Before she could leave, Elizabeth held her back. "Im not joking. You have to do this, please. I'll pay!"
"This is absurd," Ruby said firmly, shaking her head as she started to pace the room. "I don't even know Stefan. I've been out of town for years—I only came back for this wedding. You all know that," Ruby said incredulously.
Elizabeth Winters stood tall, her hands clasped tightly in front of her, her desperation barely concealed beneath her composed expression. "You don't have to know him, Ruby. You just have to be his wife. Just for a year."
Ruby turned sharply, her heart pounding. "A year? That's not a short time! You're asking me to pretend to be Ivy for an entire year! To put my life on hold for an entire year? That's impossible!" She looked at her mother, Regina Quinn, expecting her to back her up. "Tell her this is insane, Mom."
Regina opened her mouth, but no words came out. She glanced between Ruby and Elizabeth, her expression torn.
Elizabeth took a step closer, her voice gentler but no less firm. "Stefan's surgery is scheduled in a year. Once his eyesight is restored, you can leave. By then, he'll be strong enough to handle the truth. I don't mind paying you just to be his substitute bride, please."
Ruby shook her head again. "No, I—I can't. Paying me doesn't change the fact that I have a life of my own. A boyfriend," she added, though Elizabeth could see the lie in that.
Elizabeth's sharp gaze flickered with doubt. "Do you?"
Ruby faltered for a second but lifted her chin. "Yes."
Elizabeth let out a slow breath, clearly unconvinced, but she didn't press. Instead, she changed tactics. "You don't understand what this will do to Stefan if he finds out Ivy abandoned him because he's blind. He loves her. He trusts her. If he realizes she left him at the altar because of his condition…" She trailed off, shaking her head. "He might never recover from that kind of betrayal."
Ruby swallowed hard. "I understand but it's still not my problem."
Elizabeth's patience snapped. "It is your problem if I say it is!" she hissed, her poised demeanor slipping as her desperation took over. "Do you know how many contracts your family has with Winters Corp? How many business deals rely on my goodwill?"
Hearing that, Regina stiffened. "Elizabeth—"
"If Ruby doesn't do this," Elizabeth cut her off, her voice ice-cold, "I will terminate every single one of those contracts."
Silence crashed over the room as Regina and Ruby processed what Elizabeth had just said.
Ruby's breath hitched as she looked at her mother. Regina was visibly shaken, her face pale. She knew what that would mean for the Quinn family.
Elizabeth softened her voice again, taking a step back. "I don't want to do this. But I won't let my son be humiliated like this. Your daughter put us in this situation so you'll have to fix this. You have ten minutes to decide."
With that, she turned and walked out, leaving the room suffocating with tension.
Ruby turned to her mother, her stomach twisting. "You can't expect me to do this. Do you?"
Regina's eyes were filled with something Ruby had rarely seen—helplessness. "Ruby…"
"No," Ruby said immediately, backing away. "Mom, no. I really can't! This is Ivy's man we're talking about! How do you expect me to marry him and pretend to be his wife simply because he's blind? What if he knows? What if he figures it out, then what?"
Regina took her hands, her grip firm. "He won't. He'll just brush it off since you have the same voice as Ivy. Listen to me. You're the eldest, and our family's future is at stake. You simply can't stand here and have us all fall back to square zero. We would've gone bankrupt if not for them. Think about our family's future—"
"And what about my future?" Ruby snapped, cutting her mother off.
Regina's gaze softened. "This isn't forever. While you're with Stefan, I'll look for Ivy. I'll bring her back, and then you won't have to stay."
Ruby's chest tightened. "You don't even know where she is."
"I'll find her," Regina said desperately. "Just—just do this, Ruby. For us. Even if I don't find her, it'll be for just a year. You'll get paid and can use the money to do something tangible so we don't have to rely on the Winter's in the future. Please, Rub. Do this for us."
Ruby closed her eyes, fighting the lump in her throat. This wasn't just about her anymore. If she refused, her family would suffer. The business, her parents' reputation, everything they had built… it would all crumble.
She inhaled sharply, pressing her trembling fingers to her temples.
This was wrong. So, so wrong but what choice did she have?
When Elizabeth returned exactly ten minutes later, Ruby met her gaze and forced out the words that sealed her fate.
"I'll do it."
Elizabeth let out a relieved breath and nodded. "Good. We don't have much time. Get dressed and we'll get going," she said and gestured to the wedding dress lying on the chaise lounge, making it known she had no intentions of stepping out.
As her mother helped her into Ivy's wedding gown, Ruby's mind raced. Should I even be doing this?
Should I have run away like Ivy did when Elizabeth suggested this?
Is it too late to back out?
Her reflection in the mirror stared back at her, the lace and pearls of the wedding dress suffocating against her skin.
She looked like a bride but she felt like an imposter.
And soon, she would be walking down the aisle to marry a man who didn't even know she wasn't his bride and that she was nothing but a substitute, and an imposter.
*********
Hello there, lovelies!
It's your Author BabyAngel!
And I'm here with another book straight from my heart. If you are here because you read and enjoyed my other book, then I hope you enjoy this one as well. And if you're new to my work, I also hope you enjoy this one.
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