Substitute Wife For The Blind CEO

Chapter 167

Chapter 167: Hate

The music from the main event hall echoed faintly as she and Stefan stepped out of the room. Her heart still pounded with the remnants of tension from their meeting with Mr. Rogers.

She glanced sideways at Stefan, his jaw tight and unreadable. He hadn’t said a word to her but she could sense the weight he was carrying. And she felt it too—the guilt, the helplessness, the worry that she’d somehow messed everything up.

When they took a corner just before the main hall, she stopped, turning to him. Her fingers nervously played with her purse as she took a steadying breath.

"Baby," she began softly, her voice tinged with remorse, "I’m... I’m really sorry."

He turned toward her, his brows furrowed, confusion flashing across his face. "Sorry?" he asked.

She nodded, blinking back the sting in her eyes. "About Mr. Rogers. About the deal. I know this was all my fault. I know how important Mr. Rogers was to the company and... maybe if I’d handled things better or if I hadn’t frozen up—"

"Ruby," Stefan interrupted gently, reaching out to cradle her face in his hands. "Don’t do that. Don’t blame yourself. You know I don’t like that."

"But—"

"No." His tone was firm, yet laced with tenderness. "None of this is your fault. If anything, it’s mine—for putting you in a situation where you had to explain something that wasn’t yours to carry in the first place."

She opened her mouth to protest again, but the look in his eyes stopped her cold. There was something deeper there—fierce, unshakable, protective. She knew he’d always say that so why had she even tried to take the blame.

"If fighting for you means losing deals, investors, or even the whole damn company," Stefan continued, brushing his thumb against her smooth cheek, "then so be it. I’d rather lose all of it than lose you."

A startled laugh escaped her lips, a soft mixture of relief and disbelief. "That’s... a bit dramatic, don’t you think?" she teased, though her heart fluttered at his words.

He gave a lopsided grin. "Maybe. But it’s true."

She shook her head, smiling now. "Well, I really hope it doesn’t come to that. I’m not sure I could live with being the reason your company crashes."

He chuckled, slipping his arm around her waist. "It won’t. We’ll be fine. Together."

Together.

echoed sweetly in her mind, grounding her, warming her from the

around, "how about we go find your best friend and my drama queen of a best friend before they get

plan." Stefan nodded, then gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "But

"Sure," she replied, smiling.

turned away, disappearing into

a long breath. The tension from earlier was slowly ebbing away, replaced by

to guess where Rayna and Ethan might’ve gone or be standing when the sound of

maybe an assistant—or one of

grace and arrogance she

caught. The hall suddenly felt smaller,

her body tensing

game is she

was unreadable—calm, almost smug. Her eyes locked on Ruby’s with a strange intensity that made her

sound of a door opening echoed, but Ruby barely registered it. Her

wasn’t going to ever let Ivy

laughter was low and mocking, bouncing off the polished walls like a cruel

a nonexistent speck of dust off her silver dress. "Honestly, Ruby, what did you think spilling those

curled in disgust.

tilted her head, feigning innocence. "Why

so much?" Ruby asked softly, her voice raw but steady. "I want to know. I really want to know what I did to deserve this never-ending war you’ve declared on me. We used to be friends, Ivy. What happened? Where did I go wrong with you? Because I can’t seem to understand," Ruby asked, unbeknownst to her or

caught sight of Ruby earlier and begun to walk toward her, had stopped cold when she saw Ivy approach. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop or not step in immediately but as the conversation unfolded, she instinctively

around so she’d decided to show

but twice in one night..." She crossed her arms and leaned

startled by how easily the words seemed to pour

first, I was happy," Ivy began, her voice hollow, almost detached. "Excited to have a twin. Someone to share life with. But then... our father wouldn’t stop comparing us. Every damn report card. Every school play. Every test score. You were always top of the

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