A woman with a six-month-old baby, here to see President Lawford?
Ben Linden couldn’t connect the dots, no matter how he tried.
He scoffed.
“Just another gold-digger, right?
Probably crazy.
Just get rid of her.”
The receptionist on the other end stammered, “But the baby really looks like President Lawford, Assistant Linden.
Are you sure we should just send her away?”
Getting rid of the woman was one thing, but if she sent away the president’s own daughter, she’d be in deep trouble.
The receptionist was truly hesitant.
She looked at the baby in the woman’s arms.
Even though she wasn’t married herself, one look at those big, watery, grape-like eyes made her heart melt.
“Get rid of her.
Miss Grant will be here soon.
Don’t cause any trouble for the president,” Assistant Linden urged coldly over the phone.
Putting down the receiver, the receptionist looked apologetic.
“Miss, our president isn’t in.
Why don’t you…
come back another day?”
On any other day, it might have been possible.
But with Miss Yana Grant arriving today, this woman holding a baby who looked just like the president was an eyesore.
Ruby Grant bit her lip, her hands trembling slightly as she held Ceci.
From anger.
And from the cold.
She was soaked to the bone from the downpour, and even Ceci hadn’t been spared.
Yet here she was, shut out by Caleb Lawford.
Heh.
Ha!
A sorrowful laugh escaped her, tears welling in her eyes.
She had been bullied into this state by Caleb Lawford, and now she couldn’t even get past the elevator doors.
Catching the receptionist’s glance, the security guard nearby watched her like a hawk, as if she and Ceci would be thrown out of the building if she dared take one step closer to the elevator bank.
‘Right.
I must look completely different from the radiant Lawyer Grant of a year ago,’ she thought.
People came and went at the Lawford Group; it was only normal that no one recognized her.
Caught in the downpour, not a single car on the road had been willing to stop for them.
She had taken off her coat to shield Ceci, but still had to watch helplessly as the rain soaked her baby.
Ceci was so good.
Snuggled in her mother’s arms, she didn’t cry even as she shivered from the cold.
She just gripped her mother’s finger tightly and looked at her, as if ready to face anything by her side.
Ruby Grant parted her pale lips.
“Tell Caleb Lawford that I’m Ruby Grant…”
Before she could finish the sentence, a commotion erupted at the entrance.
A tall figure strode in, clad in a form-fitting crimson dress and six-centimeter-high light-colored heels.
She was surrounded by an entourage: a bodyguard holding an umbrella for her, an assistant carrying her bag, a nanny draping a down coat over her shoulders…
She walked with the air of a revered princess as people parted to make way, their eyes filled with fervent admiration.
Ruby Grant’s mouth fell open, her eyes turning bloodshot.
She recognized that person.
It was one of the people who had personally sent her to prison—the one who claimed to have reported her for the sake of fairness and justice, hailed as a shining light of the legal world.
It was the Grant Family’s adopted daughter, Yana Grant, the woman she once treated like her own sister!
“It’s Yana Grant…”
“Yana Grant, the new-generation genius of the legal world?
She’s gorgeous.”
The next second, the president’s private elevator opened, and a tall, slender figure slowly stepped out.
A rare, gentle smile graced his usually cold and indifferent face.
Seeing Caleb Lawford, Yana Grant stamped her foot playfully and jogged over, throwing herself into his arms.
“Caleb, I knew you’d come down to get me yourself.”
Caleb gripped her shoulders and gently pushed her back.
“Stop fooling around.
It was Elder Jennings, a veteran of the legal world, who said you did an excellent job this time.
Your insights were fresh and brilliant, and he told me to praise you in person.”
Ben Linden was also waiting respectfully nearby.
“Miss Grant, the president has prepared a special welcome-back banquet for you.
You’ve worked hard on your business trip, and the president has been thinking of you.”
Yana’s beautiful face stiffened at the title “Miss Grant,” but she liked everything else he said.
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looped her arm through Caleb Lawford’s, about to step inside.
Just then, her gaze swept across a corner of the crowd and suddenly met a pair of eyes that seemed to hold both mockery and sorrow.
In that instant, the hair on her back stood on end.
‘Is that her?’
“What are you looking at?” Caleb had actually noticed a woman holding a baby when he arrived, but Yana had run over before he could get a good look.
Only now did he peer in that direction inquisitively.
Yana’s heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly tried to stop him.
“Caleb, I wasn’t…” She suddenly fell silent.
In that spot, among the crowd, those soul-stirring eyes were gone.
It was as if she had imagined it all.
Yana composed herself.
“I just saw a lot of unfamiliar faces.
Looks like the company hired some new people while I was away on business,” she said with a charming smile.
“Mm,” Caleb grunted.
There was indeed nothing there but a puddle of water.
He nonchalantly looked away.
“Everything Yana Grant has was originally yours, Ruby.”
“In fact, Caleb and I both know she’s just a pale imitation.”
In a temporary lounge around the corner, a man whispered in her ear.
Ruby angrily wrenched her hand free.
“Let go of me!
Miles Spade, what are you trying to do?”
Miles Spade’s eyes were red, his breathing ragged.
He had come here on business but never expected to run into Ruby Grant.
He suppressed his roiling emotions, his gaze shifting between her and the baby in her arms.
The longer he looked, the harder it was to hide the bloodshot fury in his eyes.
He took a deep breath, his charming, almond-shaped eyes tinged with mockery.
“You saw it too, didn’t you, Ruby?
Caleb Lawford is in love with Yana Grant.
