Chapter 5

Rosalie forced herself to look away from Lola's bracelet.

"Where's Brad?" Lola looked around for Bradley. "Yesterday, he promised he would take me to the amusement park today!"

Bradley had always preferred the quiet. He was a bit of a clean freak and hated going to crowded places. He refused to even accompany Rosalie on a shopping trip, yet he was willing to go to an amusement park with Lola, despite the crowd.

Rosalie lowered her gaze, concealing her sorrow. "He went out to deal with something."

"What?" Lola looked disappointed. "How could he? We agreed to go to the amusement park today. I've never been to one, and I've been looking forward to this since last night!"

Rosalie figured she'd be better off taking Lola out than rotting at home, so she said, "I can take you if you're willing to go."

"Really?" Lola's eyes lit up. She pounced on Rosalie and hugged her. "You're the best, Rosie!"

And so, Rosalie drove Lola to the amusement park. It was the latter's first time there, so she was as happy as a lark. She wanted to go on every single ride—roller coasters, spinning teacups, the log flume, the drop tower… She enjoyed each one.

Rosalie was actually a little scared of heights, but she was also afraid of being separated from Lola. So, she forced herself to accompany Lola on all the rides she wanted to go on.

The final ride was the drop tower. Rosalie was ashen when she got off, and her legs were like jelly. Her head spun, too. Yet it was right at that moment that the amusement park's grand parade began.

"Look at that mouse!" Lola exclaimed. She ran after the parade floats.

Rosalie didn't manage to catch her. Just like that, they were separated. She panicked and shoved her way into the throng, forgetting about her dizziness. "Lola! Don't just run off like that!"

Unfortunately, there were too many people watching the parade. The parade's cheery music soon drowned out her cries, and Lola was nowhere to be seen.

The parade floats soon passed, and the crowd dispersed. Rosalie still couldn't find Lola, though. She stood there, ashen-faced. They were in the middle of summer, and the sweltering sun hung high in the air. However, she felt cold all over and began to tremble.

She'd lost Lola! Bradley had explicitly told her not to let Lola run off by herself, yet she'd lost the latter in a matter of hours!

She had to calm down. She pinched herself hard, using the pain to force herself to focus. Lola couldn't have gone far—she had to still be in the amusement park. She just needed to search the place, and she would find Lola…

However, Rosalie bumped into Bradley before finding Lola. The sky had already turned dark, and the amusement park's staff members were helping her in her search. Lola's name was even being blared over the PA system, but she seemed to have disappeared into thin air. No one managed to track her down.

Bradley's gaze was cold enough to freeze the midsummer sun. "Do you hate Lola that much, Rosalie? I can't believe you pulled something like this just to get rid of her."

Rosalie was stunned. She looked at him as tears welled in her eyes. "Is that what you think of me?"

He actually thought she'd lost Lola on purpose to make her suffer, give up, and go back to Zolt.

Bradley didn't spare her another glance. He turned and left with a staff member to continue looking for Lola.

A drop of moisture landed on the back of Rosalie's hand. She looked up at the dark sky and realized it was starting to rain. Women of the monastery didn't shed tears, so it had to be a raindrop.

Rosalie spent the rest of the night braving the downpour while searching for Lola. When she finally dragged herself home, soaked to the bone, she found Lola bundled up in a thick blanket on the couch. Bradley was in the kitchen, making her a cup of hot tea to chase away the cold.

Neither of them looked like they'd gotten caught in the rain. That meant they'd returned ages ago, but neither of them had bothered taking even a minute to call her and tell her Lola had been found.