Too Late to Melt Her Frozen Heart

It was late when Ruby Mitchell stepped out of the hospital.

Lars Turner's Rolls-Royce was still parked outside.

He was leaning against the car and seemed to be attending to something on his phone. His tall and striking figure was unmistakable even in the dark of the night, and he looked every bit as handsome as the day they first met.

When Lars noticed Ruby, he instinctively shoved his phone into his pocket before approaching her.

"Why didn't you call me when it happened? I wouldn't even have known how serious it was if it wasn't for the news report."

More than a decade they had been together, Ruby would habitually take photos of whatever she saw to send to Lars. She would show him something as mundane as a stray dog she fed on the street.

Yet, here she was, barely mentioning a near life-and-death experience.

Lars felt vexed beyond reason.

"Ruby… I ended the affair and came back to you, aren't I? Why are you still upset with me?"

Ruby continued staring outside without even turning around to face him.

"I get it. I just didn't want to bother you since I turned out fine. Let's go home."

It was the same thing. She had dismissed him as if it was the only default response she had.

Lars was so frustrated that he pounded the steering wheel, sounding a deafening horn that startled a girl selling flowers by the roadside.

When the girl looked in the direction of the Rolls-Royce and her face was revealed, the atmosphere in the car dropped to a freezing point.

"Vera... What is she doing selling flowers here?"

Lars instinctively glanced at Ruby, who was in the passenger seat. He was aware of how Ruby tended to become emotionally unstable, sometimes even hysterical, whenever she saw Vera.

However, all Ruby did was glance disinterestedly at Vera before turning away.

Lars gripped the steering wheel tightly. He turned to look at the figure again.

It was a winter night, and yet, all Vera had was a thin coat. Her nose was red from the cold.

Lars' hands gripped the door handle tightly. He felt like he was going to explode with worry.

Ruby figured out what was on his mind. Without hesitation, she opened the door and stepped out, then offered Lars a lifeline. "I can go home myself if you have work to do."

By the time Lars realized what was happening, Ruby had already hailed a taxi for herself.

He chased after her and tried to reach for the taxi's door to offer a meager explanation. "I don't know why she's here. I already told you it's over between her and me. Why won't you believe me?"

Ruby nodded. "I believe you. It's not easy for her, since she's just a young girl. I understand if you still care for her even if it's over between you two."

Lars observed the way Ruby hardly wore an expression. It did not seem like she was upset at all.

Still, he had the feeling that something was off.

The Ruby he knew used to be very possessive. She would spend all night interrogating him even if she found a strand of hair on his shirt.

Now, she was reacting the way he wanted her to. She was not making a fuss, but instead was being perfectly understanding and accommodating.

Though Lars should feel relieved about this, there was a lump in his throat.

He could not stomach the feeling.

While he was still hesitating, the taxi door slammed shut, and the taxi drove away.

Ruby, who was in the car, requested the taxi driver to take a lap before driving back to the same place.

Then, she watched from a distance as Lars draped his coat over Vera. He took her chin between his fingers and kissed her deeply.

Ruby was not surprised. If anything, she felt that she had known this would happen.

She subconsciously grazed her fingers against the scar on her wrist.

There was a dull pain in her heart that no longer hurt as much as it did in the past.

She hardly felt affected.

She was not going to freak out and grill Lars the same way she did when she first found out that he was cheating on her.

"Lars! Have you no shame? I've been with you since I was sixteen! What do you mean you fell in love with someone else after everything we've been through?"

At the time, blood trickled from the corner of Lars' lips after Ruby struck him across the face. He licked his lips and snapped back at her.

"You're asking me about shame? If you had any shame at all, you wouldn't have got together with me then! Your parents didn't even want you, but I looked after you for a decade! You should be grateful!"

Back then, what Lars said hurt Ruby more than anything in the world.

He was the one who took her hand at the orphanage and promised her a future.

All the years of mutual affection had been shattered by a single sentence.

Ruby snapped back to reality when her phone rang.

"Miss Mitchell, the paperwork for the handover of your parents' inheritance is almost complete. When do you think you can come to Arona?"

Ruby covered the scar on her wrist, then replied, "Give me ten days. That's the same time it takes for the divorce period to end."

The man on the other end of the phone could not help but remind her, "I heard you have been happily married to your husband for many years. Frankly, you don't have to move abroad just to inherit the assets."

Ruby replied stoically, "I don't love him anymore. I just want to get out of Rheinberg. See you in Arona in ten days."

Then, she looked at the snowflakes falling outside the window before exhaling gently.

From now on, she would never love Lars again.