Ruby buried her face in her pillow, trying to smother the hurt inside her. She had no right to be upset. The whole point of their marriage was so that Yvonne could get her inheritance. That was all Yvonne had needed Ruby for. From the very beginning, Yvonne had made it clear that their arrangement was purely business.

To Yvonne, Ruby was just a means to an end.

Ruby sat up and yanked the wedding ring from her finger, tossing it to the floor. To think she’d opened up to Yvonne, sharing all her darkest secrets and desires. To think Ruby had trusted Yvonne. To think Ruby had started to believe that what they had was real.

To think she’d started to wonder whether she was falling in love with Yvonne.

Ruby should have known better. She’d been stupid to let her feelings get caught up in everything between them. Stupid to think their arrangement could have been more. Stupid to give her mind, and body, and everything else to this woman who only wanted her for money and pleasure.

She’d been stupid to agree to this sham of a marriage in the first place.

Ruby got up from the bed. She didn’t want to stay here. Yvonne herself had said that it was all over.

Ruby went into her closet, grabbed her suitcase, and started to pack.

Chapter 24

Yvonne knocked on Ruby’s bedroom door. She needed to apologize for her behavior the night before. She was ashamed of how badly she’d reacted to the situation. Everything had been spiraling out of control, and she’d found herself out of her depth.

It wasn’t a feeling she was accustomed to. She’d been terrified. The things she’d said to Ruby, the way she’d treated her, had been callous and unfair. Yvonne had been so consumed by the fact that her inheritance plot was falling apart that she hadn’t even considered how Ruby’s encounter with Nicholas had affected her.

Yvonne knocked on the door again. “Ruby? Are you in there?”

She waited but didn’t get a response. It was morning, so there was a chance Ruby was still asleep, but Yvonne needed to talk to her. She waited a few seconds more, then began knocking more insistently.

Just when Yvonne was about to give up, the door swung open.

Ruby stood before her, her face blank and her blue eyes cold. “What is it?”

“You’re awake,” Yvonne said. Ruby was already fully dressed. She looked like she’d been awake for a while. “Can I come in?”

Ruby stepped aside for Yvonne to enter the room. Ruby took a seat on the edge of her bed, while Yvonne perched on a nearby armchair, taking a moment to gather her thoughts.

“So?” Ruby said. “What do you want?”

Yvonne’s stomach tightened. Clearly, she’d hurt Ruby more than she’d realized. “I want to talk about last night. I need to apologize for how I behaved.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. I should never have said what I did. I never meant to…” Why did Ruby’s room look so bare? Yvonne looked around it.