Chapter 25
RUBY
She woke up the next morning with her head on Alex’s bare chest and snuggled in closer. He wrapped his arm around her. confirming that he was awake, and she muzzled in and buried her nose in his neck. She thought about the previous night, after Ethan left their table at the bar, she was unable to fall back into the calmness that she was beginning to feel by being there with Alex. A part of her still felt love for Ethan, and seeing him like that hurt. But when she and Alex had come home to bed last after that, he had peppered countless kisses on her skin. The way he touched her he was both tender and rough at the same time.
Alex was usually gone by the time she woke up, but not this morning. He was still there, with his arms wrapped possessively around her. It was mornings like this that made their marriage bearable- those moments that helped her forget that what they had wasn’t actually real.
“Your hair tickles,” he suddenly said.
She froze in his arms and her entire body tensed. She pushed away from him, but he wouldn’t let her go, instead, he pulled her closer to him, even though they was barely enough space between them anymore. His free hand held his phone, leisurely scrolling through his emails, “Let’s go out again tonight.
She nodded, slightly nervous at the thought. Alex and her didn’t see eachother much outside of their bed. So being on a date with him, two nights in a row made her nervous. No matter how perfectly orchestrated the dates were
He placed his phone down and lifted her right arm, frowning at her fingers. “You need a proper ring. Meet me at The Black mall later, we have a family jeweler there, and then we can go try the new Michelin starred restaurant on the top floor too after that. Perfect location to stage a date.
She blinked, feeling somewhat out of place. The black mall house some of the most exclusive and expensive designer brands in the world, and she had never actually set foot in there since it was opened three years ago. It was a silly feeling, but she felt intimidated. She couldn’t help but feel like a fraud. Like everything would come crashing down on her at any
second.
“Alright,” she said, pushing down the doubts she was having “Then you also need a ring.” She added, kissing his neck.
He tightened his grip on her as her lips touched his neck. “Then you’d better bring your black card with you, Mrs
Blackwood
She paused, remembering the black card Alex had given to her when he’d brought her a new phone and the other electronics. She recognized the card right away. It wasn’t one of those cards that everyone randomly had. In fact, there were only a few that were issued globally, and she could vaguely remember her father applying for one every year when she was a kid, and she remembered that every year, his application was rejected. She hadn’t used the card, she wasn’t planning to. She hadn’t even taken it out of the bag to properly look at it
There was a part of her that found it exhilarating to have access to something so exclusive, but a bigger part of her resented the fact that she was unable to provide for herself and her loved ones in the way that she wanted to. She never wanted to be the type of woman that depended on a man, and look at her now, Not only was she depending on Alex for her own survival. but her mother’s life was now in his hands too. Alex let go of her and slipped out of bed to start getting ready for his day. It was rare for them to spend any time together in the mornings, and she was trying to savour every little thing, so she shamelessly watched him get dressed. He smirked at her knowingly as he walked out, and she was still smiling to herself as she got ready for her own day.
Her suite doesn’t last for long though, it was wiped off her face the second she looked in the mirror and saw the hickey Alex must have left on her neck the previous night. She blushed scarlet, her mind drifting back to the way he had touched and held her. She grabbed a scarf that could easily pay at least a day’s worth of hospital bills and sighed as she wrapped it around her neck to cover the mark thereby transforming herself into the prim and proper wife that Alex had asked for. She stared at her reflection, surprised at what she was seeing. She hadn’t noticed it, but over the past month and a half since she had been married to Alex, she was slowly starting to look like her old self again, but even better. For the first time in a long time. she didn’t look overworked and stressed out. She didn’t look overwhelmed or exhausted and sad: She looked like the old
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Chapter 25
Ruby.
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She grabbed the bag her mother had gotten her shortly before she got into her accident, and frowned at it. She had been wearing it religiously to feel closer to her mother, and it was obviously telling on the bag. The edges were worn, and it was discolored from the lack of maintenance over the years, but it was the last thing her mother had given her, and she never had the heart to sell it. Not that she’d be able to get much for it anyway. Her mother had gotten it custom made, so it had her name embossed inside it. She doubted she’d ever be able to sell it. And now that she could finally afford it, she needed to go get it restored. She would do that after she visited her mother. But the bag was getting restored today by all means. She had to hold it dear and close. Who knew if that was the last thing she would ever get from her mother?
“No.” she whispered to herself, shaking her head. She wasn’t going to let the negative thoughts infiltrate her mind.
