With a thud, Laila's body was forcefully thrown to the ground, smashing her phone in the process. A group of burly men surrounded her, and one of them viciously kicked her shoulder, growling, "You dirty bitch, where's the money? Didn't you say you'd pay us back?"Laila scrambled to her feet, falling to her knees with a thud. "I will! Please give me a few more days. I'll definitely get the money!""You damn bitch!" A crisp sound rang out as the man slapped her face. "How many days has it been? Being stubborn, are you?""My niece is very wealthy," Laila cried in panic. "Please give me a few more days. She'll definitely give me the money!""My foot! We've heard it! Your niece won't lend you money.""Do you want to keep your left hand or your right?" the man asked."No, no!" Laila tried to scramble away, but the man roughly grabbed her and held her hands down. "Repay your debt! You're an old hag now. If you were twenty years younger, we would have sold you to repay the debt!"Th
When Rosalie arrived at Rebecca's place, dinner was being prepared in the kitchen.In the living room, Rebecca held Rosalie's hand and said, "Rose, you seem to have gained some weight. It looks like you've been eating well recently."Rosalie smiled and replied, "Grandma, I have indeed put on some weight. There's something I want to tell you.""What is it?""Can you promise me something first? If I tell you, please don't be angry. I'm most afraid of making you angry.""Go ahead. How could I be angry with you?"Rosalie hesitated for a moment, feeling uneasy. After a long pause, she finally told Rebecca about her pregnancy and her marriage to Sebastian.Rebecca fell silent after hearing this. She released Rosalie's hand, and her expression became somewhat serious."I'm sorry, Grandma. It's my fault. I should have told you earlier, but I had just gotten divorced and was afraid you might force Theo to remarry me because of my pregnancy. That's why I didn't tell you. I'm sorry."Reb
While Rosalie was driving home, she received a call from Sebastian."Rose, are you on your way back?""I'm driving back now.""Okay. Be careful on the road and don't speed.""Okay. Have you had dinner?""I have.""Alright, I'll be home soon. You…"Before Rosalie could finish her sentence, she suddenly noticed a person tailing her on a motorcycle in her rearview mirror. He was dressed like a traffic police officer, and he was waving at her."Rose, what's wrong?" Sebastian asked, noticing she had stopped talking.Rosalie said, "It's nothing. I'll be home soon. I'm driving right now.""Okay, drive safe. I won't disturb you. It's not safe to talk on the phone while driving.""Alright. I'll talk to you when I get home."They ended the call.At this moment, the traffic police officer on the motorcycle had already pulled up alongside Rosalie, signaling her to pull over to the side of the road.The section of road she was on had little traffic, with only an occasional car passing
"No. If there's a traffic accident, the consequences will be severe. Your car needs to be impounded, and will only be returned once it's confirmed that there are no issues."The officer took out his phone from his pocket as he spoke. "I'm going to call my colleague to come over. Please wait here."He dialed a number and said, "Hello, there's a vehicle with violations on Red Bridge Road that needs to be towed."Rosalie glanced at the traffic police officer, and felt something was off. She lifted her foot to walk back to her car, but he suddenly stopped her. "Trying to run away? Stay here."Rosalie noticed his strange expression. "Since you're towing my car, I need to get my bag. My documents and money are in it.""Fine, go get it.""Okay." Rosalie calmly walked to the car. Once inside, she glanced at the rearview mirror before secretly taking out her phone and dialing Christopher's number.She suspected that something was amiss with this officer, but she couldn't call the police
The man pretending to be a traffic police officer found the phone that Rosalie had dropped under the car seat. The screen showed that she was on a call. He immediately hung up and turned around. "Stupid bitch! Trying to call for help, huh?""Boss, let's leave first. We don't want any passersby to see us," one of his subordinates suggested.The man nodded. "Get her into the van. Let's go."Rosalie was forcibly dragged into the van by several men, and then they all left in a convoy. Her car was also driven away.The road was quiet and empty once again, as if nothing had happened.Inside the van, Rosalie's hands and feet were bound. A sweaty, large hand pinched her chin and turned her head to face him."I didn't expect Laila to have such a beautiful niece."Rosalie tried to stay calm. She asked coldly, "Did she ask you to capture me?""That's right. If you had just lent her the money, this wouldn't have happened. Since you're so stingy, your aunt had no choice but to cut ties with
