"I see," Chandra said with a smile. "No wonder you…"She suddenly stopped mid-sentence.Sydney turned to ask, "No wonder what?""Nothing," Chandra replied. "Just keep driving straight, then take a right turn."Sydney didn't press further and kept driving. However, she soon realized that the road was becoming increasingly remote.-Justin dropped Rosalie off at her hotel.He walked her to the door of her room, but didn't go in. Standing at the entrance, he said, "Goodbye. I'll head off now."Rosalie glanced at Steve in her arms, who was already dozing off, and said, "Be careful on your way back."Justin gave a slight nod. "Alright. Can I come by to see you tomorrow?""Of course. I was planning to look at some houses tomorrow. Would you come with me?"Justin nodded. "No problem."The two agreed to meet the next day. Justin waited until Rosalie closed the door before leaving.He went down to the parking lot and got into his car. Just as he was about to start the engine, he felt a cold gun
Rosalie wasn't sure if Justin had been truthful, but regardless, it was clear he didn't want to give her his number. She didn't push him for it, understanding that his unique circumstances likely warranted caution on his part.By eleven o'clock, Rosalie was growing anxious. She couldn't shake the feeling that something might have happened to him. However, without knowing where Justin was or having a way to contact him, she felt helpless.Just then, her phone rang.Upon answering, Rosalie heard Justin's voice on the other end. "Rose, it's me.""Justin, where are you? Why didn't you come to see me? Are you okay?" she asked, worried something might have happened to him.Justin chuckled softly. "Sorry, something came up today, and I got held up. I have a lot to deal with, so I probably won't be able to see you for the next few days.""Oh, I see. I was worried something had happened to you. You scared me," Rosalie said."I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'll take care of myself. I'm sorry I
"Sorry for troubling you," Rosalie said apologetically. "You've been busy helping me all day. Let me treat you to dinner. What would you like to eat? I'll take you to a nice restaurant."Yerick thought for a moment and said, "I noticed a Toscanian restaurant nearby that looks pretty good. Let's give it a try."Rosalie agreed. "Sure, let's go. My treat."With that, Rosalie carried Steve and went to the restaurant with Yerick. Despite his slim build, Yerick had a surprisingly big appetite."Rose, since you're divorced from Sebastian and single again, does that mean I can pursue you now?"Rosalie was caught off guard by Yerick's sudden question and felt a headache coming on. "You're just a kid. Pursue me?""I'm 19, and I'm a PhD student. Why can't I pursue you?""Yerick, don't joke around. I've been divorced twice. Why would a kid like you want to pursue me?""I'm not a kid," Yerick said with frustration. "Rose, I'm an adult now. I'm 19, and 20 in a few months. You're only three years old
After Rosalie finished her shower and was about to go to bed, her phone rang.She answered her phone. "Hello?"It was Theodore. "Rose.""Why are you calling me again?" Rosalie frowned. "Can you stop? I really can't handle you coming back into my life again and again...""Rose, just hear me out," Theodore interrupted, his voice tinged with urgency."What is it now?" Rosalie asked, her tone showing a trace of impatience."Did my mom contact you?""No, why? Why are you suddenly asking about her?" Rosalie replied."She's missing. We can't get in touch with her, and we've searched everywhere but can't find her."Rosalie was shocked, and she immediately set aside her impatience. "She's missing? Did you report it to the police?""Yes, we already did. That's why I wanted to ask if you've been in touch with her."Rosalie thought back. "I did see her last night at Gary's Grill.""Really? What time exactly?""Around 8 PM, maybe a little earlier," Rosalie answered. "I had just finished dinner and
"But I still lied to you. I was wrong. I didn't know any other way to spend time with you alone, so I resorted to this method. You're right—I was despicable."Hearing the dejection in Theodore's voice and thinking about Sydney's disappearance, Rosalie decided not to hold it against him for now. "It's all in the past. Don't dwell on it anymore. Right now, finding your mother is the most important thing. I'll think about it on my end and see if I can come up with any leads. If I do, I'll let you know."Theodore acknowledged with a hum. "Alright, I'll leave it at that for now. I need to keep searching for my mom."With that, the two ended the call.Rosalie returned to her room. Steve was still awake, lying in bed with wide, curious eyes."Baby, your grandma is missing. What are we going to do? If I'd known something like this would happen, I would've remembered every detail from the last time I saw her. I should have paid more attention to that client's appearance. I was too careless."S
On the other end of the phone, Theodore remained silent for a few seconds. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but ultimately didn't.Sensing this, Rosalie quickly said, "Finding your mom is more important right now. Whatever it is, we can talk about it after she's found."The issues between her and Theodore were no longer of significance."I got it. I'll go look for her now. You should get some rest."Rosalie hummed in acknowledgment and ended the call. Helping Theodore made her feel better. She was sincerely grateful to Justin.She considered calling to thank him, but given how late it was, she worried about disturbing him. Instead, she sent him a message. [Thank you. I've already informed Theo, and the information was very helpful.]Justin replied, [You're welcome.]Rosalie responded, [Good night, sleep well.]Justin texted, [I will. You too.]Rosalie lay on the bed, gently holding Steve. Her eyes were on him as she murmured, "Baby, your grandma will be alright."-With a sp
