The bitter confrontation with her parents outside the house left Ruby's hands trembling as she sat down on her bed, her teary eyes transfixed on the door.
This was the first time she had ever had to challenge her parents' authority, and it felt so horrible– like she was a wayward daughter.
Watching the look of disappointment on their faces as her grandmother scolded them filled her with guilt and shame.
"I'm such a horrible daughter." She whispered, biting down on her inner lips, her teary eyes lingering on the sparkling diamond ring.
The sound of someone approaching her door, forced her to blink back her tears and stand up from the bed. She hurried to her closet and pretended to be taking off her clothes as a gentle knock bounced off her door.
Before Ruby could answer, Elena's soft voice echoed from behind the door.
"Ruby, I'm coming in."
The doorknob twisted, and it creaked open.
"I didn't ask you to come in." Ruby flashed her bestie a nasty stare.
"Since when did I need your permission to enter your bedroom?" Elena rolled her eyes closing the door behind her.
Ruby sneered, a playful grin curling up the side of her lips. "Please use the locks. I don't want to see anyone, right now."
"Already ahead of you, bestie. Moreover, Grams has bestowed on me the title of guardian to the runaway bride." Elena teased, completing the locks before joining Ruby.
"Very funny." Ruby scoffed, taking off her accessories.
"Babe, the stunt you pulled out there was badass. Who borrowed you their liver?" Elena helped Ruby with her zip, as she struggled with it.
"I've been asking myself that same question." Ruby let out a feverish chuckle. "But I think I overdid it. I've never seen Dad so mad." She slid out of her fancy dress and put it away, neatly.
"Yeah..." Elena sighed briefly but her face lit up almost immediately. "But still it was the coolest and most daring move you've ever made. Coming home with a handsome dude and kissing him right in front of your father's house while flaunting a diamond ring and claiming you're married?! Girl... I want to be like you when I grow up."
"You're crazy. Did you know that?" Ruby said, laughing softly.
"That's old news." Elena waved her hands dramatically. "But girl.... Did you see the look in Derek's eyes? He almost died of jealousy. And that punch was... muah."
Ruby's expression instantly turned cold at the mention of Derek's name. "Serves him right." She spat out.
"Can you imagine the shameless jerk is planning to win back your heart after impregnating that repulsive slut."
"Impregnating!" Ruby spun sharply, her brows raised. "Is Bailey pregnant?"
"Oops!" Elena cupped her mouth, her eyes widened.
"That wretch!" Ruby clutched the loose sweatpants in her hand, gripping them so tight until her knuckles began to hurt.
"I'm such a lousy friend, Ruby. You weren't supposed to find out like this." Elena bent over and picked up the T-shirt that had fallen. She carefully placed the t-shirt in Ruby's hand while patting her gently on the shoulder.
"I thought it was just four abortions," Ruby muttered under her breath, as she slowly perched by her dresser.
"Well, you didn't wait to hear the rest of the story. It's so happened that the cheating scum had no plans of settling down with Bailey. So the cheap slut outsmarted him by hiding her fifth pregnancy from him to stake her claim over him at the right time."
Ruby chuckled bitterly, realising how much of a fool she had been all this time to trust Derek. She abruptly stood up, refusing to let Derek's betrayal steal her peace.
"Well, those two cheating jerks fit one another like poison suits a snake." She slipped into her pants and collected the T-shirts from Elena. "Because as of this moment, he no longer exists to me."
Elena's eyes followed Ruby's gaze to the huge sparkly diamond ring and wedding band sitting on the dresser. "Is this for real?" She slowly picked the pink diamond up, examining it closer like an experienced jeweller.
"Yes." Ruby smiled, recalling how Kai had tricked her into accepting the ring.
"On my world... Ruby! It's real." Elena's eyes widened like a saucer as she met Ruby's gaze. "It's freaking real."
"Wait a minute, you thought it was fake?" Ruby gave one of her infuriating smug smiles.
"Yeah! I thought it was a knockoff."
"What?!" Ruby chuckled at her bestie's alarmed expression.
"Girl... Do you know how much this costs. If you sell it right now, you won't have to work for the next fifty years." Elena whispered in awe.
