Chapter 10

Rose stiffened. As it was, everything that happened over the last two days felt strange to her. It was as though someone knew what her plan was and had secretly messed things up for her. She was worried that if such a person did exist, that person might tell Summer what her plan had been.

Thus, her heart trembled when she heard Summer's question.

"No. It's just… a similar outfit," Rose replied stiffly.

"Thank goodness," Summer said as she reached out to take Rose's hand with an expressionless face that was rather unlike her.

Frightened, Rose instinctively shrank back slightly, but Summer pretended not to notice Rose's reaction as she tucked Rose's hair behind her ear and said, "Here I was thinking that I'd failed to take good care of you last night, so that's why…"

"Summer, how did you get home last night?" Rose asked.

"Weren't you the one who brought me home?" Summer replied, looking rather startled. "I'm not sure what happened either, but my memory of last night is rather fuzzy. One minute, I was still talking to you, and the next, I was already home.

"I thought you brought me home. Didn't you?"

That left Rose feeling rather stumped. She had indeed drugged Summer with something that would cause some memory loss.

She felt chills down her spine. She had to be right. Someone was secretly foiling her plan—and that person was most likely the one who brought Summer home! Just who was it?

Despite trying her best, Rose couldn't figure out who it could be. Thanks to her efforts, Summer didn't have any friends. Everyone was far too busy scorning her to lend her a hand.

Could it have been one of the Hartfords? It didn't seem likely. The Hartfords cared about their reputation, and Henry doted on Summer. Even if they wanted to mess with Rose, they wouldn't have done it on Summer's birthday.

After failing to come up with a possible suspect, Rose grabbed Summer's hand and asked, "Summer, can you really not remember who brought you home yesterday?"

Shaking her head cluelessly, Summer replied, "I don't remember anything."

Rose started losing control of her emotions. "Come on! Think carefully now! Try and recall what happened!"

"Rose? You're scaring me!" Summer cried out as she removed her arm from Rose's grip.

Rose snapped back to her senses at once. Knowing that she had lost her composure, she teared up and started putting on a pity act again.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what has gotten into me. I'm so scared, Summer. I have a feeling that today is just the beginning. Those people won't stop coming after me!"

Then, she looked at Summer in terror and exclaimed, "Summer, if strange people approach you and tell you some kind of ridiculous story, you mustn't listen to them! If they're trying to ruin my life, they'll surely try to drive a wedge between us! You have to believe me!"

In the previous lifetime, Rose made use of Kristen's connections to enter the entertainment industry. Thanks to her brilliant acting skills, she soon became one of the hottest celebrities, too. Perhaps acting was her true calling after all.

She was a born actress who could put on quite the performance.

If not for the agonizing experiences Summer had gone through in the previous lifetime, she never would have expected Rose to be hiding such a depraved soul beneath her harmless appearance.

"Don't worry! I know what kind of person you are, Rose. No one can drive a wedge between us," Summer firmly declared, much to Rose's relief.

So long as Summer was still on her side, her scheme could proceed as planned. As she eyed Summer, she inwardly mocked Summer for being so easily tricked.

Even if the truth had been laid out in front of Summer, Rose knew that she simply had to say a few words and shed a few tears to get Summer to take her side. In that case, what was there to fret about?

"You're the best, Summer!" Rose said before attempting to hug Summer.

In the past, Summer would've loved hearing that, but now, she only felt disgusted. She swiftly avoided the hug, leaving Rose's arms hanging in the air.

"Hang on…" she began, as if she hadn't noticed Rose's reaction. "Weren't we together the whole time last night, Rose? Why weren't you with me toward the end? Where did you go?"

Rose had assumed last night's incident had been put behind them. The fact that Summer was abruptly bringing it up now made her anxious once more.

"I got too drunk last night, so I don't really remember what happened, either," Rose replied before choking on her sobs. "I'm so sorry, Summer! Thank goodness you're alright. Otherwise, I would never be able to make it up to you!"

Summer's eyes flashed coldly.

"It's fortunate that some kind-hearted person brought me home safely. I should ask Grandpa to find out who it was and thank them," she said.

Immediately, Rose was gripped with fear. Her heart seemed to stop beating. "You can't!"

"Why not?" Summer asked.

Why not? Rose couldn't believe the idiotic Summer was asking her why not!

She knew there was a huge possibility that the person who brought Summer home last night was the person who was secretly messing with her.

But even if that weren't the case, she couldn't possibly let Henry find that person. That would only expose the fact that she had secretly taken Summer to a bar last night.

Plus, if Henry heard about Summer losing her memories and started getting suspicious, Rose knew she would be done for!

"You can't let Mr. Hartford Senior find out I took you to a bar last night!" Rose said tearfully. "Something this terrible has already happened to me. What will Mr. Hartford Senior think if he finds out I took you to a bar?

"He would think I'm an indecent young woman who's a bad influence on you. He loves you very much. I'm sure he'll kick me out of the house because of it!

"My life is bad enough as it is now, Summer. I can't lose my home, too. Please don't tell them!"

Summer sneered as she heard the oh-so-familiar speech. In the previous lifetime, Rose had done the same thing. She had gotten on her knees and begged Summer not to tell the Hartfords that she had brought Summer to the bar.

"Okay, I understand," Summer replied.

One would think that Summer should seize this chance to kick Rose out of the family, but she didn't think Rose would behave herself once she was no longer part of the family. Instead of letting Rose roam free, she chose to keep Rose nearby and continue to torment her slowly.

After all, compared to a quick, easy death, it was far more vicious to destroy a person by stealing everything from her and making her life a living hell.

This was what Rose taught her, so surely she had to make full use of the knowledge and pay Rose back in kind!