Chapter 1

When Ruby Lynch regained her consciousness, the only thing she felt was immense pain spreading all throughout her body.

She fought to open her eyes amidst the pain and saw that she was lying in a puddle of blood. She also noticed the spiral staircase right next to her head.

While slipping in and out of consciousness, she vaguely heard some voices from upstairs.

"Cecelia, my family is the one forcing me to marry Ruby! I swear that I have absolutely no feelings for her! I'll never even like her! I promise!"

"Cecelia, you're my little sister, and I've promised you that I would never forgive anyone who ever made you sad. I know that you hate Ruby, so I just shoved her off the stairs and taught her a lesson on your behalf.

"Also, you know that Henry doesn't even care about her. He's still here, comforting you, isn't he? So please don't cry anymore, alright?"

Those familiar voices belonged to Ian Dalton and Henry Spencer. Ruby had a shock, regaining consciousness all at once.

Only then did she realize she had somehow gotten a second chance at life. She was now back at a point in her life before she'd married Henry.

Memories of the past that she'd forgotten rushed into her mind like a tsunami wave.

In her last life, Ruby had lived a life of poverty, living alone with her grandmother, Emma Lynch. When she was 16 years old, Emma had saved an old lady from a car wreck, but in the process, she'd also lost her life.

With no one else to rely on, Ruby had been brought home by the old lady, Patty Ferguson, to live with her. Patty told her that she wanted to repay her for saving her life and betrothed her grandson to Ruby.

And that was how Ruby ended up being Henry's fiancée.

However, Henry was very reluctant to marry her. He already had someone he liked, and that was Cecelia Dalton, his best friend Ian's younger sister.

They had grown up together and harbored feelings for one another. As such, Henry was extremely apprehensive and resentful about the betrothal to Ruby.

Even after being forced to marry Ruby, he continued ignoring her and all the things she did for the family, scorning her every chance he got.

Ian had also been cruel to Ruby because he thought that she had stolen away Cecelia's happiness, while Cecelia hated Ruby more than anything and tried everything under the sky to frame Ruby for all sorts of things she never did.

And each time, both Ian and Henry would take Cecelia's side unconditionally.

Even when Cecelia fibbed that Ruby had purposely run into her with her car, they both had Ruby thrown straight into jail without any further proof. They believed everything Cecelia told them and used their connections to make sure Ruby stayed in the slammer for good.

For the next three years Ruby spent in jail, she had been tortured close to death multiple times. Her arms and legs were broken, and there was not a single spot on her body where her skin or flesh was in one piece.

Before Ruby was ultimately tortured to death, Cecelia had visited her one last time to show off.

That was when Ruby learned about a shocking secret from Cecelia—Cecelia had only been tormenting Ruby like that because she was never the Daltons' biological daughter. Instead, Ruby was the actual long-lost daughter they had been searching everywhere for years!

This was a mystery that had shrouded Ruby for 25 years. Finally, everything was revealed. However, before Ruby ever had the chance to say a thing, she died in prison in a terrible state.

Fate seemed to have given her a second chance now. And this time, Ruby wasn't going to repeat her mistakes anymore.

Ruby forced herself to her feet and saw Cecelia leading the two men toward her.

Ian's face was cold and grim, and he spoke mockingly. "Ruby Lynch, don't think that you can do whatever you want to Cecelia just because you did someone in our family a favor. You have no right to steal anything from her!"

Henry also cast Ruby a side glance and said stoically, "Feelings can never be forced. I will never, ever fall in love with a woman like you!"

Then, Henry and Ian turned their backs on Ruby and started comforting Cecelia, promising to buy her the latest bags and purses on the way out.

Ruby stared at their retreating figures and chuckled pitifully as she dragged along her leg that was still bleeding heavily.

Henry's mother, Rose Robinson, happened to walk by and caught sight of her. She rolled her eyes in disgust and said, "This again! You really deserve what you get. You're nothing but a poor, filthy bumpkin who does not deserve my Henry. I really don't understand what's going on in that old lady's crazy old mind!

"If only you'd just take the money and leave, none of us would need to deal with all this. We could have saved so much trouble. But you, you just had to insist on sticking to us like glue and refuse to leave Henry!"

