But before she could press him for more, he stood up, the moment passing as quickly as it had come. The warmth in his expression faded, replaced by his usual cool demeanor. "You should go to your room and rest," he said, his tone returning to its normal, measured calm. “Whatever you have to say, say it tomorrow." He added, knowing that she still had something she wanted to say to him. And with that, he turned and left the living room, leaving Rose sitting there, a whirlwind of emotions swirling inside her. She exhaled softly before standing up and returned to her room, Rose lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling, her mind too restless for sleep. Jiang Shuxuan’s words lingered in the air around her, refusing to settle. There was something unsettling in what he had said, and though she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, she didn't like it. The room, though grand and comfortable, suddenly felt too large, too quiet. The walls seemed to close in on her, the silence becoming heavy. S
Hearing Lara's voice, it was at that moment Rose realized that she was not in the Gray mansion. For a moment, she mistook Lara for Paige back at home.“Good morning, Miss Lara." Rose pushed the cover and sat up on the bed and greeted Lara in a lazy, husky voice.The smile on Lara's face immediately disappeared when she saw Rose's expression. “Young Miss, did you sleep late last night?" Rose turned to look at Lara when she heard her question." Sort off. I was unable to sleep early yesterday night. How did you know that I slept late, Mrs Lara?" She asked."I could tell by the way your eyes looked. Though it's not very visible but I can see the eye bag underneath your eyes.” Lara explained as she waved at the maid to drop the new set of clothes they had brought for Rose and take their leave.Rose nodded her head with a faint smile when she heard Lara's explanation.“Young Miss, this is a new set of clothes for you to change into and here is the ointment you need to apply on your face. D
“Good morning, miss. I'm here to bring you to the dining room." The maid greeted with a warm smile on her face, immediately she saw the gorgeous young girl before her.Rose nodded and closed the door behind her and followed the maid.By the time she got to the dining room and sat down on one of the chairs, the maids quickly served the dishes before they went back to their position. Rose didn't eat immediately as she kept glancing at the entrance, waiting for someone to walk in.After waiting for a short while and there were no traces of the so-called person she was waiting for, Rose decided to eat before the food ran cold. “Young Miss, I hope the meal was to your liking?" Lara asked as she walked into the room after Rose was done eating. She gestured to the rest of the maids to clear the table. “Is there anything you don't like in the dish? What about the things you don’t like to eat? Are you allergic to some food so that I can inform the chef about it?" She asked. It was obvious tha
" I can do it by myself. Don't worry, Mrs. Lara. I have a very sharp brain. It will be easy for me to quickly memorize where I'm going so I can't get lost. There is no need to disturb the maid.” Rose confidently replied with a smile that made Lara melt when she saw the smile on her face.She was confident to not get lost thinking that this was a normally built house that was why she refused to let a maid follow her. But she was wrong.After she confidently told Lara that she can take care of herself, Lara decided to let her do whatever she liked and she merely went on exploring the house. However, that was the case. The problem at hand was that she had been pacing at one spot for the past ten minutes and she was so confused that she didn't know where to go or even where she was coming from.“I'm lost? I can not believe that I got lost after telling Mrs. Lara that I can't get lost.” Rose muttered a let out a sigh at her own stubbornness.Just as Rose was thinking of what to do in her s
She set the letter down carefully, her mind racing. What did it mean? Who had written it? And why did it feel like it was speaking directly to her? She knew this letter was for her but she felt like it was for her.Suddenly, the room felt colder, and Rose froze when she felt the cold, chilling aura behind her.“What are you doing here?" Alex's cold voice rang out in the room as he stared back at the girl in the library with a frown.When he came back and asked about where Rose was, Lara told him she was exploring the house but he didn't expect to see her here in his library. Was this where she was exploring when there are other places in the house to explore.Rose gulped and slowly turned around only to see him standing by the door side with a scowl on his face. “You're back?" She asked. " Yes. Answer my question.” Alex replied."Mrs. Lara said I can explore the house but I got lost at some point then walked into this room. I apologize if this is a personal place.” Rose gave a brief
Rose on the other hand raised her brow. ‘I thought he knew about our relationship? Isn't that part of the reason why he helped me?’“I'm related to the Anderson family and Nicholas Anderson is my second cousin.” She told him.“Hm. Is that all you need?" Alex questioned, not bothering to act surprised by what she said. His reaction made Rose narrowed her brow at him.“You do know that I and Cousin Nicholas are related, don't you?" She suddenly asked. His calm expression says it all and she wasn't stupid to not connect the dots quickly.“It's good that you're smart." Alex turned to look at her and remarked. He didn't bother waiting for her before he started walking away.‘This is exactly one of the reasons why I find him a threat to me.’ Rose scowled as she watched Alex's back before deciding to chase after him when she saw that he was really going to leave her alone.“I also need a laptop too." She told Alex after managing to meet up with him.“Ask Mrs. Jim for that anytime you need it
