William and Rosaline climbed down, and this time they took another route.
It brought them out from the other end of the park. This route took them from between the heavily fortified forest area to prevent animal attacks.
This route was between the two closed-off parts of the forest. There was a small natural alcove by one of the smaller streams where they rested.
He thoughtfully asked her to rest and drink some water as he plucked some black plums to eat.
“Thank you!”
Rosaline realized she had thanked him a lot in one day. He seemed very tolerant of everything she said or asked.
‘Is he always this good-tempered?’
“A penny for your thoughts?”
William interrupted her musings for the first time.
She smiled, “Just wondering what to eat for lunch. I’m starving.”
Neither of them knew at this time that he would pull her back from her daydreams countless times in the future, and she would always talk about food when asked.
It would later go on to be one of their private jokes.
They rested for a while, enjoying the plums.
William asked her what she would like to eat, and she indifferently replied, “Whatever!”
For reasons unbeknownst to her, Rosaline wanted to know what he would do with that.
He brought her to a small cafe named Apextro. He had been there years before with a few friends and had liked all the food they had tried. Hence he thought it should be a safe option.
Apextro’s design made the maximum utilization of the limited space without making it cheap.
Both sides of the cafe had glass walls that gave everyone the coveted window seat.
One side was the forest, while the other faced the road.
They had kitchens on both sides. There were four different doors to avoid disturbance as much as possible.
Being an architecture engineer himself, William liked it for the minimalistic design but felt something was wrong.
As soon as Rosaline entered, she began scanning the cafe, subconsciously nodding in appreciation.
But she frowned soon after.
She glanced at William, who was looking at her with interest.
Looking at the expression on each other’s faces, they were both stunned and then surprised.
They sat at a table overlooking the park and spoke at once.
“What is your major?” William asked.
“What did you study?” Rosaline queried.
They were both stunned for a moment before Rosaline giggled.
Different from her usual carefree laughter, it still had William spellbound.
“I got a Ph.D. in Architecture and Software design.”
William snapped out of his daze and asked. “What about you?”
“Masters in Interior Designs and basic Architecture.” Rosaline smiled.
“You are smart.”
“Was it supposed to be a compliment, or are you looking down on my Master’s degree from your double Ph.D.?” Rosaline joked.
William, not expecting a joke, was stunned. He quickly caught up and retorted right away.
“Maybe a little bit of both.”
“Oh really?”
“Of course, I got my double Ph.D. by 20.”
William smirked, making Rosaline pout in mock annoyance.
“I was quite proud of my double Master’s degree before you said that.”
“How mean?” She said, feigning hurt.
William clicked his tongue. “You sure are smart.” “Threw it in my face right away.”
She chuckled. “Hahaha” “You caught on quickly enough.”
William lay on the bed with Rosaline in his arms and little Parth in his crib on the side. “Lexi?” William whispered. “Hmm?” Rosaline hummed in his neck. “Falling in love with you is the greatest achievement of my life. Thank you, darling. I never knew I could be so happy that my heart feels like it’ll overflow.” William said emotionally. “Don’t steal my line. That’s how I feel. With you by my side, I feel invincible.” Rosaline murmured. “I love you so much.” He said hoarsely. “I know. I would argue I love you more, but we both know that’s not true.” Rosaline giggled, peppering kisses on his neck. “Don’t do that!” William sighed. She teased, “Do what?” “Our son is here. We can’t do anything, so don’t provoke me. Besides, you have not healed yet.” William answered. “Teasing you is no fun. You have better control than me.” Rosaline complained. “You should be happy about that. I want you more than you want me.” William teased. “I have noticed our desire for sex and food follow