Ruby's eyes wavered slightly as she listened to Rose's humiliating words. She clenched her fists subconsciously, but just as she was about to speak, she got interrupted.

"Alright, you should know why I'm here now. I'd been topping up the figure since the last time—from five million dollars to nine million dollars—and I'm rounding off the figure again this time. I'll give you ten million dollars to leave Henry!"

Although Rose was talking business, she was already prepared to be turned down once again by Ruby this time.

Surprisingly, Ruby agreed this time. She nodded and said, "Ten million dollars. Deal."

Rose was shocked when she heard this. "A-Are you serious? Are you going to leave with the money?"

"Yes."

Rose was simply overjoyed. She instantly dragged Ruby along to sign an agreement.

After witnessing Ruby signing the agreement, Rose finally let out a huge sigh of relief. Of course, she didn't forget to continue making sarcastic remarks about Ruby.

"So you finally grew a brain this time. You're nothing but a filthy bumpkin, and you're going to leave a permanent dark spot on Henry's life that he'll never be able to get rid of. Only someone as graceful, beautiful, and elegant as Cecelia, who knows how to behave herself, deserves to be our daughter-in-law!"

Ruby was calm despite Rose's stinging words. She asked back in a calm voice, "I thought I heard that Cecelia is not their biological daughter. She's just adopted."

Rose's eyes were filled with contempt at once. "How did you find out about that? Whether or not Cecelia is adopted is still none of your business!

"The Daltons' daughter had been missing for so many years, and there had been absolutely no news of her. That was why they took in Cecelia, as a form of comfort. It's not like their real daughter is coming back anytime soon, so Cecelia is as good as their biological daughter now!"

Rose said it so confidently as if what she said was the absolute truth.

Ruby didn't say another word. She just lowered her eyes and fell into thought.

Rose looked at the signed agreement in her hand and thought that Ruby looked more and more like an eyesore to her. "So, when are you finally removing yourself from here?"

"I'll leave as soon as I've done one final thing."

Rose frowned. She was about to say something, but Ruby beat her to it.

"Don't worry. I will carry out my obligation and leave since I've already taken your money. I'll make sure I disappear from the face of the earth and never let anyone find me. I'll never appear before your eyes again for as long as I live."

It wasn't until Ruby said that that Rose finally left in satisfaction.

Ruby didn't waste another second. She went straight to the guest room on the second floor and gathered a few strands of hair that Ian had shed on the ground.

After that, she headed to the lab to request for a DNA test verifying the relationship between herself and Ian.

"The results will be out in two weeks."

Ruby didn't react in excitement when she heard the doctor's words. After all, she already knew the truth since her past life.

At that time, Ian had spoiled Cecelia so much as her old brother that he had done many questionable and despicable things.

He had locked up Ruby at home and forced her to surrender her acceptance letter to Harmon University so that Cecelia could go in her place. He had forced Ruby to jump into the sea to collect seashells from the sea bed for Cecelia.

He had even personally sent her to jail in the end, telling the other inmates to "take good care of her on his behalf".

And that was when Ruby started getting tortured to death.

The only thing Ruby was looking forward to now was the look on Ian's face when he finally saw this DNA report and realized that she was his biological sister after all. She wanted to know how he would react to the news.

Since Ian thought that she came from a poor and lowly family and deserved all the terrible things that happened to her, she was then going to show him that he was the one who had allowed it to happen to her.

The same went for Henry.

Since Henry thought that she had gotten in the way of his happiness, then, she was going to leave him, just as he always wished.

This time, she didn't want Henry or Ian anymore!

Chapter 2

After Ruby was finished at the DNA test center, she then went on to the hospital to bandage up her wounds and injuries.

However, as soon as she sat down, a nurse hurried in and started shooing patients out.

"I'm sorry, but a young lady just twisted her ankle, and her boyfriend was so worried about her that he booked out the entire hospital. We can't take in any new patients now."

Ruby didn't think that she would be met with such an unfortunate event. So, she just got up and prepared to leave.

While walking past the wards, she suddenly heard Ian's voice. "Henry, don't you think it's a little overboard booking out the entire hospital just because of a small injury?"

"Cecelia has a fragile body. She can't be in pain. I just want to spoil her and give her the best that she deserves."

