Chapter 49
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The next morning, he opened his eyes then blinked a litle. The bedroom smelled like flowers and lavender, exactly like Ruby. He turned his head and watched her sleep. She must have been exhausted since she hadn’t even stirred once. She probably needed the sleep to recover from the trauma. Fucking Cole Smith.
He stayed in bed for a while, just listening to her breathing. It was even and slow, and she clung to him like she knew she would be safe. The fact that she trusted him to protect her sent an indescribable sense of tenderness through him.
When his stomach started to growl, he got up carefully and padded down to the kitchen. The house was empty, and his mother and brother had gone out earlier, so it was just him and Ruby for the day. He started some coffee and headed to the pantry to grab English muffins. The area had been cleaned and tidied up and you couldn’t even tell that anything had happened there last night. He toasted the mullins, pulled out soine jam and butter and checked his phone for messages. There were multiple texts from Scott.
Scott: Did you see this?
He included a link to an article by The Hollywood News. it was a notorious gossip site, and Alex knew that most of the stories they shared were crap.
LOVE REKINDLED? The headline read.
He could feel his brows knitting as he scrolled down. A photo collage of him, Ruby and Natalie stared back at him. Natalie… Why was she at the party anyway? Contrary to what she had said, he didn’t invite her to the party. Ruby definitely hadn’t and Scott had no reason to have done so either. Crashing a party simply wasn’t her style. She was way too proud to show up at an event where she wasn’t going to be worshipped and adored. Or maybe he just didn’t know her anymore.
The text that accompanied the photo claimed that he and Natalie were getting back together, since apparently, the latter hadn’t been wearing her engagement ring the previous night, and they had both looked way too cozy for comfort. It claimed that he had apparently realized that he didn’t want to give Natalie up and had invited her to the party for a “rendezvous. It also read: “According to a “source close to the couple,” the reason Ruby had disappeared for the rest of the party was because she caught her husband and Natalie together. The writer was certain that they were going to have a nasty divorce, and Natalie would have to decide if she wanted to go back to the ex who had married her fiancé’s sister.
The entire article was malicious, even for The Hollywood News But what was disturbing was that nobody with connection to the media was at the party. The staff who catered and took care of security were all vetted and clean. So. That left the guests.
any
Who would hate Ruby enough to do something like this?
Cole? He wouldn’t. His ego was way too big for him to put his reputation at stake like that. That left only one other person. Robert Smith. Damn it. He should’ve really sent security after them the second he saw them walk into the party.
Scott: So easy to be a “journalist” these days.
Alex That’s why we have defamation lawsuits.
Scott: You don’t have the time for that right now. And it’s certainly not what Ruby needs
He hated to admit it, but his brother was right. The last thing his wife needed right now was to be put in the spotlight again. It was tempting though. But he knew that the second she woke up, she would see the article and stress. He quickly dialled Elliot and pressed the phone against his ear.
“I need something gone.”
“Already on it. Elliot answered, cheery as ever. It was barely Sam
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He breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that he at least had people like this on his side. “Thanks man, I owe you.”
“You have my bank account details,” Elliot joked and ended the call.
Thirty minutes later, the article was wiped off the internet without a single trace, and he felt like he could finally breathe again
All through the rest of the weekend, he tried to keep Ruby distracted. It wasn’t that difficult to be honest. They watched movies and had pizza and chinese delivered for lunch and dinner. She avoided looking at her phone- not because she didn’t want anybody messaging her, but because he had told her they should take the entire weekend to unplug from the world. He had been religiously applying some ointment his grandfather swore by on her back. Her bruises had bloomed into deathly flowers. And day by day, his one thought was that he should’ve kept kicking Cole until he was peeing blood for an entire week. He held her night after night too. Her cheek was mottled purple, but it looked better than her back. The swelling had gone down too, since she had also been applying the ointment on her face.
On monday, he got up at his normal time, checked her face–it was still bruised but looking better- and slipped out of bed. After a quick run in the gym, he showered and got dressed then checked his phone. Scott hadn’t sent any more links, which meant that The Hollywood News had been the only one to publish that trashy story about them.
He put on his suit for the day, but he couldn’t seem to manage his tie. The Windsor knot should be simple–he had done it thousands of times–but he was too distracted and annoyed. Ruby wasn’t in the room when he walked out of the closet, and he frowned. Maybe she had decided to go to the gym or something. He left the unknotted tie around his neck and headed down for coffee. Maybe that would help him focus better.
As he approached the kitchen, the scent of coffee washed over him. The chef must have been back on duty. It made him even more concerned for Ruby–did she want anybody to see her with bruises on her face? Although the swelling had gone down, you couldn’t miss the signs of abuse, and he didn’t want her upset or crying. Should he just send all the workers back home for the day? Should he speak with Ruby before doing that When he rounded the corner to the kitchen, he was surprised to see his mother and Ruby there. He almost did a double take. Why was she in a long flowery dress like she was about to go out or something?
I thought I heard the chef,” he said.
“I gave him the day off, his mother answered.
He smiled gratefully at her and turned to Ruby. “you’re all dressed up…”
She smiled softly at him and took a sip of her coffee. “I thought Id go out for a walk.” she said, then after a beat, she added, “outside the gates.”
“You can take a walk on the property, it’s big enough.”
His mother pressed her lips together into a fine line until they almost disappeared. She shook her head fractionally. Guess she had tried to persuade her, too.
“Take a walk on the property” he said to Ruby again. His mother nodded, then discreetly withdrew so that they could talk things out in peace.
“I need a different kind of air.”
What does that even
always there
“I’m not staying home until my bruises tade.” The angle of her chun was firm, the same stubborn tilt that was al remained. “Besides, you can’t really tell.”
“I can still see the purple under the makeup. It was a bit of an exaggeration. Whatever she had done hid the bruises well and unless you were looking really hard, you wouldn’t notice anything.
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Uncertainty flected through her eyes for a moment, then she shrugged. “Tll get some foundation with better coverage.
“Whatever you put on your face. I don’t want you out there.” To be the topic of more speculation and hateful gossip if somebody noticed anything? No. She had suffered enough.
She sighed. “I’ve given this a lot of thought, and you were right. It happened because Cole is an awful human being
Good. She got that straight.
“But hiding here isn’t going to solve anything. I’m not going to let Cole stop me from living my life.”
SEND GIFT
