Sitting in the corner were two fully packed suitcases.

Her heart lurched. “Ruby. You’re leaving?”

Ruby gave her a dismissive shrug. “It’s over. You said so yourself last night.”

“I didn’t mean-” Yvonne shook her head. “I didn’t mean you should leave.”

“What’s the point in staying?”

“Ruby-”

“What, Yvonne? What is it that you want? Do you even know yourself?” Ruby’s voice rose. “It’s been like this with you from the start. You say you want one thing, but you behave in the complete opposite way. You push me away, then you tell me I’m precious. You play these games with me while saying they mean nothing. Then yesterday, you said that these three months were a waste, that they were all for nothing? What am I supposed to think? How am I supposed to feel?” She shook her head. “I’m so tired of this. Do you ever mean anything you say? Do you ever stop to think about who you hurt just by being the way you are? Or are you just too stuck in your own head to even care?”

Yvonne flinched. “I-”

“Just tell me what you want, Yvonne! For once, just tell me.”

“I don’t know!” Yvonne stopped and took a deep breath. “I don’t know what I want. I just… I don’t want to give up on this yet.”

“This? What do you mean by ‘this?’ Do you mean us, or your plan to get your inheritance?”

Yvonne hesitated, just for a moment. But it was long enough.

Ruby scoffed. “That’s what I thought. You know what, that’s fine with me. If you still want to try to salvage this stupid inheritance plot, I’ll stick around. It’s almost three months already, I might as well get something out of it.”

“Ruby-”

“Tell me what I need to do, Yvonne. That’s all you ever do, isn’t it? That’s all you want from me, right? You want someone you can tell what to do? What to say? Someone who will crawl for your entertainment? Someone you can own?”

Something tore inside Yvonne’s chest. “Ruby-”

“Just tell me how we can salvage this so I still get my money.”

“Fine.” Yvonne gritted her jaw. “I don’t have any ideas yet, but I’m working on it. If there’s even a small chance we can convince Bill that we’re really married, I want to take it. All I need is for you to come to the meeting with me.” She paused. “And even if I don’t get the inheritance money, I’ll still give you your money. Two and a half million. You held up your end of the bargain after all.”

“Fine. I’ll come to the meeting. I’ll stay until then. At least that way, these three months wouldn’t be a complete waste,” she muttered.

“Ruby, please.”

Ruby crossed her arms. “Are we done? I’d like to be alone.”

Yvonne remained seated. She couldn’t leave things between them like this. She couldn’t let this rift between them grow any bigger.