"He hates Dad so much but there is a picture of both of them in the study..." Ruby pushed herself to her feet, not bothering to answer her mother’s question, "And you know what I found behind it?"
Mrs. Ambrose’s delicate face looked stricken as she looked at her daughter, "You... Ruby, how many tis have I told you to not ss around like this? What if your father finds out..."
"Mom, I found empty bottles of antidepressants in that box, all dated around the year dad passed away. And pictures, there were countless crumpled pictures of dad and Mr. Ambrose in there."
Mrs. Ambrose’s face paled as she took a step back.
"I rember that back then... Back then, Dad loved his younger brother. But he never gave him big responsibilities, saying that he was too ambitious. Once he controlled his ambitions and found his purpose, he would be way more efficient..."
Ruby frowned, "Then, how did uncle inherit everything right after dad’s death? They were not even blood-related, so it did not give him any direct rights."
Mrs. Ambrose slowly registered her senses. She looked up and stepped towards Ruby.
"Mom, let’s move out," Ruby looked at the woman resolutely, "I have so savings and I have started earning. I can support us. Until we figure things out-"
’Pak’
Ruby’s face whipped to the side by the impact of the slap.
"I always knew you were reluctant to accept him as your father..." Mrs. Ambrose covered her face in both her hands, "But I never thought that you’d go as far as trying to fra my husband."
Ruby froze.
"They were brothers. I have known them for years. How can I not know how deep their bond was? I never expected my daughter to twist the truth and manipulate ."
Once she finished speaking, Mrs. Ambrose burst into tears.
Ruby looked at the woman silently, "You... don’t trust ."
Mrs.. Ambrose’s shoulder trembled as she cried.
Ruby looked at the woman, the rims of her eyes reddening, "All these years, I have tolerated that man, given in to his whims and commands, all because of you, Mom. Because you wouldn’t let him go no matter how much he abused you..."
A hint of cold touched Ruby’s eyes, "In the end, you’d rather trust him over ."
"Get out!" Mrs. Ambrose yelled before Ruby could finish speaking, "Don’t show your face right now."
Ruby was stunned, her fingers clenched into a fist, "Fine, if that’s what you wish for, I won’t show my face in front of you."
The words seed to echo even after Ruby left the room.
Mrs. Ambrose weakly walked towards the bed and took a seat. Hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, she wiped her tears.
"Dear, what happened? I was in my room, taking a call when I heard so noises..."
"It was Ruby," Mrs. Ambrose pinched the spot between her brows, "She was complaining about the marriage again."
Mr. Ambrose approached her and gently ran his fingers in her striking red hair, "You tried to convince her, right?" his voice was low.
"Of course, I know how important this marriage is for you. But, she threw a tantrum and ran away..."
Mr. Ambrose’s face darkened, "How can she run away? n-"
"She said... She said she will go to her friend and her husband..." Mrs. Ambrose frowned, "What’s their na... Oh, Ella and Mr. King."
Mr. Ambrose’s jaw clenched at the ntion of Adrian. As much as he wanted to drag Ruby back, he couldn’t do so if Adrian King was in the picture.
"Fine, she can take her ti to calm down. She cannot stay with forever. When she cos back, we will have a proper talk with her," As Mr. Ambrose spoke, he peeled off the layers of clothes on his wife’s body, "Dear, why is your body so cold... Sigh... Co, let warm you up properly!’’
...
"It seems like I am paying you for nothing. It has been months since I hired you to investigate if they shared a past yet you haven’t accomplished anything so far," Ronan kept his hand on the steering wheel, his gaze focused on the road as he drove.
"D-D-Dr. Knight, I..." The private investigator’s voice echoed inside the car, "I do not dare to investigate Mr. King. The only lead is Ella Yu. But even with her, there is sothing weird..."
"Weird?" Ronan frowned.
"Yes, it’s hard to explain... Everything about her past seems like a carefully crafted storybook."
Ronan pinched the spot between his brows, "Explain it clearly. Don’t talk in circles."
"I an...."
’Screech’
"Dr. Knight? Dr. Knight, are you fine?"
After stepping on the ergency brakes, Ronan was looking at the streets in a daze.
Only when he heard the private investigator’s voice did he snap out of his reverie.
Ronan did not take his eyes off the road as he calmly commanded, "Keep looking into it. I don’t need your random philosophy. I want results."
"Y-Yes."
After hanging up the call, Ronan alighted the car and looked at the empty bus stop.
On the cornermost chair, a girl was seated, her forehead was placed on her knees and her long red hair flowed gently in the light breeze.
"Ruby?"
Ruby froze.
Hearing the familiar voice, she felt like sobody had stripped her naked and thrown her in front of a crowd of people.
She did not move, she did not raise her head... Instead, she lowered her head even further hoping that Ronan would disappear if she stayed still.
However, his presence only drew closer.
Ruby’s fingers curled.
"Ruby, you..."
"Stop showing up in front of , again and again," Ruby looked up slowly, her voice frosty, "We have nothing to do with each other, Mr. Knight."
Ronan halted in his tracks. For the longest ti, he looked at her.
Then, he turned around and left.
Ruby’s shoulders slumped in relief yet as she watched the man walking further and further away from her, her throat felt choked up.
Her eyes that had long dried burned again. She looked away from Ronan.
Just as she was about to bury her head in her knees, a tissue box appeared in her view.
Ruby’s eyes widened.
She looked up at Ronan.
Ronan shrugged a shoulder and sat beside her, "It seed like you’d need this."
When Ruby did not accept the box from his hand, he pulled out a tissue paper and reached towards her face.
Ruby backed for a mont, and Ronan’s hand hovered mid-air.
But in the next mont, Ruby relaxed and leaned forward by an inch.
A hint of astonishnt flickered in Ronan’s eyes but he quickly masked it and dabbed her face, "It’s bad for your skin to keep so much makeup on your face at night."
"You are not my dermat," Ruby said softly.
Ronan chuckled, "Yet, I am wiping your makeup clean at this ti, in the middle of nowhere."
Ruby pursed her lips. The man spoke as if he could not see the tear stains. He acted like the makeup was his point of concern and the discomfort pressing her chest slowly disappeared.
"It happened to be the first day of shoot," Ruby leaned back on the bench, letting him wipe her face.
His fingers paused for a mont, "I know."
Their gazes t, "Have you been stalking , Dr. Knight?"
"That’d be the wrong word to describe it..."
"Mr. Ambrose’s injuries were your doing, weren’t they?"
The mont Ruby uttered those words, a heavy silence lingered between them.
Nobody spoke for a long ti.
Finally, it was Ruby who pushed herself to her feet.
"Where are you going? I’ll drop you..."
"I am fine. I..." Ruby trailed off when a hand circled around her wrist.
She glanced at Ronan.
"You are coming with ."
"This... will be considered kidnapping, Dr. Knight," Ruby frowned when the man dragged her over to his car.
"Like hell I am going to leave you alone in the middle of nowhere. We might have our differences but you are mine to protect, Miss Ambrose."
’Thump’
’Thump’
’Thump’
Ruby could hear the sound of her heartbeats, right in her ears till Ronan opened the car door and helped her inside.
"Do you have sowhere in mind where you want to go?"
Seeing that he won’t budge, Ruby told him the address.
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