Chapter 2

(Author’s POV)

Ruby remained trapped in darkness long after the mysterious man left the room. The warmth of his touch still lingered on her cold fingers. His voice echoed repeatedly inside her mind, ‘I’ve loved you for five years. I’ll wait’.

Her heart still fluttered uncontrollably remembering the tenderness in his tone. Everything felt unreal. Just moments ago, she had awakened to the horrifying truth that she had been unconscious for two years. Before she could even process that shock, an unknown man had entered her darkness like warmth in winter and confessed feelings so deep they made her chest ache.

Ruby didn’t know his name, didn’t even know how he looked. Yet somehow, his words stirred emotions she had never experienced before.

‘Who was he? Why did he love her so much? And why did his voice feel strangely safe?’ Her thoughts tangled endlessly as emotions swirled inside her mind with confusion, curiosity, fear, warmth and disbelief.

But before she could think further, the sound of the door opening interrupted her thoughts. A soft click of heels echoed across the quiet room. A presence approached her bedside slowly.

Then finally, a familiar feminine voice reached her ears.

“Hello, sister”.

Ruby’s heart trembled emotionally. ‘Vivian, her younger sister’.

For the first time since waking into darkness, hope filled her chest completely. Someone from her family came. Relief spread through her instantly. She wanted to cry from happiness. She tried desperately to open her eyes, to move her fingers, to call out but her body remained frozen and unresponsive.

Her sister who always clung to her arm during parties. The same sister who laughed with her late into the night while sharing secrets. The same sister who used to pout whenever Ruby forgot important dates had come.

For a moment, Ruby forgot all fear. Tears almost formed behind her closed eyelids as overwhelming longing consumed her. She wanted to hug Vivian, wanted to ask what happened during these two years, wanted to hear about their parents, and wanted to go home.

Vivian continued speaking lightly.

“I know you can’t respond right now, but don’t worry,” A soft chuckle escaped her lips.

“I’m here to do all the talking”.

Ruby felt emotional warmth bloom inside her chest. Even after two years, Vivian sounded the same. But then, everything shattered.

“You really are pathetic, Ruby,” Vivian laughed softly, mockingly.

“You know what the funniest thing is? Even lying here like a corpse, everyone still worries about you first” She said coldly. 

Ruby’s heart dropped violently.

“What a joke”.

Every word felt like a knife slowly piercing through her chest. The sister who always smiled lovingly at her bedside now sounded as though she despised Ruby’s very existence.

“You have no idea how exhausting it was pretending to love you all these years,” Vivian continued bitterly. 

“Always acting like the sweet younger sister while everyone compared me to you”.

Ruby’s mind went blank, her thoughts froze. The venom in Vivian’s voice made her entire body feel ice-cold. Gone was the sweet affection Ruby had known all her life, what remained was hatred, pure, sharp and disgusting hatred.

She felt physically sick listening to it.

“No matter what I did, people only saw you.” Vivian’s voice trembled with years of buried resentment. 

“Ruby is prettier. Ruby is smarter. Ruby is elegant. Ruby is perfect”.

The hatred dripping from her words suffocated the room.

“You stole everything from me without even trying”.

Ruby felt her chest tighten painfully. This couldn’t be real, not Vivian, not her sister. But Vivian’s cruel laughter echoed again.

“Do you know how much I hated your face?” She whispered viciously.

“That innocent expression. That kindness. Everyone adored you while I stood beside you like some worthless shadow”.

Ruby wanted to scream, wanted to deny everything but she remained trapped inside her unmoving body.

Vivian stepped closer to the bed.

“You trusted me so blindly,” She mocked softly. 

“It made things so easy”.

Fear crawled through Ruby slowly. ‘What did she mean?’

“I ruined so many things behind your back, sister.” Vivian almost sounded proud now. 

“Do you remember that university scandal during your second year? The fake rumors spread online?”

Ruby’s heart skipped.

“That was me.”

Shock exploded inside Ruby’s mind.

“You never noticed because you were always too trusting. Too stupidly kind”.

Every memory of Vivian’s loving smiles now twisted painfully. Every hug. Every laugh. Every comforting word. All fake.

Then Vivian spoke the words that completely destroyed her world.

“You aren’t even Mom and Dad’s real daughter”.

Ruby’s mind stopped functioning. For several seconds, there was only silence inside her head.

“You were adopted” Vivian continued mercilessly.

The words hit like lightning. Ruby couldn’t breathe.

“No wonder everyone loved you more,” Vivian spat bitterly. 

“Even after bringing you into this family, you still became the center of everything”.

Ruby felt as though the ground beneath her soul had collapsed completely. ‘Adopted? No. No. That couldn’t be true. Her parents loved her. Didn’t they?’

Vivian’s next words shattered whatever remained of Ruby’s heart.

“Your real parents died years ago”.

Ruby felt something inside her break irreparably. ‘Dead? Her biological parents were dead? And she never even knew?’

“You spent your whole life loving strangers while your actual parents rotted in graves” Vivian said cruelly.

The pain became unbearable. Every memory of family dinners, birthdays, vacations, hugs from her mother, all of it suddenly felt fake. A lie.

Ruby wanted to ask why, wanted to know what she had ever done wrong but she remained helpless, broken, alone.

Then she heard the door being closed. Silence swallowed the room once again. The moonlight still illuminated Ruby’s pale face peacefully, but inside, her world had collapsed completely.

The warmth left behind by the mysterious man moments ago now clashed violently against the freezing pain Vivian caused. One person she had never met loved her enough to wait beside her for two years. The people she called family abandoned and hated her.

Ruby lay motionless beneath the moonlight, unable to scream, unable to move, unable to escape the agony crushing her heart. And for the first time in her life, she truly understood loneliness.