~RUBY I watched in horror as Ash lunged at Richard. The move took Richard by surprise and he stumbled backwards. He glanced up and spat, a trickle of blood running down his jaw. Ash's attack had taken him in the jaw, and he cursed as he glared at my husband's brother. “You bastard,” Richard growled and he attacked Ash with a ferocity that scared me so much that I took a step back, my legs trembling. They exchanged blows that left Richard reeling, but Ash was taking the worst of it. He had been beaten and bruised, and even though anger fueled his movements, his body was badly battered, making his movements sloppy and clumsy. Richard landed a blow on Ash's face, and a sharp crack filled the air. My horror grew as I saw blood trickle down Ash's nose, and I realized that his nose was broken. My hands started to shake as they continued to beat each other, and the grunts made me flinch. I had to do something. If I stood there and watched, helpless and useless, som
~RUBY ~FIVE YEARS LATER~ I was flipping a pancake when I heard a loud splash, immediately accompanied by a squeal, and I sighed as I walked and poked my head out of the pool door. “Jesus Christ. Ash. Jules. Keep it down,” I chastised, but Ash just looked up from his painting and grinned at me. “I don't know what you're talking about, fireball. As you can see, I'm innocent,” he winked and went back to painting. “Mummy see. I can do a backflip,” my daughter squealed and before I could stop her, she ran to the pool steps, closed her eyes, and flipped back into the water with a loud splash. “If you keep doing that there'll be no pancakes for you,” I said and she popped her head out immediately. “Oh no. I love pancakes!” “Then stop making such a loud noise,” I snapped and walked back to the kitchen, hiding a smile. The only way to get Jules into submissiveness was to threaten to take away her food. Soft footsteps pattered behind me. “I'm sorry, mum. I won't ma
~RUBY I was singing along to Doja's Agora Hills when my phone rang for the millionth time. I sighed, immediately knowing who the caller was before even checking the contact name. When has Ella never stressed the hell out of my life? I clicked the red icon, cutting the call and turning up the volume on the car speaker as the song started all over again. "Kissing and hope they caught us…" "Whether they like it or not…I wanna show you off… I wanna show you off…" I continued to sing, nodding my head to the beat when my phone rang again. I sighed as I reduced the volume and clicked the green icon. "Dude, what the hell? Where are you?" she practically yelled immediately the call went through. My shoulders shook with laughter at her outrage and I let her steam without interruption. "Are you even listening to me?" she asked and I rolled my eyes. "I am. I was waiting for you to stop shouting," I replied and she gasped. God, this girl has to be the most dramatic human eve
~RUBY I sped towards the hospital, overtaking cars and running past red lights. My heart was pounding heavily against my chest, threatening to burst out of my body. My father. The light of my life. My world. The man I loved most in the whole wide world. He was hospitalized. Had an heart attack. Immediately the hospital appeared in my line of sight, I slammed down the brakes and flung myself out of the car without bothering to park carefully. I ran into the hospital and immediately saw Patrick. I grabbed his arm, shaking him violently. "What the hell happened to my father?" I asked, my voice raw with fear and panic. He eased himself out of my grip and continued pacing, running his hands through his hair. "Just calm down, okay? Calm down. He's stable now," he said in an attempt to dilute my raw panic. But his words were not working on me. He was as panicked as I was too. "Who the fuck are you to tell me to calm down? My father is lying in an hospital bed helplessly and
~RUBY My head was pounding as I raced home, trying to decipher what just happened. His name kept ringing in my head, no matter how much I tried to shut it out. Ethan. Ethan. Ethan. I was so out of sorts that I debated driving over to my dad's when it occurred to me that he was still in the hospital, recovering. I decided to head home instead. I walked absentmindedly to my door, fumbling with the lock. When the door opened from the inside, my insides lurched. "Ruby," Ella screamed, drawing my name out and I flinched. She dragged me inside, oblivious to the turmoil going on inside me. "I saw your text. So I decided to come over to wait for you. I need the full gist. Which son did you meet? Was it the badass, sexy Ash or the broody, hawt and definitely delicious Ethan?" She squealed and the tension dissolved from my body as a smile tugged at my lips. I loved this girl. Not that I was going to tell her. I rolled my eyes, concealing my smile as I eased myself out of
~ASH I woke up with a groan, my head pounding violently. I groaned, cursing the excess way I drank yesterday. My cell phone beeped and I rolled over, using my hands to search for the device. I bumped into a warm, naked body and I tensed. The blonde followed me home? I sighed as I pried my eyes open and stared down at her. Desire gripped me and I smacked her, not giving her a chance to wake up on her own. She groaned, a small little sound which reverberated all the way to my member, making it hard and ready. "Come to daddy," I whispered and she sat up immediately and straddled me, her tits bouncing. I grabbed them and buried my face in it, her moans urging me on. My phone beeped again and for some reason I couldn't decipher, I had this weird urge to check it. So I did. The notification had my desire dissipating immediately, anger making my jaw tick. Damn Ethan. I dropped the phone and stared at the blonde sitting on me, waiting for me to give her the time of her live.
