Ryan should have known better, his mother is barely taken aback by things like this -it's hard to see a surprised reaction on her, maybe she did have but was always quick to conceal it.
"...I've seen much relatable situations like this, son -and this won't be the last of it, either..." She always claimed, and Ryan himself, couldn't count how many times he's heard such line from her that he could memorize it even in his sleep.
"Aren't you surprised at this, mother?" He unconsciously muttered his question, his brows raised -he was the confused one instead of his mother.
"Why should I be?" She asked him, her brows knotted into a tightfrown. "There is nothing to be surprised about in it, she left -so what?" "I was seriously expecting much from you, mother." Ryan muttered with his eyes tightly shut, as he rubbed his fingers on his temples continuously. "The fact that I did not expect this from her makes it even more frustrating."
Mrs. Lerman shrugged her shoulders lightly. "This is very much expecting, Ryan, you are the blind one to see the handwriting on the wall." She told him, matter of fact.
"I did see the handwriting on the wall, but I thought I could translate it with time..."He trailed off with a frustrated sigh. "...but it turns out that I was wrong, it was getting more confusing with each new dawn."
"This was because you were expecting too much from her, Ryan." His mother's voice was plain and flat. "I saw through her from the very first day, she's nothing but a gold digger -did I not ask you to stay very far away from her? Did you listen to me despite all my threats and warnings?"
Ryan could only sigh, remembering how much warning she gave to him concerning Anne; how she had threatened to cut him off from being the family's heir when the right time came -but even after all of these, he still ends up with her.
How did it all end? His blind love, how much he had to go against his mother and put all his trust in Anne instead of his mother? It all ends in nothing but... Ryan was too ashamed to think about it.
"That lady is just a cheat, she's only after all you own, and you foolishly fell for her cheap trick." His mother said in addition.
'She is only after all you own...' The phrase rang in his head and click...
Ryan recalled he still had much to tell his mother aboutAnne, he's still yet to tell his mother about his company and how Anne had rendered him into but a ruin.
"Even my company is at the verge of collapsing, all because of..."
Instead of allowing him to complete his sentence himself, his mother interrupted him.
"...because ofAnne!" She completed it on his behalf, her voice was flat and with no emotion laced in it.
She saw it coming since the day Ryan had told her Anne had wanted part of his company.
Ryan decided not to be the victim of surprise anymore, he's had enough of his mother knowing everything before it even started -if only he has that much insight as hers, then he wouldn't have got himself in such a mess he is at the moment.
"All the money I ever had in my name and both the gains from my numerous deals and company sales..."He mumbled slowly and paused, trying to find the right word to table it before her and make it sound less alarming. "-she left me with nothing of it."
"-and..."She questioned demandingly, raising her left brow in the process as she felt there was still much needed to spit from him.
"She left after she was sure I was left with no penny on me even with the numerous loans I have in my company's names, I can even tell how she managed to squander all of it as well." He added, sighing out heavily and frustrated.
"So, she left even when she's aware of the huge lose this is going to cause you?" Her voice has a trail of anger in it. "Did she not care if the public find out about this?"
"She told me to my face that she did not care whatever happens to my reputation and company, too." He told her in reply. "That was even less shocking than the bombshell she dropped afterward, mother-this was enough to make her care less."
"Is it about something I'm aware of or the one I'm yet to know about?" She asked, this time, her curiosity was at it peak. She was suddenly interested in his tales, wanting to know much about whatever must have transpired between himself and Anne.
"The marriage we had was nothing but fake -it wasn't real..."He explained, relating to her the same revelation he learned and how she had told him.
His mother suddenly finds herself speechless. For the first since Ryan could remember, he was short of words -seeing how much surprise his mother was at the moment.
Mrs. Lerman was totally taken aback at what she had just heard. What reply would she give after hearing what her son had just said? She saw everything coming but not this -or maybe she saw this too but never expected it to be this hard!
"What did you intend on doing then?" She asked him, finding her voice after seconds of dead silence. She couldn't help but feel self-pity towards her son, he's gone through a lot in a short period of time.
"I'll be on the lookout for anyone who will be ready to buy part of the company shares from me." He told him. "I'm at the verge of going to a ruin, I can't afford to owe my staff -you know how much I hate to be in debt."
"Yeah, you need not to remind me." She replied and nodded curtly. "You should do what you think is right, I think it's time I stop dictating foryou."
Ryan did say nothing in reply as he lazily rests his head, different thoughts running through his mind.
His mother has asked him to do what he thinks was right, but to be honest, he did not see his decision as the right one -he was only doing this just for him to regain his feet and prevent his company from falling.
But on second thought, he might as well buy whatever percentage he sold off his company shares if he's able to successfully regain himself again.
Maybe, just possibly, this was never a wrong idea from the start...