Chapter 9

Rose felt as if she had somehow taken Summer's place. Everything Summer should've been suffering through right now was happening to her instead. She wanted nothing more than to rip Summer to pieces right now, but she couldn't.

Her plan had failed, so she still needed to rely on the Hartfords to survive.

"Summer did nothing wrong. I understand how you feel, Rose, but when something like this occurs, it's best to uncover the truth and clear your name as soon as possible. Otherwise, who knows how many ridiculous rumors would've been spread by the time you got someone to verify the video?

"Once that happens, who would be willing to believe you even if you have ironclad evidence to prove yourself?" Henry said solemnly.

Rose turned ghostly pale, but she continued to plead, "I really don't want to let a stranger see that video, Mr. Hartford Senior! Please, I'm begging you! Please make the call and get the video back!"

Summer eyed Rose calmly.

On this night in the previous lifetime, Rose had vehemently expressed her belief that the photos were faked, so she swiftly got someone to verify them. Thus, once the results came out, no one believed Summer's words anymore.

"Grandpa, since Rose doesn't want to do it, let's do as she wants and get the video back," Summer suggested helplessly.

Rose's eyes lit up at once, but just as Henry was about to speak, Summer got a call. She checked her phone to find a call from a socialite that she wasn't quite familiar with, but she answered it anyway.

"Quick! Go online, Summer! That video of Rose has gone viral! It's even one of the hottest searches online right now!" the young woman exclaimed in excitement with no sympathy for Rose at all.

"It's been posted online?" Summer cried out in shock. "How could this be?"

Immediately, Rose froze. "What's been posted online? What is it?" she shrieked before leaping to her feet and trying to snatch Summer's phone.

Summer swiftly ended the call before consoling Rose, "It's alright, Rose. After all, it's a fake video anyway. We'll get the verification results soon enough.

"Once the report is out, we'll get Hartford Group's legal department to release a statement and evidence to prove that it was a deep fake of your face done through AI. Since it's fake, you'll be fine!"

Rose felt like she had been struck by lightning. How did the video end up on the Internet? Who did it? Who was out to get her?

"Summer is right, Rose. I have some connections in the media industry, too. I'll make sure they help clear your name!" Kristen assured.

"That won't be necessary…" Rose said, abruptly going quiet.

Considering the circumstances, sooner or later, her lies would be revealed. Instead of getting humiliated then, it was better if she just admitted the truth now so that the Hartfords could find a way to cover up the situation on her behalf.

"What's not necessary, Rose?" Summer asked.

"You won't need to verify the video," Rose said despondently.

"Why not? How else are we going to prove it wasn't you and clear your name?" Summer insisted, feigning ignorance.

She certainly knew that these comments were akin to pouring salt onto Rose's wounds, but what was this compared to the six hellish years of her life in the previous lifetime?

"The video's real!" Rose exclaimed before curling up into a ball, her body shaking.

"What?"

Henry, Kristen, and Luke were all thunderstruck. Their eyes widened in shock.

"Don't be silly, Rose! You're still so young. How can that video be real?" Kristen said grimly.

"That's right, Rose. You even blush when you talk to guys. Why would you…" Summer trailed off, her expression disbelieving, too.

"I was raped!" Rose screamed before burying her head and sobbing desperately. "I know it's humiliating, so I dared not tell you. I thought I could just leave it in the past. I didn't expect someone to take a video of it!"

Snapping back to her senses, Kristen hastily asked, "When did this happen? Why didn't you tell me?"

Summer lowered her head to hide the scorn in her eyes. She was certain Rose wouldn't dare to tell Kristen the truth. If she did, it was quite likely that it would also be revealed she had taken Summer to the bar yesterday.

If that ended up arousing the Hartfords' suspicion, Rose would've dug an even bigger hole for them. Therefore, for the sake of achieving a longer-term goal, Rose would have no choice but to come up with a lie and suffer this loss in silence.

"It's been a while. I think they drugged me. My memory of the incident is extremely foggy. I don't remember anything."

Sure enough, it was as Summer had predicted. Rose tried to brush over the matter with a vague story.

"Mr. Hartford Senior, Uncle Luke, Aunt Kristen, I lost my parents when I was young. I only managed to grow up well because you took me in, but now, I have humiliated the family. Now that things have turned out this way, I'm too ashamed to carry on living this life…"

While speaking, Rose abruptly jumped to her feet and ran toward the window.

"Rose!" Kristen cried out in alarm as she scrambled to pull Rose back.

"Just let me die! I can't bear to show my face in public anymore!"

After a flurry of commotion, Rose was finally lying on the bed again. Thanks to her act, no one bothered to ask why she had lied earlier. In fact, in order to calm Rose down, Kristen even promised to smooth things over for her.

When Henry, Luke, and Kristen left the room to discuss their next course of action, Summer sat down beside Rose.

Rose was still crying so pitifully that anyone who saw her would feel nothing but empathy for her.

After a brief silence, Summer looked at her with her clear, piercing eyes and asked, "Rose, was that outfit you were wearing in the video the one you wore yesterday?"