Chapter 14
“What is it?” Ian and Henry asked anxiously at the same time.
Rose quickly went to the desk, took a USB drive from the drawer, and handed it to them, saying, “This is it.”
Ian took the USB drive with trembling fingers.
Hurriedly, he found a computer, inserted the USB drive, and opened the video file inside. Footages from various surveillance cameras began playing on the screen.
Scene after scene showed how Cecelia had framed Ruby over and over again -deliberately falling down the stairs and accusing Ruby of pushing her; spilling a glass of wine at the banquet and claiming that Ruby had thrown it at her.
And every single time, they had believed Cecelia, convinced that Ruby was evil.
Because of that, Ruby’s own brother had cruelly pressed her hand into shards of broken glass until she was bloodied.
Because of that, her fiancé had forcefully pinned her into a fire and listened coldly as she screamed in pain.
Because of that, her biological parents had ignored her pleading looks, choosing instead to comfort their adopted daughter.
Every footage cut painfully into their hearts like a sharp knife.
Ian’s face was deathly pale by the end of it. His voice shook when he spoke. “So everything was Cecelia’s doing? Ruby never hurt her. It was always Cecelia who hurt her!”
Pain flashed across Henry’s features. “But every time, we took Cecelia’s side. We never believed Ruby.”
Christopher and Anna’s faces were drained of color too. Tears ran down Anna’s face as she said, “What… What have we done? Ruby… our daughter… How could we hurt her like this?”
At the end of the video was a scanned note. On it, written in elegant handwriting, were the words, “You’re probably wondering why I never told you the truth. You love Cecelia so much that you would hurt me over and over again for her. If I told you, would you have believed me? Mr. Dalton, Mrs. Dalton, Henry, Ian… farewell. I hope we never meet again. I’ll just pretend I never had a family.”
The last sentence struck all of them hard.
Regret overwhelmed them.
Their faces were deathly pale, but no one could say a word.
Ruby had been hurt so deeply that she had chosen to leave them forever.
But they couldn’t allow that. They had finally found her. How could they allow her to disappear forever?
With that thought, Ian quickly snapped back to his senses. He took out his phone and began making calls, arranging for a bounty to be issued–100 million dollars for whoever found Ruby.
This time, he swore he would treat her right.
After lan issued the bounty, Henry also mobilized all his connections, determined to bring Ruby back no matter what.
But after a full week of searching, there was still no sign of her.
She had done it. She was determined to never see them again.
Henry and the Daltons were overwhelmed by pain and regret. They spent countless sleepless nights consumed by remorse.
To make things worse, Cecelia kept crying and stopping their efforts to look for Ruby.
Had she stayed out of the way, they might have let her off; but every time she appeared, they were reminded of everything she had done to Ruby.
Ruby was supposed to be their cherished one, yet she had been bullied so cruelly by an adopted daughter.
Every reminder of this pained them.
They figured that maybe Ruby didn’t want to come back because they hadn’t punished Cecelia enough. They thought that if they punished her, she would be willing to come back.
With that thought in mind, the Daltons ordered the bodyguards to bring Cecelia to them by force.
Cecelia was in utter disbelief. These people who had once loved her so dearly had actually ordered the bodyguards to tie her up brutally. She did not understand what she had done wrong, even as she was dragged into the living room.
Then, they forced her to sit in front of a computer.
