His Rival Her Sin

Chapter 12: Playing The Player

Nina had spent years preparing herself to face the Cole family.

She had studied their business dealings, followed their public appearances, and searched for the truth behind the damage they had caused her father. She had imagined countless ways to get close enough to uncover the documents she needed.

What she had never planned for was Ryan Cole.

He was supposed to be the easiest part of her strategy. Get close to him, gain his trust, find the evidence, and leave before he discovered who she really was.

But Ryan was becoming a problem.

Not because he was difficult to attract.

Because he was becoming difficult to read.

The following morning, Nina stood before her bedroom mirror, fastening an earring while replaying the previous night’s events. Ryan’s questions, his searching eyes, the way he had kissed her as though he wanted to believe every word she said.

She had almost forgotten herself in his arms.

Her phone vibrated on the dressing table. A message from Alex appeared.

Alex: I hope my brother didn’t keep you all night.

Nina stared at the screen.

She could practically hear the jealousy beneath his casual words.

Nina: You seem very interested in what happens between us.

Alex: Only because I thought we were getting somewhere.

She smiled faintly.

Alex wanted her attention, and she had encouraged him to believe he might get it. His interest had given her another way into the Cole family, another opportunity to learn what the brothers were hiding from each other.

But after seeing Ryan with her, Alex might become less predictable.

Nina: Perhaps you should stop assuming you know what I want.

His reply came quickly.

Alex: Perhaps you should stop pretending you don’t enjoy my attention.

Nina put the phone down without answering.

She had to be careful. Alex was charming, but there was something beneath his pleasant exterior that she had not yet understood. She could not afford to mistake his interest in her for genuine affection.

Neither could she allow Ryan to distract her from the reason she had started this.

Her father deserved the truth.

And she intended to get it.

At Cole Enterprises, Ryan stood beside the windows of his office, looking down at the busy street.

He had barely slept.

Nina had occupied his thoughts long after she left his house. He remembered the hesitation in her eyes whenever their conversation came too close to her past. He remembered how easily she changed the subject, how carefully she avoided answering certain questions.

She was hiding something.

That much was becoming impossible to ignore.

Ryan crossed to his desk and opened the file containing the information he had gathered about her. There were details about her education, her employment, and enough ordinary records to make her appear unremarkable.

But the information offered no satisfying explanation for her interest in him.

He had tried to discover why she had entered his life, yet every answer led to another question.

And he could not forget what he already knew.

She had watched him before they became close. She had attempted to drug him. Later, she had taken him home and searched his house while believing he would not notice.

He had noticed.

Instead of confronting her immediately, he had chosen to let her believe she was succeeding.

He wanted to know what she was looking for.

More importantly, he wanted to know why she believed he had it.

His phone rang.

“Your brother is asking questions about the upcoming board meeting,” his assistant said.

Ryan’s expression hardened slightly. “What kind of questions?”

“He wants confirmation that the ownership documents will be reviewed before the next meeting.”

Ryan went silent.

The ownership documents.

Their father’s will had never been an ordinary family matter. Its contents had threatened Alex’s expectations about the company, and Ryan knew his brother had never truly accepted the consequences.

“Tell him the documents will be handled when the time comes,” Ryan replied.

“Yes, sir.”

He ended the call and stared at the file on his desk.

His brother was making moves.

Nina was searching for something.

And somehow, Ryan suspected their interests might be connected.

He intended to find out how.

Across the city, Alex sat in his private office, listening to his mother complain about another delay in securing control of the company.

“You cannot keep allowing Ryan to dictate everything,” she said. “Your father is gone, and yet your brother still behaves as though the entire empire belongs to him.”

Alex leaned back in his chair.

“I know what I’m doing.”

“Then prove it. You know what your father intended to do with that will. You know what it would mean if Ryan secured the greater share of control. Are you simply going to sit here and let it happen?”

His jaw tightened.

He remembered discovering the truth about his father’s intentions. He remembered the rage that had consumed him, the confrontation that had followed, and the terrible decision that had ended his father’s life.

