Chapter 61: Someone Else Got You
Ruby’s jaw clenched. "Trouble? Stefan," she turned to him, "do you also agree with them? Do you also think I’m here to cause trouble and that I shouldn’t speak with you privately?"
Stefan looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged slightly. "If you want to talk, I don’t mind. But I’d like my wife to stay. She’s always been with me, even during important business meetings. There’s nothing I’d hide from her. You can speak here and no, I don’t think you came to cause trouble thinking about all I’ve heard about you."
Ruby froze. Each word from him stabbed deeper than the last. He thinks Ivy is his wife.
He doesn’t know... and he doesn’t suspect anything.
Her lips trembled, her knees felt weak. But still, she looked him in the eye and asked, "What if I told you I love you?" she said, voice barely steady. "What if I told you all this—everything you think you know—is a lie?"
She asked and for a moment, everywhere went silent, everyone taking in the gravity of what her words mean.
"You see!" Regina shouted, throwing her hands in the air. "She’s always been a selfish child! She ruined her own relationship here in Zeden, and now she’s come to ruin her sister’s too because of all the nice things she’s heard about you from her sister! Why are you so selfish, Ruby? How can you be so different from your sister?" Regina asked and Ivy seized the opportunity as she burst into a sob.
"You’re a bad sister," Elizabeth spat. "Shameless. Barging in and trying to steal what’s not yours."
Ruby chuckled humorlessly. Of course, it was true. Stefan was never hers to begin with but now, now....
Ivy sniffled, eyes brimming with tears. "I didn’t want to say anything... I only wanted him to see her once, since he asked. I never knew she hated me so much... and wanted my husband. How could you, Ruby? I tell you how amazing he is to me and you come here confessing your love to him in front of me? Is that what you wanted to tell him in secret? Stefan, I think she should go."