"I didn't kidnap anyone." Eren's weak voice was heard again.
"You knocked her unconscious and took her to another country! Isn't that a kidnapping?" Asher glared at the face that looked so much like his own.
"I didn't know who she was; she kept calling out the name Anne-Marie! What do you think I was supposed to do?!" Eren wasn’t backing down.
"You mentioned Anne-Marie?" Asher finally looked at Liz, after barely glancing her way before.
"Uh… yes. You’ve mentioned her before." Liz nodded.
"You still remember?" Asher was surprised, as he recalled mentioning the name only in passing.
"Why did you bring up Anne-Marie when you were with him?" Ivy abruptly interjected, clearly curious.
"Nothing!" Asher was dismissed immediately. However, Liz, being honest, provided a more thorough response at the same time, ensuring that she was genuinely heard.
"I own a boutique, and Asher said he wanted to buy a gift for a woman&
"Have you seen this woman?" Ruby inquired, pointing to Liz's photo on her phone."No! No... English." Before she hurried away, the woman she asked stumbled over her words and shook her head.Ruby sighed, experiencing yet another setback before she could formulate a proper question. It wasn't as straightforward as she thought, and many people there don't know English.Yesterday, Ruby had felt smart and confident in her English fluency, but now she was back to feeling helpless. Her knowledge was useless in a crucial moment.“I think you should rest,” Theo suggested worriedly, urging Ruby to stop. He couldn't be much help, either, not knowing English.“I haven’t found her yet, Theo. She’s my sister.” Ruby ignored the suggestion and kept walking, though she was clearly struggling. Her breath was ragged, and sweat beaded on her forehead.Her body hadn't expanded significantly yet, but her belly had, and it was
"Why leave her?" Ivy questioned Matteo's suggestion to leave Liz behind in the speedboat while they went ashore to meet Ed."Wouldn't it be better if they saw Liz safe and sound?" Ivy still didn't understand Matteo's reasoning."What if they spot her and launch an immediate attack? Rosas is the vengeful type. He might believe that we really kidnapped her and are holding her hostage in order to demand something."Matteo was a bit pessimistic, wanting to talk first before bringing Liz out—after everything had calmed down. Matteo knew Ed didn’t come alone—he had brought his men. A commotion was highly likely."Liz, is Ed the patient type?" Ivy inquired, attempting to determine which course of action would be more beneficial."No." Of course, Liz wouldn’t describe Ed as patient and knew full well that he was vengeful, as Matteo had said. Liz herself was at a loss for suggestions at the moment, as she was overwhelmed with confusi
“What about them?”As she saw a speedboat approaching the dock where they were waiting, Ruby stepped closer to Ed. It didn't take long, not even five minutes.“Seems like it,” Ed said.Only those two speedboats were approaching the dock, despite many others coming and going. No one got off for a while, except the person anchoring the boat.“Did they know where Liz was? I've asked around, and no one has seen her nearby.” Ruby was growing impatient.“I’ll go ask.” Ed grabbed Ruby’s arm as he finally noticed movement from within the speedboat.Three people emerged. One was Asher, and the other two were unfamiliar—Ed had only seen them in photos years earlier. They had aged and changed, especially Matteo Ranallo. Ed remembered his face from the photo when it was still intact, along with his hands.The burn scars on Matteo’s face were far worse than Ed's—even bef
“What happened? Where’s Ruby?”Liz rushed to Asher when she arrived at the ER entrance. She had been brought there by Eren with minimal explanation.“She’s inside,” Asher pointed at the ER door.“How is she?” Liz inquired, then turned to look at Ed, who was also staring back at her.“You’re alive,” Ed grimaced. He wasn’t relieved to see Liz; instead, he was angry.“What exactly have you been doing? What kind of trouble are you involved in to cause this? Or are you deliberately trying to make Ruby sick? Is this pretense over, and now you’re back to your old ways?”Ed was furious because Liz appeared perfectly fine while Ruby had to be in the ER.“You’ve always thought I was pretending?” Liz was a bit taken aback. Seeing Ed’s calm demeanor all this time, Liz assumed Ed believed and understood her. She thought he might find i
"Are we not going back?"Asher was puzzled when Liz kept walking instead of crossing the street to return to the hospital. They had already left the café.“Later. Ed doesn’t want to see me right now—and it’s unlikely he’ll let me see Ruby. He’s not easy to forgive.” Liz wasn’t naive enough to believe Ivy's words that everything would be fine once they’d calmed down. Even if Ed was calm, it didn’t mean it was safe.“Is your relationship that bad?” Asher was honestly surprised—shocked by the argument they had earlier.While living at Ed's house, he hadn’t noticed much. He observed that they never fought, but they also never spoke. Ruby was always between them—or AJ making noise. That covered up the reality.“I’m a bitch. Something like that. I lied, pretending I was pregnant with his child, and then miscarried, torturing him for years. It&rsqu
