"Co on, be quick. Make sure to wear a hoodie," I called from the sitting room.
"Alright," Ruby replied. I had succeeded in convincing her, and she went to change.
After dressing, she ca out wearing a grey hoodie, black joggers, and Converse shoes.
"How do I look?" She asked, examining her outfit. I walked over and pulled her hoodie further over her face.
"Cover up properly."
"But isn’t it too late? Are you sure we’re going to find a taxi?"
I checked the ti on my phone. "It’s a few minutes past midnight, but don’t worry; Joshua will be here."
"Really?"
"I didn’t want to disturb him, but I had no choice; this is urgent. I’m expecting his text—he’ll be here soon."
"Alright, I’ll grab a different purse." She rushed into her room and returned with a smaller bag. She put her phone inside her purse and sat down beside .
When my phone beeped, I didn’t bother reading the text; I already knew who it was.
"Let’s go," I said, standing up. She got up with . We left her apartnt and entered the elevator. It took us down, and we found Joshua waiting in the car.
We got into the backseat. "I’m sorry—I had no choice. I didn’t an to disturb your sleep, but it’s really urgent," I apologized.
He smiled. "You should have told before leaving the house. Do you know how scared I was when I realized you weren’t ho? I’m your driver; I’ll always be available 24/7."
"Thank you. Please head to Gavin’s office," I said.
"Alright," he replied, driving out onto the highway.
"Are you sure he’s at the company?"
"Your brother isn’t ho; you said he’s pulling an all-nighter, right?"
"Yes."
"Then Gavin will be there. He does that a lot."
"Alright." There was no traffic, so we reached Gavin’s company in nine minutes. Once Joshua stopped in the parking lot, I didn’t wait for him to park properly before announcing,
"We’ll get out here," I said, opening the door. We got out and took the back entrance into the company.
"Wait, I need to call my brother first," she said. "Can I borrow your phone? I can’t use mine."
"Alright," I said, dialing Landon’s number and handing her my phone.
"Hello."
"We’re at your company."
"We’re at the entrance by the parking lot. The first floor."
"Okay, we’ll wait." She returned my phone.
"Is he coming to us?" I asked.
"Yes, he wants to see . I thought it’d be better to et him since we’re here."
It took six minutes for Landon to reach us.
He sighed when he saw his sister, then embraced her. "Are you okay?"
"I’m not. How can I be?" Ruby murmured, holding onto him. The scene made jealous, so I looked away.
I have brothers who are studying in another country. I’m not that jealous, I told myself, rolling my eyes.
"I don’t know if Gavin is still at the company, but you should check," Landon said after listening to Ruby.
"Okay, we’ll check. If we don’t find him, I’ll let you know."
"Alright." We took the elevator to the top floor and t Gavin’s secretary, who spoke politely.
"Mr. Sebastian is not in. He left about an hour ago," he said.
"Do you know where he is?" I asked.
"No, ma’am. I don’t. Maybe you should check the hotel where he stays."
"A hotel? Which hotel?"
"Five Starling. He stays in the penthouse."
"Thank you, we’ll be on our way," I said.
"You’re welco."
We turned, entered the elevator, and made our way to the Five Starling hotel.
After speaking to the receptionist, we went to Gavin’s suite, and I rang the doorbell.
Gavin appeared a minute later, his face twisted in surprise as he stared at us.
"Who is this?" Gavin’s eyes turned to Ruby.
"It’s Ruby," I said, pulling her hoodie off her face.
"Oh, this is a surprise. Co in," he said, and we went inside.
"Are you going sowhere?" I asked, noticing how he was dressed.
"Yeah, I ca to take a bath before going back to the company. I thought it was Cooper at the door—he was supposed to bring a docunt."
"Oh, so Cooper is on his way?"
"Yes, he is. He lives close by."
"Oh."
"How are you doing?" He led us to the sitting room, and we took our seats.
"I’m fine, but my friend is—"
"I know. I’ve missed you. I was tempted to co to the house, but I hesitated because I didn’t know how you’d react," he said.
I gulped. "I’m not here for , Gavin; I’m here for my friend. I need you to help her," I pleaded.
"Do you want sothing? I could order food. Are you hungry?"
"No, I’m not."
"There’s a nice restaurant downstairs; I can order. It looks like you’ve lost a few pounds since the night I saw you."
"I’m okay, Gavin. Ruby needs help."
"The articles have been taken down already; isn’t that why you’re here?" He asked.
"They have?"
"Yes. Although it’s still a trending topic, Simon’s managent worked on the articles," he explained.
"Oh," I looked at Ruby. "This is good news," I whispered.
"But it’s still trending; you heard him."
"Is that a problem?" I asked Gavin.
"Yes, it’s a hot topic. I doubt it’ll die down anyti soon," he replied.
Ruby sighed.
"But is there another way to handle the situation? I don’t want Ruby to be affected by this."
"Yes, there are various ways," he nodded.
"Okay, what ways?" I asked.
He was about to answer when the doorbell rang. "I’ll be back," he said, returning with Cooper.
"Wow, what a surprise!" Cooper said. "I didn’t expect to see you this soon." He approached , took my hand, and kissed it.
"Yeah, it’s unfortunate," I murmured.
"Fortunately for ," he said, sitting beside .
"So, why are you here?"
"For Ruby—the article."
"Oh yeah, I saw that."
"So how do we tackle this problem?" I asked Gavin. "How do we make people see her as a good person?"
"By explaining the incident—by telling people what really happened."
"Will that work?"
"It depends on how you do it," Gavin replied.
"You could involve Simon’s fiancée. If she tells the story herself, it’ll help," Cooper suggested.
"Okay, what are you thinking? How do you intend to convince her?" I asked Cooper.
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