Chapter 6

Rosalie returned to Sasha's apartment. She left her luggage in the living room before flopping onto the couch in exhaustion. She stared into the distance, her gaze empty and unfocused.

She didn't know how long she sat there, only snapping to her senses when her phone rang. She frowned when she saw the caller ID. After some thought, she answered the call. "Is anything wrong, Josie?

"Ms. York… Mr. Simon told me to check your room, and it seems… It seems that some clothes and accessories are missing. Two Birkin crocodile leather handbags are also missing, and he wants you to return everything. If you don't, he'll take legal action against you."

Josie's voice grew softer toward the end of her sentence, evidently feeling that she wasn't in the place to be saying those things.

Rosalie was stunned. Simon had truly stooped lower than she thought was possible. Her anger surged, and she snapped, "I didn't take any of those things! He's already checked my luggage, hasn't he? Or does he think I hid them somewhere?"

"Calm down, Ms. York. Mr. Simon has taken things too far, but I can tell he just wants you to say a few nice things to him and move back here. Staying outside definitely won't be as comfortable as staying at home, so why put yourself through this?

"If you're mad at Mr. Simon, you can talk to Mrs. Johnson about this when she gets back. She'll stand up for you!"

"That's not my home, Josie!" Rosalie knew these words would get back to Melinda and hurt her. However, Simon was Melinda's son, and there was no way Rosalie could act like nothing had happened while continuing to live under the same roof as Simon peacefully.

Moreover, she was genuinely disgusted by Simon's behavior and actions.

"When is she returning the things, Josie?" Simon snapped on the other end of the line.

Rosalie was infuriated. "I didn't take them; tell him to go to the cops if he wants! Police investigations are based on evidence, and I have nothing to fear. I couldn't care less about the dirty things he's bought!"

She hung up after that and threw her phone onto the couch, burying her face in her hands as she trembled with rage.

Soon, she remembered something and grabbed her phone, opening WhatsApp. She initially wanted to talk about this in private, but remembered Simon saying wanting to call the cops. So, she went to a group chat and tagged Ivory.

"Please return the clothes, accessories, and two Birkin crocodile leather handbags that you took from me!"

After graduation, Ivory had caught the eye of a talent scout and joined the entertainment industry. To help her build the image of a wealthy, cultured socialite, Rosalie had lent her money and sponsored her.

She'd also lent Ivory her designs and the dresses Sasha displayed at her boutique that weren't for sale. She'd also loaned Ivory the expensive luxury items Melinda and Simon had given her.

Ivory had never returned a single one.

Next, Rosalie tagged Simon. "The things you and Melinda gave me are all in my room. If there's anything you can't find, get it from your girlfriend—she's the one who took it. Check with her yourself. If the items don't match up, go straight to the cops. I'm not scared of you!"

She received a call from Josie as soon as she sent that message. She knew who the call was actually from and rejected it.

"Rosie, I've already ended things with Simon," Ivory said in the group chat. "I'm sorry for hurting you; can you please forgive me? I swear I won't have anything to do with Simon anymore as long as you're against it!

"You're my best friend, and I don't want a man to affect our friendship. You've always been the most important to me. You mean more to me than anyone else!"

Rosalie felt horrible when she saw that last sentence.

Just then, Simon sent a voice message to the group chat, sounding furious. "Who the fuck do you think you are, Rosalie? Do you think you're a big deal just because I think of you as my sister?

"My family has done plenty for you! I can overlook you being ungrateful to us, but here you are, pissing my girlfriend off and forcing her to break up with me! You're a fucking ingrate!"

He continued, "What, I don't have the right to turn you down just because you like me? I can't believe I was fucking unlucky enough to have brought a piece of gum like you home with me! If I'd known you had such dirty feelings for me, I would never have taken pity on you!

"I would've stayed as far away from you as possible! I won't let you off the hook if you dare go after Ivory again!"

Rosalie's head throbbed with rage at Simon's cruel, harsh words. She wanted to refute him, but it was a fact that the Johnson family had done plenty for her over the years. They'd practically raised her.

"Alright, that's enough. We're all friends here. Simon, you should be more tolerant of Rosie. She's younger than you!"

"Rosie, you can't force matters of the heart. There's plenty of fish in the sea, so don't be so hung up on Simon. If you're not interested in Joseph, we can introduce you to other people. How about that? We'll arrange for a few people to meet up tomorrow, and I can bring a few more guys along."

"Yeah, Rosie. There are plenty of men in this world, so don't let this affect your friendship with Ivory. You're only upsetting everyone like this, don't you think?"

The young women who usually got along relatively well with Rosalie spoke up, sounding like they were on her side and trying to help her move past this. However, there was an undercurrent to their words.

They made Rosalie uncomfortable, but she knew they'd only sucked up to her and tolerated her because of the Johnson family and Simon.

Now that Simon no longer wanted to have anything to do with her, it was natural that they didn't want to side with her.

"Rosalie, everyone means well. Can you at least say something? Don't let our good intentions go to waste. If you want…"

This annoyed Rosalie. She texted, "I have a boyfriend!"

She didn't know why she'd sent that, but it was too late to take it back. The people in the group chat had already seen it.

"You have a boyfriend? Are you serious? Why haven't you ever mentioned anything about it?"

"Simon just made things official with Ivory yesterday, and here you are, announcing that you have a boyfriend the very next day. You can just be frank if you don't want us to introduce anyone to you, Rosalie. It's not like we're interested in sticking our noses into your business."

"Honestly, Simon's already nice enough to you, and Ivory has been accommodating enough. Don't ruin the last bit of goodwill they have toward you!"

Rosalie suddenly realized why Ivory had sent those messages when she saw these people attacking her. Ivory didn't regret anything!

She tightened her grip on her phone as her fury surged. Still, she forced herself to calm down. She didn't want these people to continue criticizing and judging her, so she typed, "I have absolutely no interest in Simon now—he's unworthy of my feelings!

"I didn't end my friendship with Ivory because of him, either. I did it because she should never have kept this from me and played me like a fool. That's one thing I'll never be able to forgive!

"I'm serious about having a boyfriend, and we get along well. I have no intention of swapping him out for someone else at the moment, so you can keep your good intentions to yourself!"

With that, she quit the group.