William smiled.‘That’s what she picked up.’‘She doesn't care about money.’He replied with complete honesty.“I do! She is the most resilient woman I have ever met. She is the perfect blend of all the good attributes a person can have, in my opinion.”“She is resilient, hard-working, conscientious, and retains a positive outlook on life. I kind of feel ashamed of myself every time I meet her. I don’t know how to explain it, but I guarantee you’ll understand when you meet her.”“Huh?”“Just saying.” “Anyway, Miss Lexi, are you satisfied with my explanation?”“Hahahaha”“I’ll take that as a yes.”“You are so arrogant.”“What do you think? Tell me all your ideas, not just related to interior design but overall. We’ll collate and plan it properly.”“I think it’s excellent. We should arrange these pictures exactly as they are now. It would be a pity to put them away, though I think we should get the granddaughter’s consent first.”“My thoughts exactly. I already have the consent, as long
“Let’s get you inside.”William handed her a bottle of fresh coconut water to Rosaline as they sat in the living room.He brought over the draft he had been working on and laid it over the table as they both pondered on it.William had already marked most of the things she had highlighted. They cross-checked everything as they made notes and adjusted based on their combined ideas.“I think I’m on a lucky streak in this house.”“Huh?” “What do you mean?”“First, I got this at an insanely affordable price. Secondly, I got an extremely talented designer for free.”“Thank you for the complaint. But I don’t seem to have helped you design anything yet.”“I think I have seen enough to make an accurate judgment.”“Well, continuing your lucky streak, how about I introduce you to someone quite talented in doing carpentry work?”She further added when he looked at her quizzically.“The quality of the wood used for all this furniture is not something you will be able to buy these days, even if yo
Rosaline smiled.William seemed to value Aunty Aria a great deal. She sounded impressive based on his words.“She sounds like someone with stories.”“She is. Unfortunately, it’s not my place to tell, at least not until you get acquainted with her. She is the kind of person I hope I’ll grow to be. Be it in principles or character.”“It’ll be my pleasure to meet her if I’m fortunate enough.”“She will like you.”“Are you always like this?”William frowned, “Like what?”“Blunt? Talkative? Annoying?”William laughed. He had never imagined that there would be a day when someone called him talkative.However, he decided to answer her rhetorical question seriously.He wanted to know her, and he wanted her to know him.“Blunt - yes. It’s a waste of time to be long-winded.”“Talkative - most definitely not. I think I have talked to you more than I have talked to Miss Johnson Tessa in the last 3-4 years I have known her.”“And tell me, Miss Lexi, why do I think it’s a good thing you find me ann
When they were leaving, Rosaline hid an envelope on the counter instead of paying.William could tell she had passed on something bulk, judging by the bulge of the big envelope.“Care to explain?” He asked when they were out of it.“When Uncle’s son was 8, he passed away due to leukemia as they could not find a match. We did not even know he was sick. Both of them had such a happy attitude.”“Uncle Kevin’s wife passed away a few months after giving birth. After his son passed away, he was inconsolable. We did not know what to do, so we kept coming here every day and talked to him and joked about being hungry and starving to keep him busy.”“He slowly pulled himself back, but part of him will always grieve for his child. We try to support him the best we can, but so far, we have not managed to help a lot.”“We just contact the hospital for his health details and pass on medication when we can.” Rosaline smiled sadly.William saw a new Rosaline today. A quick and professional Rosaline w
Rosaline changed the topic and told Tessa about Kevin.“I went to Uncle Kevin’s today.”“Did you get him the medicine?”“Left it by the counter.”“I want to do something for him.”“Me too.”“I have no idea.”“Maybe we could help him renovate his shop. Rename it with his son’s name and make it popular.”“I think he will like that.”“If he has an apprentice, he will not be so grief-stricken.” “Will he take one?”“Maybe.”“Alright, let’s sleep on it.”The next day, around 9 am, Rosaline received a call from William. “Hey, did I wake you?”“Umm”“Do you want to go out?”“Alright. Let me freshen up and eat something first.”‘Tess is right! Rather than regret not trying, let me face whatever comes up if I try.’Rosaline thought as she agreed to go with William. After losing their pursuers, they went to the waterfall. They rested there for a while, enjoying the view and the food they had brought. “Tell me something about yourself,” William asked.“What about me?”“Anything?”“How am I s
Rosaline thought for a while and added.“I think that’s probably the difference between men and women. Or maybe it’s just me.” William asked, genuinely interested. “What do you mean?”Taking Tessa’s advice, Rosaline tried to open her heart and articulate her feelings.“An understanding and trusting family gives you the confidence to test your limits because you know they will have your back.”“I can take a leap of faith, knowing I have somewhere I can always go back to if everything goes to shit.”“But lack of it makes you vulnerable and weak. Too cautious to live to the fullest.”“If my parents don't have faith in me. Since they can readily believe every bad thing about me, perhaps, I am a bad person. Maybe I am unworthy.”“Otherwise, why would they be like that? After all, they love me.”Rosaline muttered the last statement in an emotionless voice as if she was talking theoretically rather than about herself.But the suppressed grievances in her voice broke William's heart. “I’m s
