CHAPTER 13: LOVE LIKE THIS

Ruby sat in the living room, her laptop open, reading the latest entertainment news. The room she was in was oozing with the kind of opulence that could only be seen in the homes of the wealthy.

Ruby was ecstatic about what she had accomplished thus far in her life. What does it matter if she was born into a peasant family? What does it matter if she hasn't been able to eat a whole meal before?

What mattered was where she was standing at the time, and she was on top of the world. Who could have predicted that she would one day be capable of toppling duchies?

"Hahahahahaha, this little girl is surely funny. Does she think that this little prank will get him to look at her?" Ruby didn't hide her disdain and disgust for Arianna whom she was reading about on the post.

"Young Miss, you don't have to bother about her. She is just a spoiled child seeking attention and with the young duke's support you can teach her a lesson so that she may know where she stands," Kelly chimed in, she hated Arianna as much as her mistress. This young girl was very troublesome and her issues nearly caused a rift between Ruby and Lucas.

"She just came back to life; the only thing we don't lack is time," Ruby said after a moment of thought.

"I have a plan for dealing with her," Kelly remarked, "You don't have to raise a finger," which caused Ruby to pause and glance at her.

Kelly felt good about herself after noticing that she had grabbed her mistress's attention.

"Can you tell me what you're thinking?" Ruby inquired, her voice brimming with intrigue.

"It reminds me of this mistress...." Ruby wore a smile on her face as she listened intently to Kelly outline the strategy. Ruby was grinning after a while, and anyone could tell she was very pleased with what Kelly had just told her.

"Let's go ahead and do it the way you proposed. Ascertain that nothing comes back to haunt us. I don't care what tactics she uses, as long as Arianna accepts," Ruby snarled, thinking of how Arianna would suffer in the near future.

Arianna's obsession with Lucas was very concerning, and to make matters worse, the young lady was even more dedicated to Lucas. She didn't mind ladies vying for her man, but a roach like Arianna was dangerous.

She was even envious of Arianna, but it was fortunate that she and not that girl attracted Lucas in the end. Ruby was busy playing hard to get, playing the victim, and pulling Lucas closer to the point where the guy would do everything to make her happy while Arianna was busy attaching herself to Lucas like a leech.

She was not going to lose to that pampered brat; she was not going to let anyone take away what she had worked so hard for. Ruby was born into a middle-class home with teachers as parents. They didn't have much money, and she was the third of five children.

Ruby may be forgotten; she wore clothes that her older sister didn't like and, as a result, she never wore new clothes. Her life had not been especially pleasant, so she resolved to find a wealthy guy and live the life of a wealthy madam in the future. Who would care about love as if it was eatable when one could attach oneself onto someone better and rich and live a good life?

It only took a few well-thought-out plans and coincidences for her to entice the young duke. She was well aware of her limitations, which is why she never attempted to seduce or gain Lucas's attention. Her intended victim was a scion of a wealthy family who worked in the transportation industry.

She went to the scion's party as a server, not as a guest, since she could not only discover her target quickly, but also make some money. What she didn't expect was to get herself into trouble and run into Lucas, who had looked at her with scorn as if she were an ant at that moment.

She was so angry at him that she opened her mouth and spat forth a barrage of profanities. Who knew her unladylike demeanor drew him in, and that's how she ended up on his radar?

She and Lucas played hide-and-seek until she gave in. She reasoned with herself as to why she should aim lower when a taller branch was swinging in front of her.

That's how she snagged Lucas and had him wrapped around her little finger like a pet. Even though she had refused any sexual contact with him before their relationship was solid, Lucas was a very romantic person.

And once the ring was on her finger, she didn't mind the man ravishing her, and he even liked her more because she remained chaste and wasn't a loose woman, but then there was the issue with that roach Arianna, who attempted suicide because of the engagement.

She had her name almost tainted as a result of her, and she was never going to forgive her that easily. She had been keeping up with any Lexus duchy news, but she had not expected that roach to come back to life and ruin everything.

Ruby was going to give her a lesson for daring to flee the grips of death, so that in her next life she wouldn't vie for males who didn't belong to her.

Ruby got up from the crimson sofa she was sitting on and walked to the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of red wine and gobbled it all down. She felt invigorated after that, knowing that now that she had figured out how to deal with Arianna, she could focus on other things. In the end, she didn't live for Arianna but for herself.

Kelly ran to the kitchen with her phone in her hand as she was thinking about life. Ruby snorted as she scanned the caller ID, but she still took the phone from Kelly's hands, and a smile appeared on her face as she swiped to answer the voice call.

"How are you doing, hubby?" Ruby inquired in an enticing manner that caused Lucas's blood to boil.

Ruby's smile, a touch, and an endearment drove the man insane ever since they became more intimate and their relationship deepened tremendously.

Kelly looked on, enviously, as Ruby talked tenderly on the phone with Lucas. Kelly, like Ruby, was someone who Ruby personally took in. Kelly didn't have much in her family and had to rely on fawning over Ruby and acting as her strategist to get by.

She envied her for finding a man like Lucas who genuinely cared about her and was prepared to go to any length to make her happy. When would she, too, find a love like this?