When Ian heard Henry's doting voice, he thought of something too, and his eyes turned dim.

"My biological sister can't bear to be in pain or suffering either. Our parents and I had been spoiling her ever since she was born and she was the apple of all our eyes.

"If it hadn't been for me, she wouldn't have gone missing when she was only seven years old. I've been feeling extremely guilty about it ever since. I keep dreaming of her crying and calling out my name in fear.

"I would die if it meant it would lessen the burden of my guilt. And after my parents took in Cecelia, I've just directed all of my love and attention to her, pretending that she was my sister. I'd just feel a little better if I did that."

Henry sighed as he listened to Ian.

"Who wouldn't?"

"What do you mean?"

Henry saw the suspicious look in Ian's eyes and lowered his gaze to shield his emotions from him.

"I also watched as your biological sister grew up. She was so cute and adorable, and she would even keep calling me 'Henny' as she ran into my arms and hugged me. I kept promising myself that I would take good care of her for the rest of her life.

"If she hadn't gone missing, I wouldn't have given all of my love to Cecelia either. Those were meant for your sister instead."

Ian and Henry exchanged glances in silence.

After a very long while, Ian finally said in a low voice, "I swear that I will find her and bring her back home."

The corners of Henry's lips curled up slightly. However, the smile never reached his eyes. "It's a pity that I'm running out of time, though. I'm going to have to marry Ruby very soon."

Ian understood where he was coming from. He said coldly, "Don't fret. I'll think of a way to get rid of her."

Ruby listened quietly to the two men's exchange outside the door. She thought that it was quite ridiculous.

So, Ian and Henry could only project their love and attention to Cecelia after she'd gone missing so that they'd feel less guilty about it. Unfortunately for them, they were even more blind than a bat. The person they had been looking for was right next to them all along, but neither one of them ever knew it.

Instead, they just continued hurting and tormenting her, making life difficult for her.

She then heard Cecelia's coquettish voice calling out to them from not too far away. Ruby decided not to linger around anymore and quickly went down the stairs.

She went off to another hospital to get herself bandaged up. By the time she was done, it was already dark out, so she flagged down a car and asked for a ride home.

As soon as she got down from the car, however, the maids stopped her in her tracks and turned on the power washer, directing the spray right in her direction.

"Where have you been, Ms. Lynch? You're such a filthy mess. You can't enter the house like this! Here, let us give you a hand to clean you up! Hahaha!"

Ruby's bandages were soaked through, and her wounds began to bleed again under the force of the power washer. Ruby felt as though her skin was being shredded to pieces under the powerful jet of water.

She lost her balance and fell to the ground, losing all energy to get back up. She didn't even have the energy to struggle anymore. She could only curl herself up into a fetal position to try and protect herself.

She then recalled the words Ian had said at the hospital and knew that this was one of their tricks to make things worse for her and force her to leave.

The maids sprayed the water at Ruby for an entire hour. At the end of it all, Ruby's skin was soaked through and bloated from the water.

She shivered from the icy cold water on the ground, unable to find the strength to even crawl back up. It took her a long while of recomposing herself before she could finally stagger back into her room.

She ended up with a high fever that night.

The maids didn't care about her condition, however. They then made up an excuse that they wanted to clean up in her room and locked her out on the balcony for the entire day.

When they finally released her, they doused her body with a bucket of hot water before dragging her back out into the icy pool and forcing her to soak in it under the guise of having her cool off.

Ruby was tormented until there wasn't a single dot of color left on her pale skin and her body was covered in nicks and bruises. Finally, they threw her into the store room, where she could finally catch a breather.

Still, Cecelia didn't forget to send numerous text messages to taunt Ruby.

"I just received a photo of you looking like a drenched cat in the winter. You look as pathetic as a lost puppy whose entire family just got killed. You poor, poor thing.

"I heard that you're sick too. If that's the case, I'm afraid you won't be able to join us at the hot springs after all. Do you even know how much it had cost Ian to book the entire hot spring resort out here?

"Oh, and Henry also gifted me ten sets of jewelry today. I said I wanted to give you half of it, but he told me that he didn't want his gift to be tainted by you and got mad at me. Did you know how long I had to comfort him after that?"

