Chapter 1279 Something That Should Not Have Been Born

Chapter 1279 Something That Should Not Have Been Born

"Don't trouble yourself over it. Barring any surprises, that thing that never should have existed is already gone."

"What?"

"Ruby has agreed to her mother's wishes. She's having the abortion."

"That's impossible. It can't be. Ruby loves Arthur so much."

"That would matter if Arthur were any kind of man."

"What?"

"What he did was beneath contempt. My daughter may be young and naive, but she's not stupid. How could she still be infatuated with him after learning what he's done?"

Faye rushed out of the Ward Group office tower and got into her car, heading toward the police station — then made a sharp U-turn.

Right. The hospital.

Ruby was such a pushover. A few well-chosen words and Faye could have that girl falling back in love with her son in no time.

Faye had always counted on that. Ruby was just so easy to work with.

She parked at the hospital and tried Ruby's phone again — still no answer. But when she reached the OB-GYN floor, she spotted the two of them just outside the surgical suite.

Ruby was leaning on Elizabeth, walking slightly hunched, one hand pressed against her lower abdomen.

Just the sight of it made Faye's legs go weak. She caught herself against the wall.

Ruby spotted her and stopped short. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "Ms. Lee."

"Did you just terminate a Montgomery family child?"

"Ms. Lee —"

"You ended your baby with Arthur? After everything you said about loving him?"

Faye was barely holding it together.

Her grandchild was gone. And with it, her future.

The room seemed to tilt slightly around her.

Just days ago, she and Arthur had it all mapped out. Even if the Montgomery family crumbled, as long as they kept Ruby close, they kept their hands on a fortune. The entire Ward family could have been theirs one day.

And now —

All of it. Gone. Every last bit of it, nothing but a pipe dream.

This girl had actually gone through with it.

"Ms. Lee, I'm sorry. I did love Arthur. But I never expected him to be... that kind of person."

Ruby's voice was thin and hollow. She had her own grief to carry.

"What kind of person? What did he do that was so wrong? Did he ever treat you badly?"

Faye stepped forward, shaking with fury.

Elizabeth fixed her with a cold stare. "Take one more step and see what happens."

Elizabeth was a big woman, and she'd had it out for Faye long before today. Her daughter had been dragged through the mud because of Faye and Arthur, and honestly, she'd been looking for an excuse to put hands on Faye for a while now.

"Ms. Lee, I couldn't bring a baby into the world knowing its father is a murderer. I'm sorry."

Ruby meant it. The guilt was real.

But she truly could not do it.

She wasn't naive enough to think she could raise a child alone while the whole world whispered behind her back.

If Arthur had been worth anything, she would have kept it.

But Arthur had vanished — and her parents had pulled her back from the edge of something she couldn't come back from.

Even if he never got caught, if his instinct when things fell apart was to run and save himself — then what did that make her?

Always the one left behind.

He never once thought about taking her with him, wherever he went. He just —

Ruby didn't want to admit her parents had been right. But after days of silence, of searching and hearing nothing, she finally understood everything she'd been refusing to see.

The man she needed had to be someone who showed up. Someone with drive and backbone. Not a man who treated the law like a suggestion and their relationship like an afterthought.

"Who says my son is a murderer? That woman is alive and well, living it up at Harrington Manor right now."

Faye's voice cracked with indignation.

Elizabeth caught the implication instantly. A slow, humorless smile crossed her face. "So you're confirming that Victoria was, in fact, kidnapped by your son?"

"I — "

"I have to hand it to you and Arthur. I never would have guessed you two had it in you to do something that inhuman."

Elizabeth said it plainly, then pulled out her phone and glanced at the screen.