LOGINRuby's POVI changed out of the court clothes the moment we got home, glad to be out of the formal fabric and back into something that actually let me move. My studio corner, the one Malcolm had cleared out for me weeks ago without making a big deal of it, had paint tubes lined up on the desk and a canvas leaning against the wall, untouched for days.I pulled the canvas onto the easel and stood back, looking at it. Flat acrylic wasn't going to cut it this time. I wanted something that came off the surface. I wanted layers that a person could actually feel if they reached out, even if the gallery would tell them not to. I'd been thinking about it for days. Mixed media would be the best as a competition entry. It will have built up texture with modeling paste, real fabric pressed into wet paint, maybe wire underneath to give certain shapes real depth instead of just the illusion of it.I started mixing the modeling paste, scraping it across a test board to check the texture, when I he
Ruby's POVThe party wound down close to late evening. By then most of the guests had filtered out, leaving behind crumpled napkins and half-finished glasses for the cleaning staff to deal with in the morning. Malcolm walked the last few people to the door himself, thanking them, shaking hands one more time.I didn't see June again after she walked off from the cake table. She'd disappeared somewhere upstairs before the candles were even blown out, and nobody mentioned it, like that was just how June left rooms now.That night, the house had gone quiet in a different way. Malcolm had been on the phone with his lawyer most of the morning, his voice low through the closed room door.I caught pieces of it walking past— Court date, witness statement, June's name mentioned more than once. That was when I decided to go upstairs. I knocked on June's door twice before she answered."What?""Can I come in?"There was a pause. Then the door opened a few inches, just enough for her to look at m
Ruby's POVTHE NEXT DAY, MALCOLM'S BIRTHDAYThe mansion looked different by evening. Caterers had taken over the kitchen since noon and string lights ran along the garden fence outside. By seven the driveway was already lined with cars I didn't recognize. I stood in front of my mirror doing one last check. The dress was navy, simple, with sleeves that hit just past my elbow. Joey had picked it two hours earlier and refused to let me change my mind."You look fine," she said now, when I turned sideways for the third time."I look fine or I look good?""Both, just stop touching your hair."I dropped my hand and grabbed my clutch.Downstairs, the living room had been rearranged. Furniture pushed back. There was a long table near the window holding drinks, and at least thirty people were already moving through the space in small clusters. Malcolm stood near the entrance in a dark suit, shaking hands, accepting claps on the back. He spotted me crossing the room and something in his face
Ruby's POVJune was discharged two days later. I followed Malcolm to the hospital to pick her up. The drive home was quiet in a way that was different from the quiet in the hospital.June sat in the back. I sat in the front with Malcolm driving. She had not said much to either of us since the night she woke up and found us both there. She answered the doctors. She ate what was brought to her. She let the nurses do what they needed to do. But she had not really spoken.When we pulled into the driveway and the car stopped she got out before either of us had opened our doors. Malcolm and I exchanged a look and got out. She was already at the front door.Malcolm opened it and she went straight upstairs without looking at either of us. He followed her. I stayed downstairs and gave them space. I went to the kitchen and put the kettle on because I needed to do something with my hands and tea was the most neutral thing I could think of.I heard their voices upstairs after a few minutes. I cou
Ruby's POVAn hour in the hospital waiting room felt longer than it should have. Malcolm had not moved from the seat next to me except once to get water from the vending machine at the end of the corridor. He came back with two bottles and handed one to me without asking if I wanted it. I took it and drank half of it without realizing how thirsty I was.The television on the wall was still playing something silent. The man with the sling had been seen and gone. The woman with the child had fallen asleep in her chair with the child curled against her side.It was a strange kind of quiet, not uncomfortable exactly. Just the kind of quiet that settled in when two people had run out of the urgent things to say and had not yet decided what the normal things were."She did not tell you," I said at some point.Malcolm looked at me. "Tell me what.""About the pregnancy," I said. "Or about him abusing her. She did not tell you any of it?"He was quiet for a moment. "No.""Why do you think tha
Ruby's POVEverything happened fast after that.June had hit the ground and the sound she made when she landed was not loud but it was the kind of sound that went through you. I was at her side before I had fully decided to move."June," I said. I crouched down and put my hand on her back. "June, can you hear me?"She did not answer. Her face was turned to the side and her eyes were open but she was not looking at anything. Her hands were pressed to her lower stomach and she was breathing in short uneven pulls."Someone call an ambulance," I shouted toward the entrance of the restaurant.A man near the door already had his phone out. Someone else came out from inside and stopped when they saw June on the ground."What happened?" the man asked."She needs an ambulance now," I said. I did not have time to explain the rest of it.I looked at June's face. Her jaw was tight and her skin had gone pale in a way that was not normal. She was still pressing both hands to her belly and I could s
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
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
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
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







