Chapter 213

After sending the last text, Ruby Henderson tossed her phone aside and leaned back in her seat, staring quietly into the night beyond the windshield. Her eyes started to sting after a while— So many years had passed, and yet, the weight hadn’t lifted. Time blurred until she finally sighed and reached for the car keys, ready to head home. That’s when someone tapped lightly on the window, twice. A voice, low and unfamiliar from years of silence, called out, “Ruby.” Through the tinted glass, she saw a face—aged, worn, but unmistakably familiar. She froze. For a long moment, all she did was stare, as if the world around her ceased to exist. Then, without a word, she lowered the window and met his weathered eyes. Her voice was cold, held back by years of unspoken grief. “What do you want? Life hit you too hard? Or did she finally kick you out and leave you on the street?” The man outside—Albert Henderson, her father. Years ago, he’d abandoned his wife and daughter, running off with a showgi