~Ash "Ruby? Ruby? Are you okay? Is it something I said?" I called after Ruby as she ran out, a hint of worry in my voice. I was surprised. Did I say anything to make her run? I was pretty sure I didn't. One minute she was standing there and the next, she was not. There was no snarky remarks, no glares or the usual flares of anger and rage as she left. She didn't even turn around to look at me. I wanted her to look at me. Even when she was mad at me. Especially when she was mad at me. But what made me strangely worried was the gasp. She gasped, as if something...someone had hurt her. I hoped that wasn't me. Even if she had every reason to be mad at me. I was playing both her and her husband like fools. Yet I did not want to be the reason for that pained gasped. But since when did I care about Ruby’s feelings? I mean, she was important to me, as she served as the main tool that would lead to her husband's downfall. Ethan deserved to be taught a lesson, and I was going
~RUBY "Ruby?" Someone called my name. I blocked my hands with my ears, blocking the sound of the person calling out for me. I could not afford to see anyone right now. But the person came anyway, blocking out the light that accompanied them from the closet door. I turned my face to the direction of the person and I was mildly surprised to see Ash. But I didn't care. I just wanted him to go away. "Don't! Stay away from me. Go away," I tried to speak but I choked on my tears. His expression was that of pity and something else. Something that was hard for me to decipher with my current state of mind. I still could not find it in me to care. He crouched down and whispered softly. "Hey. What happened? Who hurt you and why are you hiding out in the closet?" He asked. I shook my head at him and continued to whimper, my heart shattering into a zillion pieces over and over. Ella. I needed to call Ella. But I lost my phone and I had no idea where it was. Ash s
~RUBY My heart hammered loudly against my chest as I heard Patrick's voice on the phone. But what really cemented the fear in my heart was my father. He grabbed the phone from Patrick and was rambling to me. I could not hear what he was saying but he was panicked, and close to tears. I stood up and searched for something to grab. I needed to hold something, anything and Ash was the only person I could work with. So I held Ash's arm so tight that it was enough to leave marks. "Jesus Christ. I can't hear a word of whatever you're saying, dad. Just calm down, stop panicking and talk to me," I yelled, sheer terror blinded my eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I...it's just...I...you and Ethan need to get down here now please. They are going to take over my company and liquidate it. I...they're not listening to me. Just get down here," he choked and he sounded as though he had been crying. My father cherished his company a lot, it was what kept him going during the dark, down ti
~RUBY I watched as my father sighed, his eyes darting towards me at Ethan's question. I didn't say anything though. I just waited for his response, along side Ash and Ethan. My father sighed and walked to the window, turning his back on us. "Mr A. I consider him a...friend. I don't know how or where he got my contact information from but one day, a year ago, I received a text from him." I didn't know what or how to feel after the drama that had happened withing the last twenty four hours. So I said nothing, felt nothing amd continued to listen to my father's tale. "My company was doing well, actually. So I was not desperate for any kind of help. But what he proposed, what he asked me to do was risky. I didn't want to do it, because it would be foolishness to invest in something that risky and unpredictable." My father was a good business man, but he was too compassionate. I could see where the story was going. "He convinced me. And I took the risk. Guess what? The i
~RUBY I didn't think about Ash for too long. I already came to a decision that he was not worth it. Although I'm super grateful for his presence and contribution to my dad's dilemma, and for witnessing me relive the most embarrassing moment of my life, I still wanted to maintain boundaries. We may be civil now, but that didn't make us friends. Ethan didn't leave my hand all through the drive, and few minutes later, I had relaxed. I felt safe with him. He saved my dad. He stood by my side and wasn't freaked out by my stillness. I loved him so much. I thought back the the past few days and how crazy it had been. Even when I pushed his brother into the pool, he didn't hate me. He was not even mad at me. When we got back to the Riverstone mansion, we got off and he immediately came over to my side to help me in. His hands cocooned mine as we walked in, hand in hand, muttering sweet words to help me relax. Ash walked with us to the door before muttering something abo
~ASH Anger rose in me as I watched Ruby stare at my brother with star crossed eyes. I had to stifle the urge to smash Ethan's face on the steering wheel, to pluck his eyes out, to do anything to stop Ruby from staring at him like he was her world. I gritted my teeth and endured the rising rage. When we got home, I alighted and I gave an excuse of attending a meeting. I doubted that they heard me. They were too bust holding hands and playing love. I've never wanted to kill Ethan so much like I did in that moment. So I left them and walked to the side door that led into the kitchen. My room was on the topmost floor, and I heard them still muttering in the sitting room as I went up. I tried meditating, thinking about things that made me happy. But my thoughts started straying back to Ruby, and how she looked at my brother. She had never stared at me like that before. She always glared at me with anger, disgust, rage, indifference. But never that way. I wanted her
~RUBY I woke up to a silent, serene morning. There was no loud ringtone distributing my sleep which made me wonder for a moment if something was wrong with Ella. She hadn't called me for a while now. And her number was not reachable. Knowing my impulsive, erratic baby, she was probably too busy with work. Yeah. That must be it. I yawned and was about to roll to the other side of the bed when I noticed a warm body beside me. I whirled around, surprise making my jaw drop when I saw Ethan, snoring slightly. Ethan. On the bed with me. I remembered last night, and how our lovemaking had been so different from what I was used to. And now, he was on the bed with me, when I was expecting to wake up alone as usual. I snuggled close to my husband. He snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me closer, breathing my hair in deeply. This was new. Strange. Unexpected. But I liked it. I decided to stop comparing how different it was, how the contrast was so sharp, s
~RUBY Ash’s eyes was full to the brim with fire. Rage rippled across his body as he glared at me, fists forming by his side. I swallowed and lowered my hand. As annoyed as hell he might have been, I wasn't going to let him take the journal from me. I knew that I was supposed to say something, anything, to explain my presence in this room that seemed to have been kept as a shrine. A reminder, of whoever this Xena was. "What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing. Here?" He asked again, stalking closer to me. His gait was slow and steady, with fisted hands by his side. In all the times I'd seen Ash angry, he had never been this mad before. "I...I...I was," I gulped, fear preventing the words from coming out. He looked as though he wanted to strangle me. Or even swallow me. I was not going to let that happen, so I swallowed the lump of fear and started talking. "You know. This is a very large house and when I woke up I was so hungry. I was going to come to the kitchen to ge