Time passed quickly and two weeks went by in a flash.Rosalie had been having psychological problems and was cooperating with the doctors in her treatment. She wasn’t on medication. Her first doctor had wanted to prescribe her medicine, but she sought a second opinion with another doctor.Her condition wasn’t so severe as to warrant medication. Medication for psychological issues often had strong side effects. She found doctors whose first resort was to just prescribe medicine without regard for anything else quacks.Thankfully, she found herself another female doctor whom she thought was much better. Instead of prescribing her medicine, the female doctor counseled her and told her that her condition wasn’t so severe that it required medication. She was suffering from mild depression and anxiety which was not that severe.Back at home, Rosalie had Justin’s company, which served as emotional support that made her feel much better.“Rose, I’ve changed the baby’s diaper and fed him
The private investigator explained his plan. After hearing it, a light bulb lit up in Rosalie’s mind.“That’s a novel idea, but I’m just not sure if it’ll work.”“Whether it will or not, we should try it out first. But we must first contact the author and see if she agrees to it.”Rosalie pondered for a moment. “How about this? Text me the name of the novel and I’ll check it out.”During dinner, Rosalie kept hemming and hawing, as if she had something to say to Justin but felt embarrassed about it.Justin could sense something wrong with her and asked, “What’s the matter? Do you have something to tell me?”Rosalie pondered for a moment before saying, “I do have something to tell you, but I’m rather embarrassed to say it.”Justin put his fork down, the look on his face turning solemn. “It’s fine, just speak your mind. If you want me to leave, I’ll go right now…”“I’m not asking you to leave,” Rosalie hurriedly clarified, for fear that he might misunderstand. “I wanted to ask if
The novel was too long and Rosalie was unable to finish reading everything that night. She only managed to zoom past a few hundreds of thousands of words.She was reading pretty quickly. The author’s writing was simple and easy to read, without much complexity in the prose. Despite that, she only managed to read slightly less than half of the total word count.She inserted a bookmark and flipped to the final page.She realized that Angie left a comment on the final chapter too, in which she gave the author a thorough scolding.A normal reader would post comments targeting the plot, but Angie kept targeting the author and even banded together with a few other readers to insult the author.After reading through Angie’s comments, Rosalie had a rough idea of the kind of person Angie was. Rosalie yawned, exhausted beyond belief. She could hardly keep her eyes open. She was about to put her phone down when she heard her baby’s cries from next door.Rosalie immediately got out of bed
“Thank you,” Rosalie said as she received the bottle of tea. She in turn handed the author a little gift box. “This is a small token for you. Please accept it.”“A small gift for me?” the author said happily as she received the gift. “Thank you, you’re so nice. Let me treat you to lunch.”She was very glad to meet a fan here.“Let me treat you instead,” Rosalie offered.“How could I let you do that?” the author said. “Let me give you a treat. Don’t stand on ceremony with me. I’m very thankful for your support for my novel.”“You write very well and I couldn’t stop reading the novel.”“I want to hear your assessment of it,” the author said. “What do you think of it? Give me your honest opinion.”As long as it wasn’t a malicious insult that wasn’t constructive, she could accept any objective comment that came her way.Rosalie thought about it for a while before saying, “Very dramatized and frustrating, but the story is written very immersively and I got so worked up so many time
“Just look at them. They only have those few things to say, such as me having a mental problem, being indecent, promiscuous, and fooling around with men like the female lead. They insist that the characters in the novel are a reflection of the author. What a joke.”The author chuckled as she went on, “I’m single and I don’t care about men at all. I’ve been traveling around the world. How would I have time to fool around with men? Based on their logic, authors who write ghost stories are ghosts themselves, and those who write murder mysteries and criminals too? How stupid of them.”“Yeah,” Rosalie said. “Novels are all fictional and made-up. Authors write stories based on what they see and hear with a dash of imagination, which may not necessarily represent the authors themselves. These comments, on the other hand, are a true reflection of their character.”“Well said,” the author said, pulling out her phone to make a note of Rosalie’s words. “I want to include your words in my novel
Rosalie treated the author to lunch.The author had wanted to treat Rosalie to a meal, but Rosalie insisted on expressing her gratitude and the author didn’t reject her. Justin and Steve joined them for lunch, too.Justin was tall and handsome, and the author’s eyes lit up when she saw him. “My my! You look just like the male lead of my story.”Justin smiled awkwardly. “You’re too kind.”“Oh, come on! You’ll be the inspiration for my next male lead. He’ll have the same family name, the female lead will take Rosalie’s family name and the both of them will have a cute baby together.”It was now Rosalie’s turn to feel awkward. She and Justin exchanged glances.Steve suddenly laughed in Justin’s arms and cooed, “Dada, Mama.”It now became impossible for Justin and Rosalie to clarify the true status of their relationship.-Justin drove Rosalie back home. Steve sat in the car seat at the back while Rosalie sat in the front passenger seat.Awkwardness filled the air between Justin
