"If you advise me to leave, save it. It's your husband who can't be without me." Irish's smile was like the poison of a cobra destroying Ruby's sanity.
"No, Joseph is not that kind of person," Ruby shook her head and clutched her coffee cup tightly as if she were leaning on the last point of strength to support her body. "He is a man who is very principled in his work. I know he had a woman and a lover before we were married. But when we got married, he broke up with the woman. He was emotionally divided, he was very responsible, and he would never hide it from me."
Irish's heart seemed to have been pricked by thousands of needles. She knew that, with his status, he could not be without a woman, even if he was not a playboy, he had normal physiological needs, but somehow, she just felt suffocated and uncomfortable.
"Isabel, are you truly in love with him?" Ruby suddenly asked.
Irish was slightly startled and subconsciously said, "What does it matter if I love him or not?"
Ruby also realized that she had asked a stupid question and could not help shaking her head. "No matter whether you love him or not, I beg you not to mess with him. He is a very good person, though he seems unkind," Ruby said. "But he is really good to the Lake family and to me. Such a good man, I beg you not to destroy him."
"Me? Destroy him? Did you even hear yourself?"
"Yeah. Whether you are really in love or not, it is impossible for you to be together. He is the son-in-law of the Lake family, and you are his sister-in-law. You must stay away from him, or his reputation, his status, everything he has now, will be ruined by you." Ruby said sincerely and seriously.
Irish stared at her without saying a word.
"Isabel, if it were not for this relationship, I would really agree for both of you to love each other. To tell you the truth, you two feel very good together, but he is my husband, and you are my sister. I can't watch you two fall into gossip." Ruby reached for her hand but stopped at the last moment, her finger slightly retracted.
At the bottom of Irish's eyes was coolness. Her body was slightly leaning forward, and her eyes were still like sharp swords, "Ruby, I robbed you of your husband, just like your mother robbed my mother's man! Time flies, but the wound in my heart can't be healed!"
Ruby's eyes were slightly shaken.
"Did your mother teach you what I just said? Oh, I guess she was still thinking she did what was best for her. Isn't it exciting that history repeats but this time around, it's the opposite party who did it? "A mocking smile drew at the corner of her mouth. Irish was unkind, like a hedgehog with pointed spines.
"Isabel, do you have to hate the Lake family because of the past?"
"You are wrong. What I hate is not the Lake family but you and your parents! What they have destroyed, I will ask for more compensation than what you think!"
Ruby's hand trembled, and the coffee splashed over.
"Ruby, do not pretend in front of me with your pitiful look, where's your arrogance? At that time, you pointed at the tip of my nose and called me a wild seed. You drove me out of the house and didn't let me step inside." Irish suddenly smiled, her heart pounding.
That year her mother was seriously ill, still holding the picture of that man in her bed. Small as she was, Irish asked all along the way to find the Lake's house. She did not understand, they had the same father, why were they so different? Ruby, like a golden leaf, drove home in a luxury car, had a babysitter to attend school, ate and dressed well, and lived luxuriously like a princess.
And she really was a princess, compared sharply to Irish's sallow complexion.
When she saw Irish, she was off school and stood in front of the door. No matter how she begged her, she would not let her in. She called her a wild seed and said she was ill-prepared to rob her father.
Father?
When her mother died, the word father completely disappeared from her life.
Ruby's face looked terrible, "At the time, I was small, not sensible. Isabel, I knew I was wrong a long time ago, really, and because of that, when you dropped that letter I desperately sent it to my father, but father, he... was on a business trip and still couldn't get back to see your mother for the last time."
"That really understates and weakens your argument and just insults me." Irish smiled, "but thanks to your ignorance, how could I have vowed to be better than you? It turns out that you are really a piece of cartilage now, even if your husband does not listen to you."
"You will regret this, Isabel, you really will." Ruby grabbed her hand regardless, and her eyes were eager, "if you just want revenge on me, you better do it right. I don't know what it's like when Joseph is with you, but it's not hard to see you are in his eyes. Even the blind could see the changes in his eyes. If he really falls in love with you, and you just see him as a tool, what will he think of you when he knows that one day?"
Irish squinted slightly.
"In your eyes, I am nothing but a greenhouse flower. But even if I know nothing, for so many years, I've had a certain understanding of Joseph. He is not a man playing emotional games, if he loves, that must be true, and he will not compromise with reality. His strength will not allow others to destroy him, but he will be willing to be destroyed for the sake of the woman he loves." Ruby's eyes were desolate, looking at Irish, "Unless he volunteered, no one would shake his reputation and status. If he knows that his sacrifice is nothing more than a joke, he will make your life a living hell!"