Not A Small-Town Girl

"I’ve got a video I fixed up for you to watch."

Danielle pulled out her phone and projected the footage she had managed to recover earlier that day.

Outside the study, Audrey was pressing her ear to the door, trying to catch every word. But the thick walls made it impossible to hear anything.

She thought, ’What secret is Danielle about to reveal? Why does she need to bring Mom and Dad and Joseph into the study to talk about it privately?

’Is she talking behind my back? Badmouthing me? Of course, that made sense-Danielle is from a small village, so it isn’t surprising that she is so petty.’

Inside the study, the three of them watched the video in shocked silence. Joseph’s face darkened, his anger practically radiating from him as if he wanted to rip everything apart.

Sienna had been a master manipulator. She’d even tried to emotionally blackmail him at the office that day, pressuring him into marriage. All along, she’d been lying to him. If it weren’t for Danielle finding and restoring this video, he might have ended up marrying that poisonous woman.

As he watched, all the guilt he’d carried for years- feeling pressured by Sienna’s constant moral guilt trips-began to make sense. It had all been part of her plan.

At the same time, a weight lifted off his shoulders. It wasn’t Sienna who had been manipulating him.

The sight of the small figure in the video almost made him feel grateful.

Howard and Vivian, too, were stunned. They hadn’t understood why Joseph had suddenly been with Sienna, but now everything was starting to fall into place.

"Danielle, who is this woman?" Joseph’s voice cut through the silence, cold and controlled.

"Her name is Ruby Dixon. She’s 24, the daughter of the Dixon family. After her mother became seriously ill, Ruby disappeared without a trace. That same year, Robert brought home a new woman- Emily, Sienna’s biological mother-and a girl about Ruby’s age. Emily became Ruby’s stepmother, and she treated her terribly, constantly abusing her.

"Ruby’s position in the Dixon family quickly plummeted. She was treated worse than the servants, which is why someone from the Dixon family ended up working as a waitress at a hotel. Then, about four years ago, she met Joseph... but not long after, Ruby vanished," Danielle explained, sharing the details she had uncovered.

Vivian frowned, her expression full of sympathy. "I’ve heard of Ruby, the eldest daughter of the Dixon family. Her life was so tragic. Her mother was from a good family, but when she fell ill, Ruby pretty much vanished from the public eye.

"Her father, Robert, built his career with his father- in-law’s help, but as the Lin family business grew, Robert started getting involved with other women.

"After Ruby’s mother got sick, Robert brought home Emily, Sienna’s mother. Emily was extremely