Chapter 3

Hank suddenly clutched his head. Said he felt dizzy, and his whole body was cold. Ruby rushed to help him into the car, carefully covering him with a thick blanket.

She gently stroked his face, her voice soft and full of worry. "Hank, I'll get you to the hospital right away. Just hang in there. You're going to be okay."

Suddenly, Hank threw open the car door and stumbled out, vomiting onto the pavement. Thick, white bile splattered on the ground. Ruby hurried over with a bottle of water and helped him rinse his mouth.

After rinsing, Hank wiped his lips and muttered casually, "Maybe it's a bad reaction from drinking that bone marrow broth Jack donated from his own body..."

Ruby frowned, clearly annoyed. "I only heard this old remedy worked faster. But Jack Grayson… even his body fluids are disgusting."

At that moment, my grandma, Elena, snapped.

She struggled to her feet, her frail body trembling with rage. Grabbing her cane, she lunged at Hank.

"You monster! You actually drained Jack's bone marrow? I'll kill you myself!"

But before she could reach him, Ruby kicked her hard in the chest. Grandma Elena flew back, crumpling to the ground.

"You think you can bully Hank?" Ruby screamed, her eyes wild. "Just because we were taken in by you doesn't mean we have to grovel forever! What makes you think you're better than us?"

"I'm taking Hank to get checked out. If there's anything wrong with him, you and that dead grandson of yours can both rot in hell."

Several black sedans screeched away, leaving a trail of dust and a broken old woman writhing on the dirt.

I rushed toward my grandma, my heart aching as I tried to help her up. But my hands passed right through her. I couldn't touch her. That helplessness crushed me.

If I hadn't trusted Ruby back then… If I hadn't handed over everything… Grandma wouldn't be suffering like this at her age.

I looked around at the dilapidated trailer. This place once held every happy memory of my childhood.

When I was eight, my parents were always working. They left me in Grandma's care. Those were the happiest days of my life.

Then Ruby's family fell apart. Her parents were arrested after their company, Chow Ventures, collapsed. Because our families had been connected through a betrothal since we were kids, and because her grandfather had once helped my father, Grandma took Ruby in without hesitation.

As for Hank, he was just a homeless orphan. He came begging at our door, and Grandma, with all her kindness, took him in, too.

Grandma never treated her like an outsider. No matter how little food we had, she always split it evenly among the three of us.

Back then, Ruby followed me everywhere like a shadow. Even when Hank and I argued, she always took my side.

But everything changed when I turned sixteen.

My parents were killed in a car crash, and the vultures took over Grayson Tech. We lost everything—our home, our income, and our future.

Then Hank started spreading lies. He claimed Grandma only adopted Ruby to steal her inheritance. However, that so-called inheritance was a secret fund my parents had left behind.

After that, Ruby began avoiding us. She grew colder and only trusted Hank.

One time, Hank stole from a classmate. Ruby saw it happen. But instead of stopping him, she turned a blind eye. She even helped him pin the blame on me.

Years later, when I was old enough to marry, Grandma brought out the secret fund. She wanted me to use it to start a family.

That was when Ruby suddenly reminded me of our childhood engagement, hinted at destiny, and told me we could build a future together. She asked me to invest the money in her startup.

Grandma and I gave her everything.

The moment she made it big, the first thing she did was make Hank her company's vice president. After that, she threw us aside like garbage.

It was all my fault. I trusted her. I gave her everything. Because of me, Grandma was left to suffer this fate.

I wondered if Ruby ever learned the truth—about Hank—what would she feel?