He didn’t sleep that night. Not even for a second. Just lay there in the heavy dark, waiting for the sun to rise like it might bring her back.
But morning ca cold and hollow.
By six-thirty, Stefan was showered and dressed in black slacks and a charcoal sweater—he’d picked up before leaving— simple but clean. His face in the mirror looked unfamiliar—haunted. He hadn’t shaved. His eyes were bloodshot, jaw tight. But he didn’t care.
He wasn’t going for a reunion.
He was going to face the woman who’d orchestrated the beginning of this collapse.
His mother. Elizabeth Winters.
The woman who had smiled and said she loved him while helping replace his bride with another. The woman who had knowingly allowed Ruby to carry the burden, thinking she was protecting him. The sa woman who had welcod Ivy back like a prodigal daughter while the real woman who had held Stefan’s heart walked out the door with tears in her eyes and a life growing inside her.
He slamd the door of the hotel room behind him without hesitation and once he got into his car, he drove off.
The streets of Zeden blurred around him, and he barely felt the weight of the steering wheel beneath his hands. His thoughts were on fire. His heart was a drum of fury.
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You don’t get to call it love if it’s built on silence and betrayal. How could his mother ever do sothing like that? He didn’t need to think much since he’d be getting the answers straight from her any mont. He told himself as he focused on the road and soon he arrived at his mother’s place.
As he pulled into the driveway of his family’s estate, the gates opened without resistance. Familiar. Automatic.
But he wasn’t the sa son returning ho.
He was a man on the edge.
Elizabeth was in the sitting room when he walked in, a book in her lap, glasses perched on her nose. She looked up at the sound of his footsteps and blinked.
"Stefan," she said, surprised. "You left the office early yesterday. I was—"
He held up a hand, stopping her cold.
"Don’t," he said sharply. "Not a word. Not yet."
She stood, brows drawing together, concern etched across her delicate features. "What do you an? What’s going on?"
He shut the door behind him and turned to face her, his voice low but thick with restrained rage. "Why did you do it?"
Elizabeth faltered, confusion clouding her features even more. "Do what?"
"Don’t." His tone cracked through the room like lightning. "Don’t lie to , and don’t even pretend with , not now. You knew the truth about Ivy. You knew she left. You knew Ruby was standing in her place on our wedding day. Infact you put her there yet cast her out when Ivy returned. How could you?"
Her mouth parted, breath catching. How did he know? When did he find out? Who told him? How could he have found out so soon? What had Ivy done? Had he confronted her yet? What was she to say to him now? Should she deny it or just co clean to him?
"I—" she opened her mouth to speak but she didn’t know what to say, whether to co clean or deny the whole thing.
When it first happened, she’d thought having Ruby step in was the best thing to do but right now, she really wasn’t sure if doing that had been the right thing or if letting Ivy back thinking she was the real person her son loved was the right thing. Everything was ssed up now and she had no idea how to fix it.
When his mother still couldn’t say anything, Stefan stepped closer. "Why would you let her stay, knowing she wasn’t the woman I was supposed to marry? And after she stayed, why did you cast her out that way? Why did you let Ivy return to my side knowing how she betrayed and left when it mattered the most?"
Elizabeth’s hands trembled at her sides. "I— I thought I was protecting you."
"Protecting ?" he echoed, eyes wide. "By manipulating my entire life? By letting fall in love with soone under false pretenses, only to rip her away when the truth finally ca out?"
She looked down. "I was scared."
His breath caught. "Scared of what exactly?" he half yelled and she shook her head.
"I was scared," she repeated, voice small. "You were still healing from the accident. I didn’t want to burden you. I didn’t know what Ivy’s disappearance would do to you, and then when Ruby stepped in, I thought... I thought she could keep things together. I didn’t expect you to fall for her or for her to fall for you. I thought I could let her stay beside you until I y returned and knowing she was the one you loved, I thought letting Ruby go was the best thing to do. I didn’t know you’d fall for her or would want her."
