CHAPTER 222: CHAPTER 221. BORROWING ANOTHER’S HANDS

Ruby tilted her head now, generally confused. In her eyes, Amber seemed to be the one who saw the chairman the most, since she was working in the company. She was not in the main holding building, but still, she had more excuses to talk to their father than the other children.

So what was she even talking about?

"Tell me," Amber smiled at the other girl’s confusion. "Has Father ever called for you privately?"

"...no?"

"Yeah, me neither," Amber laughed in irritation. "If I want to talk to him privately, I have to make an appointment first," her cheek twitched as bitterness dripped from her words. "Like I’m just another employee."

Well...that was just how things were with the other children, wasn’t it? Ruby remembered that her mother also had to make a request first. She still didn’t understand why Amber sounded like it was unfair. Did she think she should receive special treatment or something?

"You know who Father had been meeting with? Who does Father always call?" Amber continued.

That question...had an answer, wasn’t it? The way Amber asked it, with irritation and a dash of hatred, was very familiar. It invoked memories from more than five years ago; the tone Amber always used while talking about a particular someone.

Ruby widened her eyes.

"...Sarah," she said in a daze.

"Yeah, Sarah," Amber hissed with an unmasked jealousy. "She doesn’t even have to ask for a meeting. Father is the one who asks her for it."

Ah. So someone was actually receiving special treatment.

"Do you see your situation, right now?" Amber looked at Ruby seriously, her voice filled with urgency. "How thin your lifeline is?"

There was only one reason why Amber brought this on: the succession. With no official heir, the easiest way to know who it would be was by seeing who the chairman favored the most. And to think their indifferent father, who regarded his children like a stranger who coincidentally shared his blood, was calling on that girl often?

Even the lowest employee would be able to see what was happening!

And if that was true, then Ruby could already see the street in her eyes. Literally, she might get thrown to the street if that girl became the heiress. She knew how much Sarah hated her mother, and with how horribly Ruby treated the girl before she went abroad--not to mention Jasper’s involvement in drugging her--there would be no hope for her.

Reaching for success? Ruby would be lucky if Sarah didn’t ask the chairman to kick her and her brother out.

"What..." with a trembling voice and shaking eyes, Ruby looked at Amber--the one who said she could be her lifeline. "What should I do?"

Amber smiled deeply. Yeah, it was Sarah who taught Amber how to use other people. It was only fair for Amber to use other people to get Sarah, right?

* * *

Damn it! Ruby gulped down the cocktail in front of her before ordering another one from the bartender behind the counter. She glanced around while waiting, and the feeling of loneliness as she saw the others enjoying their night with their friends or partner struck her even more. Damn it!

But even this--drinking alone at the bar--was still preferable to getting kicked out because she was deemed unfit. It was a bar meant for the members of the Circle after all, and she could only set foot inside if she was still living as the daughter of HS Group.

If Sarah were to be the heiress--or worse, the chairwoman--Ruby would be banned from even entering the parking lot. The people in her college would start looking down on her, and she might have to start everything from the bottom. No more designer bags and luxury beauty treatment; no more expensive cocktails and chauffeured car; no more fancy parties and company meetings where she could meet her dream man.

Ruby gripped her new glass tightly while internally screaming. In her lament, the conversation she had had with Amber before swirled in her head.

’What else? We should get rid of her,’ Amber had said when Ruby asked what she should do.

’W-what?’ Ruby widened her eyes. ’Get rid of--are you crazy?! We can’t kill--’

’Of course we can’t, are you stupid?’ Amber rolled her eyes. ’I mean taking her out of the possible heiress candidate.’

Ruby sighed in relief. If she were to be found out killing someone after her mother tried to kill the chairman, her life would be over. ’Uhh...but, how?’

’You should think about that, duh.’

Ruby parted her lips dumbfoundedly. ’I--I thought you already had a plan?!’