Ruby never replied to a single one of those text messages. She knew that it would very soon be over.

Chapter 3

It was Cecelia's birthday two days later.

The birthday party was held in the castle. The main hall was decked out in intricate gold decorations, with meticulous care taken for every element, from the fresh flowers down to the birthday cake.

The guests who attended the party were from the country's most elite circles, yet they were all still in awe when they saw how grand and beautiful the event was.

"I heard that these flowers were flown in fresh this morning by Mr. Dalton himself! And because Ms. Dalton loves pastries, he also flew out the Royal Cook to prepare the treats for her birthday today! He's so considerate of her!"

"Ms. Dalton is probably the only person in the world who would get to enjoy such luxuries. After all, she's the one being pampered and spoiled by both Mr. Dalton and Mr. Spencer. It's just a mere birthday celebration for her, but how it's executed is something that none of us could ever dream of!"

"Of course! She's not like some ugly duckling who doesn't even have a proper dress for such a huge and important banquet. Does she not know that she's an embarrassment to the family?"

The guests started gossiping among themselves, throwing disdainful glances in Ruby's direction from time to time.

Ruby was just minding her own business in a corner. She looked down and gave her dress another once-over.

This dress had been her 18-year-old birthday gift from Patty. Ruby had only ever worn it thrice, and it looked as new as ever. Yet, to the guests who were used to high-end luxuries, her dress wasn't even worth mentioning at all.

Still, Ruby didn't think that it was an embarrassment. She just sat by herself in the corner and ignored the guests who gossiped about her.

Eventually, it was time for the gift-giving ceremony.

Ian gave Cecelia a private yacht, and Henry bought and named a constellation in the sky after her.

Everyone present let out exclamations of awe and wonder, and some even out of envy. Cecelia just blushed and looked at Henry with a bashful expression on her face. "Henry, if I told you I'd like another gift from you, would you still indulge me?"

Henry looked at her with loving eyes and said, "No matter what it is, I will give it to you."

Cecelia didn't hesitate any further and pointed at his neck.

"I want this!"

Ruby followed the path of Cecelia's finger and saw that she was pointing at an emerald pendant hanging around Henry's neck. Her eyes trembled slightly at the sight of it.

From the moment their engagement was set, Ruby had given plenty of things to Henry, but he never thought much about any of them. Instead, he just scorned every gift she got him.

The only exception was this emerald necklace. Ruby had given it to Henry after he got involved in a serious accident and went into a coma for three days and nights. Ruby had stayed by his side to care for him the entire time.

That moment—when Henry found out—was the only time he had ever looked at Ruby with even a hint of affection and allowed her to clasp the necklace on him.

It had meant a lot to her because Emma had given her that necklace, which was meant to keep her safe from harm.

Now, Ruby watched as Henry unclasped the necklace from his neck and handed it to Cecelia with a fond look in his eyes.

As soon as Cecelia took it from him, she hooked it around her pet dog's neck and gave him a charming, innocent smile.

"I always thought that the necklace was too cheap and ugly for you. You deserve so much more than this, Henry. That's why I wanted to give it to the dog. At the very least, it's where it belongs now."

Ruby's face paled at that as she dug her nails into the palms of her hands.

She knew that Henry had every right to do whatever he wanted with the necklace since she'd already given it to him, so she chose to keep quiet and suppress her bubbling anger.

Ian seemed to have noticed something and cast a side glance at the far corner. He then spoke mockingly, "You're mistaken, Cecelia. Our dog is worth at least half a million dollars. I don't know where that stupid pendant came from, maybe the ditch or some other filthy place.

"Even our dog is too good for it. But at least it can still serve as some sort of cheap deco, don't you think?"

The entire hall erupted into polite laughter at his words. Meanwhile, Henry nodded and gently bopped Cecelia on the nose.

Ruby felt uneasy. She turned and was about to walk away, but Cecelia called out to her and stopped her.

"Didn't you buy me anything, Ruby? I know that you're broke as shit and can't afford to get me anything good, so the least you could do was to give me a toast. Okay?"

Everyone immediately turned and focused their attention on Ruby. With no other choice, Ruby inhaled deeply and picked up a glass of wine.

