Faux Vows, True Desires
Chapter 23

Stefan unwillingly slapped his phone onto the table.

As he lifted his gaze, all the senior executives of the room were silently watching him.

Lucinda quickly sent the pictures to his phone.

After carefully selecting for a while, Stefan picked out a bed and replied to Lucinda. Only then did he calmly address everyone, "Let's get this meeting started!"

His face was serious, his voice deep and cold. This was the Mr. Coleman they were familiar with.

The Mr. Coleman just now was really scary.

Had they not seen it for themselves, they would have never believed that Mr. Coleman could be so gentle towards a woman.

Meanwhile, at Ascend Estate, an unexpected guest arrived - Ruby.

Before her arrival, Ruby had called Savannah Blue Anderson, who was Stefan's grandmother.

In Ascend Estate, Stefan was the one in charge, but Savannah's status was higher than Stefan. Her favorite was her grandson Stefan, and Stefan was very filial to his grandmother. Their relationship was very close.

Ruby wanted to pursue Stefan again, but she needed someone to help her.

Savannah was the helper Ruby had chosen.

As long as Savannah was willing to help her, she believed that one day, she could make Stefan fall in love with her and want to marry her. After all, they grew up together and liked each other.

In the past, she was too young and naive. After being rejected by Stefan, she went abroad out of embarrassment, wasting ten years of her life. Now, Ruby regretted it very much.

She thought that if she knew to be close to his family, she might have been his wife by now, and perhaps they might even have had a child.

In the garden, Savannah was wielding a pair of large scissors, trimming the branches in the flower bed.

Not far away, her husband Patrick Anderson was crouching in the flower bed, loosening the soil and fertilizing the flowers.

A maid led Ruby over.

"Sir, ma'am, Ms. Scott is here."

Savannah looked at Ruby and smiled, "Ruby, it's been a while. You're still as beautiful and charming as ever, even more mature and capable than the last time you came back. It seems you've been doing well these past years."

Ruby came over, naturally took the watering can from Savannah's hand, and took over watering the plants. She laughed and said, "You haven't changed a bit either. Life abroad is stressful, but I have to work hard, right?" Ruby was successful in her career. She was in the fashion industry, and her designs were selling like hot cakes. She worked so hard because she wanted to be worthy of Stefan.

Stefan was the CEO of Ascend Global. If she didn't have the ability, she couldn't help Stefan in his business. She wanted to be Stefan's woman and also wanted to fight alongside Stefan.

This required a lot of effort from her.

Ruby turned to the old man tending to the soil and greeted, "Patrick."

Patrick seemed not to hear, still focused on his task.

"Ruby, Patrick's getting on in years, his hearing's not what it used to be. You have to speak up for him to hear."

Ruby quickly said, "I bought Patrick a hearing aid."

"He doesn't like wearing that device, and we have a lot of children at home, he doesn't need it."

They had five sons and one daughter.

The five sons gave them ten grandsons. Their daughter who married into another family also gave birth to a son, but no daughters.

Maybe because they lacked granddaughters, Savannah adored young girls. She had always liked Ruby since Ruby was young and treated her like her own granddaughter.

"But, if it's from you, he might wear it."

Savannah changed the subject and said with a smile, "You can give it a try."

"My dear, are you gossiping about me with Ruby again?"

Patrick straightened up after tidying up the garden, mumbling to himself, "I'm getting old, my back hurts after squatting for a while."

"Patrick, we have gardeners at home, you and Savannah don't need to do this yourself."

"I'm just idle, taking care of the flowers kills the time and is also a pleasure. Savannah and I both love gardening."

"Ruby, when did you get back?"

"I just got back. As soon as I finished unpacking, I came right over to see you and Savannah."

After watering the flowers, Ruby put the watering can back in its place.

She came back, wanted to support Savannah, but was rejected.

"I'm not so old that I need someone to support me when I walk."

Savannah said spiritedly, "If Stefan could give me a great-grandchild, I could even help take care of the baby." The old couple were both seventy-nine this year, and next year they could celebrate their eightieth birthday. Ruby's eyes sparkled, and she still supported Savannah, the two of them going into the house together. The old man didn't follow them in, but continued to busy himself in the garden, enjoying the pleasure of gardening. "Savannah, does Stefan not have a girlfriend yet?" Ruby gently asked.

They sat down in front of the sofa. A servant quietly served tea and snacks.

Savannah looked at Ruby and laughed, "Stefan doesn't have a girlfriend, you know."

Ruby blushed slightly.

"Savannah..."

"What's there to be shy about? Everyone knows that you and Stefan grew up together. If you hadn't gone abroad for further studies and to develop your career, maybe your kids would be running around by now."

Ruby blushed even more, but Savannah's words gave her a sense of reassurance.

So everyone considered her and Stefan a couple.

Only Owen knew that Stefan didn't like her.

"Ruby, how long do you plan to stay this time before leaving?"

"Savannah, I'm not planning to leave this time, I've transferred my work back home. I've been drifting abroad for ten years, it's better to be home."

Savannah said with a smile, "They say home is where the heart is, no matter how good it is outside, it's not your real home. How nice it is to return to your own home."

In Savannah's view, staying within the country is just as good as going abroad.

No matter what, the Anderson family would never choose to immigrate.

The Anderson family has this ancient rule, if any of the descendants choose to immigrate, they would no longer be entitled to the Anderson family's inheritance. That's all money!

"Who doesn't love money? And who would complain about having too much of it?"

"Savannah was right. I feel the same way, that's why I came back."

Savannah nodded, "Does Stefan know you're back? He'd be thrilled if he knew."

Ruby's smile was a bit stiff.

Stefan still hasn't responded to her messages.

He couldn't have possibly missed her messages, if he hadn't replied, there was only one possibility - he didn't want to deal with her.

Ruby told a little white lie, "I haven't told Stefan yet, I wanted to surprise him."