"But I did," Stefan said coldly. "And she’s the only thing that wasn’t a lie. The only real thing in the middle of all this. She loved and nurtured with everything in her. She loved wholly without conditions or expectations. And you let her walk away like she was disposable."
Tears gathered in Elizabeth’s eyes. "I never ant to hurt you, son. I was only looking out for you."
"You should pray that I find her," he said, voice like stone. "Because if I don’t—if sothing happens to her or the baby while I’m here cleaning up your ss..."
He took a step forward, face inches from hers.
"Then hell won’t just break loose, Mother. I’ll bring it."
And with that, he turned on his heel and walked out—leaving Elizabeth frozen in place, her face pale with guilt and fear, and a silence that felt far too much like a reckoning.
Elizabeth remained frozen where Stefan had left her, his words echoing like gunshots in her mind.
"She’s the only thing that wasn’t a lie... She loved and nurtured with everything in her... And you let her walk away like she was disposable."
But it wasn’t just his rage that clung to her—it was the revelation. Ruby was pregnant.
She hadn’t known.
She hadn’t seen it. Hadn’t guessed. Her mind raced.
Pregnant. Why didn’t she say anything?
She blinked hard, trying to process it. How far along was she? Did she leave because of the baby? Did Ivy know and keep it from her? Or worse... did Regina know? Where was she now? Regina had talked about making her leave so did she succeed?
If either of those won had known and kept it hidden...
Elizabeth’s breath caught, fury stirring in her blood. She’d made a colossal mistake, but she was not going to sit back and wallow in regret. No. That wasn’t who she was. She had lost control once—letting emotions blind her, letting Ivy back into Stefan’s life under the illusion of repair—but she wasn’t going to let her son pay the price any longer.
She would fix this. She had to fix this.
But before she could move forward, she needed answers. She needed to know the extent of the deception. She needed to hear it from the very source of the rot—Ivy.
Elizabeth snatched her phone off the table and dialed Ivy’s number. Her fingers trembled, not with guilt this ti, but with righteous anger.
It rang once, twice before Ivy received the call.
"Hello? Mom?" Ivy’s voice crackled on the other end, breathless and anxious. "Have you seen Stefan? Did he co to you? Please, if he’s there, tell him I need to talk to him. I need to explain. He just left and—"
"That’s not why I called," Elizabeth interrupted, her voice cold as steel. "I want to know sothing. Did you know?"
There was a pause. Ivy’s voice dropped, confused. "Know what?"
"The pregnancy," Elizabeth bit out, each syllable laced with restrained fury. "Did you know Ruby was carrying Stefan’s child?"
"What?!" Ivy practically scread. "What are you talking about? How was I supposed to know that? She left! She didn’t tell anything! But that’s not my problem right now. I need Stefan to co back. He’s angry. He’s not listening to ."
Elizabeth’s lips curved into sothing humorless. "That is your problem, Ivy. Not mine."
"What?"
"Yes. I’m done coddling you," Elizabeth said sharply. "Right now, I’m far more concerned with finding my real daughter-in-law... and my unborn grandchild."
There was a heavy silence as the words strick Ivy like lightening. Then Ivy asked quietly, "What does that even an?"
Elizabeth didn’t miss a beat. "It ans exactly what it sounds like. If you ever want Stefan to even look at you without disgust again, I suggest you start talking. Do you know where Ruby went? Where she could be? Stefan would only forgive you if you——"
Before she could finish, the line went dead. Ivy had hung up unable to hear Elizabeth carry on about Ruby.
Elizabeth stared at the phone, disbelief quickly morphing into fury. "Unbelievable," she hissed under her breath, slamming the phone down on the table.
So that’s how it’s going to be?
She stood still for a mont, heart racing, eyes narrowed. Regina. She’d be next.
Elizabeth squared her shoulders and reached for her coat. She wasn’t going to wait for the truth to find her anymore. She was going to hunt it down, dig it out, and bring her son back the one thing he truly loved.
Ruby Quinn—and the child she carried.
No more lies. No more gas and if Regina or Ivy tried to get in her way again, this ti, they’d feel the full weight of a Winters mother’s wrath.
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