The Rubys

4| u s

[12 Years Ago]

"Chevy?" A small red headed girl poked her tiny head around the mahogany door leading to a lavish bedroom.

Heavy gold color curtains were drawn back, allowing the mid-morning sunlight to flood in through a set of high arched windows. The windows revealed acres of lush green lawn and towering trees that brought solace to the lone mansion standing tall and mighty in the middle.

At the other end of the spacious room, a girl sat on a plush cushion stool in front of an ornate dressing table adorned with white and gold leaf carvings. Chevelle was brushing her long red curls that fall in a cascade of beautiful waves of ruby with a golden hairbrush embedded with a variance of jewels.

It was obvious that she loved gold — from the gold chandelier suspended from the ceiling in the middle of the room to delicate golden bedsheets, her whole bedroom screamed gold. And of course, with the money her parents had, it wasn't impossible to create her own golden haven.

Chevelle's green eyes narrowed into slits as she caught her younger sister's reflection in the mirror. She harshly put her hairbrush down on the dressing table and turned around to face the younger girl. Her beautiful face curling up into a sneer, she hissed angrily, "What are you doing here?"

Remy cautiously stepped inside the room and watched her sister nervously with wide innocent eyes. She could never understand why Chevelle was always mean to her.

For as long as she could remember, her older sister had treated her with the same malice and hatefulness even though they were sisters by blood. Chevelle was older than her by four years and the age gap seemed to make it worse. Her father had always reassured her that Chevelle would soon warm up to her and his usual line would be 'Chevelle was just being Chevelle'.

It wasn't entirely wrong because Chevelle acted that way towards everyone else including their father, but Rey couldn't understand how a person could be mean by nature. So a younger Rey had simply settled on the thought that Chevy just didn't want to share her toys with her. But as she grew up, her naivety would wear out for her to realize that it wasn't just the toys Chevelle didn't want to share with.

"Well?" Chevy's icy voice was supposed to scare her, but eight years of living together had made Rey accustomed to Chevy's tactics. The fact that her younger sister didn't flinch made Chevelle's skin crawl in annoyance.

She gave Rey a rude once-over and her nose scrunched up in disdain at what she was wearing. The little girl was in a white lace dress, which enhanced the beauty of her blazing eyes and hair. She looked beautiful and too innocent. 

That was when Chevelle noticed a piece of paper that Rey was clutching in her hand. She stepped forward and pointed her manicured finger at it. "What's that?"

Rey glanced down at the paper in her hand and smiled sheepishly. "It's for you."

She handed the paper and Chevelle snatched it out of her hand roughly. Rey frowned, scared that the paper might get torn.

Chevelle's face hardened as she processed the contents of the paper.

"I started attending drawing class at school," Remy squeaked out and her soft voice couldn't hide the happiness in it. She came beside Chevelle and tiptoed to point at the picture she had drawn with her small little finger. It was a drawing of two girls, one a bit taller, both with fiery red hair, and their hands were held together. "That's us."

Chevelle couldn't help but admit that her younger sister was talented. For an eight year old, she had drawn beautifully. It was not some crayon scratches, but a delicate piece of art that stressed the yearning for a beautiful sisterly friendship.

Chevelle glared down at her younger sister, her face void of emotion, cold and merciless, but her green eyes were full of fire. "Remember this, Remy Ruby, until you die. There's never an us. There will never be an us."

And she tore the paper in half right in front of Rey whose face was white with horror. Pieces of paper fell lifelessly onto the white and gold tiles of the bedroom floor, and Chevelle stomped right on them before storming out of the room.

Remy stared down at the torn pieces of paper scattered on the floor sadly. She had spent so much time and effort on this and it broke her tiny little heart to see Chevy didn't like it.

Maybe it isn't pretty enough, she thought. Chevelle always love pretty things.

Then, her father's voice resonated inside her head, loud and clear. Chevelle was just being Chevelle.

Sorry for this short chapter, but this is more like a filler, to give an insight into the relationship Rey and Chevelle had when they were young.

I have set my updating schedule to every two weeks, and I would like to express my gratitude to each and every one of you guys who have supported this book. You guys are the best. ❤️❤️❤️
Enjoy reading!! :))