He had believed that removing his father would change everything.

Instead, Ryan remained an obstacle.

Now the will threatened to undo everything Alex had worked to secure.

“I said I’ll handle it,” he repeated.

His mother regarded him coldly.

“You had better. I will not spend the rest of my life watching another woman’s son take what should belong to you.”

When she left, Alex remained motionless for several seconds.

He could not afford to lose the company.

And he could not afford to let Ryan discover how far he had gone to keep it.

His thoughts shifted to Nina.

She was clever, attractive, and more difficult to control than he had expected. At first, he had assumed her interest in the Cole family was ordinary ambition. Now he wondered whether she had chosen Ryan for a specific reason.

If she knew something about their family, she might be useful.

If she knew too much, she could become dangerous.

Either way, Alex wanted her close enough to understand her.

And if Ryan had begun to care about her, that only made the situation more interesting.

That afternoon, Nina arrived at Ryan’s office under the pretext of returning something she had borrowed.

The excuse was thin, and she knew it.

Ryan knew it too.

He was standing beside his desk when she entered, his sleeves rolled up and his attention fixed on her.

“You could have sent it with someone,” he said.

“I wanted to see you.”

The answer came naturally, but the moment it left her mouth, she wondered whether it had sounded too sincere.

Ryan smiled.

“Did you?”

“Must there always be a reason?”

“With you?” He stepped closer. “I’m beginning to think there always is.”

Her heartbeat quickened, though she refused to show it.

“Perhaps you don’t know me as well as you think.”

“Perhaps you don’t know me as well as you think either.”

For a moment, neither spoke.

Ryan watched her carefully. Nina felt as though he were examining every expression, waiting for her to make a mistake.

She needed to redirect the conversation.

“How is the company?” she asked. “You seem busy lately.”

“Business is fine.”

“And Alex?”

Something changed in Ryan’s face.

“Why do you ask about my brother?”

“Because he’s your brother.”

“That has never stopped him from competing with me.”

The bitterness in his voice surprised her. She had expected rivalry, but there was something deeper in it—something connected to the history of the family and the struggle over the company.

“Do you trust him?” she asked.

Ryan studied her.

“Should I?”

Nina realized her mistake immediately.

She had asked too quickly, shown too much interest. She tried to recover with a small shrug.

“I was only curious.”

“Of course.” Ryan moved closer, his voice lowering. “You’re a very curious woman, Nina.”

His gaze dropped briefly to her lips before returning to her eyes.

“And I’m starting to wonder what you’re so desperate to discover.”

The words struck closer than she wanted to admit.

She could deny it. She could laugh and pretend he was imagining things.

Instead, she held his gaze.

“Maybe you should stop looking for secrets and enjoy what is right in front of you.”

Ryan’s smile faded into something more serious.

“That would be easy if I believed you were doing the same.”

For one dangerous moment, Nina wanted to tell him everything.

She wanted to explain why she had approached him, what had happened to her father, and why the Cole family had occupied so much of her life.

But she could not risk it.

Not yet.

So she reached for his hand.

Ryan allowed her to take it, though his eyes never left her face.

She had come to his office believing she could learn something useful about the company and its ownership documents.

Instead, she was leaving with a far more troubling realization.

Ryan was no longer simply the man she intended to deceive.

He was beginning to understand that she was deceiving him.

And if he discovered the truth before she found the evidence, everything she had spent years planning could collapse.

Nina released his hand and stepped away.

“I should go.”

Ryan didn’t stop her.

“Of course.”

His calmness unsettled her more than anger would have.

As she reached the door, his voice followed her.

“Nina?”

She turned.

“Next time you want to know something about my family, ask me directly.”

Her fingers tightened around the handle.

Then she forced a smile and walked out.

For the first time since beginning her investigation, Nina wondered whether she was the one being led into a trap.

And Ryan, watching the door close behind her, knew she had just given him another reason not to let her go.