Chubby Mommy: Scheming Daddy, Surrender Now!-Chapter 287: She Wasn’t Strong Enough

When the police arrived, the five men had already been tied up and left at the studio entrance. After photographing and collecting evidence, the police took them away.

Ethan Sterling carefully looked over Ruby Sullivan, "Are you sure you’re not hurt?"

Ruby shook her head, "These people probably didn’t want to cause too much trouble, they just smashed things." She looked at him, the facade of calm she held earlier had completely dropped, and she bit her lip, trying hard not to cry.

Ethan suddenly reached out and hugged her, "I’m sorry."

Today’s incident was obviously an act of revenge. Who else but the Yates Family would try to cause trouble for Ruby Sullivan? It was his fault for not being thorough enough. If he had arranged for someone to protect her sooner, none of this would have happened.

Ruby inhaled his scent deeply, and the panic she felt began to subside, "Let’s go to the police station first."

"Okay." Ethan said, holding her for a while longer before finally letting go.

The studio had been completely destroyed, and even with the door wide open, there was no need to worry about anything being stolen. But the security still found two large wooden boards to temporarily cover the entrance.

Ruby looked at the ruin of "Nirvana" and thought, how many times must it be reborn to become a phoenix?

At the police station, those men were still completely fearless. The leader, Skylar Aldrin, was the third generation of a military family, notorious in Ariston as a playboy. Because the chief had to save face for his superiors, every time a situation involving Skylar arose, they would skip the guarantor procedure and just release him.

However, today, because he kept complaining about pain, he was sent to the hospital first. The remaining four, who were less injured, stayed at the police station for questioning, and their statements were remarkably consistent.

Just helping a brother, no idea why.

After Ethan Sterling and Ruby Sullivan respectively finished making their statements, the officers asked them to review and sign off on them, then said, "I just got a call from the hospital; Skylar Aldrin’s ribs were found to be fractured. This could complicate your case."

"Then please inform them we will definitely press charges." He took another look at the arrogant faces of the accomplices, and coldly said, "None of them will get away."

After saying this, he took Ruby’s hand and walked out of the police station.

The men, who had been sitting idly, began to feel uneasy and couldn’t help but ask the officer in front of them.

"At most, if it’s handled publicly, it’ll just cost more money, right?"

Before the officer could respond, the lawyer interjected, "Intentional property damage, if the amount is large, carries a prison term of up to three years; if the amount is huge, three to seven years. If you confess now, you might get a lenient treatment."

"What we smashed today were just some broken glass; what could they be worth?" The man speaking tried to sound confident, but under the lawyer’s gaze, he swallowed nervously.

The lawyer smiled, "My client is a world-renowned perfumer. Her unreleased perfumes can influence the stock prices of major cosmetic companies."

"I’ll tell you everything!"

*

In the car, Ruby stared blankly out the window, feeling utterly drained.

The only thing she brought out from the studio was a completely wrecked computer. She wasn’t sure if that one hammer blow damaged the hard drive, and if she couldn’t recover the data, she would have to rely on her memory to reconstruct the confirmed formulas and gradually adjust the component ratios, adjusting, testing, adjusting again...

Thinking of her hard work over the past days, she couldn’t hold back her tears any longer.

Ethan touched her shoulder, wanting to comfort her, but Ruby stubbornly looked out the window, ignoring his gesture.

She felt aggrieved but didn’t want to take it out on the man beside her. Just the thought that something like this could happen again wore her out.

Where did things go wrong?

"It’s my fault for not protecting you well enough," Ethan said.

Ruby frowned, finding his words a bit harsh.

It was never about him not being good enough or failing to protect her; it was about her being too weak. She couldn’t handle the women who swarmed around, and she was used to staying in her safe zone doing what she loved. But when are things ever ideal?

Choosing such a man meant she should be strong too, so she could fight alongside him, deterring those with ill intentions from coming near.

Ruby exhaled a long breath, and the feeling of being wronged subsided.

If the problem lay with her, why should she feel wronged? She just needed to become stronger!

She turned and leaned gently into his arms, "It’s my fault for not being strong enough, which made those women think they could easily use tricks to take you away from me." Never before had she hoped so much for her success, or wished more to be dazzling.

Ethan kissed her hair, "I’m yours, and no one can take me away." He recalled the scene from earlier, raising his eyebrows, "Did that man touch you today?" He had only glimpsed a moment of the man standing in front of Ruby.

"No."

"That’s good." Otherwise, regardless of who he belonged to, he wouldn’t have kept that hand!

Ruby thought of the flowers left in the hallway and turned to him, asking, "Were you coming back early to surprise me?"

"Yes." But the surprise hadn’t been delivered; instead, he got a fright.

"Thank you." Ruby held him close, "If you hadn’t come back today, those people would have left, and I’ve heard Skylar Aldrin is a tyrant, maybe the police wouldn’t have bothered."

"I wouldn’t ignore it."

Ruby smiled, and, unknowingly, her heart settled completely.

She couldn’t become a martial arts expert like him, and with youth gone, she couldn’t return to being a little girl again. Well, to be honest, as a little girl, she was even worse off than now, but she was not entirely without worth.

She was a perfumer, with a keener sense of smell and a sharper market insight than most, and she no longer wanted to belittle herself.

"It’s okay, the equipment and essential oils can be repurchased, but just... your money might not cover everything though."

"Don’t worry. Your studio will soon receive a significant investment."

The kids were overjoyed to see their dad back early, and Ruby only noticed Ethan’s injured hand while he was playing with them. His knuckles were red and swollen, revealing traces of blood.

Ruby quickly brought out the first aid kit, sent the kids off to play on their own, and had Ethan sit on the sofa to examine the injury. She was relieved to find only his right hand was hurt.

"Spray some Sylvana Herbal Spray, and it’ll be fine by tomorrow." She carefully applied the medicine, and no wonder Skylar Aldrin’s bones were fractured; Ethan must have been worried then, given how hard he hit.

"Does it hurt?" She looked at the red and swollen spots, feeling a bit of pain for him.

Ethan leaned in, pointing to his cheek, "Kiss it, and it won’t hurt."

Ruby surrendered—how could anyone resist when this man suddenly acts coquettishly! She dutifully leaned over and gave him a firm kiss, then another kiss on the other cheek, "This one’s a bonus."

Ethan smiled knowingly, lovingly ruffling her hair.