’Haa...if I only need to order someone around, I can just make my attendants do it,’ Amber clicked her tongue in exasperation. ’Besides, my position won’t be bad even if Sarah becomes the heiress. You, on the other hand...’

’Ugh...’

So, she was telling Ruby to work for it? So much for calling herself a lifeline.

For now, we should look for something that will diminish her value--weakness or whatever

You have a lot of free time anyway, so use it for a better thing than abusing your plushie

Argh! Whether it was Sarah or that woman, both of them were just irritating bitches! Ruby gritted her teeth and clenched her fist on top of the table. But if she had to choose, of course she got to choose the less dangerous bitch. The thing was...

How could she look for Sarah’s weakness when they barely met each other? No--barely was understatement. For months, their direct encounter could be counted below five minutes. Total.

Should she stalk her? She didn’t know where Sarah lived, but Amber should, right? Although...that bodyguard truly gave her a scare.

Ah--thinking about the bodyguard made Ruby annoyed again. How could it be that someone as boring as that bitch always got high-quality men around her? Not satisfied with seducing Kang Daniel, she also snatched Yooshin Trading’s future heir?!

"But is he really Chairman Yoo’s heir?"

Ruby flinched and snapped her head toward the source of the voice. Was she thinking out loud? But it didn’t seem so, because it came from another table of four women--older than her--and none of them looked at her way.

"I mean, why hasn’t Chairman Yoo announced it yet?" the same person said again, looking at her friends. One of them, for some reason, felt familiar to Ruby.

"Perhaps he’s still trying to appease his wife? Or rather, his wife’s family," one of the friends shrugged.

"What does it matter?!"

The seemingly peaceful conversation was interjected by a loud slam against the table. One of them, who looked familiar in Ruby’s eyes, shouted in frustration. Everyone was drinking, but there were more glasses in front of her.

"What does it matter whose son he is if I can’t have him?!"

Huh? Ruby widened his eyes. Isn’t that Mason’s ex-fiancée? She turned her head back to the counter so none of those women could recognize her, perking her ears so she could hear what they were saying. Meanwhile, Denise seemed to continue throwing a mild drunken tantrum.

"He’s already seeing someone else? Then why did he act like he’s available?!"

Again, Ruby couldn’t help but widen her eyes. That bodyguard...met Denise before? But if so, shouldn’t Denise have known that he was basically Sarah’s plaything?

Unless...

"Now, now, girl..." the friends stroked Denise’s back, patting her shoulder soothingly. "Maybe because your destiny is actually someone higher--you know, one that is not illegitimate."

"Ugh..."

Denise grumbled, and after screaming once in frustration, suddenly slumped to the table and snored. Her friends weren’t surprised at all, as if they were used to her acting like this. They waited for a minute until they were sure she was asleep before sighing and rolling their eyes.

"Haa...she still hasn’t moved on? The season’s changed already," one of them clicked their tongue while poking Denise’s shoulder--something they would never dare do if she were sober.

"I mean...it was a face that is hard to move on from," another one giggled in response, looking up dreamily as if recalling that particular face.

"Fair enough," the other one nodded--Ruby also kind of agreed, although that was just about the only thing where he was better than Kang Daniel. "But...if they rejected an invitation from her father, does it mean the girl he’s seeing has a higher status?"

"Hey!" one of them raised their finger in warning, glancing at the sleeping Denise. "Don’t say that in front of her even if it’s true."

They scoffed and grinned and continued to talk about something else entirely, although they would return to some wild speculation about who Chairman Yoo’s son was supposed to be seeing--the one allegedly better than Denise. At one point, one of them mentioned something that widened Ruby’s eyes again.

"Whoever it is that man is seeing, I pray that Denise won’t find out."

"Right; if she do..." they looked at Denise and shuddered. "Who knows what she will do using that mafia uncle of hers?"

Ruby stared at the table, unblinking. She was thinking of getting wasted before, but she changed her mind and left the bar while dialing Amber’s number.

She had no idea if this could be used, but it was definitely something.