Chapter 4

[Finally! The female lead isn’t putting up with her anymore.]

The room descended into chaos as the relatives rushed toward Susan.

She pointed a trembling finger at me. “It’s her! She’s the one who killed my son! Ryan, call the police and have her arrested!”

[The male lead’s mom is completely unhinged. No wonder she raised such a jerk of a son.]

[The female lead’s finally standing up for herself. This is so satisfying!]

[I just hope she’s truly done this time. I’m scared she’ll cave the second the male lead comes back…]

Tears welled in my eyes. “Since you hate me so much, Mrs. Parker, I’ll move out of this house.”

“Rose, don’t say that. You’re upset right now.”

“It’s fine. Stop trying to talk me out of it. The longer I stay, the more it hurts her. I’ve already decided to leave.”

Ryan and Sean exchanged a look.

This clearly wasn’t part of their plan.

Ryan stepped aside and sent a message to Hubert.

Hubert replied, “You know how my mom is. She raised me on her own. It hasn’t been easy. Tell Rose to be more understanding.”

“But… your mom keeps cursing at her. She’s dead set on moving out.”

“Then let her. Once I’m back, I can talk her into coming home.”

“Got it. I’ll leave it for now.”

Of course, I couldn’t hear their conversation.

But thanks to the messages, I knew exactly what was said.

After packing up the things that belonged to me, my friend, Holly Park, helped me call a moving company.

“Rose, are you sure you’re okay?” she asked carefully.

She’d seen with her own eyes how shattered I’d been just a few days ago.

“I’m fine,” I said, shaking my head. “Right now, I just want to find a place to move into as soon as possible.”

Then something seemed to occur to her.

“My brother has a villa. He hasn’t stayed there since he went abroad. You can move in for now until you find somewhere better.”

The messages suddenly flooded in.

[Our dark, obsessive second male lead is finally about to show up! The original story barely gave him any scenes, but honestly, I kind of love his character.]

[He texted the female lead, and she still hasn’t replied. His villain arc just leveled up to max.]

Second male lead? Liam Park?

I didn’t even have his number, only his old contact from middle school.

And that account had been hacked for years, sending me random links every month or two.

Afraid they were viruses, I’d never opened any of them.

I even muted the notifications.

So, I’d missed the message he sent me a week ago.

He wrote: “Do you need help?”

That same night, news broke all over Ashford that the rescue team was searching the river for Hubert.

A video of me crying during an interview went viral online.

Many people felt sorry for Hubert’s tragic death and sympathized with me.

Liam’s message had been sent that very day.

I hadn’t seen his message back then, so of course, I never replied.

After thinking for a moment, I decided to send a polite response anyway: “No, thank you.”

He replied almost instantly: “Alright.”

That short exchange brought back the memory of the day Hubert confessed to me.

He’d asked me to meet him by the grove next to the school building.

The wind that day was strong, whipping my hair across my face.

As I brushed it aside, I looked up and saw Liam standing on the top-floor balcony.

He leaned casually against the railing, his dark eyes calm as they followed me.

I looked at him for a moment.

Then lowered my gaze, smiling as I said to Hubert, “Okay.”

When Hubert leaned in and kissed my cheek, I looked up again.

The boy at the end of the corridor was already gone.

Only the branches above us kept swaying wildly in the wind.