~RUBY Ava Max was playing somewhere, dangerously close to me. The sound of her singing was disturbing my sleep and I turned over, pulling my pillow to cover my ears. She continued to sing. I'm going to kill Ella. I sat up with a groan, stretching, my body deliciously sore as I searched for Ella. She was the only one who tortured me with loud music every morning. Apparently, this morning was not exempted. As I looked around though, unfamiliar furniture stared back at me when I remembered that I was no longer at home. Memories of my wedding floated past the fog in my head and I gasped. If I was married, then it meant that I was in the Riverstone's mansion! Then that sound...my phone was ringing. I scrambled out of the bed and grabbed my phone from the bedside stand. As soon as I saw the caller's ID, I groaned. Yeah, my decision to kill Ella still stands. I'd gladly accept my jail term. "Why on earth are you calling me this early? I have a beauty sleep to c
~RUBY The silence in the room was loaded. The air became tense and strained. Or maybe it was just me. I had no idea why I was reacting to Ash this way. It was probably because he was a jerk to me. Ethan said nothing, he just corked his head to the side as he watched his brother. "I uhm," Ash cleared his throat. "I think I might have done something bad last night," he said. The way he glanced at me and then at Ethan made me immediately suspicious. What have you done, you agent of devil? Okay, probably not devil. More like agent of confusion. "Just get on with it, Ash. Suspense is bad for the health. Keeping newlyweds in suspense is bad etiquette," Ethan said and I smiled. His sense of humour was top notch. My sweet, funny husband. "I think I might have booked a hotel reservation for your honeymoon," he said sheepishly. I snorted. I did not believe his act for a second. He was a pretending jerk. His eyes glinted with amusement when he caught me glaring at
~RUBY ~FIVE YEARS LATER~ I was flipping a pancake when I heard a loud splash, immediately accompanied by a squeal, and I sighed as I walked and poked my head out of the pool door. “Jesus Christ. Ash. Jules. Keep it down,” I chastised, but Ash just looked up from his painting and grinned at me. “I don't know what you're talking about, fireball. As you can see, I'm innocent,” he winked and went back to painting. “Mummy see. I can do a backflip,” my daughter squealed and before I could stop her, she ran to the pool steps, closed her eyes, and flipped back into the water with a loud splash. “If you keep doing that there'll be no pancakes for you,” I said and she popped her head out immediately. “Oh no. I love pancakes!” “Then stop making such a loud noise,” I snapped and walked back to the kitchen, hiding a smile. The only way to get Jules into submissiveness was to threaten to take away her food. Soft footsteps pattered behind me. “I'm sorry, mum. I won't ma
~RUBY I watched in horror as Ash lunged at Richard. The move took Richard by surprise and he stumbled backwards. He glanced up and spat, a trickle of blood running down his jaw. Ash's attack had taken him in the jaw, and he cursed as he glared at my husband's brother. “You bastard,” Richard growled and he attacked Ash with a ferocity that scared me so much that I took a step back, my legs trembling. They exchanged blows that left Richard reeling, but Ash was taking the worst of it. He had been beaten and bruised, and even though anger fueled his movements, his body was badly battered, making his movements sloppy and clumsy. Richard landed a blow on Ash's face, and a sharp crack filled the air. My horror grew as I saw blood trickle down Ash's nose, and I realized that his nose was broken. My hands started to shake as they continued to beat each other, and the grunts made me flinch. I had to do something. If I stood there and watched, helpless and useless, som
~RUBY I knew deciding to go to the location was me walking into a trap, but this was Ash. There was no saying what that man could do to him, and I honestly could not stand losing another member of my family. He was my husband's brother. And my friend. Besides, I would not be able to go on for long as a member of the Riverstone's family with no one to help me. But the greater factor of all, that made me pick up a pen and write a note to Ella, that made me decide that I would go, even when it was glaringly obvious that there was nothing I could do to help, was because he had always been there for me. Ash had always, always given me a shoulder to cry on. He had comforted me countless times, being there for me, took risks for me, and loved me all the same. The least I could do was to be there for him, too. So I placed the note I wrote on the bedside table where Ella's phone was, took a deep breath, and picked up my phone. The location he sent was a secluded area not