Just as they clinked their glasses together, Cecelia purposely hooked her wrist around Ruby's glass and yanked it toward her dress. Immediately, the wine in Ruby's glass spilled out and stained Cecelia's dress in a dark, wet patch.

Cecelia's eyes immediately rimmed red. She looked at Ruby with a pitiful look. "I know that you hate me, but this is in public! How could you be so rude and shameless and disrespect me like that? Why must you always ruin things for me?

"Ian, look! She ruined the dress Mom and Dad bought me for the banquet! They're going to be so upset when they find out!"

Then, Cecelia burst into inconsolable tears.

As the tears streamed down her face, Ian and Henry immediately felt terrible for her. Henry quickly held her in his arms and yelled for his bodyguards.

"Ruby Lynch! Cecelia graciously invited you to her birthday banquet, and you had to ruin her special day for her! You ungrateful swine! How dare you bully her on purpose? Apologize to her right now!"

Ian glared coldly at Ruby and shoved her to the ground.

"Ruby Lynch, I knew that you come from a dirt-poor family, but I never imagined that you were as petty and despicable as this! Where are your basic manners? Do you even know the meaning of 'respect'?

"Well, since you want to play it the hard way, we'll indulge you! Don't blame us for being unmerciful with you because you're the one who started it first!

"Guards! Pour all these glasses of wine down her throat, and make sure she doesn't waste a single drop!"

At his order, the bodyguards swarmed around Ruby and held her captive before forcing her mouth open and pouring glasses upon glasses of the wine into her mouth.

The icy alcohol splashed all over Ruby's face, getting into her eyes, nose, and mouth, making her sputter and choke. She wouldn't stop struggling as she screamed as best as she could, "I-I'm alcohol intolerant!"

Everyone heard her, but nobody made a move to stop them.

Henry just continued carefully wiping Cecelia's tears away and comforting her gently, completely ignoring the struggling Ruby.

Chapter 4

The guards had only made it halfway through the mountain of wine glasses on the table, but Ruby was already starting to cough up traces of blood in the alcohol she threw up.

Her skin was full of rashes, covering her in clusters of angry red dots as if an army of fire ants were biting her all over.

Ruby did her best to open her eyes through her swollen eyelids and caught sight of Christopher Dalton and Anna York, Ian's parents, who had arrived late for the banquet. She was feeling extremely uncomfortable and sick. Knowing that she was about to pass out soon, she clung onto her birth parents' feet, begging them to save her.

"Mom… Dad…"

However, Christopher and Anna completely ignored her cries for help. When they realized what Ruby was calling them, they immediately kicked her away and withdrew their feet. Then, they walked over to Cecelia with all smiles.

"We're sorry we're late, Cecelia, but there was a terrible jam just now. Why are you crying? Who made you cry?"

Ruby had been kicked so hard that she just felt a burst of pain in her chest before finding herself stumbling straight into the pile of wine glasses behind her.

A split second later, all of the wine glasses broke and rained down shards of glass on Ruby's body on the ground. There were pieces of glass everywhere. The glass shards cut deep into Ruby's skin, drawing blood and eliciting painful howls from her.

Ian just cast her a disgusted look. Then, he grinned as he looked down on her and said, "You did this on purpose just so you wouldn't have to finish the rest of the wine, didn't you?"

Ruby kept shaking her head in denial, but Ian pretended not to have noticed her. Instead, he picked up a large broken shard of glass and pressed the sharp tip straight through Ruby's palm.

She curled all ten fingers into a fist in excruciating pain that clearly showed in her eyes. She also bit down on her lips so hard that they were starting to bleed as well.

Ruby's cries continued echoing throughout the hall for a long while. She was in so much pain that she felt like throwing up. She started slipping out of consciousness as the world gradually turned to black.

Just before passing out, the last thing Ruby saw was Christopher, Anna, and Ian, surrounding Cecelia, still trying to cheer her up.

Henry thought that Ruby's cries were too noisy, so he had even gently covered Cecelia's ears with his hands.

…

She had no idea how long she remained unconscious. When she woke up again, she realized that she had been admitted into the hospital.

She remained there for the next three days. Her ward was cold and lonely, with nobody there to visit her at all.

