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Chapter 28

Author: Marblewrites
last update publish date: 2025-11-25 21:07:43

The next morning, my swollen eyes told the story of how I hadn't gotten any sleep since the nightmare. I stared at the ceiling till my eyes hurt, begging for even the tiniest bit of morning sleep, but I felt too scared to close my eyes.

What I experienced could be an extended hallucination from my worry of what I encountered in the kitchen, or it could even be something worse.

A quick glance at my phone screen revealed that it was 6 am. Morning already, and still no sleep.

I was about to slip u
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  • Worthless In Their Eyes, Perfect In His    Chapter 67

    Third Person POVMalcolm got Ruby out of the car carefully. She was not completely gone but she was not steady either. She was somewhere in between, where her body was moving but her coordination had mostly checked out. She was drunk from all the alcoholic wine consumption.He kept his arm around her waist and she leaned into him without seeming to notice she was doing it. He got her inside and up the stairs. His room was closer than hers. He made the decision quickly and practically and pushed the door open and brought her in and sat her on the edge of the bed."Okay," he said. "Let me get you some water."He turned to go to the bathroom."Malcolm," she called out.He turned back. She was looking at him. Her eyes were half lidded and her lipstick had faded and her hair had come down slightly from where it had been pinned. She looked at him in a way that was different from how she usually looked at him."Come here," she said."Ruby.""Come here," she said again.He came back to where

  • Worthless In Their Eyes, Perfect In His    Chapter 66

    Ruby's POVThe boutique was exactly what Malcolm had described, small, well lit, and very organized. The woman who had spoken to me on the phone was already at the door when I arrived. Her name was Diane and she was brisk and efficient and did not waste time.She had pulled eight options, all gowns, all in my size range. She had laid them out in a private fitting room at the back and she stood to the side while I looked through them without hovering too close.I ruled out three of them immediately. One was too stiff, one was a colour that did nothing for my skin tone, and one had a neckline that I just did not feel comfortable in. The remaining five were all genuinely good options. Diane had done her homework. I tried on four of them.The one I picked was a deep burgundy. Floor length, with a fitted bodice and sleeves that came to the elbow. It had a small slit at the side that stopped just below the knee. Nothing dramatic. It fit well across the shoulders and the waist and did not pu

  • Worthless In Their Eyes, Perfect In His    Chapter 65

    "What is funny?""You," he said and kept a straight face. "The way you said that, like you were bracing for a fight."I said nothing."Ruby." He said my name in that way that he stressed on the last syllable, "I am not a dictator.""You made me quit my job,""I handled that badly and I already apologized for it. That is different. I had reasons for that. An art competition is not the same thing."I looked at him. "So you are not going to tell me not to enter.""Why would I tell you not to enter a competition?" he said. "You want to chase your dreams, chase them. Enter as many competitions as you want. If you win, even better."I sat there for a second not sure what to do with that response because I had genuinely not prepared for it."Okay," I said."You seem surprised," he said."I am a little," I said."I do not have a problem with you having ambitions," he said. "I have a problem with you being unprotected in situations where I cannot account for your safety. Those are two differen

  • Worthless In Their Eyes, Perfect In His    Chapter 64

    Ruby's POVI did not know what to say to that so I did not say anything. The room was quiet for a moment. Then Malcolm's eyes dropped to my wrist. He looked at it the same way he did before. That focused, still look that lasted just a moment too long.I had been waiting for the right time to ask about it and I decided that the right time was probably not going to announce itself so I might as well just do it now."Why does the mark bother you so much?" I asked.He looked up at me."Every time you see it you get this look," I said. "You went through my room because of it. You have been staring at it since you first noticed it. I want to know why."He exhaled slowly. He looked at the mark again and then back at my face."Do you know what it means," he said. "To be marked by a man."I blinked. "What?""When a man marks a woman it means something. It is not casual. It is a claim. It is saying that she belongs to him."I felt something go cold in my stomach. "And you thought someone had ma

  • Worthless In Their Eyes, Perfect In His    Chapter 63

    Ruby's POVI drew for a long time after that.I was not thinking about what I was making. I was just letting my hand move and seeing what came out. That was always how the best stuff happened for me.I was maybe thirty minutes in when I looked down at the page and stopped.I had drawn a girl. She was tall. She had slim, long legs and a small waist and the kind of proportions that people described as willowy without making it sound like an insult. She was standing straight with her chin up and her arms loose at her sides like she was comfortable just existing in her own body. I stared at her for a while.She did not look like me, or she did not look like the me I saw when I looked in the mirror. She looked like the me that sometimes appeared in my head when I was not paying attention. The version of me that I defaulted to when I was imagining myself doing things, taller, thinner, taking up less space.I had read about body dysmorphia once. About how your brain could show you a version

  • Worthless In Their Eyes, Perfect In His    Chapter 62

    He smiled at that. "If I were you, I would still chase my dreams. Contract or no contract. Whatever arrangement you are in with whoever you are in it with, that is separate from who you are as a person and what you want for yourself. You should not have to shrink what you want because someone else is uncomfortable with it."I did not say anything."That is just my opinion," he added."I've heard you," I said.He nodded and then reached into the bag he was carrying. He pulled out a folded piece of paper and held it out to me. I took it and unfolded it. It was a flyer, printed on good paper, not the kind people made on a home printer. It had a photo of a large open gallery space at the top and bold text underneath.ARTISTS CONNECT. ANNUAL ART EXHIBITION AND COMPETITION.I read further down. It was an open competition for artists at any level. You submitted a piece or a series of pieces. A panel of judges reviewed them. There were different categories—Painting, sculpture, mixed media, di

  • Worthless In Their Eyes, Perfect In His    Chapter 50

    Ruby’s POVMalcolm’s hand rested lightly at the small of my back, or rather, the big of my back, because my waist was far from being small. As the valet opened the restaurant doors for us, he held my waist closer.Warm light spilled out from inside, golden and relaxing, paired with the low murmur o

  • Worthless In Their Eyes, Perfect In His    Chapter 49

    Issues?There was silence over the line for a few seconds, and for a moment, I thought the call had ended.“Ruby?” Sandra broke the silence. “You're not saying anything.”I took a deep breath. The issues I wanted to complain to her about were my father's state and the behaviour Malcolm had been put

  • Worthless In Their Eyes, Perfect In His    Chapter 48

    He unwrapped it. It was a small dark stone carefully wrapped in cloth.There was no way he could have brought that. I recognized it instantly. A half-moon pigment stone. It was the rarest form of art, and almost impossible to find.I didn't take it from him because I was grateful or showing forgive

  • Worthless In Their Eyes, Perfect In His    Chapter 47

    They actually left without me. I visited my father's ward again, before finding my way back home. I wanted to stop at Sandra's place, to let her know about everything. She barely knew about my search for my father because I hadn't mentioned it to her.I overheard Malcolm's conversation from my room

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