Hi Ex, Your Uncle Is My Hubby Now - Chapter 90: Chapter 90

The three siblings—Noah, Austin, and Irene—had just stepped out of the car when they looked up to see Dorian and Ruby walking straight toward them.
"Who's that girl behind Dorian?" Noah asked curiously, not recognizing Ruby. "She looks quite sweet."
Noah thought to himself, 'Just my type—a perfect girl-next-door.'
Austin shattered Noah's fantasy with one blunt remark. "Ruby? She's the rich girl who hired goons to ambush me right before SAT."
Noah grumbled, "Damn, she's fucking ugly!"
Irene's gaze locked onto the young woman trailing behind Dorian.
Clad in a pale lavender dress, Ruby had the deceptively sweet charm of a doll—her round face and beautiful eyes radiating an air of innocent beauty.
But to Irene, Ruby's deceptively sweet and innocent face was nothing but a viper's mask—beneath it, a crimson forked tongue flicked with hidden venom.
In the past, Austin was framed and imprisoned by Dorian.
Soon after, the scheming Ruby, just to settle an old score from their youth, bribed prison guards to secretly administer a slow-acting neurotoxin to Austin.
The Jackson family's brightest medical prodigy was ultimately reduced to a babbling fool.
"Damn, the Barnes estate is fucking huge!" Noah couldn't help but exclaim.
Compared to the Barnes family's mansion, the Jackson family's little villa was basically a dump.
Hearing this, Irene looked up to examine the imposing, opulent mansion before her.
She knew better than anyone that the Barnes estate was a den of vipers.
Irene thought to herself, 'From the old fox Mike down to the little viper Ruby, every soul in this house is rotten to the core.'
"Irene." Dorian approached with Ruby in tow.
Remembering that this was Irene's first time meeting Ruby, Dorian turned to her and said, "This is my niece, Ruby Barnes."
Dorian turned to Ruby with a teasing smile. "Ruby, this is Irene, your future aunt."
Irene thought, 'Aunt?
'Rather than having Ruby call me 'Aunt', I'd much rather hear Dorian say it.'
Ruby refused to greet Irene.
Irene didn't want to hear it either. She tactfully eased the awkwardness for Ruby, saying, "Don't listen to your uncle—he's just teasing me.
"We haven't tied the knot yet, so let's hold off on the family titles."
Irene said to Ruby, "Just call me Irene, or Miss Jackson. I'm an architectural designer—that's what people usually call me at work."
Dorian turned to Ruby and said, "Call her Miss Jackson."
Ruby pouted and mumbled halfheartedly, "Welcome, Miss Jackson."
"Thank you." Irene flashed a bright smile, linking arms with her two cousins as she said to Dorian, "You don't mind if I bring my two bodyguards, do you?"
Dorian arched an eyebrow and teased her playfully, "What? Afraid my family will gang up on you?"
Irene blinked. "As if!
"My two brothers are just like me—country mice who haven't seen much of the world. When they heard I'd landed a rich catch like you, they jumped at the chance to tag along and see how the other half lives."
Dorian couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle at Irene's playful banter.
"Alright then, welcome to our home for your little tour. When you head back later, don't forget to put in a good word for me with Gwen."
With that, Dorian slung an arm around both brothers' shoulders and said with a grin, "Noah, Austin, let's head inside and catch up!"
While no one was looking, Irene dug her nails into her right forearm, nearly gasping from the pain.
Noticing Irene left standing alone, Dorian instructed Ruby, "Ruby, walk Irene inside."
With obvious reluctance, Ruby walked over and looped her arm through Irene's, forcing a saccharine smile as she said, "Miss Jackson, you really are gorgeous—no wonder you've got Uncle Dorian completely devoted to you."
Irene thought to herself, 'So she's basically calling me nothing but a pretty face, huh?'
Irene glanced at Ruby with a half-smile. "Ruby, you're such a lovely and popular girl. It's just so strange why they'd say those things about you..." she trailed off deliberately, leaving her words hanging in the air.
That deliberate, half-said, half-withheld way of speaking was downright infuriating.
"What exactly did they say about me?" Ruby took the bait immediately.
Her sweet face darkened with malice, twisting into something almost feral.
Realizing her slip of the tongue, Irene bit her lower lip in feigned remorse and gave Ruby an apologetic look. "It's just idle gossip, Ruby. Don't take it to heart."
Ruby's stomach twisted with unease.
'What exactly are they saying about me?' Ruby wondered anxiously.
'Have the things I did back then been exposed?'