"You've been so long, Mrs. Witson."
For the blessed time Rose had to hear the same protest escape the lips of the man looming in the doorway. The only difference was that the last nickname was deliberately emphasized. Each of Theo's nicknames to Rose had been fully enunciated until the last one, Mrs. Witson, and Rose felt it was a final warning. She hurried over still struggling to hook the chain of the bracelet Xelle had given her after having to open it, in favor of arm-length mesh gloves that contrasted with her skin color. "Please help me put them on." Rose extended an arm right in front of Theo. "You saw me in distress, but didn't take the initiative to offer," Rose said, handing over the jeweled chain on the surface of the palm that greeted her silently. "You're the one who likes to trouble yourself." Regret was already provoking the man to speak. It would have been better if Theo had said nothing. Though that should have been"No, I'm not. This is already neat. There's your suit that I can use later. Let's go." Rose led Theo forcibly through every corner of the room to the grounds of the mansion. The Bugatti chiron that Theo used most often was parked awaiting the master's arrival. Rose opened the door and sat in the passenger seat. She still couldn't understand how Theo could want to cancel their departure so suddenly. "Are you sure you can drive or should I be safer?" Rose asked. She hesitated, occasionally glancing at the fingers gripping the steering wheel. "I can do whatever I want." Theo's haughty sentence ended with the car engine running. Theo's attention was fully focused staring straight ahead. Something different provoked a smile on Rose's slightly curved lips. "Did the car accident put you off?" She glanced at the speedometer below 30. Very slow, a far cry from the usual. "Not really. I did it on purpose. This way when we arrive, al
"Five million euros." What fell from her husband's hot lips was the final offer at the height of the charity event. Rose gasped in disbelief. Theo had the audacity to risk that amount of money on a glittering necklace that was linked to a mannequin neck. Rose knew Italy and Canada didn't have the same currency. However, the euro and the dollar were quite close. At least she could convert the price of the struggling necklace based on the dollar amount. "For a necklace, isn't it too expensive, Theo?" Rose half-whispered looking around her. Millionaires gathered in one event, all classy haggling over prices from the initial benchmark to the highest, and which no one dared to beat with other prices. Rose was still waiting for Theo's answer. Her husband was too busy studying the flat object in his hand. "Wait for me here. I'll take care of the payment first." When Theo loomed. The only thing Rose could do was stare at the big
Theo's statement signaled Rose's mind was far from unreasonable. Apparently the man was still in his right mind to whisper such sentences in another language—French that the baritone—voiced owner, Rose's husband, was fluent in as he approached the host—they talked for a long time. Unlike Rose's position, who successfully received envious stares from several women down there. The stage is where all visuals are clearly captured. Even the guests outside the building, the shadows of the passers-by were caught in the translucency of the glass. "Come, Sugar." A soft invitation tingled next to Rose's hearing. She followed where Theo would lead her. They walked up the stairs one step at a time with each other's footsteps and arms clasped to show Theo's possessive side. Not knowing if this was a coincidence or not. On the last step, Rose's never—ending scanning of the entire building came to a screeching halt with a fierce face glaring at her.
"Happy birthday, Mommy!" Oracle's tiny fingers twirled the confetti, sending small pieces of paper flying into each other and slowly falling to meet the top of the head of the woman who had just taken a step onto the ivory-white marble. She was startled by a deafening sound not far from her position. Halfway down Rose raised her hands, letting a few papers fall into her grasp. Once there was no more waving left. The corner of Rose's lips carved a thin curve. She looked up to meet the pregnant woman's sweet smile. Bridgette with a large cake and lit candles approached Rose who was still transfixed, never expecting this to be a surprise. "Make a wish and blow out the candles, Rose." What could Rose wish for in her life right now? Each page of the coming day was a mystery. She could not guess how far fate would take her across all sorts of events, and when Rose's handful of wishes would grow into fruit ripe for the picking.
"She is Axe's niece?" Rose gave a small whisper. She frowned as Bridgette swallowed roughly the remaining cookie in her mouth. "No." The woman replied half reluctantly."Axe's daughter. Campel is with another woman. The point is that I'm married to a bastard, Rose. You know him, of course, so I won't tell you much." A forced smile-Rose calmly took in every word that passed Bridgette's lips. All the things... she either believed or didn't. For once she didn't interrupt. Waiting for her to finish. "Bridgette, can you watch Campel for a moment? There's something I need to take care of." The new one spoken of towered over. Snooping sharply at Acampeliaz's whereabouts beside Theo. "He's with your friend. You take it easy." "Keep an eye on him." Xelle's heterochromia eyes turned away and brought the cell phone closer to answer a call from someone. Busyness drove Xelle's steps to swing quickly as if pressed for time. Le
Rose went through all the activities this night with a feeling of half—sadness. Each need that she had to complete... came tumbling out, including the time when Rose had to unravel the traces of numbers and letters recorded in her memory and transfer those shadows to a digital record on her phone. She had already set aside the most important part about George to do later. The distance was getting closer, it wasn't difficult for Rose to reach the reality left in front of her eyes. Where George was going, at least Rose already held the key that would open the padlocked door for her. Rose's faint smile was followed by fingers playing with Oracle's tanned hair—each of the little boy's strands belonged exactly to Xelle along with the soft texture that never changed. Indeed, just moments ago Oracle had fallen asleep peacefully. In stark contrast to Rose's anxiety over her husband, who was like a waterfall falling and washing away the entirety of her disoriented state.
