NINETY

Mack looked at his parents with horror then yelled in Mandarin,"What?! You can't do that to her!"

His mother said,"Hush! Don't raise your voice, that is not how we raised you. Besides, we thought you liked her."

"I do, with all my heart and that's exactly why I don't want her to be forced to marry me!"

His father finally spoke,"I don't think you have a say in this, you are getting married to that girl, end of story."

Mack was just so shocked...

Ruby yelled,"What?!"

Rose chuckled as her mother said,"You are betrothed to Mack Song."

"You can't do that, grandma and grandpa will never allow that!"

Her mother began to laugh then said,"It was their idea."

Ruby's world crumbled at that moment. A tear fell down her cheek as she heard someone say,"My little jewel..."

"No! I can believe they'll do this grandpa, but not you! I have finally seen that you are just as greedy for money as they are."

Her grandparents were devastated at her words as she ran out of the room.

It was true, they did do it for the money, but never thought they were being greedy.

Rose then asked,"So grandma, when is the wedding?"

I heard the doorbell ring numerous times and went to answer it. I saw Ruby and she was crying.

I also began to shed tears at the sight, but angry tears.

Who did this to her?!

I welcomed her in and Mark walked down the stairs. He saw her and was worried, again.

I asked the problem and she just asked,"Please, could I stay with you for a few days?"

Mark asked,"But why?"

She only begged and he obliged.

I was just so confused as Mark showed her to a new room.

She just lay on the bed and started sobbing.

She didn't eat for three days, she only drank water and cried.

Her room door was always locked and I had no idea what had happened.

When she had stayed with us for six days, we got a call from the guards that two people were looking for us. I recognized them as Ruby's guards so Mark let them in.

They came to us and said,"We have come to take Mistress Ruby home."

Mark walked away and I stood, watching them. I wanted to ask why she ran away in the first place, but I had a feeling they would not tell me.

Mark used the spare key to open her door and saw the room was empty and the window open, he saw her phone was on the bed and realized the password was removed.

There was a sticky note on it which said;

Mark I just wanted to tell you, your brother is the best and only friend I remember having, I'm sorry I did this but I had to, I can't stand living in that place for another second.

Mark went down the stairs and the female guard just had to look at this perfect man for a second, then two, then ten, then she was stupefied.

Mark came to them and said,"She doesn't want to go back."

The male guard said,"This isn't a matter of debate sir, and you could be charged with kidnapping if you don't return her. Her parents are looking for her..."

That's a lie...

"...and her grandparents are worried sick..."

That's believable...

Mark said,"She came here of her own will, we didn't take her by force, so she wasn't kidnapped and she came here to seek refuge from that horrible family who probably did something terrible to her."

The guard was silent for a while and I really thought they'd leave, in fact, that was all I wanted at that moment, but the guard said,"Sir, please, how would you feel if your daughter ran away from home?"

He had experienced that before. He sighed then said,"She has run away."

They were just as surprised as I was.

Before they could speak, Mark shut the door in their faces. He looked at me and said,"Tommy, think, where would Ruby go?"

I thought he was lying.

"She's really gone?!"I yelled.

He nodded.

Oh no.

Ruby was wearing a hoodie and had used it to cover her red, attractive, hair. She didn't want to attract any starers or people who would force her to marry another person.

She was starving and had no money. She just crouched on a wall and stayed there in the drizzling skies.

She closed her eyes, she had no idea where she was.

A man came with a broom to sack her away but when he saw her face, he was stunned.

She saw him staring and just walked away.

Why was I cursed with this body and this family?!

She sat by a trashcan and started sobbing silently, she had lived on the streets as a child so she could fend for herself, or at least, she hoped.

She felt a tap and looked up. It was that same man. He offered her some food and sat by her.

She ate slowly and he asked,"What is a young girl like you doing on the streets?"

She didn't know how to tell him that she had just run away from her super rich family who wanted to marry her off to some other super rich family to make them even richer, so she just said,"I'm used to it."

The man said,"I can't take care of you, but I know someone who can. But he doesn't live in New York."

She desperately said,"Yes, I'll go anywhere away from here!"

He nodded and said she should follow him.

He took her to his house and he was right, he couldn't take care of her. It was small and cramped and he seemed to live alone.

He gave her some of his clothes and looked at her again.

Even in my goofy clothes she looks spectacular.

Look at that firey hair.

And those sea blue eyes...

She realized he was staring again and felt uncomfortable.

He let her sleep on the couch and she was more than grateful to have it.