Half an hour later, after all the dishes were served, Laila wolfed all the food down, looking as though she had been starved for a long time.Rosalie and Justin sat opposite her, with Steve in Justin’s arms.Rosalie stared coldly at Laila until she finished all the food and burped loudly.“Now that you’re done, tell me about my biological parents.”“At least give me some living allowance.”Laila didn’t have a single cent on her and she had to worry about her next meal after this. It would be foolish of her to miss this chance to fleece some money from Rosalie.“Take your phone out. I’ll transfer you some money,” Rosalie said.“I don’t have a phone. I sold my phone away. I need cash.”All her cards were frozen and she couldn’t receive online payments, only cash.“I don’t have cash with me.”“I don’t care. Give me cash or I’ll keep silent.”Laila was at the end of her tether. She couldn’t be bothered with anything else except for getting her hands on some money right now.Ros
Rosalie’s hands shifted up from her thighs to the hem of her shirt, which she gripped tightly. “What orphanage?”“The one in Joulon District, what was the name? I don’t remember.”“How could you not remember? Hurry and tell me the name!” Rosalie’s tone was fierce, betraying her agitation.Justin held her hand immediately and looked comfortingly at her. Rosalie calmed down and took a deep breath.Laila was immensely frightened. “I really don’t remember! It’s been so many years. I wasn’t the one who adopted you, why would I remember the name? I just know that the orphanage was in Joulon District. Also, you were wearing a bracelet that looked quite valuable when they adopted you.”“Where’s that bracelet? Where is it?” Rosalie immediately asked.“Your parents hid it.”“Where did they hide it?” Rosalie asked.“How would I know?!” Laila exclaimed.Rosalie yelled furiously, “Lies! Did you sell the bracelet to pay off your gambling debt?!”Laila had the cheek to take her parents’ com
Aurora looked incredibly sorrowful, completely unlike someone who was acting. Theodore, for a moment, didn't know whether he should believe her or not.When Rosalie had first told him, he had only defended Aurora, completely ignoring Angie.Now, with Aurora telling him that it was Angie who killed Rebecca, Theodore couldn't be 100% certain that Aurora was not involved in this matter.It felt like a layer of mist had been added, blurring his vision and preventing him from seeing clearly.After a long while, Theodore released Aurora."Get better first," he said, turning to leave.Suddenly, he heard some movement behind him. Turning around, he saw Aurora stumbling toward the window in the ward. She forcefully pulled open the window and jumped straight down.Theodore's brows tightened, and with rocket-like speed, he rushed forward. He grabbed her from behind and pulled her back from the window ledge. "What are you doing?!""Theo, let me die! I don't want to live anymore. Just pretend I kil
Theodore took out his phone and called Aurora, but she didn't answer the phone.He turned to the bodyguard and asked, "When you took Angie, was Aurora not at home?"The bodyguard nodded. "Yes, only Angie was at home. Aurora wasn't there."Theodore furrowed his brow. Was Angie telling the truth? Had Aurora fled in fear of being caught? He clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.Could Aurora really be this kind of person? Had he misjudged her character all along?"Find her. I want to know where she went."A few hours later, Theodore's subordinates brought news of Aurora's whereabouts. She had booked a hotel room.Theodore led a group of people to her hotel room and knocked on the door forcefully, but there was no response.The staff member opened the door with a room key, and the group entered. Aurora was indeed in the room, and she was lying on the bed.Theodore strode over."Aurora!" he shouted, but as he got closer, he noticed that she was motionless. An empty pill bottle was on th
Hearing the recording on the phone, Angie was horrified and nearly fainted."No, that's not how it is! It's not like that!" she cried in fear.Angie tried to get up from the floor, but the two men behind her pressed her down firmly, keeping her kneeling on the ground."It's not like that!" Angie shouted. "Aurora's framing me! She's setting me up!""She's framing you?" Theodore sneered. "Didn't you admit that you killed my grandmother?""I… It wasn't me!" Angie's agitation intensified. "Aurora is clearly using me as a scapegoat! She tricked me into saying those things! This is all fake!"Angie finally realized that Aurora had planned to make her the scapegoat from the very beginning, wanting to rid herself of any involvement. It was so sinister—recording conversations and twisting the facts. How despicable!"Fake?" Theodore seized her face with one hand, gripping it so tightly that her face nearly contorted. He gritted his teeth and harshly demanded, "Are you saying Aurora did this?""Y