" I don't remember my cousin's daughter telling me that when I saw her last time. But if that is the case, I want to meet and see Roseline personally and speak to her.” Julian remarked, while looking at William."You can't do that! Rose is busy with her studies right now and it would only interrupt her if we allow it to-" Beatrice was about to come up with an excuse when Julian turned his attention to her.“Are you trying to hide Rose from meeting me? I see no reason why you wouldn't want her to see me. I never said I was taking her with me, I only wanted to see her.” Julian interrupted Beatrice with a deep frown as he glared at her.“Or perhaps, is there something wrong with Roseline that makes you not want her to meet me? Is my cousin's daughter really in this house?" He added. He was not stupid to see that both William and Beatrice are nervous for some unknown reason. It's not like it's the first time she would be visiting them so why are they trying to hide her. Their actions were
"Wrong answer. I asked how she left this mansion. Roseline would not do something as stupid to leave the mansion without a reason.” Julian cut off William in the middle of talking.The room went silent after Julian spoke. William was in deep thought on what to say at the moment. Eventually, the Anderson family would find out about everything that happened but he can afford to tell Julian now because it could lead to the end of the Gray family.“Mr. Anderson, I don't think we should be focused on that. It's my fault that Rose left this house because I neglected my job as a mother. However, let's worry about that for later, the most important thing is that we are able to find Rose and she is safe." Beatrice suddenly spoke, her voice filled with worry as she looked at Julian with teary eyes. Her sweet mother act usually works on people and right now she was betting it would work on Julian.“You're right, we have to look for Rose.” Julian said, making Beatrice heave a sigh of relief. At
“Yes, that's true, I've only seen Sophia around but not your oldest first daughter.” Mrs. Will interfered when she too heard Mrs. Phillip’s question. She planned to ask Beatrice because she had been looking around for Rose but couldn't find her. “Thank God, I thought I was the only one who missed seeing that cute loveable child. Where did you say she is, Beatrice?” Mrs. Phillip asked again despite knowing that Beatrice hadn't replied yet. Beatrice smiled at both Mrs. Phillip and Mrs. Will. ‘You crazy two bitches. I'm already prepared for you.’ she thought to herself. She was aware that these two women were nothing but trouble, that's why she prepared herself for them since she had no choice but to invite them to her little party. “Oh, well, my poor Rose has a fever and is staying in bed. I told her not to come outside because of the cold weather and her fever could worsen.” She calmly answered. “Oh dear, is Rose okay? Why didn't you let us know beforehand." Mrs. Phillip worriedly
Once, Rose had believed that Beatrice cared for her. She had believed in her kindness, thinking that maybe Beatrice did see her as a daughter. But now, she saw through the facade. Beatrice wasn’t protecting her. She was merely covering for her son, brushing away his actions as though they were minor inconveniences. Each word of Beatrice’s “comfort” felt like salt in a wound. Still in pain and unable to walk comfortably, Rose was confined to her bed. Though Rose's leg had healed more than she portrayed it to everyone, it was also part of her plan. During her confinement, Rose constantly talked with Nicholas and gave him directions on the things she wanted him to do with the security video she asked him to find. Although he could fairly guess what his little cousin was up to, Nicholas was still confused about how she was planning all this in her little head. Yet, despite her stepdaughter’s state, Beatrice's grand birthday party carried on as planned. The house bustled with preparatio
The next day, Rose received a call from Theresa in the morning, telling her to visit the store because of something important. Rose actually thought it was something that wouldn't take time so she lied to Beatrice who was at home that she was going to her friend's place. As expected, Beatrice didn't probe too much and let Rose leave. It was only when Rose got there did she realize that it was going to take a while for her to finish up with the meeting so she tried to rush things up. Nancy sent a text message to Rose when she was having a meeting with Theresa, in order to inform Rose that she would soon be arriving at the location of the first house on Rose's list. Nancy wanted Rose to be present personally, so that she can be able to negotiate some of the terms with the real estate agent. Rose would have loved to attend the meeting but it was impossible since her meeting with Theresa wasn't over yet. As a result, she had no other choice but to text Nancy and told her to carry on w