"Your daughter?" Sydney frowned, confused. "Who's your daughter? I haven't interfered with anyone's marriage. You must be mistaken."If she had interfered, she would have known. She had never done such a thing."Are you still pretending to not know?" Chandra sneered. "Sydney Harper, what is your relationship with Geoffrey?"At the mention of Geoffrey's name, Sydney immediately understood everything. So, Chandra's daughter was Geoffrey's ex-wife.Chandra must have thought Sydney had ruined Xyla's marriage with Geoffrey, and that was why she had kidnapped her.Sydney quickly explained, "You've misunderstood. It's not like you think. I didn't interfere in their relationship.""You didn't?" Chandra suddenly stood up from her chair, walked over to Sydney, and slapped her hard across the face.The slap was sharp and resounding.Sydney's head spun from the blow, and she trembled all over. She was tied up, unable to move. Her face burned, but she forced herself to turn her head. "I truly didn
"That was Geoffrey's fault, not mine. He ruined me too. Why are you making things difficult for me?" Sydney shot back.She didn't understand. Why was it that women like Chandra always targeted other women? When a man made a mistake, they didn't go after him but instead focused on persecuting other women."You were ruined by him? Why didn't you resist? If you didn't want it, who could force you? You're the president of Apex Bank and from the Spencers! What could Geoffrey do to you?""I resisted. I didn't want him to touch me. You're right, I'm from the Spencers, but if they knew about this, they would go to war with him. The two families would fight to the death, and I don't want that. So…""So?" Chandra pressed."So, I didn't tell the Spencers. I've been trying to find a way to get rid of him."She thought she had succeeded because Christopher had told her that he had already made it clear to Geoffrey. He would continue to monitor the situation and make sure Geoffrey wouldn't harm her
At night, Rosalie and Theodore headed out for dinner.They didn't take Steve along with them. Theodore wanted to enjoy the date with just the two of them.Rosalie couldn't bear to reject him.Their relationship had been utterly ruined and they barely managed to resolve the misunderstandings. The dust had finally settled around them, and she didn't want to sour the mood again. They were Steve's parents, and Steve naturally wouldn't want his parents to be at loggerheads with each other. They might be divorced, but they could still live in peace and that would only be beneficial for Steve's growth.Theodore booked a restaurant where they shared a romantic meal before heading to the cinema.Theodore bought tickets to a romance movie. It was a very touching story and many ladies were reduced to tears by the time the credits were rolling.Rosalie, however, couldn't bring herself to cry. Perhaps because she was all out of tears from what happened in real life and she felt numb when sh
Half a month flew by.Many things happened during that period, but everything was progressing smoothly.Justin, Sydney, and Wesley were all discharged. Rosalie was slowly adapting to work life. Theodore had seemingly returned to normal, busy with what he was supposed to do. He no longer looked despondent, but he avoided Sydney whenever she looked him up.There was still a barrier erected between the mother and son.Sebastian had fled and no one knew where he was right now.Rosalie was taking a break from work over the weekends and sat in front of her laptop, brainstorming for her book.Before this, she had consulted the author.The author shared her own experiences genuinely.She wanted to write about complicated financial knowledge only a select few would be interested in, but if she wanted to appeal to the masses, she had to make complicated jargon easy to understand, so much so that even an uneducated vegetable grocer could get it. She wanted to avoid fancy terminologies,
Rosalie scrolled through the videos mindlessly and started feeling drowsy. She was about to doze off when she scrolled to a livestream session. The host looked rather familiar. Wasn't this the author who wrote that novel? It was all thanks to her that Angie was caught. Why was she on a livestream?She looked like a natural onscreen.Many people were tuning in. The author was interacting non-stop with her readers, even leisurely reading through nasty comments left by detractors and responding to them.One of the comments read, [The disgusting characters are a reflection of how disgusting the author is. She herself must be promiscuous to be able to write of such a promiscuous character.]The author responded, "If I wrote a character with a high IQ, does that make me have a high IQ, too? In that case, I'll write about a character with an IQ of 190 in my next book. But that's not right. I've written so many books with so many characters in them, even criminals. You should call the co
