answer.

He simply straightened his coat.

“The matter involving Nicholas will become public sooner or later.”

His voice remained calm.

“Forget the internal consequences within Knight Group. Once the public learns that a father kidnapped his own son and tried to have him killed, the Knight family’s reputation will be devastated.”

He looked toward Edward.

“That kind of scandal will affect the Group’s stock price, its public image, and the trust people have in the company.”

Edward’s mustache twitched.

Ryan turned as though he were about to leave.

Then he stopped.

“There’s one more thing.”

Everyone looked at him.

“The Knight family failed to honor its commitment to the Robinson family.”

His gaze was cold.

“That has already created a rift between the two families.”

He paused.

“Once the Robinsons and the other families watching this situation learn what happened, do you really think they’ll sit quietly?”

They wouldn’t.

Business competition was rarely kind.

When an opponent was vulnerable, competitors looked for every possible opening.

They would exploit the scandal, attack Knight Group’s reputation, and use the family’s internal conflict against them.

“Ryan.”

Rowan’s expression was complicated.

“Knight Group is your life’s work too. Why would you let things get this far?”

He understood the seriousness of the situation now.

The Knight family was facing problems from within and pressure from outside.

The Robinson family certainly wouldn’t let the matter go.

“Do you really want to destroy your own family?”

Ryan glanced at him.

For some reason, that single question made his gaze turn dark.

“You’re one of the beneficiaries.”

Rowan froze.

“There’s no need to pretend you’re innocent.”

“Ryan, what are you talking about?”

Ryan looked directly at him.

“Back then, when Margaret drugged Rose and me to force us into a marriage…”

His voice remained eerily calm.

“What role did you play in it?”