Reborn: The Tyrant's Obsession-Chapter 233: The audition day

"Really... It’s fine," Mrs. Ambrose spoke, her voice as gentle as the windchimes, "When I was young, your grandparents were always on the edge around me."

’’Even if I bumped my toe somewhere, my entire foot would turn bruise. Your grandma was more faint hearted so she would cry."

Not getting a response from her daughter, Mrs. Ambrose continued, "After a few such incidents, I tried to hide my wounds from them, to not cause them trouble..."

"You don’t have to do it anymore," Ruby looked up, "I am not fainthearted as them, Mom. I can share your pain."

Mrs. Ambrose stiffened, ’’Ruby, what..."

"What was it this time?" Ruby sat straight, her face cold.

Mrs. Ambrose remained silent for a long time.

But when Ruby’s gaze did not waver, the woman finally opened her mouth, "He found your father’s picture in an old diary..."

A chuckle slipped past Ruby’s mouth.

Mrs. Ambrose held Ruby’s hand, "He just loves me too much. And he knows that your father was my first love... So such things affect him easily..."

’’Mom, is it normal to hurt someone you love?" Ruby whispered softly, as she pulled her hand back from her mother’s grip, "And if they are capable of hurting you, do they even love you?"

"Ruby... That’s not..."

"When there is love, men with the worst of tempers won’t harm their women even if they see them in others’ beds... And you are telling me that the man who loves you hurt you to this extent just because of a picture?"

Mrs. Ambrose flinched by the frost in Ruby’s tone, "No..."

"Mom, how did father die?"

The moment the question dropped, the room sunk in silence.

Mrs. Ambrose’s fingers clenched over the bedsheet. For a moment, Ruby thought she was about to speak.

But instead, she lay down on the bed and shut her eyes.

"Mom..."

There was no response from the woman on the bed.

"Mom, I..."

"Dear, it’s pretty late... cough cough... And I am unwell. Won’t you let me rest a little?"

Ruby looked at the woman silently, her gaze tracing over the bruises on her mother.

After a moment of silence, she opened her mouth—

"Mom, if I can support you and take you out of here, would you leave with me?"

Mrs. Ambrose stiffened visibly but other than that, she showed no reaction.

Ruby’s gaze lowered. After a moment, she turned around and left the room.

The moment she entered her room, she slumped on the couch and reached out towards her phone.

There was text from Ella. Ruby tapped on it. When she opened the picture, it showed a beautiful and elegant white dress.

[Ella: The dress I have picked for the audition. Do you like it?]

[Ruby: It is beautiful. Just double check the size to make sure there is no issue.]

Ruby observed the dress in the picture again. It looked a tad bit small to her for some reason.

She was afraid it would cause a last minute fitting issue if they did not double check.

[Ella: Don’t worry, it fits me like a globe!!! *multiple hearts*]

Ruby dropped a few hearts in response before closing the chat.

Accidentally, her gaze landed on an unsaved number.

After the encounter with Max that time, Ronan had not reached out to her again.

Ruby glanced at the screen for a long time before she tapped on the number and blocked it.

...

The next day, the Imperial University was lively.

Especially the hallway that led to the auditorium. Young men and women were dressed beautifully as they queued with scripts in their hands.

There were large glass encased banners of the ’The Rising Rose’ at every corner, featuring a painting that displayed a woman’s lonesome back as she stood in the darkness, with a rose in her hand.

When Ella entered the place, people looked at her with mixed reactions.

Some of them were her direct classmates while others were familiar with her after her previous stint.

"Is she here for auditions?"

"I must say she is rather confident if she thinks she can get this role..."

"She has a massive fan following compared to most people who are auditioning though..."

"And in her peak, she used to be one of the most beautiful models..."

"Look at her now... Dressed in baggy clothes, looking so fat and ordinary..."

"Hey, but I think she... umm... looks rather pretty."

"I thought it was just me."

"She doesn’t seem to dress up much but she still looks gorgeous in those plain clothes."

"Eh, you guys must have gone blind if you think that fatty will get the role with her current appearance!"

Ella could hear some words while she missed some.

But she indifferently pulled up her hood to cover her face as she searched for a blonde head in the crowd.

The moment her eyes locked onto a head full of golden hair, she perked up.

"Have you saved the two spots for us?" Ella walked off to Kade who was standing towards the middle of the long queue.

Kade looked at her grievously, "You dare to ask! Are you not afraid of heaven’s wrath?"

"Heaven’s wrath? I am heaven’s favorite child," Ella winked.

Kade rolled his eyes, still looking grievous.

He was the young master of the King family. Wherever he stood, a queue formed behind him. When had he been asked to keep a spot for someone in a queue.

Ella stepped forward to take her spot in front of Kade when—

"Ella," a voice called out to her.

When Ella turned around, she saw someone she hadn’t seen in a while.

...

"Why did you bring me here?" Ella took a seat in the university cafeteria as she glanced at Violet, Esther’s roommate.

Violet lowered her gaze.

"You can take a seat and... What are you doing?" Ella was startled when Violet suddenly bowed to her.

"Thank you!" Violet’s shoulder shook.

Ella rushed to the girl and helped her up.

But the girl bounced back again like a spring, bowing even deeper.

"_"

Ella helped her up but this time Violet bent so low that she was barely a few inches away from touching her forehead to the ground.

"Violet, get up. We can talk peacefully," Yet, the girl did not budge, "Or you want people to think that I am bullying you?"

When Violet heard that, she hesitantly looked up and gazed around.

The passersby were shooting Ella some scornful looks while some seemed curious.

"I..."

"It’s fine. Come," Ella led the girl to the chair.

As both of them took a seat, Violet sat there with her head lowered.

All the time they had met before, Violet had treated Ella with limited courtesy and their exchanges were anything but polite, from her side.

But this time, something seemed to have changed.

"Is everything alright?" Ella finally broke the ice.

"I am sorry... I am sorry for everything I said before," Tears rolled down Violet’s eyes, "Thank you so much..."

"You..."

"When Esther gave me that skincare set, you left this note for me, didn’t you?" Violet looked at Ella.

As she spoke, Violet revealed a small piece of paper in her hand, the words written on it seemed to warn her to not use those products.

"It doesn’t matter," Ella leaned back on the chair.

It has been quite some time since that day when Esther had gotten those customized skincare products for Violet.

And Ella had chanced upon them in the hallway.

At one glance, she had recognized those products as some similar ones that Esther got for her in her previous life. Following that, her skin issues worsened even more.

In her previous life, Violet was just as beautiful.

But, her skin condition gradually worsened at some point and when she became a stunt double, her career seemed to hit a slump forever.

Esther, on the other hand, landed the role of the main character in the drama ’The Rising Rose’ and her popularity skyrocketed in the blink of an eye.

"I am surprised that you would heed to a stranger’s advice over your best friend’s though,’’ Ella remarked softly.

Ella had warned Violet twice, once in front of Esther, once through the note yet she had doubted that Violet would heed her advice.

Violet smiled bitterly and shifted in her seat, angling her body so that passersby saw only her back.

With careful fingers, she tugged the neckline of her top downward.