"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