Chapter 14
926 Words
Your grandmother must adore her, right?"
Everyone knew Owen's relationship with the Knight family was complicated.
The only person he cared about was his grandmother, Matilda Knight.
Owen lowered his gaze, his voice cool.
"Yes. Grandma likes her very much."
Outside the private dining room, Ruby was waiting when someone called her name sharply.
"Ruby Anderson."
She turned and froze.
Carter Knight, looking sharp in a tailored black suit, stood a few steps away.
But the warm, gentle smile she remembered from college was nowhere to be found.
His expression was dark, almost stormy.
"So you are here," he said coldly.
Ruby pressed her lips together.
Back in college, she'd been a bit of a lone wolf.
The perpetually cheerful Carter had attached himself to her side, becoming her one and only friend.
But now things were awkward.
She hesitated.
"So I am."
Carter's lips curled.
"Isabel told me about your background. Why the hell did you hide it from me?
I hate mistresses and illegitimate kids more than anything. And I spent four years chasing someone like you like a complete idiot."
His voice broke into a bitter laugh.
"Did you enjoy watching me make a fool of myself?"
A giant hand seemed to squeeze Ruby's heart.
Carter's own parents had a notoriously rocky marriage, and word was he had a half-sister from an affair.
All Isabel had to do was whisper the truth about Ruby's background, and it had shattered four years of their dynamic in an instant.
Ruby instinctively took a step back, putting some distance between them.
Carter stepped forward.
"Don't you have anything to say to me?"
"Say what?"
Why was she an illegitimate daughter?
Why she'd had the misfortune to be born to Sheila Sutton?
Ruby scoffed.
"No."
She turned away.
Their paths had split long ago.
If he despised her for something she couldn't control, there was nothing left to salvage.
For some reason, the way she walked away pissed Carter off.
He panicked, then lunged forward and grabbed her arm.
"You can't leave."
Ruby stopped and looked back flatly.
"Is there something else?"
Carter's jaw clenched.
Her cool, detached tone made something ugly twist inside him.
Anger, humiliation, something like betrayal.
He had been the one to end things, yet somehow he felt like the one being abandoned.
He sneered.
"You're still working here, so you haven't found a real job yet, have you?
Why don't you be my personal assistant?"
Ruby yanked her arm free.
"I'm afraid I'm not the right person for the job."
Carter pushed on.
"You wouldn't have to do anything. I have a condo near the office. Just live there and take care of my daily needs.
Seven thousand a month. Not bad, right?"
Ruby's eyes went cold.
"You want me to be your mistress."
He scoffed.
"You can handle that, can't you? After all, your mother was one. Given your background, it's a role you should understand."
Ruby slapped him across the face.
"That's enough."
But instead of anger, something twisted and wild lit up in Carter's eyes, as if the slap excited him.
"Do you really think anyone in New York will touch you if I say the word?" he whispered.
"You won't find a job, you won't find a husband, you'll end up as some rich man's plaything anyway.
Since that's your future, why not choose me? For old time's sake.
I can make the arrangement easier on you."
Ruby stared at him, disgusted.
Carter straightened his suit as if the entire encounter had merely been a negotiation.
"I'll give you time to think. You've got my number.
Call me when you come to your senses."
Without another glance, he turned and strode away.
Ruby let out a bitter, self-mocking laugh.
When she turned around, her breath caught.
Owen was standing at the doorway.
He'd finally escaped the suffocating schmoozing, with Leo close behind him.
But the moment he stepped into the hallway, he saw everything.
His eyes were deep, unreadable.
Leo, on the other hand, just shook his head at Ruby.
"Now I was wondering why you never got a steady job after college.
So you came to bother Mr. Knight because you had no other choice, right?
Just so you know, Miss Anderson, nobody dares cross the Knights in New York, and Carter is not going to budge easily."
Ruby stayed silent.
Leo glanced at Owen.
"Sir, why don't we help her out? She's in a pretty rough spot."
A spark of hope flickered inside Ruby.
Yes, help the girl out.
Go to the city clerk's office with her.
Finalize the stupid divorce.
My company is waiting to go public.
But then Owen spoke coldly.
"Why would I piss off Carter for someone who means nothing to me?"
With that, he walked right past Ruby without even a second glance.
Ruby stood frozen, anger and humiliation burning through her.
Cold-hearted bastard.
Fine.
She'd just try again tomorrow.
She couldn't stay out late.
Matilda was waiting at home, and her grandson was coming for dinner.
That evening, Owen left the office right on time, fruit bag in hand.
He drove to an older neighborhood in Queens.
He double-checked the address Ruby had sent and climbed the narrow stairs to the correct apartment.
He knocked.
"Who is it?" a voice called from inside.
It was enough to reassure him that he was at the right place.
"Grandma, it's me. Open the door," Owen called out.
Oblivious to what—or who—was waiting for him on the other side.
- Writer
