CHAPTER 3

"Why are you so confident that I can carry your baby?" Ruby muttered without looking at the other person.

"I'm so sure. Because you always take care of your health, never drink alcohol or smoke," said Victor, who had been quietly snooping on his adopted sister's free-living activities.

Ruby would no longer be surprised by Victor's words of truth. Victor had the money; he had the power, and Ruby must have been the one being monitored all this time for personal gain.

"Umm. It turns out I've been monitored all this time," Ruby replied with a small nod.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" asked Victor upon hearing Ruby's casual reaction.

"Why don't you ask the people you hired to keep an eye on me? They'll know if I have a boyfriend or a guy just having sex," Ruby continued with a yawn, feeling sleepy from Victor.

"No. I wouldn't believe you if you were having sex. Because you already said that I'm the first man to get your virginity," explained Victor, who recalled little Ruby saying out loud that the first man to have sex with her was Victor.

"Damn it! Do you still believe what a 13-year-old girl said back then?" Ruby chuckled and shook her head, laughing at Victor's words.

"Let's prove it," Victor said, approaching Ruby quickly and almost kissing her as the distance between them grew thinner.

"You want to touch trash? Has your ideal type of woman gone down a notch?" Ruby said she was not going to be swayed by Victor's glare.

Victor was again at a loss for words. He leaned back and grinned. The Ruby he knew and the Ruby he had just met after all these years had changed. This time, there was a more challenging side, making Victor even more eager to get his hands on Ruby.

"No. I won't touch you. You'll only be pregnant with my son," Victor retorted.

"How can I get pregnant if you don't have sex with me?" Ruby replied, pushing her hair up.

"IVF. I just borrowed your womb," Victor explained.

"Can't you rent another woman's womb? As a more classy, educated woman, you have the money and power to do it too," Ruby said, rejecting Victor's wishes.

"No. I don't trust other women. I only trust Rubyjane."

Victor paused as Ruby moved her body forward and placed her hand on the surface of Victor's body, her other hand pressing against Victor's thigh. Their eyes stared intensely at each other; Ruby seemed to want to devour Victor, who was already dying of nausea at Ruby's actions. Fuck! Victor's concentration is broken. His eyeballs flickered up and down Ruby's sexy jaw and lips. Ruby looked sweet, with a faint smile and sharp, mesmerizing eyes. How many times does Victor swallow his saliva? But he remembers that he has someone's heart to protect. Victor quickly pushed Ruby out of his way.

"I'll drive you home; just think of the things I said in my house! If you still try to resist or run away, I will not hesitate to look for you to the end of the world," Victor muttered, taking a glance at Ruby before starting the car.

"What are the benefits of carrying your baby?" Ruby said as she closed her eyes.

"You get all the perks and unlimited money. All you have to do is get pregnant, and I'll marry my woman while you're pregnant," explained Victor, who had planned this with his beloved Charlotte Matthews.

"Umm. So you're getting married when I'm pregnant? Pretty cool! It's like a movie, but it's real in Rubyjane's life," Ruby added with a small nod.

"It's only temporary, Ruby. You only need nine months to get pregnant; after that, you're free to do whatever you want and go wherever you want," Victor said as he drove to Ruby's apartment, which he already knew.

****

An hour and two hours passed until 3 am. Ruby was still sitting on the sofa in the living room of the apartment, laughing a few times and then returning to her reflective state of mind. 

"He chose me because I'm healthy. I don't smoke, I don't drink alcohol, and he even knows I've never had sex with any man," Ruby said with a sad smile.

She picked up a can of beer and gulped it down quickly. In just seconds, all the water in the can moved into her stomach. It's not the first can, but it's already the fourth. Ruby opened a pack of cigarettes and started to light the lighter. For the first time in Ruby's life, she smoked, not because she wanted to, but because she didn't want to be in this complicated situation.

She didn't. She was not an expert; many times, Ruby failed to exhale the smoke and choked on the first taste of tobacco that touched her taste buds. But Ruby continued to enjoy the cigarette between her fingers until it was finished.

"To hell with what Victor said," Ruby said, putting out her cigarette and lying quietly on the old sofa.

Just as Ruby's eyes were about to close, Victor's words before they parted came back to her.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"What for?" asked Ruby, her back to Victor.

"We're going to the gynaecologist," was the last thing Ruby heard Victor say.

***

Victor went to a mansion in the center of Boston. It was precisely the home of his girlfriend, Charlotte Matthews, Victor called her Carly.

His longing for Carly had peaked because yesterday he had been preoccupied with taking care of the woman who would play an important role in Carly and Victor's wedding. Before meeting Ruby, Victor met his girlfriend first.

A beautiful morning was greeted by the arrival of a billionaire carrying a bouquet of red roses. Victor's eyes darted to the window, where he smiled as he saw his lover's face appear with a sweet smile.

Victor raised his index finger to instruct Carly to wait for him upstairs. Carly gave a small nod with a smile that never faded from her face.

"Good morning, Mr. Victor," the waiter greeted Victor.

Victor just nodded and immediately ran up the stairs. Sometimes he regretted why Carly had to have a room on the third floor. Draining his energy, Victor would still do anything to meet the love of his life. Even across the ocean, Victor would still do it.

Victor sighed as he straightened his suit before turning the knob on Carly's door. Carly immediately greeted Victor with a change of clothes. Fuck! How can Carly, who was previously seen in floral pajamas, change into black lingerie that is so tight it almost reveals all the perfection on her beautiful body?

"What's up with this morning?" Victor said with a smirk. Placing the bouquet on the nightstand, he approaches Carly, who is sitting sweetly on the bed.

"Giving you your morning meal, of course," Carly replies with her arms open wide. Accepting Victor's arrival in her arms. The masculine scent combined with Carly's jasmine perfume added to the sensual sensation between the two.