The people seated at the back of the car exchanged glances.After pondering for a moment, the man said over the phone, “500 thousand in cash, not a cent less.”“Deal!” Christopher said, “Give me the address. I’ll immediately send the cash, and you’ll hand her to us on the spot.”Upon seeing him agree so readily, the man changed his mind. “Seems like you really dote on this niece of yours. I want to change the price.”“Don’t push your luck,” Christopher said coldly.“What do you mean by that? Your niece is very valuable. How could she only be worth 500 thousand dollars? I want five million.”“Sure, I’ll give it to you.” Christopher just wanted Rosalie to be safe.The man was in disbelief over how easy-going Christopher was. “You’re agreeing so readily to my request. Are you calling the police?”“I have plenty of money. The only thing I care about right now is my niece’s safety,” Christopher said as he suppressed his anger. “No matter how much you want, the premise is that my nie
The van sped across the road, but Rosalie had no idea where the car was going as she was blindfolded. The van drove for a long time, until she felt herself being dragged out and pulled along an uneven road.She didn’t know where she was, but she could hear the sound of the wind blowing. She felt herself pushed into a musty-smelling place and thrown on the ground.“Take turns to watch her. Don’t let this wench run or die, or we won’t be able to get the money.”“Bro, will her family call the police?”“They wouldn’t have the guts to! If they do, I’ll kill this bitch.”“Come to think of it…” he went on after pondering for a moment, “better to be safe than sorry. Come here.”The other man approached him, and he whispered something into his ear. He spoke so softly, Rosalie couldn’t hear what he said. The other man nodded and said, “Sure, got it. I’ll get on it right away.”Right after that, Rosalie heard footsteps. The man was approaching her.She shrunk back into the corner of the
“Sure, but I’m warning you—don’t install any surveillance equipment or tracking devices in it. We’ll bring a detector. If we find anything suspicious, Rosalie Young is dead. Got that?”“Got it. We will be careful, please don’t act rashly. Is Rose safe right now? Let me hear her voice.”“She’s great. Don’t worry.”“How can I be assured with your words? I want to hear her voice with my own ears. Do you still want the money? Five million in cold hard cash. That’s something you won’t be able to finish spending in one lifetime.”“Fine. Wait!”Rosalie was almost dozing off when someone pulled her hard. “Your family wants to speak to you. Tell them you’re very safe.”The man put the phone to Rosalie’s ear and Sebastian blurted out, “Rose, how are you?”“Seb? I’m fine, don’t worry. I’ll be home very soon.”The abductor realized that something was wrong. “Seb? Damn it, what’s going on? Didn’t you say that it’s your uncle? Why did your voice change?”Christopher was worried that the abd
Theodore wrapped all of them up in his long arms.Under the golden sunshine, the family of four was wrapped up in each other's embraces. Sunlight shone on them, encasing them in a warm, golden glow. Everything felt calm and peaceful. The children snuggled in their parents' arms, innocent smiles lighting up their faces. They could feel the warmth of the sunshine as they found the safest and warmest haven in the entire world in their arms.In the evening sun and gentle breeze, they finally found happiness in each other's embrace.-In the deep of the night, Rosalie had a dream.Both Justin and Grandma came to her in her dream.Grandma and Justin were playing cards, surrounded by beautiful birds and flowers. They seemed to be in heaven, having the time of their lives with a look of tender love in their eyes.Grandma was very happy that she had reconciled with Theodore.Justin told Rosalie, "Rose, I'm so happy to see you happy.""Justin, do you hate me?""Silly girl, why would
Theodore made Rosalie feel like love was possible once more, and gradually opened her up.Love was ever-changing with time and the experiences they went through.Rosalie missed Justin dearly, but she also learned to treasure the people around her and every present moment of happiness. She learned how to accept the past and treasure the present amidst all her relationships.Justin would be her one and only in her heart, but Theodore also found his place in her heart amidst the unique position Justin was in.This was how their affections and love for each other grew and changed with time.Justin was dead, and Rosalie couldn't keep living in the past. She would carefully preserve her love for Justin in a corner of her heart.She would spend the rest of her life loving Theodore and their children."Chelsea," Rosalie said as she pulled Chelsea over. "Your daddy loves you very much, but he didn't get to see you come into this world. But you must remember his name. He is Justin Lynch."
