Substitute Wife For The Blind CEO

Chapter 86: Rightful Place

As soon as Elizabeth left the house, slamming the front door with a level of finality that made the chandelier above the dining table tremble, Regina rose from the couch. Her perfectly manicured nails trembled slightly as she picked up her phone, her face set in stone.

She waited until the sound of the gate shutting reached her ears before dialing a number she hadn’t used in a long time. The line rang once... twice... then a click.

"You’ve reached me," a male voice said.

"It’s me," Regina said sharply, wasting no time. "I need you to find someone. My daughter, Ruby."

There was a pause on the other end. "Ruby? When last did you see her?"

"Three days ago," Regina snapped, her voice tight with irritation and urgency. "She’s not in the city anymore. I’m sure of it. Start at all the travel counters. Bus stations, airports, private transport companies... everything. She must’ve left Zeden."

The man on the other end didn’t ask questions. He’d worked with Regina long enough to know better. "Understood. I’ll report once I have something."

The call ended, leaving a heavy silence in its wake. free\we\bnov(e)(l).com

Regina stood there for a moment, the phone still clutched in her hand. The quiet of the living room felt suffocating. She slowly sank back into the armchair, her eyes fixated on a photo frame on the wall—a family portrait taken nearly a decade ago.

Her husband stood tall, smiling, with his arm wrapped around Ivy’s shoulder. Ivy had been just a teenager then, bright-eyed and full of promise. Regina sat beside them, and on the far end, Ruby stood stiffly, her smile hesitant, her hands clasped in front of her or that was what she wanted to see. Even in that moment, Ruby had always felt like the outsider. The one who didn’t quite fit. The one who ruined everything.

Regina swallowed the lump rising in her throat.

She needed to find Ruby. As soon as possible. Before either Stefan or Elizabeth did. She couldn’t allow them find her and chase her daughter out of her matrimonial home.

"I have to fix this," she whispered to herself, her voice cracking ever so slightly. "For Ivy. For our family."

She stared at the floor, her mind spiraling.

This was Ruby’s fault. All of it.

Her husband had died because of Ruby. If she hadn’t insisted on taking that dance lesson in another city... If she hadn’t begged her father to accompany her... If she hadn’t distracted him with that silly roadside accident on the way back home... he wouldn’t have been there at that exact moment. He wouldn’t have pulled over. He wouldn’t have been shot.

A robbery gone wrong, they had called it.

it had always been Ruby’s fault. She had been against Ruby taking any dance lesson because it wasn’t befitting of a girl in their social class but no.

looked at Ivy, she saw the girl who had lost a father. And every time she looked at Ruby, she saw the

She had only stepped in to help her sister so why wouldn’t she quietly leave and let her sister have what was rightfully hers? Ivy was meant to be living in that mansion, not her. Ivy was supposed to be wearing that diamond ring. Sleeping beside him. Being adored,

wanting to keep them for herself. She wanted to steal another piece of the life that was meant for Ivy.

clenched around the edge

this to

was born for it. Groomed for it. She wouldn’t be able to live another life that wasn’t that."

flicked toward the grand staircase where Ivy had once dreamt aloud about the kind of wedding she wanted. About a husband who would love her unconditionally and treat her

dreams with her. Nurturing them. Creating connections. Closing deals. And finally,

messed everything up. Again. Just because she’d stepped

humorless laugh escaped Regina’s lips. "She doesn’t

her energy buzzing with

opportunity. Not just to fix the

was the best thing

to do was find her. Get her to convince Stefan it was Ivy. Or convince her to never show her face in Zeden anymore. Regina knew how to manipulate.

And Ivy?

Ivy would step back into the life that was rightfully hers. No one would question it. Not with Regina orchestrating it all from

window that overlooked the front lawn. The sun was beginning to set, painting

had a debt

Ivy. For all

help the family. And

with renewed purpose. There was too much at stake to allow

always been good at finding

wouldn’t stop until Ruby was out of their lives for

have no choice but to go back

in the backseat of his parked car, just outside the

looked composed—now dressed in one of his usual tailored suits, sunglasses concealing puffy eyes from lack of sleep, posture relaxed

on

the people he needed to confront and now he