Chapter 2: Substitute Bride
Before she could leave, Elizabeth held her back. "Im not joking. You have to do this, please. I’ll pay!"
"This is absurd," Ruby said firmly, shaking her head as she started to pace the room. "I don’t even know Stefan. I’ve been out of town for years—I only came back for this wedding. You all know that," Ruby said incredulously.
Elizabeth Winters stood tall, her hands clasped tightly in front of her, her desperation barely concealed beneath her composed expression. "You don’t have to know him, Ruby. You just have to be his wife. Just for a year."
Ruby turned sharply, her heart pounding. "A year? That’s not a short time! You’re asking me to pretend to be Ivy for an entire year! To put my life on hold for an entire year? That’s impossible!" She looked at her mother, Regina Quinn, expecting her to back her up. "Tell her this is insane, Mom."
Regina opened her mouth, but no words came out. She glanced between Ruby and Elizabeth, her expression torn.
Elizabeth took a step closer, her voice gentler but no less firm. "Stefan’s surgery is scheduled in a year. Once his eyesight is restored, you can leave. By then, he’ll be strong enough to handle the truth. I don’t mind paying you just to be his substitute bride, please."
Ruby shook her head again. "No, I—I can’t. Paying me doesn’t change the fact that I have a life of my own. A boyfriend," she added, though Elizabeth could see the lie in that.
Elizabeth’s sharp gaze flickered with doubt. "Do you?"
Ruby faltered for a second but lifted her chin. "Yes."
Elizabeth let out a slow breath, clearly unconvinced, but she didn’t press. Instead, she changed tactics. "You don’t understand what this will do to Stefan if he finds out Ivy abandoned him because he’s blind. He loves her. He trusts her. If he realizes she left him at the altar because of his condition..." She trailed off, shaking her head. "He might never recover from that kind of betrayal."