Chapter 9

Liam nodded and said, "That's right. We still have Winifred, so we won't bother Wayne. Nothing else matters as long as Rose and Wayne are happy together."

Maria sighed in relief. "I'm glad to hear that—you're really easy to talk to. Now that we're done with the living arrangements, we should talk about the wedding gifts then. Rosalie is three months pregnant now, and she—"

Winifred interrupted, "We're not done discussing the apartment yet, Mrs. Goodwin. Let's hold off on the wedding gifts for now."

Maria asked, "Oh? How are we not done yet?"

Winifred replied, "I bought that apartment with my own money four years ago. It's my personal property, and I hadn't agreed to transfer it to anyone."

The entire room fell silent. Shortly after, Heather hurriedly said, "What nonsense are you spouting, Winnie, you—"

"Mom." Winifred looked at her and said, "Please don't make decisions on my behalf. I have the payment records with me—do you or Wayne have them?"

Just then, a text from the bank popped up: "Your monthly mortgage payment of $9,000 has been successfully processed."

This wasn't the only amount, either—another three thousand dollars would be withdrawn for the renovation loan in three days.

Winifred showed the text to the Goodwins. "My apartment, my mortgage—do you believe me now?"

Rosalie's father, Brent Goodwin's face fell immediately when they saw it. "What's going on here? Weren't you telling us that Wayne was the one who bought the apartment?"

Heather quickly came up with an excuse. "Wayne was the one who bought it and put it under Winifred's name, that's why the loan payment came from her—it's not a problem!"

Liam added, "That's right, Maria. The apartment belongs to Wayne—it has nothing to do with Winifred."

"Then why is she here arguing about the apartment?" Maria's tone turned sharp. "So, this whole meeting wasn't really about the wedding—you brought her just to make things difficult for us. And honestly, Winifred hasn't been treating Rosalie well, has she?

"I'm not even going to comment on how she went home to recuperate after her miscarriage, but she doesn't even reply to Rosalie's messages! What is that supposed to mean? Is she looking down on us? Just say so if that's the case—we'll just get an abortion and marry Rosalie off to someone else!"

Maria and Brent stood up and tried to leave with Rosalie. She grew upset and chimed in, "Mom, Dad, they're playing favorites! They only care for Winifred and never treat Wayne and me the same.

"Everything goes to her—they gave all the good food to her. I'm the one who's pregnant, but I don't get any of it!"

Wayne hissed, "Stop talking!"

Rosalie huffed.

Heather grew anxious. "Both Wayne and Winifred are our children—we love them equally. The food was for Winnie because she had a miscarriage and needed to heal. You've really got me wrong, Rose!"

Rosalie insisted, "I don't care—I won't get married if the apartment is not available! Do you want Wayne and me to rent somewhere instead?"

Wayne immediately shook his head. "We won't. I'll definitely let you and our child live a comfortable life."

After that, he turned to Winifred, looking both accusatory and as if he were asking for help.

Winifred felt a sharp pang in her chest—she didn't want to make things difficult for Wayne.

Truth to be told, he had always been good to her since young. He would carry her to school and wait for her after class. Even when someone bullied her, she was always able to threaten her bullies by using his name.

Back then, her parents had wanted Winifred to start working after high school to help out at home. Wayne was the one who insisted on sending her to college.

However, their parents had brought them up with the belief that everything in the household belonged to him. As the daughter, she was never really part of the picture.

Over time, Wayne had come to believe that as well. Just like everything else, he'd come to see the apartment as his.

If they'd just come to her and asked, Winifred might have agreed to let him live there. She truly wished for his happiness.

However, they'd made the decision without her and shut her off completely. She'd been too soft and easygoing—even her family members had learned to take advantage of that.

Disheartened, Winifred calmly said, "Sorry, there's nothing to argue about when the house belongs to me. As for the food—I hadn't even touched anything. Everything is still in the fridge. If you like, I can have someone drop it off for you tomorrow."

Rosalie snapped, "Have someone drop them off? Wow, look at you—showing off now that you've got maids waiting on you, huh?"

Winifred was left speechless.

Brent slammed his fist onto the table. "Enough—we're done talking now! Turns out there's no apartment at all, and you've only got your daughter in mind all this time. What's the point of this marriage? She'll only be mistreated if we go through with it! Let's go—we're leaving!"

