Chapter 4

Rowan said he would wait for Rosalie outside. She showered and changed, dragging her feet until it was 10:00 am.

She didn't hear any noise, nor did anyone knock on the door to urge her. She figured Rowan had left.

Rosalie headed to the door and held the doorknob, taking a deep breath before carefully opening it. When she poked her head out and saw no one around, she sighed in relief.

She was about to leave the room when she saw tendrils of smoke appear before her. She turned to meet Rowan's deep gaze.

He stubbed out his cigarette. "Let's go have breakfast."

He strode off without waiting for her.

Rosalie parted her lips but had no idea what to say. In the end, she forced herself to follow him.

The hotel's restaurant was on the first floor. A server brought them menus after they'd taken their seats, and Rosalie selected a couple of dishes at random before returning the menu.

She hadn't found her bag in the hotel room, so she couldn't even scroll on her phone to pass the time. All she could do was awkwardly play with her hair before staring absent-mindedly at the fountain outside.

The server left with the menus after Rowan placed his order. Then, the latter sat there and watched Rosalie quietly. After a while, he broke the silence. "I'll take responsibility for you."

Her eyes widened, and she turned to look at him, stammering, "W-What? You'll take responsibility…"

Rowan looked calm. "I took advantage of you, so I can take responsibility if you want me to."

She'd have to be an idiot to miss the reluctance in his tone. He said he'd taken advantage of her, yet she was the one who'd made the first move last night.

Whatever he was saying now was just lip service, and she'd be a fool to take him seriously, especially since he was Rowan Chapman.

Rosalie met his gaze, her fingers curling beneath the table as she said decisively, "I don't need it!"

He frowned.

"It was just a one-night stand. We're both adults; I'm not too bothered by this." She lowered her gaze. "I was drunk last night, and I know you had a few drinks. What happened was just a drunken mistake… If possible, let's just act like nothing happened."

Rowan's brows remained furrowed, but he said indifferently, "Whatever."

The speed at which he'd responded told Rosalie she was right about him not meaning what he'd said earlier.

…

After breakfast, Rowan offered to drive Rosalie home. She'd left her bag in his car, so she retrieved it and checked her phone. The battery was flat, so it was powered off.

It was hard to do anything or go anywhere without a phone these days, so she didn't turn Rowan's "kindness" down.

She didn't want to return to the Johnson residence, though. She asked Rowan to drop her off at Sasha's place. Sasha was away on a business trip, but she kept a spare key in a box underneath her shoe rack by the door.

This wasn't Rosalie's first time spending the night at Sasha's place, anyway. She found the key and entered the apartment, tracking down a charger so she could charge her phone.

Then, she turned it on to see she had several missed calls and unread messages. The messages were all from Simon, and two of the calls were from Sasha.

Rosalie returned Sasha's call first. The latter soon answered and asked, "Are you okay?"

Sasha was currently at Holista in Starr City, working as a fashion design consultant on a film set there. Rosalie wanted to pour her heart out, but knew this wasn't the right time. She would have to wait until Sasha returned after wrapping up work.

"Yeah, I am," Rosalie said.

"Where were you last night? Simon called me at 1:00 am, demanding that I open the door for him. I told him you weren't at my place, but he didn't believe me. I had to send him the surveillance footage of my front door before he backed off. Did you guys get into a fight?" Sasha asked.

"Yeah. I slept at a hotel last night."

"What happened?"

"We can talk about it when you're back."

"Alright, them. I'll be back next week; we can talk then."

After hanging up, Rosalie checked her messages.

"Where are you? Why aren't you answering your phone?"

"Do you know what time it is now?"

"Call me back! Don't be so willful!"

"I know you're at Sasha's place, Rosalie! Open the door!"

Rosalie's eyes prickled as she deleted the messages and blocked Simon everywhere. She was about to do the same to Ivory but faltered. Then, she called Ivory.

It rang for a long while before the latter answered. She sounded as warm and enthusiastic as she always was. "What's up, Rosie?"

She sounded like nothing had happened.

Rosalie tightened her grip on her phone and suppressed her anger as she asked, "Don't you think you owe me an explanation?"

Before Ivory could say anything, Rosalie snarled, "Let's talk!"

…

Ivory arrived fashionably late at the café Rosalie had picked out, her face hidden behind sunglasses. She placed a slice of cake before Rosalie and said with a smile, "This is your favorite cake, Rosie. I went to—"

"I can't stomach anything you've bought!" Rosalie pushed it back to her, her expression frosty.

Ivory sat down across from her and took off her sunglasses. She asked carefully, "Are you really mad at me, Rosie?"

"Shouldn't I be?" Rosalie clenched her fists beneath the table and tried to keep her anger at bay. "When did you and Simon get together? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't dare say anything," Ivory said in a small voice.

"You didn't dare say anything, yet you dared to get together with him behind my back. I thought of you as my best friend, Ivory. I shared everything with you, and you knew about what went on between us. Don't you think you've betrayed me by doing this?"

Rosalie thought about how she'd foolishly thought Simon was going to propose to her last night. She'd shared the news with Ivory as soon as the realization had dawned on her.

In hindsight, it explained why Ivory had taken so long to reply.

"Don't I have the right to be with the person I love just because we're best friends?" Ivory countered.

"Of course you do, but pick the right person! Simon is the man I like, and I didn't have my guard up against you because you're my friend. I even introduced you guys to each other, yet you stole him from me! Can you honestly tell me it doesn't weigh down on your conscience to have done this to me?"

Rosalie grew agitated as she spoke, and her voice became louder. This attracted the attention of the people at the table beside theirs, and they looked at them curiously.

Ivory hastily put her sunglasses on again. "We're in public, Rosalie. Don't cause a scene!"

"You already did the most shameless thing possible. How can you be scared of me causing a scene?" Rosalie spat.

"You—" Ivory couldn't keep her pleasant act going. Her expression turned ugly, and she said, "I know you liked Simon, but he made himself clear last night, didn't he? He only thinks of you as a sister and wouldn't have gotten together with you even if I weren't in the picture!"

"I can accept him being with anyone else, but you're my best friend—"

"Stop using that to guilt-trip me! If you really considered me your friend, you'd want the best for me. You'd give us your blessings!"

When Ivory saw people picking up their phones to record their argument, she hurriedly grabbed her bag and got up. "Since you've never actually considered me a friend, we can stop putting on acts around each other. Let's just pretend we don't know each other from now on."