Chapter 17
Cole and Natalie were getting married.
Roby hail finally tuned on her phone about five hours later, hoping that the calls and texts from a million different
umbers would have decreased now, or that hopefully, they had moved to something or someone more interesting. And the second she got the phone to come on, notifications flooded in. She tapped the article at the top because it had the Smith name plastered over it. And that was when she saw it. “Cole Smith proposes to long time girlfriend in an extravagant event at The Palace Hotel, New York” She rolled her eyes at their choice of words, one year wasn’t considered longtime in her books. And this time, she was wise enough not to read the comments. They were a few texts from Ethan, the first one issued an apology, claiming that he didn’t know what came over him and that he was sorry for talking to her like that and for calling her names. She sighed wearily and turned the phone back off, not bothering to read the rest of the messages
Her mind went to Alex. There was no doubt that he must have seen or heard the news about Cole and Natalie. She wondered how he had reacted. Did he scream? Yell? Did he even react? Was he sad about it? She figured he must be heartbroken… Natalie had been the love of his life. But why did the thought of him being sad over the news make her angry? What was that stab of pain in her chest when she thought of him hurting over his ex?
“Ruby?”
She jumped at the sound of Alex’s voice, clutching her chest dramatically. She hadn’t even heard him come in. “Alex, she breathed, looking for signs of despair in his face. He didn’t look sad, or happy, or anything. But that was Alex, he never looked anything. If there was one thing the man was good at, it was hiding his emotions.
He held out a white shopping bag to her, “here. It’s a new mobile phone. I figured you needed a change of number because of everything that’s happening. My number’s already saved on there. It’s fully encrypted with our company’s latest technology. There’s also a new laptop and tablet in the bag, both similarly encrypted.”
She fiddled with the phone, seeing that he had set up her name as “Ruby Blackwood“. She wondered what her contact was saved as on his phone. Was it just plain Ruby? Or something worse! She scrolled through the contacts, seeing that he had already programmed in everyone she could try to reach, including a name she couldn’t recognize.
“Who’s Blake?” She asked.
“Your new security detail”
She burst into laughter at that, wiping at the tears that escaped from the corner of her eyes. “Don’t you think security’s a bit too extreme! I don’t need to be protected, nobody’s coming for me. I’m just plain old Ruby.”
“Maybe that was true a week ago, but not anymore. You’re Ruby Blackwood now, and you have no idea just how many enemies I have, especially now that everything’s been revealed to the public.” He sat next to her on the sofa, staring at her so she had no choice but to look back at him and pay attention. “And that attention doesn’t end with just me, it extends to my mother, to Scott and most especially to my new wife. You think you’re in the clear, Ruby, when in fact, you’re already a
target
She frowned at him, confused. “What do you mean?”
“Mateo at the club said that they got a call about you coming in!
She gasped and her eyes widened. The pieces were finally falling into place. This new information explained everything about all the questions that she’d had earlier. How they knew her name and the fact that she was coming. But with that knowledge came fear. Her heart was beating even faster now, She wasn’t safe, she thought that if she minded her business and never offended anyone, she would be safe, but obviously she couldn’t have been more wrong.
“But I got the card from my mother’s nurse she thought out loud
“Only means that someone must have gotten through to her. Alex explained.
The shock and fear spread through her body now, rattling her bones and causing a chill to run down her spine. Someone
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Chapter 17
had gotten through to her mother’s nurse. What did that mean for her mother? She had put her mother in the hands of someone who couldn’t be trusted. “Alex, my mom..” she gasped, barely able to get the words out. “I put my mother in the hands of someone like that, what have I done??
“Hey, there’s nothing to worry about. I’m already in the process of moving your mother to a private and secure treatment Tacility that my family uses. That should be happening right now as we speak My people are also looking into specialists that can help her and create a new treatment plan for her. You’ll be able to see her again tomorrow and I’ll definitely find out who gave the card to the nurse. It’s only a matter of time, so there’s nothing to worry about. But now you see why we need to be extra careful”
She nodded meekly, now feeling guilty, appreciative, overwhelmed and scared all at the same time. Thank you, Alex: You have no idea how much this means to me.” She whispered.
“Everything’s already set in motion. All that I ask in return is that you respect the boundaries that I’ve set
“I understand. I won’t bother you needlessly. I appreciate everything you’re doing for my mother, and I’ll be a devoted daughter in law to your mother and a doting wife to you in public.”
“Great. On that note, you should get ready, we have a date.” He suddenly announced, getting up to go into the bathroom.
“A date?” She asked in surprise, whipping her neck so fast that she almost got whiplash.
“Yes.” Alex simply answered.
“Well?” She looked at him in question, motioning for him to give more information
There’s a thousand news articles about us right now, we need to be seen out in public, to show that we’ve got a united front and all that?”
She nodded in understanding.
“Ruby, you’re Mrs Ruby Blackwood now. You have to always remember that. This date, it’ll either do us a lot of good or a lot of bad. You know how it gets with this sort of media attention. So you have to act appropriately..”
She frowned at him, feeling oddly offended. What did he think she was going to do! She might’ve been poor for a while now, but it didn’t mean that she’d lost her way or anything. “Don’t worry Alex, I’ll try to refrain from getting down on my knees to suck off the highest bidder.”
She regretted the words the second they left her lips and she wished she could take them back, but it was too late. Her words were uncalled for, but she still felt a little bitter about how he’d offered her fifty thousand dollars to get down with her. She wasn’t sure what was making her more angry, the fact that he had offered it at all, or the fact that she would’ve done it if he had actually been serious about it.
“I just gave you half my net worth by marrying you. Actually, there’s a duplicate of my credit card in the bag too. I’ll always be the highest bidder, Ruby, remember that.”
Her cheeks heated up but she ignored his comment, looking at him suspiciously. “So this date… it wouldn’t have anything do with the news of Cole and Natalie?”
He stilled. There was a beat of silence before he spoke again. “What do you mean?”
“Come on, Alex. I know you heard news of their engagement. You want to use me to overshadow the news of their engagement, don’t you?” She asked with her heart in her throat.
He turned around to fully face her. “Yes, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.” He said without missing a beat.
Her heart broke even as she forced a smile on her face. She’d been worried that when he looked at her, all he could see was her brother who had offended him.
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Chapter 17
But it was even
worse.
When he looked at her, all he saw was Natalic.
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She was only a tool for him to get to his ex, to rattle her and hurt her. Even now, when it was her who bore his last name, all he could think about was Natalie. All he could see was her. And it would always be her.
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