“This? What do you mean by ‘this?’ Do you mean us, or your plan to get your inheritance?”
Yvonne hesitated, just for a moment. But it was long enough.
Ruby scoffed. “That’s what I thought. You know what, that’s fine with me. If you still want to try to salvage this stupid inheritance plot, I’ll stick around. It’s almost three months already, I might as well get something out of it.”
“Ruby-”
“Tell me what I need to do, Yvonne. That’s all you ever do, isn’t it? That’s all you want from me, right? You want someone you can tell what to do? What to say? Someone who will crawl for your entertainment? Someone you can own?”
Something tore inside Yvonne’s chest. “Ruby-”
“Just tell me how we can salvage this so I still get my money.”
“Fine.” Yvonne gritted her jaw. “I don’t have any ideas yet, but I’m working on it. If there’s even a small chance we can convince Bill that we’re really married, I want to take it. All I need is for you to come to the meeting with me.” She paused. “And even if I don’t get the inheritance money, I’ll still give you your money. Two and a half million. You held up your end of the bargain after all.”
“Fine. I’ll come to the meeting. I’ll stay until then. At least that way, these three months wouldn’t be a complete waste,” she muttered.
“Ruby, please.”
Ruby crossed her arms. “Are we done? I’d like to be alone.”
Yvonne remained seated. She couldn’t leave things between them like this. She couldn’t let this rift between them grow any bigger.
But the pain in Ruby’s eyes as she looked at Yvonne was too much to bear.
“Yes,” Yvonne said. “We’re done.”
She rose from her chair, took one last look at the suitcases in the corner, and left the room.
“So,” Nita said. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
Yvonne blew on her tea. “Do I need an excuse to come see you?”
“No, but you usually have one.”
“I just wanted to check on you. See how you’re doing.”
“I’m doing fine,” Nita said. “That check you gave us really helped. It’s given us some room to breathe.”
“Soon, you’ll be able to breathe easy for good. I’m going to get you that money, just like I promised you.”
“Yvonne, you don’t have to do that.”
Yvonne crossed her arms. “We’re not having this argument again. The money is coming. I need a little more time, that’s all.”
Yvonne had no idea how she was going to find the money if she didn’t get her inheritance. She also needed to find the money she’d promised Ruby. She could sell off some assets, but she’d lose millions. It would take her years to rebuild.
Yvonne suppressed a sigh. Right now, money wasn’t even her biggest problem. She also had to deal with the fallout of her brother exposing her and Ruby. She’d lied to the world, and now everything had come tumbling down in a humiliating way. Yvonne didn’t care what most people thought of her, but she’d lied to her friends, and now they were angry with her, rightfully so. She felt awful about it. She’d been lying to herself when she’d said she didn’t care about deceiving her friends.
You act like you’re this awful, cold-hearted person when you’re not.
Ruby had been right. Yvonne pretended she didn’t have a heart, but she obviously did, otherwise she wouldn’t feel the way she did right now. She’d hurt Ruby badly, and not just last night. Yvonne had been heartless toward her from the start. She’d shut Ruby out, she’d pushed her away time and time again, just like she’d done to everyone else.
But Ruby wasn’t like everyone else. She didn’t walk away from Yvonne at the bar that night. She didn’t walk away every time Yvonne turned her back on her. Ruby kept trying to break down Yvonne’s walls, and all because she saw something in Yvonne that made her not want to give up on her.
But Yvonne didn’t deserve her.
“Now, what’s going on with you?” Nita asked. “How’s that wife of yours? You still need to bring her around so I can meet her.”
Yvonne’s stomach knotted. “That’s… not going to happen.”
“Why not? Did something happen between the two of you?”
“We-” Yvonne’s hands began to tremble. All of a sudden, everything she was feeling became too much. She gripped her teacup tighter. “I messed up, Nita. I messed everything up.”
“I’m sure that’s not true. Whatever you did, I’m sure Ruby will forgive you for it.”
“It wasn’t just one thing. This entire time, I treated her badly, I took her for granted. And now, I’ve really hurt her.” Yvonne shook her head. “She didn’t deserve any of it.”
“Oh, Xiăo táo.” Nita reached across the table and put her hand on Yvonne’s. “You really care about her, don’t you?”
“More than I’ve ever cared about anyone.”
“Then you have to fight for her.”
“No,” Yvonne said quietly. “It’s too complicated. This arrangement of ours, this farce of a marriage, I should have never let things get this far. I should have never let the lines get so blurred.”
The room fell silent. Nita folded her arms on the table before her, her eyes wandering off into the distance.
“There’s something I’ve never told you,” she said. “It’s about Mark and me. You see, our marriage was an arrangement of sorts too.”
Yvonne stared at her. “Really?” That explained why Nita had been so quick to accept Yvonne and Ruby’s marriage.
“It’s true. We barely knew each other when we got married, and we certainly weren’t in love. You never thought it was odd that I got married out of the blue? I suppose you were too young to notice.”
Yvonne vaguely remembered Nita getting married when she was around ten years old. Her father had forbidden her from going to the wedding, as it wouldn’t have been ‘appropriate’ due to Nita’s status as the help.
Nita leaned back