"Are you sure? There's no work today," Victor whispered, pushing Carly's body down on the bed. 

"Free," Carly replies, pressing Victor's head against her neck.

"Slow or rough?" added Victor, moving his body away. Quickly removing his shirt and cloth pants. Victor's almond eyes never left Carly's sensual facial expressions, and he nibbled on her bottom lip.

"Both." Carly blinked her eyes, waiting for Victor's arrival between her legs.

"Scream, baby. I'm going to do it rough without stopping," Victor whispers in front of Carly's face before his lips crush roughly, sucking and biting Carly's full, luscious lips.

"Have you found someone who wants to?" said Carly, looking at Victor's face in the reflection of the glass.

"Hmm," Victor mumbled, still sleeping face down.

"Honey. I'm serious," Carly added, standing up from her sitting position and approaching Victor's body as her lover.

"I'm meeting him today. Do you want to come?" said Victor, turning his body to look at Carly's face. Victor's hand smoothed the hair that was covering Carly's face.

"Really! Oh, God! We can finally get married, baby," Carly replied, hugging Victor's body with happiness. "Did you explain our agreement?" continued Carly, looking at Victor's face, a small hand adjusting the jet-black mane that slightly extended to touch the neck.

"I did. I told her that we only needed a child from her," Victor explained as he cupped Carly's cheek and kissed it.

"Did you also say that we're setting up IVF?" Carly asked again to make sure that her boyfriend conveyed her wishes.

Victor nodded, and Carly again hugged his neck tightly. Victor knew this would certainly make Carly feel happy because Carly's dream was to have a baby. But unfortunately, Carly always refused to get pregnant because of the trauma of her past.

"Tell me the name of the good woman? Do you know her?" Carly released her embrace, looking intensely into Victor's eyes.

"No, I don't. I don't know her, she's just a woman who comes from a small town. She looks innocent and shy," explained Victor, who lied about Ruby's identity because there was no way Victor could say that the woman they hired was Rubyjane, who was related to Victor in the past.

"I can't wait to meet her."

"I plan to take her to the birth doctor today," Victor continued.

"Too much haste, dear. She'll get stressed! Wait for a while, let her adjust to Boston. Just ask her to sign the papers," Carly replied.

**** 

The bell rang incessantly.

Ruby noticed it but kept quiet. Covering her face with a pillow, Ruby already knew who was coming, and she didn't want to deal with a half-beast like Victor Antony.

"Just wait until next year! I won't open the door for you," Ruby muttered, resuming her sleep regardless of the noise outside her apartment.

"Rubyjane__,"

Victor pulled the pillow over Ruby's face. After he managed to unlock the door to Ruby's apartment, it turned out that this crazy woman used a password just like the door to her family's mansion.

"Ummh?" 

"What's wrong with you?" snapped, Victor when he saw the cans of alcohol and a pack of cigarettes.

"You're a guest! Do you have any manners when you're a guest in someone's house?" retorted Ruby, who got up from her reclining position and swatted Victor's hand away.

"Did you drink all this? Or are you hiding a man here as well?" said Victor, who didn't care about Ruby's anger.

Victor moved quickly around the apartment, including Ruby's room and toilet. He was overly suspicious, having seen for himself that Victor had found no one else but the two of them.

"Have you had enough of my house?" Ruby muttered, resting her head on the back of the sofa. She closed her eyes again and pretended as if Victor didn't exist.

"Do you feel dizzy?" asked Victor, approaching Ruby, who looked exhausted.

"Ummh." 

Victor picked up the cans and cigarette packets. Throwing them in the trash can in the kitchen, Victor returned to Ruby with a glass of warm water. There were no painkillers, and Victor did not expect Ruby to be drunk last night.

"Drink up. Rest after this," Victor said, pulling Ruby's hand back to consciousness. He helped Ruby drink from the glass still in her right hand. 

Ruby didn't respond to Victor's words as she closed her eyes again. With one hand covering her eyes, Ruby didn't care what Victor said. One thing always applied to Ruby's brain. Only the person who gave her money and food could manage her life. 

Victor was annoyed at not getting an answer from Ruby. His hands quickly lifted Ruby's body, bringing her into the room that Victor had previously opened.

"Put her down! What the hell are you doing?" shouted Ruby as she realized her body was in Victor's arms.

Just as Ruby wanted. Victor threw Ruby's body roughly on the surface of the bed. Ruby wanted to complain of pain, but she was too embarrassed to scream now.

"I only intended to move you to a more comfortable resting place. But you seem to be thinking of things that aren't," Victor muttered, looking around Ruby's room, looking immature. Ruby still had several dolls piled up, as well as knick-knacks that did not reflect a mature 25-year-old woman.

"Get out of my room!" shouted Ruby, throwing a pillow at Victor.

Instead, Victor stared at the frame of a photograph of Ruby with a young man. He estimated that the man was probably Ruby's age.

"Is this cute guy her boyfriend?" Victor wondered.

"Don't touch anything in my room," Ruby said, pulling the frame from her possession and hiding it in the nightstand drawer.

"That's your standard, man?" Victor laughed at Ruby.

"Ummh. What does it matter to you? All that matters is that he's not a pushover and an asshole like you!" Ruby retorted with an affectionate glare.

Victor growled. His jaw hardened, and his hands clenched into tight fists. He instantly felt angered by Ruby's remark about him being an asshole. Victor squeezed Ruby's waist and pulled her until their bodies were pressed together. Victor's eyes looked intensely into Ruby's, a flash of anger visible as Ruby tried to look the other way.

"Have you ever seen me having sex with multiple women?" Victor asked insistently.

"Have you seen it? Answer me Ruby, which asshole do you equate me with?" Victor continued whispering in front of Ruby's face.

****