Chapter 2

Standing off to one side with her usual tender expression, Mom suddenly gagged.

Then she caught sight of the mess spreading under Ruby, and her hands flew everywhere in a panic.

Barret Henson, who'd been playing games in the living room, came over fast with a big wad of tissues.

"It's all sticky, hurry up and wipe it off."

Ruby looked down at what was on her dress and burst into tears.

But she spotted me standing right there with my eyes wide open, and she swallowed the thought back down.

She turned and reached out toward Barret.

"Baby hurts. Bro-bro, hold me."

The instant Barret lifted Ruby out of the stroller, his handsome face twisted.

"What the hell! You're actually doing this!"

Ruby, dropped on the floor before he'd even thought about it, went stiff with shock.

She was about to open her mouth and whine, but Mom, wiping her down and fighting back her own nausea, cut in first.

"Ruby's had a rough few days. It's normal for her body to be a little off for a while."

"She's the sister you raised for eighteen years. You two even used to bathe together when you were little. How can you find her disgusting?"

Barret's color came back a little at that, but watching Ruby stretch her arms out to be held, and remembering what had just happened, was too much.

In the end he couldn't take it. He bolted upstairs to shower.

I sat on the floor watching the transfer bar on the panel. It was already at seventy percent.

The moment Ruby became a full-blown useless infant wasn't far off now.

Early the next morning, I watched the nanny come out of Ruby's room looking exhausted.

She shot a resentful glance at my own personal caretaker and grumbled,

"You sure landed the easy job. Miss Ruby kept me up all night."

"If she wasn't hungry she was thirsty, and she absolutely had to have baby formula."

"In the middle of the night she made me hold her and rock her to sleep. I'm worn out."

Even Mom had noticed something was off with Ruby.

Barret glared at me. "She only turned like this after you came back."

"We're all going to the old estate for dinner today. You'd better behave yourself!"

The truth was, I could take care of myself perfectly well now.

But to keep Ruby from stopping her little copycat act, I had no choice but to keep playing along.

We'd barely rolled into the old estate in my stroller, and before I could say a word, Ruby had already flung her arms out for Barret to carry her.

My mouth twisted and I was about to call out, but Mom's eyes cut straight to me.

"Bertha, if you can't get in there, then you can crawl in!"

"In our hearts, Ruby is the one who comes first!"

Barret gave a cold snort too. "From now on, don't call me your brother in front of Ruby. I've said it before, Ruby is the only sister I have."

I looked at the smug light in Ruby's eyes and could only climb down slowly and follow along behind them.

The moment we stepped through the door, a dozen or so pairs of eyes swung straight to Ruby.

Sitting beside Grandfather was the man I'd been betrothed to since childhood, Eric Gilbert.

Word was Ruby had liked him for a long time, and only because Grandfather kept holding the line had she failed to take my place and marry him instead.

The second she saw him, Ruby's eyes lit up.

There was no way Mom didn't know what she was thinking. She immediately signaled Barret with a look to set her down.

Eric's gaze passed lightly over me, then moved to Ruby.

That single look was all it took to send Ruby into raptures.

She'd completely forgotten how strange she'd acted the day before.

"Handsome Eric, baby likes you. Want a hug."

Eric frowned slightly, but out of politeness he still answered with a thank you.

Hearing Ruby's words, Mom could only smooth things over for her, embarrassed.

"Ruby's been watching a lot of those Taiwanese dramas lately. That's just how she talks now."

Just then Ruby suddenly took an excited step forward and flopped down flat on the floor in front of Eric with a thud.

"Waaah! Baby hurts, hurts! The floor hit me! The floor hit me!"