Theodore and Rosalie brought both children to Justin's tomb.Before they left, Rosalie said that she and Chelsea wanted to spend some time alone with Justin.Theodore brought Jake to the car to wait for them.Golden sunlight shone on the land, feeling warm and toasty and giving the earth a beautiful glow.Rosalie caressed the tombstone. "Justin, I'm sorry for not coming to visit for such a long time."The last time she came back was a few months ago, during which she snuck a peak at his tombstone.Rosalie pulled out a bone fragment. "That's because you're always by my side, which is why I think that I can bring you everywhere I go. You're not just here at this tombstone."Justin, Theo and I have reconciled. He did so much for me, even sacrificing his own life for me. I can't just stand idly by and do nothing about it. I can't bring myself to reject him ruthlessly again and again."You can say that I'm moved, or that I fell in love with him once more. He's just too good, and I c
Jake had so much fun today and was exhausted by the time he reached home. After his shower, he crawled into bed and fell right asleep without any coaxing whatsoever. Jake would sometimes sleep in the bedroom with Chelsea, and sometimes they slept separately.At night, when Rosalie went to Chelsea's room to tuck her in and tell her a bedtime story, she asked, "Chelsea, how was your day with Theodore?""Hmm, it was alright," Chelsea said. "But Mr. Spencer was so silly, he burnt the food. I only got to eat lunch very late.""Is that so?" Rosalie burst out laughing. "How silly of him indeed.""But Mr. Spencer is quite nice," Chelsea said. "I like him. He said that I can call him Daddy."Rosalie's eyes lit up. "Do you want to call him that?""I do," Chelsea said with a nod, "but I'll do that tomorrow."Chelsea yawned. She felt tired, too.Rosalie caressed her cheek. "Goodnight, my darling. Go to sleep."-Rosalie returned to her room, took a shower, and laid on the bed. Theodo
Their parent-child bonding efforts officially began the next day.Rosalie brought Jake to the theme park. In the beginning, Jake felt rather stiff and reserved. It was his first time alone with his mom, after all.As time went by, Rosalie's earnestness, concern, and gentle patience with him slowly opened him up.They sat on the carousel, drove the bumper cars, rode on the Viking ship, zoomed down slides, bounced on the trampolines, and sailed on mini-boats. They had a whale of a time.Jake was covered with sweat, but he was so happy, he didn't want the day to end.He had grown closer to his mom, so much so that he would jump into her arms, hugging her and asking for kisses.Rosalie did not hold back from expressing her love for him and even carried him on her back as they continued exploring the park.Jake was very obedient and came down very soon, for fear that Rosalie might get tired. They moved on to the next attraction hand-in-hand.Rosalie found out one thing from Jake, wh
Some time later, Rosalie realized that Jake was being rather sullen.Each time she asked him whether something was wrong, he would brush her away, claiming that he was fine before running off.It was a Saturday, and Rosalie didn't need to go to work. She was seated on the couch with a book when Chelsea ran over, her braids swaying behind her. "Mommy, can you give me a hug?"How could Rosalie say no to her adorable little daughter? She shut the book and said, "But of course. Come on over."Rosalie opened her arms, very willing to show Chelsea affection.Chelsea crawled up onto the couch happily, sitting on Rosalie's lap and diving into her embrace.Jake happened to see it all.Rosalie noticed Jake standing a short distance away and was about to say something to him when he ran off.The smile on Rosalie's face faded as a look of worry took over.At night, Rosalie put Chelsea under Theodore's care and went to Jake, wanting to speak to him alone."Jake, what's with you recently
A gentle breeze lifted the curtains slightly in the deep of the night.Rosalie laid in Theodore's embrace, panting slightly. Her cheek leaned against his chest, feeling his heart pounding heavily, and her cheeks flushed.She never expected this day to come between her and Theodore, yet everything happened in a flash. He went to bed with her just like that, bewitched and completely infatuated with her.Although they were once husband and wife and had been intimate countless times, this felt different from the last. Things felt more intense this time around."Rose, are you happy?"Although Theodore's liver had been doing well over the last three months of recuperation, he was still worried that his fitness level might be affected before his liver was fully recovered.Rosalie gave him a slight smile. "Of course, I am. You almost crushed me."Her face flushed the moment she spoke those words. She hugged Theodore tight, feeling safe and secure.She could sense that he was telling th
"Theo, have you had a woman over the past five years?" Rosalie asked very frankly.They weren't naive young men and women but mature adults with experience in this matter.Theodore was a red-blooded young man who had his needs. Suppressing his desires, which were absolutely normal, would only jeopardize his health.Theodore was getting angry. "Am I someone like that to you, going to bed with a woman I don't love just to satisfy my physical needs?""Aren't men all like that?" Rosalie said. She didn't mean it in a scornful way but simply highlighted it as a typical observation.Lonely men and women in the city were bound to seek companionship in some places and part ways after the night.Someone as powerful and influential as Theodore wouldn't even need to go searching for someone else. Women flocked toward him like bees to honey."Why can't I be an exception?" He was in no state whatsoever to find another woman over the past five years and would always deal with his sexual desire
Time flew by, and three months later, Rosalie was fully recovered and back at work.Her colleagues welcomed her back with a bash.Everything seemed to have returned to normal.To keep Jake company, Rosalie would go back to Theodore's house every day after work. She was practically living there.Rosalie and Jake's relationship had improved over time, and they were looking more and more like they were truly mother and son.Everything was going well.At night, the four of them sat around the dining table and chatted happily with each other.After dinner, Rosalie and Theodore sat in the living room chatting. She suddenly noticed a book on the table. It looked so familiar that it caught her eye.It was the book she had written. Over the past five years, not only was she busy learning and working, but she also managed to write the book she had conceptualized and even gotten it published. However, this book was only available in Briusian and not exported to Blencalgo.Rosalie's book