Everyone had gathered at the AR mansion early as Asteria was to bring Rosaline and William’s baby.Tessa jumped first and ran to the door.She could not snatch the baby from Asteria’s arm, and Asteria would not give him away.They argued as they reached Rosaline’s side.The silent baby finally made a cooing noise as he leaped at Rosaline.“You heartless brat, I have been looking after you for two days, and you did not even speak to me once,” Asteria exclaimed, making everyone laugh.She had become much more cheerful in Apex city. She was unrestrained and happy.Everyone was waiting to hold the baby.Leena whistled and said, “Don’t crowd around him. Give him some breathing space. Rosy will introduce everyone to him.”They all grumbled and sat down.Jack had to grab Tessa and Albert by the collar and make them sit.Meanwhile, the baby rested his head on Rosaline’s shoulders but kept facing outside.“Don’t be mad at Mamma. Mamma was busy. Look, Mamma brought Dada home.” Rosaline convince
Danial, Isabella, Rosaline, and William went to the Scott family mansion.They had identified and reported the spies to the authorities.Someone had screened the entire mansion for hidden bugs.They enjoyed a lively dinner. It was the most peaceful meal in over five months. They shared what was going on and celebrated the reunion.They had planned to fly to Apex city the next day.They had given a week off to everyone in both companies except the support staff. It was to gear everyone up for the drastic changes that were to happen in Scott Group and to set the pace they would pick up at AR Group. Finally, William and Rosaline were alone in their bedroom.He hugged her close as soon as they locked the door.“You worked so hard,” William sounded sad.“It was the only time I had gotten physically involved. I only worked from the sidelines and helped the rescued people. It was emotionally draining to see so much suffering.”“But I tried my best to channel it into helping others, spreadin
Rosaline tried to soothe her.“Forget those vile creatures. That phase in your life is over. It’ll never go away, but it’s only a past now.”“The baby is innocent. It’s 29 weeks old now. Already fully formed.”“That gives you three options - you can keep the baby.”“You can abort it.”“Or you can wait a few more weeks. After the 34th week, we can do a c-section. The baby will be kept in a NICU until it is ready to be taken away.”“It’ll have a very high chance of survival after 34 weeks. You need at least six weeks for your physical injuries to heal anyway. You will be in the hospital regardless.”“And even if you want to abort, you’ll have to wait two weeks before your other injuries are healed enough for the procedure to be safe for your body.”“You can sleep on it and make a choice.”The girl looked at her and asked, “If I give birth, what will happen to the child?”Rosaline answered, “Depends on what you want. You can leave it in CARE if you don’t want to raise it. I promise the c
Rosaline broke the silence before the reporters could ask anything.“This little girl needed 30 stitches to heal the wound caused by rape. I had qualms about signing the consent form to terminate the pregnancy, which she called a monster. It would have undoubtedly torn her already vulnerable body apart.”The host silenced the reporters and played another clip.It showed a hospital bed and a young woman with a big pregnant belly. Her face was blurred, but she looked young.A police officer took her statement while a nurse and Rosaline stayed in the room.“Miss , let me confirm the details as you have mentioned previously. You met Peter a year ago in a cafe. He asked you out, you refused, he started to harass you, and then you filed a complaint against him.”“We found the complaint in the FIR box in the police station of south branch-9, which is close to your house. You and your parents met with an accident five days after you had filed an FIR.”The girl trembled, and Rosaline hel
Rosaline asked.“Whose permission do we need to terminate any possible pregnancy? They are too young to consent to anything, and god knows when we will find their families.”She slumped down and leaned on the wall as she sighed.“On top of everything, I don’t want them to have to carry a pregnancy to term. Under a proper environment, there is a chance they might heal and have a life, a family, and a future ahead. Let’s protect that.”“Thank you, Chief!”“Can we also get permission for the girls to choose if they want to return to their homes or stay in CARE?”“I suspect one of the girls got sold by her family. The others were in unwanted, improvised conditions. Only the 13-year-old seems to come from a loving family. If they don’t have a healing environment at home, let them stay in CARE. When they are better, they can move out anytime they want.”“Thank you, Chief. I will get the documents from you and prepare them after I get checked at the hospital.”“Don’t worry! I won’t mess with