"Over there."Ibanez, who had followed Liz running, pointed out where Ruby was. This was the recovery room, and this was supposed to be good news. Being transferred to a recovery room meant Ruby was no longer in critical condition."Ruby!"Liz opened the door and felt a wave of relief wash over her as she saw Ruby sitting up against the pillows."You're okay!" Ruby also exclaimed with relief when she saw Liz rush in and stretch out her hands. Tears immediately welled up in her eyes."You're okay... you're okay," Ruby sobbed, letting her tears flow as Liz bent down and hugged her.At first, Liz hesitated, but the hug didn’t feel bad. It was warm, in fact, and appropriate. Ruby’s tears quickly became contagious. It felt good to know someone had been waiting for her, concerned about her.“Don’t scare me like that again. I thought you were stranded somewhere or sold off.” Ruby squeezed Liz's arm as she looked
"Oh, so there are two of you, too."Ruby pointed at Eren and Asher in surprise. This was the first time she had seen them side by side. Eren had just entered the dining room after putting one of his children to bed.“You met me at the hospital.” Eren was even more surprised that Ruby couldn’t tell them apart, especially since she had met them one after the other.“Well, I thought you had cut your hair, and then earlier... it was long again. I thought it was magic.” Ruby laughed at her own foolishness now. She had mistaken Eren for Asher, thinking he had cut his hair, and was of course astonished when she saw the real Asher with his long hair.“They're very easy to tell apart,” Liz commented.Ruby, Eren, and Asher all hissed simultaneously. Liz, of all people, had no right to say that.“Aren’t you the one who chased after me and argued fiercely because you thought I was Asher?” Eren
“I thought that house was the only building on this island.”Liz was surprised when she saw a bustling settlement at the end of the road. There was a luxury hotel, bars, and restaurants. Other luxury villas were also scattered about. The island was larger than Liz had imagined, and she had only seen one side of it earlier that day.At night, the island was more alive. The people who had been lounging by the water or in the shade earlier were now gathering under the lights, laughing and chatting.“Val rented out some plots of land, and it was a beneficial decision. She earns a decent amount of rent, and most of her businesses are doing well. Especially in summer like this,” Asher explained.“This island belongs to Val?” Liz was surprised again.“Yes, but she doesn’t really care about it anymore. Val spends most of her time in the city. Anne-Marie doesn’t come here often either, usually only durin
“Such chaos,” Liz lamented as she watched the crowd of rowdy children, who had become the main guests at her wedding.“Yeah, I didn’t expect it to get this wild either.” Ruby sat beside her, watching AJ hand out chocolate-covered strawberries to the other kids.He wasn’t alone—Claud, Val's second child, was helping him. They eventually grew close, even though their conversations were sometimes limited because Claud was more fluent in Italian than English. Still, they got along well enough.“How did it all start?” Ed frowned.“I don’t know.” Ruby was also unsure.“Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed when AJ asked.” Liz deeply regretted it.Somehow, AJ had convinced Liz to provide a chocolate fountain for her wedding, and it had become the source of chaos. The younger children were enjoying it, but soon chocolate stains appeared on the white tablecloths, as wel
"Do I have to? I already checked that document yesterday. Can’t you do it instead?" When Ed saw another email from Otiz, he complained.It was a financial report. Since Matteo had spread his investments in every direction—across more or less thirty companies—the financial reports Otiz received came from all directions, across different types of businesses. Ed hadn't anticipated this.Being an investor wasn’t as straightforward as it seemed. He still had to work.“You’re the one who has to check it. I’m just the middleman,” Otiz firmly refused.He could refuse because the request was made over the phone. Perhaps if they were face-to-face, Otiz would be more compliant. He was no longer blindly following Ed's orders, carefully sorting out what should and should not be done. He was only responsible for delivering financial reports, not reviewing them.Ed grumbled. He was quite used to reviewing company pa
"‘What do you want to show me?’ As she approached Ed, Ruby inquired.She left AJ's side; he was busy reading a story to his two younger siblings. Elena and Elisa sat quietly, either really listening or getting sleepy. It was already time for their afternoon nap."Read this," Ed shifted, making room for Ruby to sit beside him, and handed her a phone displaying an article in Spanish. Less than two hours had passed since the publication of this hot news story.Ruby didn’t pay attention to that, though, because she was immediately stunned by the headline.‘DEA ARRESTS MAJOR MEXICAN CARTEL AND EXPOSES BILLION-DOLLAR BUSINESS NETWORK’"What... you...?" Ruby turned pale and panicked, of course."Read it to the end," Ed said, pointing to the rest of the text that she had not yet seen.Ruby read quickly and frowned. There was no mention of Ed or Rosas anywhere. Only Reyes. Marco Reyes. He was the story's
