Substitute Wife For The Blind CEO
Chapter 75: That Wasn’t Me

Chapter 75: That Wasn’t Me

Without wasting a second, Stefan reached for his phone and dialed Ethan.

The line barely rang twice before Ethan picked up. "Sup bro?"

"Have you found anything on Ruby?" Stefan asked, getting straight to the point.

There was a pause on the other end. "No. Not yet but I think it’s going to be a little difficult finding her," Ethan said and Stefan frowned.

"How so?" he asked impatiently.

"There’s no trace of her, bro. It’s like she’s vanished. I’ve checked every known address her mom had visited but there’s nothing. I’ll try and see if I can tapped into travel records to see if she left Zeden," he said and Stefan’s jaw tightened.

He nodded, knowing there was nothing he could actually do other than leave it all on Ethan. "Alright. Let me know the second you find anything, please. I really need to see her."

"Did anything happen?" Ethan asked in concern.

"No, man. Just want to know what’s going on. I hate being kept in the dark," he said, and Ethan nodded. f .r e\ewebnov(e)(l).c om

"I understand. I’ll see what I can do," he said before hanging up.

Stefan ended the call, leaning back in his chair as frustration wrapped around his chest. He tapped the phone against his thigh, mind racing through the possibilities. Where could Ruby have gone? And more importantly, why hadn’t she contacted him? Unless... she couldn’t.

But she could’ve looked for a way to contact him right? If what she wanted to say was that serious.

He sighed when he remembered how he’d treated her at the hospital. How could she have contacted someone that treated her like she didn’t matter and that she was nothing but a nuisance? It wasn’t her fault but his.

He should’ve treated her better. He had let himself get manipulated and now he just wished he hadn’t been so emotional.

He looked down at his phone again, almost aimlessly scrolling through his contact list, half-hoping for a clue even though he didn’t exactly know how scrolling through his phone could help him.

Then he saw it. Ivy’s old line. The one she claimed she lost. The one she’d said was gone the day after his surgery. He’d thought nothing of it at the time—phones get misplaced, after all—but now, with everything Ivy had been doing, with her vague answers and sudden changes, he couldn’t help but question it.

What if she didn’t lose it? And had just lied? What if she just didn’t want him—or anyone—calling it? Perhaps she was hiding it.

Without hesitating, Stefan tapped the number and brought the phone to his ear. fr eewe(b)nove.l.co\m

He expected the usual automated voice: "The number you are trying to reach is not in service." Or maybe it would go straight to voicemail.

But it didn’t. Instead, it rang. Not just once or twice or three times but till no one answered and it got disconnected on its own.

Stefan’s heart slammed against his ribs. It was active. That had to mean that someone had the phone.

He sat up straighter, every muscle in his body tense as his eyes fixed on nothing, ears straining as if that would make the line answer faster as he dialed it again.

Who would pick up? Ivy? Ruby? Or someone else entirely.

Was this the thread that would finally unravel the lies? He thought we he dialed the line for the third time.

Away from there Ivy knocked softly on the door and waited. She glanced at her reflection in the glass next to Eliana’s porch, brushing a few stray hairs behind her ear.

Her makeup was perfect, her dress was stylish—but inside, she felt tense. She didn’t know how Eliana would react since she doesn’t even know if Ruby had ever visited Eliana or had any interaction with her.

She hadn’t called her since the wedding... or rather, since Ruby had taken her place. So it was hard not to feel tense about being there.

The door swung open and Eliana came in view. Eliana stood there, arms crossed, wearing a loose hoodie and jeans. Her face was blank at first, then slowly turned cold when she saw who was there.

"Well, look who finally showed up after how long," she said, voice sharp. f\ree webn ovel(.)com

Ivy forced a smile. "Eliana... hey."

"Don’t ’hey’ me," Eliana said, stepping back so Ivy could come in. "You’ve got some nerve showing up now, Ivy."

Ivy blinked. "What do you mean? Aren’t you supposed to be happy seeing me here?" Ivy asked in confusion.

Though she’d been tense about her visit, she never expected that Eliana would talk to her that way.

Eliana let out a dry laugh and closed the door behind her. "Happy to see you? You don’t even remember, do you? I came to see you two days after your wedding. I was worried that you’d be mad I didn’t show up for the wedding. I even bought you gift, Ivy. I wanted to make up for not showing but when I came all the way there, you treated me like a complete stranger. How could you?"

Ivy’s brows drew together. "Wait... what?"

Though Eliana felt like knocking the hell out of Ivy’s head so that she’d shop acting like she didn’t remember what she did, Eliana let it go, instead simply deciding to have it out with the selfish Ivy.

"You barely looked at me. Said everything was fine in that fake, forced tone. Like I was just another nosy guest instead of your best friend." Eliana turned to face her, eyes burning with frustration. "And then, nothing. No calls. No texts. You won’t even take mine or return my texts. You ghosted me, Ivy!"

Ivy bit her lip. She didn’t expect this kind of anger from Eliana, and now she didn’t know how to fix it. ’Damn Ruby!’ how could she have treated Eliana that way?

This explained why Stefan seemed genuinely surprised about hearing her say Eliana’s name. What was Ruby thinking? Ivy thought as she tried to think of how to get Eliana to be less upset.

"I honestly don’t remember that day, Eli," Ivy said quietly. "I don’t because that day.... it wasn’t me you saw or spoke to," she said deciding to tell her the truth.

Eliana frowned in confusion. "And what the hell are you talking about?"

"I’m saying it wasn’t the one who saw you that day," Ivy said, trying to keep her voice calm. "That was Ruby."