He grabbed Rosalie and stormed off without waiting for any explanation, with Maria marching out behind him, equally furious.

Wayne hurriedly ran after them. "Rose, Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin, please listen to me!"

As soon as he left, a loud slap was heard.

A sharp, burning pain spread across Winifred's cheek. She turned around to look at Heather, who was beyond furious.

Heather yelled, "Wayne is already 30. It wasn't easy for him to find a girlfriend, and he's about to become a father soon! Do you want him to stay single forever and have them abort his baby? You've gone too far!

"It's just an apartment—why can't you just give it to Wayne? You don't even need it now that you've got money. Even if you don't have Timothy backing you up, it's only right for you to be working hard just to buy Wayne an apartment! You're so heartless and ungrateful!"

Winifred felt as if her heart was being torn apart. She had been unfairly pushed down by her biological parents for 23 years. Now that she had finally stood up for herself, she was being called ungrateful.

She coldly spat, "Why should I buy an apartment for Wayne? Even if someone had to, it's your responsibility—not mine! Also, don't count on me—I don't have the ability to take care of you, and I never planned to take on that burden."

Heather angrily grabbed some dinnerware from the table and threw them at Winifred. The first one hit her squarely on the wrist, but the second one was caught by Liam just in time.

Liam grabbed Heather and held her back. He suppressed his anger and said, "I've always been on your side, Winnie, but you've really crossed the line today.

"If you want to argue about the apartment, you should've waited until we were home, not done it in front of the Goodwins. You're only making things harder for Wayne.

He continued, "Also, now that you're with Timothy and living a comfortable life, it's only right for you to help Wayne out. Just think about what you've done."

Liam and Heather then left the private room.

Winifred's heart broke. She had received too little love from her parents.

She didn't fully understand it when she was younger. She thought they cared for her—at least they made sure she didn't go hungry or suffer too much.

But it was clear now—they were selfish and misogynistic.

They left everything to Wayne, yet wanted Winifred to bear the responsibility of caring for them. They even expected her to work hard for his sake, and she wasn't allowed to protest.

She felt disheartened, and her cheek and wrist stung. She instinctively thought of Timothy, wanting nothing but to be in his arms.

But no—he no longer belonged to Winifred. He was currently celebrating another woman's birthday on the other side.

…

Winifred made her way to the entertainment area, where many well-dressed individuals were coming and going at the entrance.

As the security guards did not notice her, she walked straight into the lobby.

Winifred was greeted by the sight of the hall surrounded by blooming roses. The centerpiece was a wall full of roses, with over 20 jewelry boxes hanging from the flowers.

She couldn't help but wonder if all these were prepared for Selena by Timothy.

A group of young women was huddled together as they discussed.

"There's a total of 100 thousand roses here. He probably brought in roses from every florist in Southridge City—Selena's boyfriend is truly a generous spender!"

"That's right! Do you still remember the last time so many roses appeared together? It was a year ago, when Mr. Stringer proposed using 99,999 roses on Southridge College's field—and people are still talking about it now. How envious!"

"Oh my god, there's an additional rose today compared to Mr. Stringer's proposal! Just who exactly is Selena's boyfriend?"

Winifred stood hidden in a corner as she listened to their gossip. She recalled the day of Timothy's proposal.

Over 99 thousand roses covered the campus field, each one accompanied by a candle flickering beside it.

Timothy stood in the midst of the roses, dressed in a tuxedo as he held a diamond ring in his hand. Under the gaze of tens of thousands of people, he said sincerely, "I love you, Winifred. I'm honored to have you as my girlfriend. Would you marry me?"

He continued, "All 99,999 of these roses symbolize my endless love for you. This number is yours and yours alone. From now on, as long as I'm still around, I'll never let so many roses appear together again."

Yet how ironic it was that the same scene had appeared just after a year.

The male protagonist remained the same, yet the female protagonist was no longer her. Timothy's promise had disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

At that moment, someone exclaimed, "Selena and her boyfriend are here!"

Winifred instinctively covered her face with her scarf, hesitating slightly before glancing over to the entrance.

She subconsciously held her breath just as she saw Timothy holding Selena's hand as they walked in.