Two black vans speed down a deserted road. It was already nighttime, and they were the only ones there. The end of the road was in sight—a black iron gate.“Ram it!”A shout rang out, and the vans didn’t slow down. The passengers inside, all dressed in black, held on tight as a deafening crash echoed.The gate fell, bent, but opened. The two vans barged through and stopped right in front of the brightly lit house.“Get in and kill everyone!”Another shout, and the people inside the vans scrambled out, storming into the beachside house. Some were carrying firearms; others were wielding clubs.However, as they entered, everyone froze. No one came to greet them. The house was supposed to be full of guards, which was why they had come in numbers—ready for a confrontation.In reality, what greeted them was silence. Not a single person appeared, even though the house was brightly lit.“
"AJ, don't make Abuela tired!" Ruby reprimanded AJ for running away with something, while Mia pursued him.But it was impossible to make AJ stop, especially since his younger siblings were laughing joyfully at his antics. Elisa and Elena had just learned to walk, and they happily followed him around.AJ couldn't stop when he had such an audience. Mia seemed to be scolding him, but everyone knew Mia could never really be upset at AJ.Ruby had to step in, followed by Ed to watch over Elisa and Elena. Although falling on the sand wouldn't hurt, the beach had sharp rocks that could scrape them."Mommy! They should chase me! Don't pick them up!" AJ didn’t want his little sisters to be carried away and stop the fun."Alright," Ruby said, intending to supervise them closely."How about we take a vacation?" Ed abruptly proposed the idea, having just finished reading a message on his phone."Hm?" Ruby was surprised. There had been no suc
"Here."Ed gave Otiz a handkerchief to wipe away his tears. If it had been just a few, he would have let Otiz cry—and wiped the tears with the sleeve of his jacket.The problem was that Otiz couldn’t stop crying. He had already been emotional when Ed stood beside him at the altar, and it got worse when he saw Lori walking down the aisle, escorted by flowers. It was all too beautiful and dazzling for his eyes.“Sorry,” Otiz stammered, wiping the remaining tears from his face.“What are you apologizing for? At a wedding, shedding tears is not considered inappropriate. You're just too happy. No one will blame you.” Ed gently patted Otiz’s shoulder and then turned his gaze forward.Of course, Lori was the focus of the event. Her choice of dress was perfect, blending seamlessly with the entire garden decor. Flowers, ribbons, music, and all the other elements were carefully and precisely chosen—now showcasi
Ed tapped his finger on the glass in his hand. His eyes were fixed on a single point—Marco Reyes.The man was speaking with Otiz. Nothing important. Marco was just making small talk, and Otiz was doing the same—being polite, answering Marco's questions about his law firm's progress. Ed actually needed to speak to both of them, but he chose to start with Marco first.Ed just needed to gesture with his chin, and Otiz understood immediately. He excused himself, making up a reason, and left Marco alone."I need to talk to you," Ed said as he approached."Oh? What is it?" Marco immediately followed Ed, moving to the quiet side yard. The other guests filled the living room."I want you to handle the shipment to Ecuador and Brazil next week."Marco looked as if he had choked. This was incredibly surprising. Ed had never let him touch the South American market before. Ed had always handled it himself. Marco had only been managing North A
"Mommy, I want to try! You be Elena, and I'll be Elisa."AJ reached out his hand, asking for the milk bottle from Ruby. He wanted to try feeding the babies—and he chose Elisa.Usually, Tita was around to help Ruby, but today Tita was busy, so Ruby had been on her own since earlier."You can, but please be careful, okay? Don’t let her choke, and don’t squeeze." Ruby guided AJ's hand to hold the bottle filled with pre-warmed breast milk, helping him apply just the right pressure so it wouldn't press too hard against Elisa's lips."Wow! Look, Mommy! She's drinking!" AJ exclaimed happily, eyes sparkling with joy. This was the first time he was directly involved—doing something for his little sister. AJ usually watched, but at first he was afraid to hold the babies. He would look in awe but wouldn’t dare touch them.“See? It’s not a big deal, right? You don’t have to be scared anymore.”&l
From their disheveled appearance, it was clear that Liz and Asher had either just rushed out of a room or possibly run over here. One thing was certain: as soon as they heard the news about Ruby, they had hurried over."Where? Ruby... You're pale. Why... It shouldn't be happening now."Just like Lori, Liz was out of breath as she approached Ruby, panicking. The news had shocked everyone. Liz had already planned to stay in Puerto Vallarta next week to be there for Ruby when she gave birth.Of course, Liz no longer lived at Ed’s house. She had managed to buy her own apartment.“I’m fine, and they’re fine too. But the nurse hasn’t brought them here yet. Calm down… breathe.”Ruby was already able to speak clearly and now had to calm Liz down. She was the one lying down, barely conscious, yet had to reassure everyone else."Are you really okay? No problems? Any complications?" Liz touched Ruby’s bo