"Yeah right!" Ruby made her way to her bed and climbed on it.
"But on a more serious note. This ring is worth millions... Whoever gives it to you must be stinking rich. And please tell me it is the guy you were kissing."
Ruby's cheek lit up with a pinkish-red glow.
"Maybe!"
"Ah!" Elena jumped on the bed, her eyes brimming with gossip. "Where did you meet him, and how did you convince him to give you such an expensive ring while pretending to be married to you?"
"Pretending?!" Ruby's eyes lit up with a wicked grin. "Who said anything about pretending?"
"No way!" Elena's jaw dropped, her hands impulsively flying to her mouth "You're married to him...as in...real marriage?!"
"You thought I was bluffing?" Ruby sneered.
"Yeah! I thought you were just trying to get back at Derek and annoy your parents."
Ruby smiled bitterly, the thought of breaking her parents' hearts with her disturbing secret crippling her thoughts. She paused briefly as she was contemplating something before turning to Elana, her eyes filled with anxiety.
"Ellie..." She took Elena's hands into hers. "There's something you need to know."
Elena felt her chest tighten as she observed that worrisome look in her bestie's eyes.
"Oh God... please, don't tell me you slept with him last night." Her voice trembled.
"Ummm...it's more... than that," Ruby's voice quivered.
"You had a threesome!" Elena whispered, how eyes widened, almost popping out.
Ruby inhaled and exhaled before blurting out. "I'm pregnant."
A sudden hush fell in the room as Elena temporarily froze, her mouth hanging open like a puppet with its strings abruptly cut.
"Elena..." Ruby shook her arms. "Please say something... Anything."
"Wh...what did..." Elena held her breath, swallowing the lump in her throat while placing her hand on her pounding chest. "What did you just say?"
"I am pre...."
"Don't" Elena pulled away from Ruby, hurrying out of the bed to check the windows and ensure no one was spying on them.
Ruby also climbed out of the bed, her body trembling due to Elena's anxiety attack.
"I swear... I didn't know until two hours before the wedding."
"What!" Elena placed both hands dramatically on her head like a woman who had just been told that her child had passed on. "How!" She whispered, eyes widened. "When?! I thought you and Derek had not..."
"It's not for Derek." Ruby dropped the last blow, knocking the breath out of her bestie.
Elena opened her mouth and closed it repeatedly, words completely failing her. She started pacing up and down the room, as different thoughts clamoured for attention in her mind.
All of a sudden, she abruptly stopped and she whipped her stern gaze to Ruby like a judge about to deliver a verdict.
"I want the truth and nothing less."
Ruby nodded, her stomach doing a flip-flop."
"Have you ever slept with Derek?"
"No." Ruby shook her head.
"Who did you sleep with? Is it the same man that brought you home–the one you were kissing?"
"Yes."
"Okay..." Elena raked her finger through her hair, while breathing through her mouth as she asked the next question. "When and where did you meet him and sleep with him?"
At this question, tears began to stream down Ruby's flushed cheeks as she explained.
"Five weeks ago, Derek was feeling sick at home and couldn't come down to the fashion studio. So I left him for work only to close very early to make him lunch. But when I found him in bed with Bailey, completely nude and lost in their pleasure, I got mad and decided to pay him back in his own coin. So I went to this gentleman's club in town, got myself drunk, and lost my virginity to the most annoying man at that moment, who turned out to be Kai. I didn't plan for this."
Ruby concluded her story in tears.
"Oh, Ruby...." Elena pulled her into her arms, stroking her hair tenderly. "It's okay. We're going to find a way around this."
Ruby nodded, sobbing softly on Elena's shoulder.
"Have you told anyone about this?" Elena asked after a few moments of silence.
"No," Ruby whispered.
"Do you plan on getting rid of it?" Elena pushed further.
"Never." Ruby pulled away from her bestie, her eyes filled with determination. "I'm going to keep it."
"What about your parents?" Elena's tone echoed her worry. "Have you thought how they would react to this news?"
Ruby stared blankly at the door, her heart heavy. "They will have to accept me this way because I plan on telling them this evening."