Chapter 49Rose stared at the two donuts in the open cardboard box. One had a white topping with small black powder, while the other had a red raspberry topping. She let out a long sigh before finally taking the vanilla-flavored donut and began to nibble on the edges.While sitting at the bus stop and staring at the passing vehicles, the long-haired woman could only rumble with her own thoughts. "Why did I get fired?" Her mouth filled with doughnut pieces made her voice sound like a mumble now. "He just gave me the day off and then fired me. Do I look stupid now?"Rose took another bite of her donut, "You should be happy, Rose," and went back to talking to herself as if she were two people at once. "You didn't have to come to that horrible man's house and do - AH! Never mind! Why am I even thinking in that direction?!"Another bite. "But I'm really curious why Antonio fired me so suddenly. What did I do? I left his house because he asked me to." The woman shrugged her shoulders indiff
Chapter 50Rose swept her gaze across the house. Not much had changed about the place. Most of it was the same stuff that her father had bought last time. Elliot's position as Jasmine's new husband had not changed the house much. In fact, he was the one who used a lot of things in the house and made them damaged or even lost."I think I need to clean this house. At least when mom comes home, she will feel comfortable." Rose nodded firmly with her own idea.She then left her phone on the sofa and activated the vibrate mode to avoid any form of distraction. She would keep Antonio away for a while, at least until the house was clean -and of course until she felt better.Since meeting Antonio, her world had changed one hundred and eighty degrees. Suddenly she's passed out in her tight red dress, woken up in a strange place, become a hired woman and now dependent on Antonio. Then within hours, the kindness he gave her turned into sudden pain. Like a knife that came out of nowhere, stabbing
Nathan opened his eyes and realized he was in a familiar room. The room's lighting was only from a single lamp and was dim, outshone by the sunlight that was quietly sneaking in through the slit in the window that had its curtains slightly open.The man blinked before rousing himself from the not-so-soft bed. He groaned, as his temples suddenly ached, not to mention one eye that was sticky and difficult to open.The remnants of last night's beating brought Nathan back to reality.That his parents had just been killed by loan sharks while his older brother chose to run away and leave all the harsh realities of his family behind.Debt, all started with a small loan. As parents who love their children, school is one of their responsibilities. Nathan's parents deliberately borrowed some money so that their three growing children could go to school and get the best education possible. In fact, the father was fired from his old job shortly after going into debt. The debt, which didn't seem
Chapter 52Previous chapter."Hi, Rose?""Nathan?""Yes, it's me. Why?"Rose was a little hesitant, so chose to make small talk first. "Y-you're busy?""I'm always busy you know."This is not the time for jokes, you idiot. But Rose chose to ignore it and continued her curiosity. "Look, there's something I want to ask you.""If you're asking if I'm sleeping with you, the answer is yes."Rose almost cursed if she didn't remember the purpose of calling Nathan in the first place. She took a breath and tried to forget Nathan's rude behavior. "Did Antonio ask you how I was?""What did you say? Hahaha Rose, you guys already met this morning. Why would he ask how you are again?" Nathan's reply sounded very innocent and straightforward. Which Rose could immediately deduce that Antonio hadn't discussed his problems with Antonio at all, not even to Nathan. "Did you miss him so much that you bothered to call me, hm?"That damn Nathan. "In that case, thank you.""That's all?"But without respondin
Chapter 53Rose stood transfixed in front of the door of the house with its dark brown paint. The blue eyes that occasionally looked like the deep ocean of the long-haired woman blinked a few times without making a sound. Her tongue was frozen. All the cursing, swearing and swearing that she had been summarizing, ready to spill out in front of Antonio's face, suddenly disappeared."Why am I here?" Rose looked up, seeing the small bell that had been hanging there for who knows how long. "No, Rose! You mustn't waver. Remember what you came here for, make sure you beat Antonio with your own fingers. He's a-"The sudden opening of the door prevented Rose from finishing her sentence. She was stunned and reflexively took a few steps back. Even so, Rose still managed to keep her body from falling down the small staircase beneath her feet. She was just shocked. And her surprise turned into curiosity."Nathan?""Rose?" They called out at the same time.Nathan stood in the doorway, arms crossed
CHAPTER 54Previous Chapter.Nathan closed the door after the boss and his guest entered the house. Then, the cold face that looked like a wall of ice changed one hundred and eighty degrees. Nathan took a deep breath before finally approaching Rose who was still frozen in her position. Nathan was sure Rose was in shock because of the treatment from her boss. But what else could it be, the woman who came was Sydney. Nathan knew a little about Antonio's past with her. And of course, Nathan didn't even have the right to forbid or give advice to his boss."You'll feel better after using this," Nathan said, handing Rose a gray handkerchief from his pocket. "Give it back after you wash it."Rose bowed her head, looking at the object now held out to her. She could barely hold back the tears in her eyes."Take it, you'll need it later," Nathan said again.And she raised her head, her blue eyes finally meeting Nathan's brown ones. And a moment later, the tears that had accumulated at the end o
Chapter 55"Are you crazy?""We have no other choice, Lyla!"Lyla burst into tears again at hearing her brother speak in such a high tone. Her eyes were already swollen from earlier. Even the food that Nathan brought from the trash for her, only made her sadder. Her life had never gone this badly before. Her life was just as hard as Nathan's. Suddenly the girl had to drop out of school, bullied by schoolmates who occasionally saw her picking up trash, eating food from the trash and living alone with her brother.Lyla didn't even know where her other brother Orlando was.Since learning that his parents were murdered, Orlando has left and left his two younger siblings to survive alone. The siblings used various methods just to fill their empty stomachs. Stealing food from shops in the market, picking up leftovers from the trash or begging on different streets.Expecting compassion from others is what they both do these days.But in fact, life didn't want the two of them to suffer there.
The blonde-haired woman cast her eyes around. The smile on her lips was thinner, not as wide as before. But the confidence was still clearly printed in her expression. "I didn't expect you to have to live a simple life like this after not being with me."Antonio took a sip from the cigarette he had just taken, puffing the grayish smoke towards the woman before him."Why are you being so careless all of a sudden, Antonio?""Stop it, Sydney," Antonio snapped. "You have no right to comment on my life because you weren't there."The smile that had been broadly painted on his face turned into a thin, haughty grin. His face did not look as friendly as before. He had become himself now. "Ah, I forgot, you were careless a long time ago. You made me almost unable to achieve my goals in the past," he said without feeling the slightest guilt. One eyebrow raised upwards, looking defiant. "And... you haven't changed at all until today.""Sydney... what you're talking about is just the past," Anton