Ruby stood frozen in place, her eyes still looking into the eyes she had trusted. She looked deeper hoping she had just heard something else
She couldn't say anything. She just stared. Stared at those same eyes that once looked at her like she was the only thing that mattered in this world.
Now the eyes were full of pity. Guilt.
The words played in her head over and over again like a recorder she didn't want to hear.
"I met my fated mate today."
Her lips opened to speak, but no words came out. The pounding in her heart had slowed down and was now full of something she couldn't quite figure.
She finally let out a laugh. It was soft and still searching. Her eyes looked at his face like maybe…just maybe…..he would say it's all a joke.
"You're joking," she whispered, her voice barely able to come together to be heard.
"I wish I was," Han muttered, sending his gaze somewhere else. "But....the moment I saw her, I felt it. The bond. I couldn't just fight it."
Ruby shook her head in disapproval and stretched out and grabbed his hands without care of someone seeing them.
"But you said... you said you didn't care about anything else." She said softly.
"I thought I didn't," Han replied to her, returning his gaze to meet hers again. "Until I met her."
After his words. It finally hit her.
He truly doesn't love her again.
She let go of his hands and took a step backwards.
Everything inside her was falling.
"So that's it?" she asked him, trying to keep her expression calm. "You promised to tell your father. You made me believe..." Her voice stopped, like she lost it, but she didn't..
Han stretched out his hands to hold her but she stepped back again. "Don't."
"Ruby…."
"No!" she snapped, her eyes already filled with tears. "Don't call my name like you didn't just lie and then break me."
"I didn't mean for it to happen," he said desperately, searching for her face. "I didn't expect her. I didn't know she would..."
"But you accepted it," she cut in, not allowing him to finish, her voice turning cold now.
"You introduced her to your father. Let the elders cheer for your new relationship while I was there, thinking you were keeping your promise."
"I didn't know how to face you," Han confessed to her, his voice feeling heavy. "I didn't want to hurt you."
She laughed, cleaning a tear from her cheek. "Too late."
A moment of silence came and stayed before she asked the question that had already been growing in her.
"Do you love her?"
Han didn't answer her immediately. His silence was enough.
She didn't need to hear anything else. That was enough.
Ruby nodded to him, her lips trembling as if she could break down and cry any moment. "You didn't even wait a full day before giving up on us."
He threw his gaze away, as if he was avoiding everything about her and what she said.
She turned around without saying another word, her legs felt weak but she couldn't stop. Not in front of him.
She knew he was watching her, but he didn't stop her. He didn't run after her.
Because now….. he had Evelyn.
And she had nothing.
Ruby sat on her bed that night, after completing the whole day's chore. Her fingers held the edge of the mattress as she finally broke down into tears.
She wasn't just broken. She was shattered.
She buried her face in the mattress and continued crying until there were no tears left.
How could she have been so foolish?
She had let herself believe in love.
She let herself believe she could be the Alpha's son mate.
A few weeks passed.
Ruby returned to her duties in silence, she never spoke to anyone unless she was spoken to. She avoided the Alpha's inner compound as much as she could, as that was where all was happening.
She would dodge errands and claim she was on another errand. As there was much to do. No one seemed to notice.
Whenever she saw Han coming from a distance, her heart would skip a bit. But she would just nod in respect to him being the Alpha's son and walk pass.
And he did the same.
He never came to her again.
He didn't even glance in her direction.
As if she had never meant anything to him, as if their relationship had been a mistake.
The rumors about the Alpha's son finding his fated mate had circulated round the pack in a matter of days. Everyone was excited, especially the elders and the Alpha. It was a time of celebration.
No one remembered Ruby. She was all alone. Forgotten.
The celebration had started slowly and just like any other day, there was much work to do and Ruby had to take part in them like every other maid.
Just as she finished setting aside the vegetables for the evening dish. Ruby clutched her stomach, feeling a wave of nausea around her. She held the wall to support her, as she had lost her strength almost immediately. Her face went pale and her breaths became slower
It had been weeks.
Her body had been strange to her. She suddenly feels tired, sick, and emotional.
Her eyes widened as realization hit her.
No... it couldn't be.
She rushed to her small room and within she pulled out her small storage box, bringing out the herbs she had given the herbal women, who in turn used it to confirm women's condition.
Her hands shook visibly as she prepared it.
When the results came out positive, she dropped the bowl almost immediately.
She was pregnant.
Han's child... growing inside her.
She looked down at her stomach. She felt bitter and sweet.
She knew this child's father was Han. But he wouldn't gather such a child.
The pack won't welcome such a child.
The child would receive more than she had even received.
She couldn't stay here. Not anymore.
Ruby turned and looked around, grabbed the few silk she could find. Then a bag to place them in. She made sure to make the bag light enough to avoid suspicion.
And with that done, she opened her room door and stepped out.
Leaving Viesta without a goodbye.