Showing up then would have been nothing but self-humiliation, wouldn’t it?
I pulled you away to save you the embarrassment.
You should be thanking me.”
“Thank you for what?
For committing perjury and personally sending me to prison?
Or for tricking me into trusting you for all those years, only to turn around and hand the materials I worked so hard on over to Yana Grant, betraying me at the most critical moment?”
“Miles Spade, don’t tell me you aren’t in love with Yana Grant.
You went to such great lengths for her.
Was even befriending me in the first place part of your grand scheme?”
The very sight of him disgusted Ruby.
It was a classic case of the farmer and the viper.
She and Miles Spade had grown up together.
When he was ostracized by the Spade Family, she was the one who stood by him.
She believed that with his talent, he could make a name for himself even without the family’s support.
Day by day, he grew into an astonishing business genius, his capabilities on par with Caleb Lawford’s.
And then he turned around and destroyed her.
She had considered him her best friend.
She never had many friends growing up; the other socialites all flocked to Yana and isolated her.
But she thought it didn’t matter because she had her dear older brother, a fellow outcast.
But now…
“The sight of you makes me sick!”
Clutching Ceci, Ruby brushed past his arm.
“Ruby, I know you won’t forgive me, but that’s okay.
I can protect you now.
Not even Caleb Lawford can hurt you again!”
A hand shot out and grabbed her arm.
The corners of Miles Spade’s eyes were red.
His beautiful, almond-shaped eyes seemed to be filled with deep affection as he looked at her.
But Ruby only felt scorn.
“Save your acting for Yana Grant.”
She wrenched herself free, fighting the urge to slap him.
If she weren’t afraid of retaliation, afraid that her little Ceci would be harmed, she wouldn’t have held back.
Now that she had a child, she had a major weakness.
Ruby took a few steps forward.
Not far away, Miles Spade’s assistant stood waiting.
His expression was filled with surprise, and also pity.
‘Now even Miles Spade’s dog can pity me,’ Ruby sneered inwardly.
“Tell your dog to get out of the way!”
Miles Spade clenched his jaw but ultimately gave a wave of his hand.
The assistant had no choice but to step aside respectfully.
“I know you won’t come with me, but it’s still raining outside.
I’ll have a car take you back.”
“Miles Spade, I still have business with Caleb Lawford.
You don’t have to stop me just for Yana Grant’s sake!”
But Miles Spade told her loudly:
“Ruby, you’d better not go looking for Caleb Lawford with that child.
Yana Grant is pregnant!
You and your baby will just be obstacles in their eyes!”
Ruby’s steps faltered, but she still didn’t look back.
However, she no longer headed toward the Lawford Group’s front desk, but toward the exit.
“Mr.
Spade, when did Miss Yana Grant get pregnant?
How come I didn’t know?” He was Mr.
Spade’s top subordinate in charge of gathering information.
If he didn’t know, how could Mr.
Spade?
The assistant couldn’t help but ask after Ruby was out of earshot.
He turned back to see Miles Spade’s stunningly handsome face marked by undisguised, cold calculation.
“Get the media to spread a fake story about Yana Grant being pregnant.
Tell Yana she’s not allowed to deny it.
I don’t care how she placates Caleb Lawford; I want any thought Ruby has of returning to his side to be completely extinguished.”
“Also, arrange for a car.
Bring me the keys.”
The rain was heavy, but Ruby managed to hail a Volkswagen Skoda.
She didn’t look at the license plate, just hurried into the car with Ceci.
It was warm inside the car.
She held Ceci tightly, tears falling uncontrollably.
“I’m disabled and can’t speak.
Just let me know where you want to go.”
The male driver in the front seat, wearing a mask and a black hat that obscured his face, was dressed in a gray sweater.
He had handed her a card on which those words were written.
Ruby gave him the address and sighed.
“So you’re disabled.
Misery really does love company.”
The driver handed back two towels, pointing first to her and then to Ceci.
The towels were clean and had the fresh scent of cotton.
Ruby understood.
“Thank you.
We really needed these.
Name your price; we’ll consider them purchased from you.”
After speaking, she remembered he couldn’t talk.
So she discreetly tucked a hundred-yuan bill next to the front passenger seat.
The driver seemed not to notice and kept driving.
Fortunately, Ceci’s inner clothes were dry.
Ruby just had to take off her wet outer layer and wrap her in a towel.
She only gave herself a quick wipe-down.
She closed her eyes, feeling her forehead burn.
Her body swayed involuntarily.
‘I’m coming down with a fever!’
After a year and a half in prison, her constitution was weak.
Getting caught in the rain always led to a cold and a fever, without exception.
But she couldn’t close her eyes.
Ceci was still with her.
Through the rearview mirror, the man saw the woman in the back on the verge of collapsing.
She was about to pass out several times, but each time she forced herself awake by pinching her thigh hard.
‘When did the little girl who used to whine and need coddling over a simple cold change so much?’ From under the mask and the brim of the hat, his almond-shaped eyes gradually filled with disbelief.
‘What on earth did she go through in prison?’
Miles Spade’s gaze swept over the scar on her face, and a dense, sharp pain pricked at his heart.
‘If she’s going to hate someone, it should be Caleb Lawford.
I was just an accomplice at most.’
‘Ruby, I never meant to hurt you…’
His gaze suddenly fell on the baby girl sleeping in Ruby’s arms.
‘That child…
one look and you can tell she’s Caleb Lawford’s.’
‘Didn’t Yana say that Caleb and Ruby’s marriage was strained?
How could he let her get pregnant and even have the child…’