At night, Theodore came back looking disheveled and not in good shape.Rosalie immediately welcomed him home with Steve in her arms. "Theo, where were you?""I've been staying in a hotel these days.""Theo, Steve's your son and that's a fact no one can change.""Dada," Steve said as he stretched his arms toward Theodore, demanding a hug.Rosalie put Steve in Theodore's arms. "Carry him. He misses you and has been asking for you these few days."Theodore's heart melted as he carried Steve in his arms. He felt so fortunate to come home to his child and Rosalie and yearned for nothing more.However, the past continued haunting him, disturbing his peace and becoming a hurdle he could not cross."Did Sebastian give him his name?"Rosalie was stunned for a moment before admitting honestly, "Yes. I didn't know his true colors then. At that time, he was always by my side, helping me out."She added, "If you don't like this name, give the child another name. He doesn't need to be call
"But I'd like to take this chance to thank everyone for not believing her words. You have every right to dislike our food, and you can even tell me that my dishes are too salty, too oily, too spicy, or simply yucky. It's fine if you don't like it and I can accept constructive feedback. "But that woman was so foul-mouthed, slandering and verbally abusing me and my chef while inciting others to do the same. That's not something a normal person does. She's behaving like a mad dog barking indiscriminately.""Well said!"The customers applauded her. They could tell that she was a straightforward person who wouldn't offend others unless others offended her first. If anyone dared to offend her, she wouldn't let it rest.Rosalie didn't expect such excitement while having lunch, and was thoroughly entertained.As it turns out, most of the customers were reasonable, and only a minority were incited by the lady.The customers had originally thought that the boss was the one scolding the cu
Their raised voices were piercing to Rosalie's ears. The customer was nasty with her words, and the boss retaliated."Come, everyone! Come and see how terrible this boss is, bullying her customer!" the customer snarled scornfully, her disheveled hair blowing in the wind.Some people hadn't fully grasped the situation yet and turned around to look on curiously, thinking that the boss was truly guilty of bullying her customer."Before commenting on other people, you should take a good look at yourself and see how terrible you are! You come here every day, insulting and slandering others. Who else should I scold other than you? You're always coming here and calling my food disgusting trash. You even insulted the chef! Since you don't like it, why do you still come day after day? Are you asking for trouble? You're so foul-mouthed, do you really think you're some dainty fairy?" the boss refuted."Just look, everyone! The boss is bullying and scolding her customer again! She doesn't want
Rosalie felt rather distracted after leaving the hospital.For some reason, she felt very disappointed.She knew how to stop herself from feeling disappointed, but she didn't dare to do it. She didn't know how the future would unfold.Rosalie suddenly wanted to get some fresh air alone, so instead of driving, she walked along the roadside. Somehow, she ended up on another street, far away from where she parked her car. The street was very crowded and lively, packed with many restaurants.Feeling rather hungry, Rosalie walked into a buffet restaurant along the street.There was a sign hung up on the door, with the words, 'If this is your first time in this city and you face some difficulties with no money to your name, come in and order set number #0 for free.'This was an ordinary buffet restaurant, with dishes displayed that diners could help themselves to. There was a good variety of dishes which looked ordinary but delicious. The food looked and smelled so good, it whetted R
The topic of impending separation felt rather heavy and neither of them wanted to continue."Let me peel an apple for you." Rosalie picked an apple from the basket and peeled it with a knife.They remained silent, not saying a word for a long time."Rose, how is Theodore?""Some things happened recently and he wanted some time alone. He said he'll be back soon.""What happened?"Rosalie told Justin about it.Justin's brows furrowed. "Turns out that they are siblings. That's unfortunate for Theodore. Not only does he have a madman for a younger brother, but he also has an older brother who wants to kill him.""Yeah. We don't know what to do about it. After he returns, I want to have a good chat with him. Even if I can't help him with much, I can offer some words of consolation.""Do you still live with him now?" Justin asked.Rosalie nodded. "Yeah, I'm staying with him now and taking care of Steve with him. I feel like Steve has been quite happy recently, perhaps because both
"I used to be like that too," Justin said, "but with time, I realized that we live on this earth to enjoy every day, every minute and every second of the entire process. No one grows up in one minute, gets married in the second minute, and dies in the third. The endpoint might be important, but it only comes around from the accumulation of many little, ordinary things in life. Only when there are lows will we appreciate the highs. Only when we're sad will we appreciate happy times. It is only in the ordinary that we can see the extraordinary."I wondered if I should feel a complicated piece by myself, understanding the ups and downs of its story, or if I should listen to others. I eventually chose the former. Many things in life aren't black and white and you'll have to look at the whole picture to understand its complexity instead of just hearing a superficial summary."I subsequently began enjoying watching a movie, a drama series, or a novel without being affected by other people'