William jumped to Rosaline’s rescue.“Hello, Sir! We met on Apex hill over a decade ago.”William went right to the point.“It was by the hidden waterfall. You helped me pick some herbs for the snake bite. Do you perhaps remember me?”The man exclaimed.“Ahh! No wonder you looked familiar. Look how you have grown into a fine gentleman. And you have gotten yourself a pretty girlfriend, I see.”“Thank you, sir. I’m still wooing her, though. She has not agreed yet.”Rosaline was speechless.“Hahahaha. It’s good to be young.” “So, what brings you here, lad?”“Sir, I was wondering if you could help me again.”“Sure. Anything we can do, we’ll be sure to help.”“There’s a garden the old man of the house had maintained. I don’t recognize most trees there, and the soil seems to be going bad. Everything is getting dried up from one corner on.”“So, I was hoping you could help me look after it. If it’s not feasible for you, maybe you could help me find someone who can help?”“We don’t live in A
Meanwhile, Jack and Rosaline kept arguing about what to do with the wooden cupboards.Finally, they agreed to modify them into a separator between the bedroom and cloakroom without damaging the existing structure.It worked well as they wouldn’t need to raise a wall to separate the cloakroom. A little tradition, to be sure, but a good solution for the house.Then they proceeded to mark all the furniture one by one and made several copies of the designs they had drawn for each.Jack decided it was best to work on the mansion itself rather than carry things back and forth. Besides, most of it was hand-work, so he only needed to bring over a few tools.After deciding on the pay and Jack’s feasibility so he could work without interruption, they decided to start it the following week.Jack estimated it might take around 10-12 days to complete everything, so they parted ways after exchanging contact details and scheduling the next appointment. Rosaline and William got very busy working on
William lay on the bed with Rosaline in his arms and little Parth in his crib on the side. “Lexi?” William whispered. “Hmm?” Rosaline hummed in his neck. “Falling in love with you is the greatest achievement of my life. Thank you, darling. I never knew I could be so happy that my heart feels like it’ll overflow.” William said emotionally. “Don’t steal my line. That’s how I feel. With you by my side, I feel invincible.” Rosaline murmured. “I love you so much.” He said hoarsely. “I know. I would argue I love you more, but we both know that’s not true.” Rosaline giggled, peppering kisses on his neck. “Don’t do that!” William sighed. She teased, “Do what?” “Our son is here. We can’t do anything, so don’t provoke me. Besides, you have not healed yet.” William answered. “Teasing you is no fun. You have better control than me.” Rosaline complained. “You should be happy about that. I want you more than you want me.” William teased. “I have noticed our desire for sex and food follow
Everyone had gathered at the AR mansion early as Asteria was to bring Rosaline and William’s baby.Tessa jumped first and ran to the door.She could not snatch the baby from Asteria’s arm, and Asteria would not give him away.They argued as they reached Rosaline’s side.The silent baby finally made a cooing noise as he leaped at Rosaline.“You heartless brat, I have been looking after you for two days, and you did not even speak to me once,” Asteria exclaimed, making everyone laugh.She had become much more cheerful in Apex city. She was unrestrained and happy.Everyone was waiting to hold the baby.Leena whistled and said, “Don’t crowd around him. Give him some breathing space. Rosy will introduce everyone to him.”They all grumbled and sat down.Jack had to grab Tessa and Albert by the collar and make them sit.Meanwhile, the baby rested his head on Rosaline’s shoulders but kept facing outside.“Don’t be mad at Mamma. Mamma was busy. Look, Mamma brought Dada home.” Rosaline convince
Danial, Isabella, Rosaline, and William went to the Scott family mansion.They had identified and reported the spies to the authorities.Someone had screened the entire mansion for hidden bugs.They enjoyed a lively dinner. It was the most peaceful meal in over five months. They shared what was going on and celebrated the reunion.They had planned to fly to Apex city the next day.They had given a week off to everyone in both companies except the support staff. It was to gear everyone up for the drastic changes that were to happen in Scott Group and to set the pace they would pick up at AR Group. Finally, William and Rosaline were alone in their bedroom.He hugged her close as soon as they locked the door.“You worked so hard,” William sounded sad.“It was the only time I had gotten physically involved. I only worked from the sidelines and helped the rescued people. It was emotionally draining to see so much suffering.”“But I tried my best to channel it into helping others, spreadin