Patty was the only one who called her during her stay at the hospital to comfort her.

"Ruby, have you been mistreated lately? Don't keep it to yourself. Tell me, okay? Your grandmother saved my life, so the whole Spencer family needs to repay you no matter what.

"I will make sure that Henry sees the good in you so that he'll accept you as his wife. You're the only person who can be my granddaughter-in-law!"

Ruby felt her heart squeeze when she heard Patty's gentle words. She could feel the tears pooling in her eyes. Even if Patty meant well for her, Ruby had already made up her mind that she was going to leave.

She was just about to tell Patty about it when she suddenly heard her coughing. Ruby hesitated after that. In the end, she just told Patty to watch out for her health because she didn't want Patty to worry about her while she was recovering herself.

After hanging up, Ruby went to get herself discharged from the hospital, handling all the documentation by herself.

She'd just walked to the door when she spotted Henry waiting outside for her.

His face was stoic and emotionless, but his voice was cold as he said, "Come with me!"

Ruby hadn't even managed to collect her wits when she was forcefully dragged into Henry's car.

Henry brought her to the mall for the rest of the afternoon, had lunch with her, and even watched a movie with her.

While waiting in line to get into the cinema, Henry got a call on his phone, and his face instantly turned dark and thunderous.

"What the hell did you do to Grandma to make her like you so much?"

Ruby had overheard Patty's voice on the phone. It was only then that she realized Henry had been forced to go out on a date with her.

She wanted to leave, but as soon as she heard Patty coughing again, she decided to put up with it a little longer.

The movie lasted 90 minutes, yet Henry checked the time on his phone every five minutes. Because his phone lit up so often throughout the movie, the neighbors started complaining about it to him.

Ruby smiled very slightly and asked softly, "Is it so torturous to spend time with me?"

Henry did not answer her.

There was a huge crowd after the end of the movie. There was a cart being pushed around the venue as part of its marketing stunt, and Ruby nearly ran into it because she wasn't looking.

Henry saw the cart and managed to pull Ruby out of its path.

But before Ruby could even make sense of her surroundings, she suddenly heard Cecelia's shaky voice from behind her.

"Henry… You told me you were busy today, but you went out on a date with her?"

Both Ruby and Henry turned around and saw Cecelia running away with tears in her eyes. Ian was also there, his face dark and murderous.

Henry's face drained of all color at once. He quickly shoved Ruby aside and chased after Cecelia.

Ian then cast Ruby a disgusted look and ran out after them both as well.

Ruby had fallen to the ground with Henry's powerful shove. She looked at the scrape on her hands and hissed softly in pain. Taking a while to recompose herself, she then got up from the ground and headed out.

She'd just reached the side of the road when she caught sight of Cecelia, full-out sobbing in the middle of the street as both Henry and Ian tried their best to console her. However, no matter how they apologized, Cecelia wouldn't listen. She even pushed Ian aside and ran off once more.

At that same moment, a car was speeding right toward her.

Without even thinking, Ian quickly grabbed Cecelia and pushed her to safety. However, in doing so, it put him right in the path of the oncoming car, where he was harshly knocked down before flying nearly 30 feet away.

As soon as his body hit the asphalt, blood began to pour out, staining the ground under him.

Ruby had no idea that such a thing would ever happen before her very eyes. She was so shocked that she just stood there, rooted to the ground.

…

Half an hour later, the doctor rushed out of the emergency room with blood all over his hands.

"The patient lost a lot of blood, and he's Rh-negative! We don't have enough blood supply in our bank. What should we do?"

Henry vaguely remembered that Ruby also had the same type of blood and silently gave himself a pat on the back for yanking her along to the hospital earlier. He grabbed Ruby's wrist and asked anxiously, "You've got the same blood type too, don't you?"

When Ruby nodded, Cecelia's face paled even more. She demanded in her broken voice, "Why do you have the same blood type as him?"

Ruby remained quiet, especially after recalling that Cecelia found out that she and Ian were siblings because of their rare blood type.

However, Henry didn't seem to think much about it. He interrupted the conversation and said, "Since you have Rh-negative blood as well, go and donate to Ian now."

"I can't," Ruby said, rejecting him at once.

