"At least she's sleeping now." Rose sighed, seeming to be muttering more to herself than to him, as she finished adjusting over her little sister, who was now lying in the backseat, one of Alec's little blankets that had been forgotten in that car.
“You…” Aaron started to speak, although he didn't quite know how to start that conversation, still looking at the glove compartment, where he had kept the prenuptial agreement that she had given him “Why did you come here? And why did you come alone, instead of bringing Jullian with you?”“Because I knew you'd be mad at him if you found out he brought me to my parents' house.” she sighed, remaining hunched over her sister for a moment longer, before sitting up straighter against the passenger seat “Oh, let me guess, you only came here today because you somehow found out I was going to be here and thought you might catch me while I conspired against you and your family with them, did you?” Rose raised an eyebrow, making him feel even"I can't believe you two are doing this again..."At the sound of Rose's complaint, Grace and Alec turned automatically, their expressions alarmed, as the small character inside the colorful video game that the huge television was showing veered off course and died. However, instead of pushing the controls away and trying to pretend they weren't doing anything, like the other times she'd caught them playing together over the past week, Grace and Alec just looked at each other and grinned sheepishly, before her sister started trying to justify it.“Alec has already finished his homework…” still sitting on the floor, where the two of them were, Grace turned completely towards her sister “He's doing very well in maths, I swear, almost as well as I am. Then the two of us started talking about how I've always wanted to play on such a console and was happy to finally be able to do so...""Oh sure, so you two thought it would be all right to spend a few more hours playing like you
"What do you mean?" Violet asked, for the first time looking truly alarmed.“Give me the evidence you have to say with such certainty that the scene I saw was completely manipulated.” he asked and, just by his tone of voice, Rose knew he was up to something and hoped that Violet would just keep quiet. However, to her surprise, she spoke again almost immediately, seeming eager to justify herself, which Rose knew would be a serious mistake when it came to Aaron's distrustful posture.“How can I know? Didn't you hear me, Aaron? Don't you remember all the things I told you, especially about my childhood with her? Rose is a very mischievous and careful person! She must have planned this for weeks and used techniques that someone like me could never even imagine! But if there's one thing I'm absolutely sure of, it's that it was all her plan to win her sympathy. And it breaks my heart to know that she seems to have succeeded...” Violet sniffed “Look how cold you are treating me... Pl
“So… You really never had an affair with her?” a little bewildered after all that discussion, that was the first question Rose could think to ask, even though she knew it didn't matter.After all, it wasn't like they were truly husband and wife."Of course not." Aaron grunted, as if that simple question was an assault on his honor “It had been more than two years since I was lucky enough not to see her, when she suddenly showed up here, the day after I agreed with the blackmail of your parents.”"So... Is that why even Alec thought I was some kind of witch when I got here?" Rose mused, annoyed “What kind of thing did she make up about me to make you all…? No, wait, don't tell me. I can figure it out myself.” she huffed, rolling her eyes, knowing full well what kind of cousin she had."I don't know how much of the conversation you managed to overhear, but I guarantee you I never had anything to do with that woman." Aaron sighed, though even Rose could tell he was wonderin
“I found you, Grace!” Alec shouted as he jumped over the biggest bush in that part of the garden, causing Grace to get up instantly, laughing.Sitting in one of the garden chairs, Rose smiled to see them enjoying themselves so much while she sipped tea. Fortunately, Grace's gifts for hide and seek were very close to Alec's, so he was certainly getting a lot more out of the experience of playing with her, especially since her sister seemed to be feeling the same way. It was hard to admit, but Alec wouldn't be the only one who would be heartbroken when Grace left to live in the dorm next week.More than anything, she wanted her sister to be able to fulfill her dream of going to college and becoming a game developer, but... Living under the same roof and doing everything together was as natural as breathing for the two of them, but Rose knew that Grace had also realized that they had never really experienced living in peace and being free to be happy until they moved into the Vam
"You can't throw us out of our own house!" Adele was the first to react, while Aaron and Andy still looked too horrified to do anything but stare at the paper in front of them. “This house is the Vamcap heritage, my dear mother-in-law, and in case you forgot, your son is one of them too, which gives him every right to enjoy what rightfully belongs to him, especially as an only child. ...”"This is impossible!" Aaron snarled, furious "What kind of judge would make a decision like that without consulting my lawyers first?"“The kind of judge who looked at the case with a fair eye and realized that it doesn't matter that you guys tried to play the prenup card where the bank is concerned, because we all know that being a Vamcap goes far beyond being the CEO of family businesses.” Hazel pointed, her nose in the air, as if she was full of pride that she could include herself in this “Actually, your dad and I even talked about how we should thank you, Aaron. After all, if it
“Rose, I'm going to get some more coffee. Do you want something?"Looking up from the various piles of old and even typewritten papers that were spread out in front of her, Rose looked at Andy's exhausted face, with an empty mug in his hand, looking like he was going to pass out from exhaustion at any moment.“Yes, I want you to go to sleep.” she asked, with a worried sigh, “Please Andy, you haven't slept a wink the last two days. Go to bed and get some sleep, I beg you.”"I won't be able to sleep until this situation is resolved." Andy took a deep breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose tightly.“Then ask Jullian for one of the tranquilizers the doctor prescribed for your grandmother. Just please try to take even a nap before it does you harm.”“Look who's talking. You and my brother haven't slept a second, either, since that motherfucker was here.” normally, Andy would have said that scene jokingly, but in that situation, she looked nothing but dejected."I a
“Aaron!” Rose knew very well that it wasn't exactly polite to run through the halls screaming like that, but at the moment, she just couldn't bring herself to care "Aaron!"“Rose?” it was Adele who poked her head out of his office, alarmed. “Good God, girl. What is wrong with you?"“I need to talk to Aaron!” she explained, breathlessly “Please, where is he? It's very important..."“Rose?” Aaron appeared at Grandma's side suddenly, clearly concerned “What happened? Is Alec okay…?”“It was nothing like that.” Rose tried to regain her composure as she held out the documents she had in her arms to him “You need to see this! It's very important!""That...?" he repeated, totally confused, as he started to scan the first few pages, which were the financial records “But… What could be in those documents? I already explained to you that day that...”"Listen!" she hastened to interrupt him, knowing they had little time now that Hazel's court order was only a few days away fr
The building where Michael worked had not changed at all. Once, when she was still very young, the school where Rose studied had an emergency due to a fire breaking out and her father had been forced, even very reluctantly, to bring her to his work until one of the employees came to fetch her there. That "bring your kids to work" moment lasted less than an hour in all, but she vividly remembered hearing him complain during every minute about how much she was bothering him and how many people he was going to fire because he was being "forced to putting up with the brat when he was paying people to do it for him.”"If you're feeling really uncomfortable having to see him again..." Aaron's voice pulled her out of her thoughts and, as she turned to him, Rose realized that maybe she hadn't been able to hide the feelings that being there aroused in her very well, judging by the way he seemed worried about her "No need to go in.”“Uh…” it was