Chapter 4

Before Ruby could stop him, Lars had already opened the wooden box.

It was their original marriage certificate.

"Marriage certificate? Was this what you risked your life for?

"Did you know that you broke your leg and would have died from inhaling too much smoke?!"

Ruby silently reclaimed the box. It contained everything she needed for the divorce proceedings.

How was she to get a divorce if she did not have the original marriage certificate?

When Lars watched the way she clutched onto it, a ball of anger rose inside him.

She was always fixated on the past, lashing out impulsively whenever she lost control of her emotions!

With that in mind, Lars cried out, "All three of us would've gotten out of there just fine, but you just had to do something that put me in a position where I had to choose one of you. Just how far will you go to prove how important you are?

"Of course I had to save Vera since you were the one who started the fire!"

Ruby just lay silently on the bed, uttering a flat noncommittal response.

"Ruby," Lars continued explaining, this time in a gentler tone, "I already told you I'm going to focus on us and that I won't have anything to do with Vera anymore. She... Hasn't been doing well, so I decided to help her out by offering her a place to stay."

She had not been doing well, that was why he slept with her.

All that talk about focusing on his family, only to be drawn back to Vera's youthful body.

Finally, Ruby turned to face Lars.

There was a still look in her eyes that was devoid of any emotion.

"I know, and I understand."

Lars had had enough of her eerie calmness by this point. He shot up from his seat only to notice the scar on her arm, which was left behind from her suicide attempt.

He felt his throat turn dry. Yet, he also felt hurt by Ruby's behavior.

"Ruby, how many more scars are you going to collect? How far will you go just to keep me?"

Ruby replied faintly, "I won't do anything so stupid anymore."

Lars wanted to retort upon hearing the lukewarm tone of her voice when his phone suddenly rang.

He retreated to the window to pick up the call.

Ruby could not hear the details of the conversation, but she picked up on Vera's sobbing.

After Lars whispered a few words of consolation into the phone, he turned back to Ruby.

"Something urgent came up at work. I'm going to be busy for the next few days. Take care and recover from your injury. I'll be with you on your birthday."

Ruby burst out laughing.

"I share the same birthday with Vera. Are you sure you don't need to celebrate with her instead?"

Lars' face flushed instantly. His voice raised as he snapped, "What does her birthday have to do with me? I told you I'm only helping her for now!"

By the time he turned toward Ruby, she had already turned her back to him.

He was about to defend himself again when his phone continued vibrating with incoming messages. After grumbling something about telling Vera to take care of herself, he left.

Ruby spent the next few days in relative quiet, recovering from her wound in the hospital.

Meanwhile, Lars, who was still feeling guilty, continued to send her flowers and her favorite pastries. He also took the time to text her to check on her condition.

All Ruby did was offer curt replies to cut their conversation short.

On the day of her discharge, she hobbled to the lobby with her crutches all by herself to settle the bill.

Just as Ruby was handing over her documents, an elderly woman cut her off in line.

"Ma'am, you can't cut the line."

The offended elderly woman shoved Ruby aside upon hearing this, then rebuked her, "My son-in-law is the hospital's main investor! So what if I cut the line? You better not mess with me, or you'll regret it!"

As if she was annoyed by Ruby's pace of hobbling down the line on crutches, she shoved her another time.

Ruby frowned.

Lars was the hospital's main investor.

She turned around just in time to see Lars and Vera rushing over in her direction after hearing the commotion.

The first thing Lars did was to pull Ruby aside as if he was afraid of that Ruby might say something to the older woman.

"This is Danya. She's Vera's mother. She has a short temper because she's sick. It wouldn't kill you to let her skip the line."

Meanwhile, Vera went up to Ruby with tears in her eyes to apologize, "This was all my fault! When my mother caught a cold, I didn't want her to worry about the medical expenses, so I told her I had a boyfriend who would take care of things. Ruby, if you're going to blame someone, please blame me instead of Mr. Turner. He was only trying to help me."

Ruby cast an indifferent look over both of them.

Was that why Lars decided to leave her to fend for herself in the hospital despite her fractured leg and burns? All because Vera's mother caught a cold?

Forget it, it no longer mattered.

All she did was nod without providing a response, then she turned and left.

She had just taken a step when she heard Vera speaking to Lars in a trembling voice.

"Is Ruby angry with you again? Is she going to freak out and torment you again? It's all my fault. I was just so stressed out about my mother."

Lars gently wiped her tears away.

"It's alright, she wouldn't understand how you feel since she never had parents growing up."