Ch3 - Meet him

Rosalie's POV

The doctor frowned as he looked at my wrist, his voice sharp. “Another inch deeper and you might’ve cut a major artery.”

He even asked if this was a case of domestic violence. I shook my head and told him I’d just fallen by accident.

I lowered my head and lightly touched the bandage he’d just wrapped. Thick layers of gauze covered my entire palm all the way down to my wrist. Only the tips of a few fingers were sticking out, and even those could barely move.

After I left the treatment room, the housekeeper from home—Mrs. Moss—arrived. She looked shocked when she saw my hand, but she didn’t say anything. She simply took the medical bill from me and went to pay it.

I sat down on a row of chairs in the hallway. People passed by constantly, but the person I kept hoping to see never showed up.

My mom had said she’d come find me.

But deep down… I knew she probably wouldn’t.

I understood something, though. It wasn’t that my parents didn’t want to accept me as their biological daughter. They just needed time. After all, the one who’d lived with them for over twenty years was Vanessa.

So I was willing to wait.

Wait until they were ready.

Mrs. Moss called to tell me the bill was paid and that she’d be waiting for me in the parking lot. Even though I already knew my mom wasn’t coming, I still couldn’t stop the wave of disappointment.

Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t notice someone stepping out when the elevator doors opening. I stepped forward without looking and walked straight into a solid chest.

“Oh—sorry,” I said immediately.

“It’s fine,” a deep voice replied above my head.

I didn’t even see his face. We passed each other quickly.

Just as the elevator doors were about to close, a hand suddenly blocked them.

Then someone called out, “Mrs. Ravenscroft?”

A man’s voice.

I looked up.

A young guy with glasses and a few freckles on his face was staring at me. The moment he got a clear look at me, his eyes lit up.

“Mrs. Ravenscroft—it really is you! What are you doing here? Perfect timing, actually. Mr. Ravenscroft has been looking for you.”

He gestured for me to follow him.

I stepped out of the elevator, still confused. Before I could even react, he turned around and spoke excitedly to someone else.

“Boss, I swear I didn’t get it wrong this time. That’s definitely your wife.”

My mind blanked for a second as I followed his gaze.

And then I saw him.

A strikingly handsome face came into view.

My breathing stopped for a moment.

The man was tall, broad-shouldered, with sharp, chiseled features and deep-set eyes.

And in that instant, I recognized him.

My “husband.”

Lucian.

There was no way I could mistake him. A scar sat at the tail of his right eyebrow—not big, but noticeable enough to stand out. It gave his already cold expression an even sharper edge.

Why was he here?

Wasn’t he supposed to still be overseas?

Lucian’s icy blue eyes glanced at me once before he turned to the young man. “Zack, you sure about that?”

“Absolutely,” Zack said quickly. “Earlier at the cafe I did mistake someone else, but that was a fluke. That woman looked similar to Mrs. Ravenscroft, but the vibe was totally different.”

“Don’t screw it up again and get yourself yelled at,” Lucian said coldly, not sounding like he was joking at all.

Zack froze for a second, then hurriedly turned back to me. “You’re the Whitmore family’s daughter, right?”

“Yes,” I answered instinctively.

And then my stomach dropped.

Shit.

Lucian looked at me again, his gaze briefly landing on the bandage wrapped around my right hand. But his tone stayed completely indifferent.

“Good. My grandparents said they want to meet you. Move into my place today.”

“Zack, take care of it.”

That was all he said before turning around and walking off like the conversation was already over.

Seeing the stunned look on my face, Zack quickly explained, “The boss came today to visit a business partner, so he’ll probably be tied up for a while. What’s your address? I’ll get someone to move your stuff over to his apartment.”

At this point, even if I tried to say I wasn’t Lucian’s wife, it would’ve been too late. So I just gave him my address.

Zack asked me to follow him and kept talking as we walked. “The boss rushed back this time for one reason only. The old Mr. and Mrs. Ravenscroft have been blowing up his phone asking why he still hasn’t brought his wife to meet them. So the moment he landed, he told me to go find you.”

That must’ve been Lucian’s grandparents. I’d heard Lucian’s sudden marriage was also because of the injury he had a few months ago. Apparently after that, his grandparents started pressuring him hard to settle down.

Zack smiled awkwardly. “Honestly, that’s on me. I should’ve gotten your contact info earlier. If I hadn’t run into you today, I was about to go straight to the Whitmore house to look for you.”

I got into the car with him and called Mrs. Moss to say I wouldn’t be going home with her—I had something to take care of.

She sounded a little weird on the phone, but I didn’t think much of it. She’d never been warm toward me anyway. In her eyes, Vanessa was probably the only real Whitmore daughter—the one she actually worked for.

The car pulled into a high-end residential complex. We took a private elevator that went straight to the penthouse.

When the doors opened, I was stunned.

The apartment was enormous—so big it stretched out of sight. Massive floor-to-ceiling windows framed the entire city skyline like a postcard. When I looked toward the spiral staircase, I realized there were two more floors above this one.

The place had to be at least ten thousand square feet.

I’d already been shocked by how wealthy the Whitmore family was the first time I stepped into their house a year ago. But compared to the Ravenscrofts… they were nothing.

The afternoon sunlight poured in through the windows, making the whole place bright and airy. Light-colored furniture was arranged neatly everywhere, but the place still felt empty—like no one actually lived here.

“Has no one moved in yet?” I asked.

“Not yet,” Zack said. “The boss hasn’t moved up here either. He’s been staying in the apartment downstairs. He doesn’t like living somewhere this big by himself.”

“The apartment downstairs?”

“The top three units in this building all belong to him,” Zack said casually. “But now that he’s married, so naturally he moved up to this one.”

Three apartments?

He owned three penthouses in this building?

Zack kept explaining, “The entire second floor here is yours. The third floor is his private space. As for everything else, the housemaids will explain it to you later.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

I thanked him, which made him look a little embarrassed.

“You don’t have to be so polite,” he said with a grin. “If you need anything later, just tell me. I’ve gotta go find the boss now, so I’ll head out. He’ll be back here tonight.”

After he left, I slowly walked around the place, taking it all in.

It was huge, sure—but it felt cold. No warmth anywhere. Just a sterile, icy atmosphere.

Kind of like the man who owned it.

Not long after, my belongings arrived too.

And along with them came a furious phone call from Vanessa.

“YOU bitch! So this is the little trick you pulled?” she screamed the second I picked up. “I told you to get the hell out of this city and you ran straight to Lucian instead! You think I won’t do anything to you? Fine. I’ll show you exactly what happens when you piss me off!”

She ranted like a hurricane for a full minute.

Then the line went dead with a loud click.

Leaving me standing there, completely confused.

How the hell did she find out so fast that I’d run into Lucian?