Faux Vows, True Desires

Chapter 34

Stefan stepped out of the restroom and saw Owen chatting with Lucinda. He briskly walked over.

"Owen, what do you think you're doing?" Stefan pulled Lucinda behind him, eyeing Owen suspiciously.

Owen chuckled, "Stefan, why so jumpy? Scared I'll spill the beans? I'm just having a chat with her. You're not being very honest, Stefan. You've already put a ring on her finger and you're still keeping her in the dark? Look at her, she's pale as a ghost. All thanks to you."

After a hearty laugh and a toast to Lucinda, Owen turned and left. He'd achieved his goal and didn't want to stick around in case Stefan got mad and started a fight.

Even though he wasn't scared of Stefan, he didn't want to fight him, mainly because he didn't want to hurt Stefan and upset Ruby.

Stefan turned around to look at Lucinda's pale face. He wanted to caress her face, but she dodged him.

"Stefan, is everything Mr. Martinez said true? Lucy, I didn't mean to deceive you, I was just afraid..."

Lucinda cut Stefan off, "Stefan, can I go home now?"

This revelation was too much for her. She needed some time to cool off.

Stefan was the eldest son of the Anderson family and the heir to Ascend Global, not some random assistant. Turned out, the person she had known for eleven years was still a stranger to her.

"I'll drive you home."

Stefan grabbed Lucinda's hand, not letting her leave by herself. Then, he pulled out his phone and called his chauffeur to pick them up from the Ascend Hotel.

Now that Lucinda knew his true identity, there was no need to hide anymore.

"Lucy."

"Stefan, just save it for now. Once I've cooled down, we can talk properly."

Their agreement was definitely going to be void. She couldn't afford to hire the eldest son of the Anderson family.

Stefan looked intensely at her, but in the end, he remained silent and gently stroked her hair.

...

The Scott family mansion was brightly lit upstairs.

Ruby was busy working in her study room. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

The butler walked in. "Miss, Mr. Owen is here. He's waiting for you downstairs."

Ruby acknowledged and said, "Tell him I'll be right down."

The butler left.

Ruby put down her pen, got up, and went to her room. She picked out a plain long dress from her closet, freshened up her makeup, made sure she looked fresh and beautiful, then leisurely descended the stairs.

Owen was sitting on the sofa, a bouquet of roses and a big red box sat on the table. Hearing footsteps, he turned around, stood up, and looked at Ruby with adoring eyes.

She was so beautiful. Even in a plain dress, she was as beautiful as a painting, way more stunning than Stefan's wife.

Beauty was in the eye of the beholder. To Owen, Ruby was the most beautiful. To Stefan, Lucinda was the most beautiful and perfect woman in the world.

"Owen."

Ruby smiled and walked over, "What brings you here so late?" Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Owen glanced at his watch and said, "It's only ten, not that late."

He picked up the bouquet and handed it to Ruby, "Flowers for a beauty. I got these for you."

Ruby accepted the flowers. She had been worried that Owen was mad at her. Luckily, he wasn't.

Owen then picked up the big red box and handed it to Ruby, saying, "I passed by a jewelry store and saw a set that would look great on you. I bought it. Take a look, see if you like it."

Ruby sat down. Upon opening the box, a set of jewelry instantly caught her eye. "So beautiful!"

Ruby complimented with a smile, "Your taste is impeccable. Every gift from you is always a pleasant surprise."

Many of her jewelry pieces were gifts from Owen. But Stefan... ever since they turned twelve, he had stopped giving her presents. He said they were grown-ups now, and that boys and girls were different. He couldn't casually give her gifts anymore.

Seeing her delighted, Owen felt much better. He took out a piece of paper. "Ruby, this is the result of the investigation you asked for."

Upon hearing this, Ruby immediately put down the flowers and jewelry, took the paper, and commented, "That's all?"

Owen chuckled sarcastically, "An ordinary girl's family history wouldn't even fill two pages."

Ruby started reading Lucinda's profile. The details were comprehensive, but Lucinda's background was so plain that it didn't even fill one page. "The Moores adopted her?"

"Yeah, Lucinda is indeed an adopted child of the Moore family. Their biological daughter passed away from illness, so they treated Lucinda like their own. Everyone in the Moore family knew this, except Lucinda."

Owen clarified, "Even Ike knew."

When they were in college, Owen heard that Ike was particularly fond of his sister. The Moores were kind-hearted people who loved even their adopted daughter like their own.

"Was Lucinda abandoned as a baby?"

"Well, the investigation wasn't clear about that. She probably was. People back then preferred sons. If they had a daughter, they would either give her away or abandon her. So, it's not surprising that she was an abandoned baby."

Ruby nodded, reading Lucinda's profile over and over again. She found nothing remarkable and couldn't understand why Stefan was treating Lucinda differently.

"There's one more thing I need to tell you. It's not in the report."

"What is it?"

Owen looked at her seriously, word by word, "Stefan and Lucinda got hitched. The day you got back, they were already legally married. At first, Lucinda just wanted Stefan to play pretend boyfriend to fool her folks. Then for whatever reason, they made it official. The night you returned, Stefan went with Lucinda to meet the Moore family."

"No way!" Ruby exclaimed in surprise, "How can that be? Stefan really married Lucinda! He's the eldest son of the Anderson clan, yet he married a castoff like Lucinda. She's nowhere near good enough for him, she doesn't deserve to become an Anderson or the lady of Ascend Estate!"

That was supposed to be her place!

Owen just quietly watched her shocked, angry, disbelieving expression. His eyes were dark and deep.

For Owen, Stefan getting married was the best news ever! But when Ruby heard the news about Stefan's marriage, she was absolutely floored.