~ETHAN I staggered out of the hospital room, my vision swimming and my head pounding. But I didn't stop. Every step was agony to my limbs, and I was sure the pain was going to rip me out from inside. But I continued to walk. I had ruined everything. Memories of how I acted that day played over and over in my head, so frequently that I thought I was going to lose my mind. I wanted to scream, to shake myself out of the pain. But I didn't. Doing that would only draw attention to me, and I really needed to get to Ruby. To salvage the situation. But if I let out this scream of horror and pain that was building in me, they would detain me and stop me from going to Ruby, so I swallowed it. Gritting my teeth in pain and dizziness, I made it to a side door that led outside the hospital. A cab pulled up as soon as I managed to drag myself to the sidewalk, and I stumbled inside. “The.. River…Riverstone's Villa, please,” I gasped in short breaths as I spoke, and the cab man
~A FEW HOURS EARLIER~ ~ETHAN My body felt as though it was being dragged through mud as I tried to regain consciousness. Straining against the strange sensation, I opened my eyes. I was in a hospital. The ‘drop drop’ sound of the drip sounded like a ticking bomb to my ears, and I closed my eyes, trying to shut the sound away to no avail. Wires ran across my body, connected to different types of machines, and my heart rate picked up as I tried to remember what happened. My head hurt so bad though, and it made it so hard to think, so I relaxed a bit, trying to coax the information out of my brain. Something was at the edge of my brain, something important, but I couldn't access it. It was as though my brain was asleep, and reviving it would take a lot to work. Footsteps sounded down the hall, and I closed my eyes immediately, pretending to be asleep. Two people stepped into my room, and I could feel their scrutiny as they peered down at
~RUBY Everything clicked into place for me. How he always seemed to know when something happened, how he always appeared out of thin air whenever Mr A struck. It explained how he knew about my allergy. He must have read about it in the marriage document I exchanged with Ethan. Oh my goodness. My knees got weak and could not hold me up any longer, so I slid down the floor, the coolness grounding me a little bit. Ella was worried, and she stood up from the couch to join me on the floor. “Baby. What is it again? What did Patrick say?” Her voice was choked with worry and panic, while my mind whirled at the extensiveness of Richard's cruelty. “Mr. A. Richard is Mr. A,” I managed to whisper, and the tremor of shock that went through Ella reverberated in me. “How…why…” she wanted to talk, but words eluded her, as they did me. “God. Richard's scheme was so…” I tried speaking too, but I could not wrap my head around it. Everything that has been wrong, that ha
~RUBY It's been twenty four hours since the trial, Ash's kidnap, and the accusations, but it felt like years to me. I laid on my hospital bed and didn't say a word. There was nothing to say, anyway. Ella and my father exchanged worried glances all the time, but they could not help me. So they waited for me, and I waited for my husband. If only Ethan had listened. If only I had been strong enough to save them both. If only I hadn't found the diary. If only… Damnit. There was no point in wishing things had happened differently, but I couldn't help myself. If I had a genie, I would not even ask for three wishes. What I would have wished for was for Ethan to come back to life, and set things right. If he came back, I would make him listen, and the three of us would raise the kid together. I would not even give a damn about Richard and his shenanigans. He could go to hell for all I care. All I wanted was Ethan. But a dead person always remain dead. They never ca
~RUBY I was shaken from facing that crowd and telling the truth, but I was glad I did it. I was so scared, that I feared I would not be able to speak, but I did it. “My darling. I'm so proud of you,” Ella whispered as she hugged me, and I sagged against her, watching them lead Ash away. Cole went with them, and the courtroom bustled around me and Ella. No one paid attention to us though, so I let my facade down, and let her hold me. I felt weak, since I didn't allow my body to recover before rushing all the way here, letting Ella brief me in the taxi. The short burst of energy that carried me through the whole process of running here and giving my account was gone now, and my body ached so bad. “I'm so tired. I feel like my legs are going to give out any minute,” I groaned and Ella shifted her weight slightly away from mine. “Come on. Let's go back to the hospital,” she said and I nodded. We made our way slowly through the court room, Ella calling for a taxi as we wal
~ASH I was shocked. Surprised. Befuddled. Stunned. I didn't expect Ruby to wake up soon, and from Cole's expression, he didn't expect it too. But she was here and she was awake, and that was all that mattered. I was happy. She seemed okay, no matter how weak she looked. She was okay. Even if I was sentenced to jail or death, I would die happily. The judge started at her words. “You are a witness to what happened?” He asked. “Yes, I am.” The prosecutor stood up with an uncomfortable expression, and Ruby, standing in the witness box, took the oath of truth. “Speak, witness,” the judge ordered. “Ethan, my husband, invited us both to the restaurant. He was acting weird, but I was too absorbed in the information I wanted to pass across to them to notice. It was when he showed us the pictures and started acting up that I noticed. I tried reasoning with him, but he was too far gone in his answer to listen. It was when he wanted to hit me that Ash stepped in and s