Aurora wept bitterly, her voice choked with sobs. "Theo, I'm sorry. I didn't know Angie could be so vicious. I thought she just had a foul mouth—I never imagined her to be this wicked!"Theodore's trembling hand picked up his phone and played the recording again and again, listening to the conversation between Angie and Aurora.Aurora quietly observed Theodore's expression.In the recording, she had edited out the later parts, leaving only her dialogue with Angie. As a result, it sounded as if Angie had acted entirely on her own, with no involvement from Aurora.Aurora understood that revealing this matter would eventually lead to suspicions falling on her. However, if she didn't use Angie as a scapegoat, they would both be exposed sooner or later. Acting preemptively, she decided to sacrifice Angie.Theodore turned to look at Aurora. After a long pause, he asked in a low voice, "When did you find out?"Aurora wiped the tears from her face. "A while ago, when Angie was arrested by the
Aurora locked her bedroom door, then returned to her bed and began swiping on her phone. After confirming multiple times that everything was in order, she dialed Theodore's number."It's late. What's the matter?" Theodore asked."Theo, could you come pick me up? I have something very important to tell you.""Just tell me over the phone.""No, this is important. I have to tell you in person. Please come pick me up—I'm begging you! It's about Grandma."Theodore paused for a moment, then said, "Alright, I'm on my way."Less than an hour later, Theodore's car arrived at Aurora's apartment complex.Aurora had already changed clothes. When she received Theodore's call, she quietly slipped out of the house and hurried downstairs.Theodore was leaning against the car hood, waiting for her. When he saw her approach, he asked coldly, "What's so urgent this late at night?""Let's get in the car and leave here first," Aurora said as she opened the front passenger door and got in the car.Theodore
"This bracelet is probably the one you're looking for," Justin said, his expression turning serious. "It must have been sent by the man who stole it."At that moment, Rosalie's phone rang. The screen displayed an unknown number, but she had already guessed who it might be. She answered and put the call on speaker."Do you like the bracelet? I sent it to you."She hadn't expected this person to suddenly reappear and even make contact with her child.Rosalie was furious. "I'm warning you. If you harm my child, I won't let you go!""Look at how worked up you are. If I had harmed him, would you still be able to see him? I was just returning something to you.""Then tell me—what's your purpose? What do you want?""Why are you so afraid? If I wanted to hurt you, you'd already be dead."Rosalie gritted her teeth. "You…""I have something to attend to. We'll talk later." With that, the caller hung up."Hello? Hello?" Rosalie immediately tried to call back, but the number was already disconnect
Rosalie glanced at the screen. "Since when did I start writing novels? How come I didn't know about it?""Stop lying! This is obviously your work! Otherwise, why would our names appear in the book?" Angie roared.Rosalie remained indifferent. "That, I wouldn't know." "You don't know? Rosalie, you clearly—""Angie…" Aurora grabbed her arm.Angie suppressed her anger and placed the phone on the table."Rosalie," Aurora said, "I didn't even know you could write.""This book isn't mine. Believe it or not," Rosalie said. At that moment, the book was updated with a new chapter. The content still focused on Angie and Aurora. Angie read the chapter on the spot. At the end of it, the author left a note. [I'll upload a few more chapters today. I'm working hard on them; updates will come soon.]The two of them looked up at Rosalie. She must have scheduled the upload in advance.Rosalie stood up. "I don't have time to waste on this nonsense. You two called me here just because of some novel? H
Aurora wanted to keep asking questions, but for a moment, she didn't know how to phrase them.She didn't dare to ask outright if Aurora and Angie actually existed in real life because she felt guilty.After Aurora and Angie's plot appeared, the comment section was suddenly flooded with remarks about the two of them. Most of the comments were negative, with the underlying tone suggesting that what they had done would inevitably come to light.Reading these comments, Aurora panicked. It felt as if everyone suddenly knew about their deeds.Later, Aurora joined the ranks of active readers, checking every update as soon as it was released.The latest chapters increasingly revolved around her and Angie, describing more harmful details, and even including a burial scene. The dialogue in that scene was eerily identical to reality.Aurora and Angie came to a conclusion: the author was most likely Rosalie.Rosalie had to be the one writing this novel! By coincidence, Angie had been a long-time f
The two characters' names were Angie and Aurora, and the events in the novel were identical to what they had done.What exactly was going on? Why did it feel like their story was being written?"Now you understand why I asked you to read it? How could this be happening?" Angie said."Who is this author?" Aurora immediately checked the author's profile and her other books, but they were all just ordinary novels.The two of them began to panic. The things they had done had somehow been written into a book, and it happened to be a book Angie had been reading for a long time.Angie had been a fan of this novel for quite some time, but these two characters had only appeared recently.The two of them stayed up late, trying to dig up information about the author online to see if they could uncover anything. However, after several hours of searching, they found nothing.The author seemed to only exist on the publishing platform. She hadn't left any links to her social media accounts, if she ev