Henry immediately got mad. His voice became frosty as he questioned her. "Why not?"

Ruby looked at him, biting her lips softly, as she quietly explained in her heart.

It was because Ian and she were siblings. And siblings couldn't donate blood to each other.

Chapter 5

Henry boiled with rage when he saw that Ruby refused to donate blood to Ian. He got so angry and impatient that he just got his guards to grab her and drag her straight into the blood donation center, not even bothering to waste another breath on arguing with her.

The sharp needle pierced into Ruby's veins as dark red blood began collecting in the blood bag connected to her.

Ruby's knuckles were white as she fought and struggled incessantly. "I said that Ian can't receive my blood! He's unable to receive it!"

Henry's eyes darkened. "It's up to the doctor to decide whether or not he can receive your blood. It was your fault that Ian got into the accident just now. Even if he can't use your blood, you must still donate your blood. Take it as a form of punishment!"

Ruby felt suffocated. She knew that there was no use trying to fight back anymore.

After drawing about a pint of blood from Ruby, the nurse was about to stop when she heard Cecelia's angry voice behind her.

"My brother lost a lot of blood! That's not enough for him! Keep drawing more blood!"

The nurse looked at her, struggling to find the right words. "One pint is the maximum amount of blood that can be safely drawn at one point. If we continue, her life will be at risk."

Cecelia was very unhappy. She wrapped her hands around Henry's arm and said, "Ruby has been living off of you rent-free for so many years. This is just a tiny bit of blood. We're just making her pay back what she owes you. What kind of danger would she even be in anyway?"

The nurse still didn't dare to continue drawing blood from Ruby.

Seeing this, Henry frowned harder and made up his mind.

"Take more blood from her. If anything happens, you can hold me responsible."

Ruby stared at the second empty blood bag attached to her arm and let out an ugly smile. She forced herself to keep herself from throwing up and closed her eyes instead, not wanting anyone to see the emotion in her eyes.

The second blood bag filled slower than the first, and it eventually slowed to a near-stop. Ruby felt herself feeling more and more helpless and weak.

After what felt like forever, the nurse walked back into the room with the bags of blood and said in a solemn voice, "We've checked the compatibility, and her blood cannot be used."

Henry couldn't believe his ears when he heard the nurse.

How could Ruby's blood not be compatible?

To think that she had actually been telling the truth!

However, Ian was now still lying on the emergency operating table. Henry didn't have time to think further about the situation. Instead, he gritted his teeth and started using his connections to gather as many Rh-negative blood bags he could from the banks across the city.

While making the calls, he brought Cecelia out with him, so he missed the last part where the nurse asked Ruby, "Ms. Lynch, your blood is severely attacking the patient's blood in the compatibility test. Are you both siblings?"

Ruby could only feel herself getting increasingly faint and dizzy. Her eyelids felt like lead as she nodded lightly. Then, she couldn't withstand it anymore and fell headfirst to the ground.

The next day, Ruby woke up in the hospital. The nurse sighed in relief and said, "Both you and your brother have a strong will to survive. His blood transfusion had been successful, so you don't have to worry about him."

Ian had done all sorts of things to hurt Ruby, so she couldn't care less about whether he survived or not.

"Don't bother telling me anything. I don't care about his situation."

However, just as she was done speaking, the door was pushed open.

Christopher and Anna entered the ward, both looking grim. The first thing they did was to yell and scream angrily in Ruby's face.

"You're the one who caused Ian to get hurt! You're such a bad omen! How dare you say that you don't care about him now? Have you no conscience? And why the hell are you still pretending to be sick? Get up and come with us now to apologize to him and Cecelia!"

They then called their guards over, yanked the IV drip from Ruby's hand, and grabbed her from the bed.

"The patient still hasn't recovered yet. She's still your biological d—"

The nurse was scared silly, but she still tried to speak up for Ruby. Unfortunately, she only managed to get half her sentence out before the bodyguards threatened to bash her head in.

So, she immediately swallowed her next words and remained silent.

Christopher and Anna felt something amiss. They turned to look at the nurse, wanting her to finish her words, but she had already long fled with the patient's records.

Christopher and Anna didn't bother lingering in the ward. Instead, they dragged Ruby along with them to the VIP ward upstairs.