"Ivy, look! It's Daddy!" Ruby carried Ivy out of the crib and turned the camera so that it faced her and Ivy. "Ivy, remember what your Daddy looks like! Daddy is a really brilliant man..."
Elliot did not hear a word she said and focused on the child in her arms.
Ivy was too young to know anything at all, but it was precisely her innocent face that broke the defenses he had put around his heart.
He had never seen Layla as a baby, but he could distinctly see the resemblance Ivy had with Layla.
"Elliot, our daughter is a wonderful child. She came down with pneumonia when she was born because she was weak. For about a week, the doctors wouldn't even let me visit her, but they told me that she was wonderful and that she rarely cries, so she had a speedy recovery."
Ruby sobbed. "She's really great... Elliot, I know that you can't come to see her, but can you video call me from time to time so that Ivy gets to see you?"
"No," Elliot rejected her request without a moment of hesitation.
"I know... 1 know... Ben told me that Avery won’t allow you to see me or Ivy. Avery is the one who forced you to..."
Ruby's tears fell onto Ivy's cheek. Startled, Ivy immediately looked up at her. "Elliot, I won't force you to do anything. Ben told me not to go to Aryadelle because I would only be disturbing you and making it more difficult for you. I won't take our child to you. Don't worry..."
Elliot's features froze. "Avery didn’t force me to do anything. All my decisions were the result of serious consideration. Ruby Gould, I don’t have any feelings for you, so there’s no need for us to remain in touch. As for the child, I can raise her if you don't want to."
"I want to raise her! Elliot, how could you say something so cruel?" Ruby whimpered.
"Then don't even think about using her to blackmail me. Doing so will only have the opposite effect," Elliot warned her. "Either you raise her, and I pay child support, or you give her to me and stay out of our lives.
"I will raise her myself... I don't need money!" Ruby made a decision immediately. "Elliot, it seems like you are dead set on ab:a’
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