The Rare Red Ruby: When Love Stops Being One-Sided
The Rare Red Ruby Late summer had settled over Lake Meadow Complex in California, turning the evenings golden and leaving a warm breeze drifting through the half-open windows of Anna's modest apartment. Anna, thirty-three, sat alone in her television lounge, her knees drawn beneath her as she scrolled through an old photo album on her phone. Her dark chestnut hair was twisted into a loose bun, with a few stubborn waves falling around her face. Her light-brown eyes moved slowly from one photograph to another. Then she stopped. There she was. A bride. A beautiful, hopeful, ridiculously happy bride. Anna stared at the photograph for several seconds. She remembered that day vividly. The white dress. The flowers. The nervous laughter. The way everyone had told her she was lucky to be marrying her high-school sweetheart. Derek had been handsome, quiet, and mysterious. He had never been the kind of man who arrived with bouquets, surprise gifts, handwritten notes, or elaborate declaratio...