Rose did everything she could. However, only one such statement was able to pull Theo away. "I'm not angry. I just don't like it when he thinks things that aren't." The rough stomp of a glass foot drew one of Rose's eyebrows up high. "How can you say that?" "His eyes never blind me. He looks at me as if I'm going to abuse that little girl. But, I'm not" "Axe couldn't possibly—" Rose's sentence was cut off by Theo's sliding action against her arm. The bottle Rose had set aside far away was grabbed again. This time Theo downed the wine directly with it. "Want some?" Rose shook her head. Rejecting Theo's offer outright. Just a glass of cold water that was almost empty after Rose took a sip at a time—almost without pause."I want you to sleep, Theo," Rose said. She didn't know what else to say as Theo continued to gulp the wine into him without stopping. "Enough, Theo—" Rose was frozen by
"Uncle T, you hurt me. Let me go!" "Uncle T!" Rose tried to understand the situation in the dim room. Faint squeals of pain clashed in the air. Rose frowned, as the almost uninterrupted movement in its entirety pulled her closed brown eyes wide open. In front of Rose several black events were fully recorded, broadcasting the silhouette of a rough resistance along with a small body that was trying hard to pull himself out of the grip of the subconscious. Rose's heart hammered violently. All the chaos overlapped to form ornaments in her head. She took definite steps, quickly bringing half the darkness to light. And then some things that Rose couldn't digest properly, appeared in a heap, jolting her feelings. On that torture—like bed .... Oracle was completely unable to resist the strong grip that could be seen from the muscles digging into the surface of the large, clayey, man—sized arms of the person there. The
From Aiden, the man's phrases today were the worst draining for Rose. She sighed unfocused, as soon as possible—like yesterday she wanted to close her small restaurant a little earlier than the operating hours. Indeed, some of the equipment had already been cleaned by Rose. Next, the corner of Rose's lips curled into a big smile after the last customer waltzed away and left some coin tips. Rose quickly approached the doorway to reposition the 'open' sign in the opposite direction. Quite relieved, she turned towards the table with the remaining dirty dishes. First stashing the tips received into her pants pocket, then carefully arranging the plates on the tray. What a pity what Rose didn't understand... she never expected the door of her restaurant to be suddenly kicked in, until from outside a man threw another man's slumped body right under Rose's feet. Her breath caught as Lion winced in pain, while the still towering perpetrator looked like a lake of thirst.
"You're back again, sir?" Lion was overcome with astonishment at the sudden arrival. The man facing him simply handed over the bag that had once been forcibly taken. "Yes. I don't need this laptop anymore. My work is done. " "What work are you referring to that is related to Mr. T's laptop, sir?" Lion was completely clueless. Everything that had happened lately was enough to keep him silent. Apart from Lion having to take care of George during his detention and outside of Verasco's knowledge. Lion wanted to know what activities provoked curiosity, but it seemed that the owner of heterochromia eyes was reluctant to reveal what was being done secretly. Actually, the decision to investigate something that wasn't 'mandatory,' Xelle should not have made. He interpreted everything Rose told him as an imbalance. About the murder Theo had committed against Rose's parents. According to Theo's records that Xelle had traced, the bullet should have hit the victim'
Two months after the heart—pounding incident all of Rose's lives were exactly the same. She lived day by day as if in an open cage. Rose was both free and trapped. There were electromagnetic waves in the house she had just moved into during that time. Waves that did not record visually. However, sensory movements would send signals to the last man with Rose that day to know every detail of the strange activities Rose was doing. Like if Rose wanted to do something reckless—self-harm or something else. Two months earlier. When they were no longer in the middle of the forest. Rose's silence and fear eventually acted as anger that evaporated completely. There had indeed been a major argument. All Rose's intentions took place almost slicing a kitchen knife into her own wrist. The woman received a series of scathing sentences to really get slapped. Realization. And Xelle then chose to be hands-off in the sense that the man assured full surveillance via the electromagnetic waves in
"Axe, stop your car." The car that had been provided since they arrived in Canada. What Rose had never imagined was that the car she was riding in would drive off into the forest. While the man in the driver's seat really had his heart set on getting there. A cold, sharp, unaccepting gaze met the heterochromia's bead. "Stop your car, Axe!" Rose turned to confirm exactly where they were going to dock. It was too far, and she was again jolted by the sudden stop of the car. "Why here?" asked Rose softly. Her attention was fully focused on a single denizen of the jungle. Firm, large, clawed features mirrored the creature that walked beneath the elder tree. Rose's mind shuddered at the thought of the beast becoming aware of their presence. "Get out!" Instantly Rose glared at Xelle in disbelief. "What do you mean?" "That wild tiger will make you die quickly. Now you can catch up with your dear husband." "Get out!" Rose wanted to inter
