Breaking Free, Loving Again -The Flash Marriage with Mr. CEO novel Chapter 178

Ryan frowned, not understanding what his mother meant by that. But Beca’s expression remained firm and resolute, her confidence palpable. Bringing out her phone, she tapped it a few times before passing it to Ryan to check.

"Here," her voice came calm but cutting. "Take a look yourself. After this, tell me —do you still think you truly deserve Arwen?"

Ryan hesitated. He was both confused and terrified of what he might see. Recently, he had come to realize that, unknowingly, he had hurt Arwen in several ways. At the time, he had convinced himself that he was teasing her, punishing her for forcing him into a relationship he thought he didn’t want. But now, in hindsight, he understood the truth —he hadn’t been forced. He had stayed because, deep down, he had wanted to. He had just been too stubborn to admit it.

Swallowing hard, he finally took the phone and looked at the screen. And his heart dropped as his eyes locked onto the image There he was, lying on the bed with Delyth wrapped in his in his arms.

His face turned pale, and he looked up at his mother, desperate to explain. "Mom, this isn’t what it looks."

But his attempts at justification faltered when Beca simply shrugged and said, "Does it matter?"

"Mom, …"

"Ryan," she continued, her voice steady, "any woman who sees her fiancé lying with someone else wouldn’t care whether it’s what it looks like or not —especially when the other woman is none other than his first love."

Her words were so sure, so logical, that for a moment, even Ryan believed them. But then he shook his head, panic creeping into his voice, "Mom, what are you saying?"

Beca smiled, but there was no warmth in her smile. "Arwen received this picture the day you two were supposed to get your certificates. Right before you sent her the text about changing the date. How kind it must have been for her, right?"

Ryan’s mind reeled as he pieced it together. He remembered Arwen’s reply to his text —that was the first time she had mentioned breaking up. Was it because of this? Suddenly, everything started to fall into place.

But this … his eyes dropped back to the image on the phone —this wasn’t real.

"Mom, this whole thing is a big misunderstanding, I can explain." Ryan’s voice came desperate as he began to defend himself. "I just went out to have dinner with Delyth. It was just a dinner. I don’t know how we ended up together in the hotel room later, but nothing happened between us, believe me. I have no memory of anything. If something had happened, I would have remembered. But —"

"Do you think that explains it all?" Beca asked, raising an incredulous brow. "If it does, then tell me —what was the need to go out for dinner with Delyth in the first place, especially when you were supposed to get officially married to Arwen the very next day? Do you even have an answer for that?"