Rosaline tried to soothe her.“Forget those vile creatures. That phase in your life is over. It’ll never go away, but it’s only a past now.”“The baby is innocent. It’s 29 weeks old now. Already fully formed.”“That gives you three options - you can keep the baby.”“You can abort it.”“Or you can wait a few more weeks. After the 34th week, we can do a c-section. The baby will be kept in a NICU until it is ready to be taken away.”“It’ll have a very high chance of survival after 34 weeks. You need at least six weeks for your physical injuries to heal anyway. You will be in the hospital regardless.”“And even if you want to abort, you’ll have to wait two weeks before your other injuries are healed enough for the procedure to be safe for your body.”“You can sleep on it and make a choice.”The girl looked at her and asked, “If I give birth, what will happen to the child?”Rosaline answered, “Depends on what you want. You can leave it in CARE if you don’t want to raise it. I promise the c
Rosaline broke the silence before the reporters could ask anything.“This little girl needed 30 stitches to heal the wound caused by rape. I had qualms about signing the consent form to terminate the pregnancy, which she called a monster. It would have undoubtedly torn her already vulnerable body apart.”The host silenced the reporters and played another clip.It showed a hospital bed and a young woman with a big pregnant belly. Her face was blurred, but she looked young.A police officer took her statement while a nurse and Rosaline stayed in the room.“Miss , let me confirm the details as you have mentioned previously. You met Peter a year ago in a cafe. He asked you out, you refused, he started to harass you, and then you filed a complaint against him.”“We found the complaint in the FIR box in the police station of south branch-9, which is close to your house. You and your parents met with an accident five days after you had filed an FIR.”The girl trembled, and Rosaline hel
Rosaline asked.“Whose permission do we need to terminate any possible pregnancy? They are too young to consent to anything, and god knows when we will find their families.”She slumped down and leaned on the wall as she sighed.“On top of everything, I don’t want them to have to carry a pregnancy to term. Under a proper environment, there is a chance they might heal and have a life, a family, and a future ahead. Let’s protect that.”“Thank you, Chief!”“Can we also get permission for the girls to choose if they want to return to their homes or stay in CARE?”“I suspect one of the girls got sold by her family. The others were in unwanted, improvised conditions. Only the 13-year-old seems to come from a loving family. If they don’t have a healing environment at home, let them stay in CARE. When they are better, they can move out anytime they want.”“Thank you, Chief. I will get the documents from you and prepare them after I get checked at the hospital.”“Don’t worry! I won’t mess with
A reporter asked a question that was not related to the case.“Miss Dayne, there are rumors that all the rescued rape victims get forced to have an abortion before being admitted to CARE. Could you shed some light on the matter?”The host replied, “Please keep the questions limited to the case.”Rosaline smiled at the host and answered, “That is not true. But I think I should be able to answer more clearly if your question was specific.”The reporter was stunned but soon asked, “Is it true that you have signed the consent form for abortion for the rape victims who were underage?”“Yes, that is true.”The reporter sneered, “In that case, it is true.”Rosaline countered, “I think you should get your facts straight and understand the nuances while discussing a sensitive topic.”“I have signed a consent form to terminate the pregnancy caused by six months of continuous rape of an 8-year-old who was in no way capable of sustaining a pregnancy on her physically undeveloped body that needed
Chief Green continued after the reporters quieted down.“After an in-depth investigation, we uncovered some evidence which indicated Mr. Jackson Senior’s involvement in the accident of Mr. Andrew Scott’s pregnant wife.”“Mr. Jackson Junior’s involvement in missing funds and misappropriation of money and resources within Scott Group subsidiaries came to light. We also found evidence of him bribing many staff members of Scott Group.”“Ultimately, there was evidence of their involvement in child trafficking. It linked both cases together.”“Furthermore, Mr. Jackson Senior was the leading investigator of the case of Mrs. Andrew. He was also the senior leader overseeing the capture of the suspect - Peter.”“However, there was no motive linking them, and their accounts were clean. And the evidence was not enough.”“So, we had to dig deeper, and we uncovered Mr. Jackson’s sister, who had wanted to marry into the Scott family, had gone missing and was presumed dead two years before Mrs. Andre
“You bitch, you called the cops,” Michael said venomously, spittle spraying from his mouth.“Someone is indeed helping you from the inside. No wonder we failed three times.” Rosaline said calmly.“Hahaha, you are smart. No wonder you found all my hideouts. Too bad you can’t catch me, though.” He sneered.“For what you did to those little girls, I will make sure you get caught, even if it’s the last thing I do,” Rosaline vowed.“Those little cunts were so tight. I am getting hard just thinking of them. The youngest one, how old was that bitch again? Ah! 8, 7 when I bought her. She was one feisty bitch, so much like you. When I shoved myself inside her, she begged until she passed out. One day, I will make sure you do the same. I won’t kill you today. I am going to fuck you bloody first. And, you won’t be able to do anything because you can’t touch me.”Michael punched her on the stomach, spat on her face, and left.Rosaline took a minute before she managed to stand.She took off her ea