“That is an excellent choice. I will give the estate manager incharge of these properties a call tonight and we can meet at the location to sign the complete deal.” Nancy suggested. Rose easily agrees to Nancy's term since she found the suggestion acceptable.“That's fine by me. I'll meet you there tomorrow morning.” “Yes, but that is not the case here. I don't think it's wise for you to go out again tomorrow with how you look." She added as she looked at Rose who tilted her head to the side. There is no way she wanted Rose to walk around with that face again tomorrow. Today was a mistake because she didn't know what happened to her.“Are you worried about me, big sister? Don't because I am fine. Besides, I need to handle this before it gets late because I will be needing it soon." Rose replied, giving a reassuring smile at Nancy.“I know but I still think you should get better first, huh? You have to care about yourself more." Nancy argued, despite knowing that Rose was right. Howe
When they arrived at their destination, Rose told Luthor to wait for her while she headed to the restaurant entrance.Immediately she entered the restaurant, she sighted Nancy sitting at one of the tables by the window so she made her way there while trying to control herself from limping too much.“I'm sorry for making you wait for me, sister Nancy." Rose said as she stood in front of the table.“Oh dear, Rose what happened to your face?” Nancy looked up when she heard Rose's voice ready to greet her with a smile but she was shocked when she saw Rose.Rose gave Nancy a smile before taking her seat in front of her. “It's nothing serious, I just got into a little accident but I'm healing now." She replied.“You should have told me about this, I wouldn't have accepted us to meet today. Are you sure you're okay coming out like this?" Nancy worriedly asked. “I am, don't worry about me." Rose nodded her head at Nancy but it wasn't enough to make the woman stop worrying about her. She was
………..The next day, Rose was unable to go to school because of injuries. After everyone had left the mansion, Rose picked up her phone and called Luthor to get the car ready for her.Well, the Gray family thought she would be unable to go out but that wasn't true, she had got appointments with Nancy who was already waiting for her at the restaurant they were supposed to meet.A few minutes later, Rose stepped out of her building fully dressed in all black clothes and backpack. Luthor, who was already waiting for her, stepped out of the driver seat and opened the back seat door for her.“Are you sure you should be going out in that condition?" Luthor asked as he drove out of the mansion. Earlier he had watched Rose limp into the car when he hadn't taken his eyes off her. Even as she sat in the car pressing her cellphone his gaze constantly fell on her bruised face and leg.Rose looked up from her phone and glanced at the driver seat. “Yes. It's important. And I told you not to have th
Beatrice was caught off guard when she heard Rose. How was she supposed to reply to that?Seeing her mother in a difficult situation to come up with something to say, Sophia tugged Rose's hand. “Sister, don't think like that. Ever since you left and mom found out that Victor chased you out, mom scolded him really really badly on your behalf." As a sweet-talker, Sophia expected her tricks to work on Roes who smiled at her and pretended like she never did anything earlier. It almost looked like she was a robot that was being rubbotted.Ah, yes. But it seems like my scolding isn't enough for him. I will make sure to seek punishment for him from your father when he comes back. My darling, I'm sorry for coming so late." Beatrice took the opportunity crested by her daughter and came up with something quickly.Rose smiled upon seeing how mother and daughter keep trying to come up with an excuse to cover for each other. Not wanting to drag on seeing their faces, Rose lied that she wanted to
Rose, who was busy taking her nap, frowned when she felt the presence in her room. ‘I should have locked that door earlier.’“Sister, wake up. It's me, Sophia." Sophia persistently shook Rose's body, making her groan in pain at how tight Sophia's grip was.“It hurts, Sophia.” Rose mumbled as she gently pushed Sophia's hand away and sat up on the bed." Oh, I'm sorry. Mother and I were just so excited and happy when we heard that you're back." Sophia quickly apologized as she sat beside Rose on the bed."Roseline, dear. Why did you do that? Do you have any idea how worried I was when I heard that you left the mansion? Your father got angry at me because of that.” Beatrice suddenly ranted as she looked at Rose with a fake worried expression on her face.“Mother, I didn't leave just like that. I had no choice but to listen to Victor when he chased me out because I didn't want him to get more angry with me." Rose replied as she looked up at Beatrice. Honestly, she wasn't really in the moo
Just as she was about to go inside, the gates opened and another car which belonged to Beatrice drove in as well, making Sophia pause.“Sophia, what are you doing outside still dressed like that?"Beatrice questioned as she stepped out of the car along with Victor. She had a scowl on her face when she saw her daughter still dressed the same way she had dressed when she left this morning.“I just got back home now." Sophia casually replied to her mother. “And before you scold me, I went out with my friends after school so I was late because of that." She quickly added, knowing what her mother might say next.“Mom, stop looking at Sophia like that. She is old enough to hang out with her friends, isn't she?” Victor suddenly Interjected while winking at his sister who smiled at him for his help.“I know, I just want you to be careful sometimes." As expected, Beatrice couldn't win against her children and softened her gaze at Sophia.“Mommy, did you get that picture of the dress I sent to y