CHAPTER 6 - Rosalie Farwell

Ethan’s words rang harshly in Sherah’s ears, “I don’t think our marriage is working well, Sherah,” Ethan muttered in a low voice. Despite that, she felt a heavy punch in her stomach.

She gasped, she was aware it would happen, but it still hurt so badly that she felt his words slap her hard.

Before she could react, a maid announced Rosalie Farwell— Ethan’s grandmother’s arrival at the mansion.

Hearing that and the situation they were in, Ethan hurriedly got up and held Sherah by the arm tightly, and she winced in pain.

He then whispered in her ear, “Don’t tell grandma.” His voice was cold, distant, and threatening, far from the husband she had known for five years.

It was the first time he held her with such force and spoke to her in such a tone.

For the first time, she was frightened to stand near him, and there was a voice inside her head repeating Eliot’s words. ~Someone might want you dead.~

She felt a cold bucket of water thrown at her. She glances at him in suspicion and nods unhappily. 

Soon, Rosalie entered the living room. 

Rosalie Farwell, the current head of the Farwell family, is a vision of calculated elegance, even at seventy-eight. She wore a floor-length emerald-green dress that shimmered like silk under the fading sunlight. The fabric clung to her slight frame with the ease of money spent without thought.

Her snow-white hair was swept into an intricate chignon, pinned with glittering emeralds that matched her piercing eyes. Around her neck hung a heavy gold necklace, each link studded with diamonds. Rings adorned her fingers, their gems catching the room light in flashes of green, blue, and red.

“Sherah, how’s my favorite granddaughter?” She uttered with a welcoming voice. 

Still shaken, Sherah smiled faintly, and her odd behavior didn’t go unnoticed by Rosalie.

Rosalie moves between Sherah and Ethan, “Why do you look so pale? Are you sick?” She asks while checking if she has a fever.

“I’m fine, gran—” She hasn’t had time to finish her sentence when Ethan intervenes.

“Sherah’s just tired of the housework." He smiled while discreetly reaching for Sherah's hand, "I told her we have maids for that, but she insists you know how she is.” He lied effortlessly. He wanted Sherah out of the living room, afraid that she might inform his grandma about their topic earlier.

Rosalie could feel something was amiss and ignored Ethan’s comments and asked Sherah directly. “Is that true?” 

Sherah glanced at Ethan, and he glared at her.

She lowered her head and nodded meekly. “It's true,” she says unwillingly.

Rosalie caressed Sherah’s cheek. “Go and take a rest then.” She suggested softly.

Sherah gladly left and hastily headed her way to the master’s bedroom. 

The moment Sherah’s out of sight.

Rosalie slaps Ethan so hard that one of her diamond rings cuts his cheek.

“Grandma!” He uttered in disbelief.

“Don’t grandma me. I heard what you did. You sold shares of the company.” She yelled at the top of her lungs that she became breathless. 

Rosalie breathed irregularly. Her cheeks were crimson in rage. “Why do you need so much money? And don't you dare lie to me?” She warns.

His palms start sweating, and tension seems to suffocate him. “I need to help a friend with certain issues abroad. I promise to return the mo—”

~SLAP~

Rosalie was furious. “Foolish! You went to Australia to meet that woman.” She whispered as she glanced upstairs, making sure Sherah wouldn’t hear anything about Sophia. 

“If you leave your wife for Sophia, forget that you have a grandma!” She declared.

Meanwhile, in Perth, Australia, Sophia was humming in glee as Ethan hastily went to her.

He came urgently and helped her with her dilemma—no questions asked. 

Abruptly, her phone rang, the call was from the men she hired to kill Sherah.

“Miss, we failed again. We cut the brakes off her car, but she never drove again, and now that car sits in the towing company’s garage,” Jerry explains anxiously, expecting an earful from her.

To Jerry’s surprise, the news did not ruin her mood. “Put a hold on it for now. I might be able to drive Sherah into ending herself,” she uttered, then ended the call.

Sophia couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear eerily. “After all these years, Ethan was still blindly in love with me,” she expressed with certainty while checking any news involving her or her family. 

She smirked when she didn’t find any news about the accident she had caused. “If I were you, my dear unwanted half-sister, you should just end yourself.” She cursed while sending photos to Sherah of Ethan and her.

Sherah, who had been in the master's bedroom patiently waiting for Ethan to return, received the images.

She heard the notification, and when she saw that it was from Sophia, she already knew what they were.

Despite knowing that opening the message would only hurt her, she still did, thinking that it was just a bunch of cusses and nothing more, but she was so wrong.

The caption is exactly what she expected.

-If I were you, just leave. No one wants you there.-

But what hurt her was the images attached to it. 

They were sweet, intimate photos of them having lunch and shopping for scarves and gloves for the winter.

She then remembers Ethan’s snarky comments about the scarfs she knits. 

~God-awful cheap scarves~

~Well, Sophia and I think otherwise. It looks cheap, and it belongs in the trash!~

While waiting for Ethan, she starts browsing for an apartment so she can leave the place immediately. 

Back in the living room.

Ethan and Rosalie got into a heated argument.

“I know, I'm in the wrong. I know it's my fault for choosing to be petty rather than accepting the truth that Sophia left me. I know I'd hurt Sherah, but you cannot force me to love someone I don't love.” he pointed out. “You know it's always been Sophia for me. I settled for the sister just to have connections with Sophia, and now that I have another chance with her, I won’t waste it. This is my second chance, and I’m too old to listen to your opinions, grandma,” he voiced out.

Rosalie sighed deeply. The disappointment in her eyes was notable. “You were 14 years old when your parents died in a car accident. I gave all my time, effort, and love to take care of you… I taught you to grow up wise."

She shook her head in disappointment. “You’re a fool. Always been a fool when it comes to that woman. There’s no point making sense to you. Do whatever you want, but I will never accept Sophia as granddaughter-in-law.” She remarks in exasperation and soon leaves without looking back. 

His grandma's words stung, but Ethan was determined to have his second chance with Sophia.

He didn't stop his grandma from leaving and only stood unmoving in the living room.