One counts first. The next two. Rose held her breath after obtaining the firearm. She froze in place as the instincts of a dominant man turned sharply to digest what had happened in the blink of an eye. Rose realized that piercing expression was not good for her. "Don't come any closer!" threatened Rose, bringing the muzzle of the gun to her temple. "Fuck! What are you doing!" Rose took a step back whenever Xelle tried to get closer. Rose's common sense really wasn't there. Not with her. "Stop your ridiculous behavior, Rose." Rose shook her head violently. She would rather end her life than wander aimlessly, shrouded in emptiness, shadowed by the guilt of having contributed to the loss of her husband's life. Rose couldn't hold on to anything. All was lost in the shuffle. "I'm warning you once again, Rose. Stop your ridiculous behavior!" No! Rose argued with a wet face. Trembling her arm steadily began to squeeze the trigger. A
Rose's fingers fiddled with her black wedding ring with a half-empty stare, she had just put it back on her ring finger. Rose didn't care, really didn't care about the fact that the ring wouldn't come off. In the new room and the smell of the room that was still so new she sank. Not to wait for the man who had said goodbye a moment ago, or because Rose wanted to. The first time she entered her new home. Rose was pestered with various troublesome things, which is why, she unpacked several red velvet boxes containing individual pieces of jewelry. Two necklaces. The first one she received that day. Before the big explosion—when she thought she had lost Theo. Then he'd come back with something surprising. Like a pendant of undulating curves, a form of life that truly gave Theo a chance at life. That's what Rose had hoped would happen to her. But instead, for how long Theo has not returned. Buried and identified by a gravestone. Rose exhaled rough air from her lips. The sec
"Where is Mommy going? Why won't we see each other again?" Knowing that such a question was not what Rose was expecting. "Home." She spoke almost choked up. One of the Oracle's eyebrows rose high at that. "But daddy says we can still see each other often." "Yeah, he's right," Rose corrected. Stupidly she had let it slip a little at first. "But then Oracle must always obey Daddy and Mommy Bridgette. We'll meet at another time. I don't know when." Rose finished the rest of the slump by towering over Xelle who was staring at her in understanding. A moment .... Not brave enough Rose glanced at the little girl beside the man who also offered Rose the distance to step out. She paused that decision, then affected to touch the top of Acampeliaz's head. "Can I have a little of your smile?" asked Rose. The twinkle in Acampeliaz's beady eyes rumbled with doubt. Rose noticed that Acampeliaz's little fingers were tightening. "Just a little. I'm not a
When she woke up, Rose was not confronted with a dark background with car headlights on. She was lying in a very cold place. The white and sterile decorations on the walls were a welcome change of pace. Rose gasped. Forcing herself awake, she found a pair of heterochromia beads staring at her. Much to her surprise, Xelle was there standing against the wall, releasing the folds of his arms from the clasp of his chest as one step made the decision to approach. "All your clothes have been prepared by Bridgette. It's been transferred to the jet. We're going to Canada today." Today .... This meant Rose had missed a night of leaving Theo at the funeral. She should still be there. Keeping Theo company, making a deal with him—either Theo comes back, or she goes along. But it hadn't all worked out. Rose hasn't gotten her answer yet. And her choice still hangs between a great dilemma. If she has to reach out to death, she should choose the right place. Toronto, Cana
"You want me to die or you to wake up, Theo?" The last option began to jolt Rose. Death was a shadow that offered her happiness. Whether that was true or not. If the second part won out over her stupidity. At least Rose wouldn't regret trying to find a way out of life's predicament. "Answer me, Theo. I'm not playing around, and I'm not threatening. Everything I had is gone, there's no reason for me to survive anymore." "Wake up. Get up!" Rose pounded on the slightly damp ground. She put all her energy into waiting for Theo to respond. However, she was only doing a useless job of buying up unhealthy ideas to replace the truth in her mind. At least right now Rose needed the reassurance that Theo would return, then she would undo the self-harm."Wake up, Theo." "Get up or I'll destroy your tomb!" Rose half turned on her knees slamming her arms together repeatedly. Rose was getting out of control as she tried to remove a pile of hardened soil