“I don’t want to be cruel, but it seems impossible. She doesn’t appear to love you.” Javier gave his honest opinion, smiling apologetically.
“If she’s really scared of you, I think it’s unlikely she likes you,” Javier emphasized.
Ed glanced briefly. The affirmation stung a little, but he knew Javier was just being honest. "Well, I offered to leave, but she said she'd stay right away. And she didn’t reject me again.”
Javier frowned, trying to understand the context. “Oh, you slept together again.” Javier chuckled, amusingly patting his brother's thigh.
“Is that why you’re talking about love?” Javier laughed again.
“Stop!” Ed hissed. The mocking laughter, regardless of its appearance, annoyed Ed.
“Hermano…” (Brother)
Javier stifled his laughter and put down his cup. No longer mocking. “I think you already know t
“Gone? What do you mean? Dead?” When Otiz delivered the unpleasant news about Carlos, Ed had just sat down.“No, but someone helped him escape.”Ed immediately frowned. “You’ve been disappointing me a lot lately. Are you sure you still want to live?”“Forgive me, Don Rosas!” Otiz bowed. He didn’t dare lift his head. He didn't defend himself, knowing his mistake was grave.“How could this happen?” Ed asked.“The doctor ordered another CT scan because Carlos had been complaining of a headache since last night—they were worried about a fracture besides the jaw. There were people following him during the CT scan, but he didn’t return. It seems someone was waiting in that room and helped him escape through the window.”Otiz explained it as thoroughly as possible. Very honestly, despite the severe consequences.“Your skills seem to have rus
"What's up?" Lori inquired, puzzled by Ruby's sudden stop."Nothing. Come on, let's just go to the beach." Ruby pushed Lori out through the side gate, and Lori's suspicion vanished.Ruby had never been to the beach near that house, so she just followed Lori, who kept talking about clothes. But Ruby wasn't listening at all because she was busy thinking about what Lori had just mentioned."Oh, I want to ask about this," Lori said. "While I remember. Where did you get it?"Lori turned and held up her phone, showing a photo from social media. Ruby nearly choked in shock. She felt like she was in a bad horror movie, staring at someone who should be her but knew it wasn't.The photo showed a woman who looked almost exactly like herself. The real Lizeth Ramos. The hair, eyes, and overall appearance were all the same. The hair was the only slight difference. Slightly curly, but the same length.But Ruby had never worn a dress like that. The ki
Esli read the message and frowned. It was from Ruby. It wasn’t like her to send a message first. The message asked him to call her.“How bold. Just like her mother,” he muttered. Esli pressed the call button. “What do you want?”“Tell Liz to stop posting photos!” Ruby immediately yelled in a panic.“What are you talking about?” Esli didn’t understand.“Photos! Liz is posting photos from who knows where on social media. Ed will see them! He’ll start wondering how I can be in two places at once.”“Damn it!” Esli cursed. He grabbed his laptop and opened social media—something he had never done before and never thought of doing.“You need to tell Liz to delete everything,” Ruby repeated.Esli groaned. It was already hard enough managing Liz. But Ruby was right; Esli had seen Liz’s posts.“Do your job properly and
Ruby tightened the knot at the bottom of her shirt, ensuring that the bikini underneath wasn't visible and the fabric covering her waist didn't slip.It was difficult because Ruby was running until she finally arrived in front of Javier's room. She took a deep breath and knocked on Javier's door as hard as she could.“Javier! Help me!” Ruby shouted as panickedly as possible, and of course, the door immediately opened.“Liz? What's wrong?” Javier was instantly panicked, too.“It's Lori! She's drowning. I pulled her out, but she's not breathing!” Ruby pointed towards the sea.“Where?” Javier ran out of light speed.“Over there!” Ruby pointed to a body in the distance, lying still on the sand near the waves.Javier immediately ran down the beach, now nearly dark, with Ruby behind him.Javier's chapel was separate from the house but still shared the same coastline.
“You…”Ruby stammered, but before she could pull away, someone suddenly yanked her hair.“AGHH!” Ruby screamed as her body was dragged away from Pedro.“You whore! We just got here, and you're already throwing yourself at him?!” Mia shouted as she continued to pull Ruby away from Pedro. Ruby's eyes welled up with pain from her scalp.“Mia… enough, Mia… Stop…” Pedro pleaded, trying to release Mia's grip on Ruby's hair.“How dare you flirt with him when I'm right here? You really have no shame!” Mia swung her hand to slap her, but Ruby blocked it with a grimace.“I wasn’t flirting! I didn’t even see him!” Ruby pulled Mia's hand, which was still gripping her hair, closer.“Nonsense! You’ve intended to seduce him from the start, haven’t you? You wouldn’t keep staring at Pedro if you didn’t have bad intentions!” Mia tried to attack again.“Staring at what?!” Ruby dodged and swatted Mia's hand away. She couldn't understand how Mia co
"The less pain you feel, the more stable your mental state becomes. You don’t need to rely on medication anymore.”The psychologist standing in front of him smiled and nodded with a satisfied expression. This was the second time in a week he had met with his client, and there had already been significant improvement.“If the pain suddenly returns, please don’t take medication right away. Try to calm yourself first, so you won’t be at risk of becoming addicted to the medication. Your body will naturally crave higher doses if you’re not careful.”Ed just nodded. Yesterday, when the doctor advised him to consult with a psychologist or psychiatrist, Ed was skeptical, and even now he remains skeptical.Of course, Ed knew that the psychologist wasn't the reason for his improvement, but he would continue the therapy sessions since he had already paid for at least ten more sessions.“One more thing: please ma
"There’s nothing." Ruby denied it, covering the part of her head that hurt."What do you mean? Nothing? I'm not blind."Ed really wanted to insist on checking her head again, but Ruby had already moved away. Ed hated seeing Ruby distance herself. It reminded him of her fear of him."Okay, I won't touch it. But tell me what happened." Ed softened his insistence, but Ruby still shook her head. Ruby's primary defense strategy was to steer clear on a consistent basis.To some extent, Ruby was quite affected by Mia's curses. Given her position, she is currently weaker than Mia, the original Rosas family member. No matter how rotten, Ed didn’t seem to oppose Mia. Pedro's foul mouth, fully supported by Mia, was the problem.Ruby wasn’t sure if telling Ed was the solution. Yesterday, Ed had asked her to dress more modestly, even buying new clothes to avoid 'disturbing' Pedro's view. Ed asked her to adjust, and the earlier issue partly fel
“No, I'm not!” Ruby turned her flushed face away upon hearing Ed’s laughter.“Are you sure?” Ed teased, tracing Ruby’s cheek with his fingertip. It was amusing to see her blush like that.“Yes, I’m sure.” Her answer was increasingly unconvincing. Ruby bit her lip to steady her breathing.“Okay.” Ed nodded and lowered his hand.“Huh?” Ruby covered her mouth, as her disappointment had unintentionally slipped out. No words were necessary; that soft hiss wasn’t one of surprise, and Ed certainly understood.“So, what should I do?” As he caressed Ruby's ear, Ed asked, pretending to seek guidance on what was already clear.“I... don’t know.” Ruby squeezed the blanket covering a portion of her body and closed her eyes, grunting inwardly. Her body had suddenly become very sensitive. Ed had only touched her neck and ears, but her whole bod