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Chapter 2

Author: Litchi Froot
Victor looked as though he had just heard something amusing.

He tilted his head. "I'm better looking than you, and I'm richer than you. Isn't it only natural that Rose would choose me?"

Just as he seemed ready to say more, an assistant hurried over. "Ms. Whitehall, the reporters outside are still waiting for an interview."

Rosalind nodded. "Wait for me, Sam."

She released me, turned to Victor, laced her fingers through his, and walked toward the door.

"Jayden, take him away."

Jayden dragged me out through the venue's back door and took me back to my rented apartment.

Before he left, he tried to talk some sense into me. "Sam, a person needs to know their place. Someone like Rosalind is beyond your reach.

"Vic can post a couple of random videos and rack up 1,000,000 followers without even trying. He's already out of your league in every way. What do you even have to compete with him?"

When he saw how lost and defeated I looked, Jayden seemed to want to say more. In the end, he stopped himself and left in silence.

I sank onto the couch and stared blankly around the apartment.

I came from a single-parent household. My greatest dream had always been to have a home of my own.

The day we rented this apartment, Rosalind hugged me tightly. Her heart seemed to ache for me as she made a solemn promise. "Sam, we'll have a home of our own. I promise."

After that, she worked as a barista every day after her regular job, all so she could save enough for her dowry.

But no matter how much she saved, it was never enough.

Then one day, Rosalind got into a car accident while delivering food in the rain and ended up in the hospital.

With red-rimmed eyes, I told her I didn't need her to contribute anything toward our future home, but Rosalind immediately covered my mouth with her hand.

"Sam, I love you. I don't want money to come between us. I want to contribute my share. Just wait a little longer. I'll save enough," she had claimed.

Only now did I understand. The future home had never been what she couldn't save enough of. It was her sincerity toward me.

My tears struck the floor. I picked up my phone to cancel the lease, but a trending news notification suddenly appeared.

[Wedding of the Century! Even the Wealthy Elite Can Find True Love!]

The article meticulously detailed the lavish assets Rosalind had brought into her marriage with Victor: a luxury yacht, a luxury cruise ship, an entire floor of a luxury condo building downtown, company shares, and more.

A fresh wave of humiliation swept through me as the truth finally sank in.

Then I heard a sound behind me. Rosalind stood in the doorway.

The moment she saw the open suitcase, her pupils contracted sharply. "Sam, are you leaving?"

My nails dug into my palms as I clenched my teeth. "What else am I supposed to do? Stay here and let you keep jerking me around?"

She rushed over, snatched the suitcase away, and wrapped her arms tightly around me. "I won't allow it!"

An unfamiliar scent reached my nose. Then I saw the source clearly: a faint trace of men's cologne lingered on Rosalind's collar.

I shoved her away and shouted, unable to contain myself, "Wasn't today's humiliation enough for you?"

Rosalind sighed at the sight of my hysterical expression. "Sam, you blame me for not telling you the truth. But when have you ever amounted to anything?"

I froze.

Rosalind's expression remained gentle, but every word that left her mouth was merciless. "Vic inherited the family business as soon as he graduated. He can give me real support and bring in new business partnerships. And you? What can you give me?"

Two years ago, I had considered dropping out of school to find a job that paid better.

Rosalind had been the one to tell me that I was only young once and shouldn't sacrifice my future for money.

"Sam, do whatever you want to do. I might not come from money, but I'll work hard and fight alongside you!" she had claimed.

I spent every spare hour outside class doing work-study jobs. During the busiest stretch, I worked 18 hours in a single day.

But now, the casual disdain in her voice ground my self-respect into dust.

In the span of just a few hours, my best friend and the woman I loved had told me the exact same thing.

I wasn't good enough.

My tears struck the floor as I stared at her, utterly lost.

Something like pity softened Rosalind's eyes. She reached out as if to hold me, but perhaps she remembered how I had resisted her moments ago.

Instead, she changed course and gently shook my arm. "But I don't care. Sam, I love you for who you are. I still have some things to deal with over the next few days. Once I'm done, I'll come get you.

"Vic has a proud temper. Calm down a little, and don't butt heads with him."

Rosalind wore the confident expression of someone certain I would never leave.

Before she walked out, she kissed my forehead.

I stood there until my legs went numb and I could barely feel them.

Only then did I open my email, pull up the offer for a government-sponsored PhD program abroad, and accept it with trembling hands.

The government-sponsored scholarship covered everything. I wouldn't face any financial pressure.

I had once considered giving it up for Rosalind. Now there was no need.

I stared into the pitch-black night and didn't sleep at all.

Early the next morning, someone pounded urgently on my door.

The moment I opened it, a bucket of foul-smelling dirty water hit me square in the face.

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  • The Heiress Who Lied   Chapter 9

    Rosalind said nothing. Only long after Jayden had been taken away did she let out a quiet, bitter laugh.Was she supposed to deliver Jayden's apology to Samuel?Rosalind did not even know if she would ever find Samuel, much less whether he would forgive her if she did.What right did she have to speak on Jayden's behalf at all?…Rosalind threw every resource she had into the search for Samuel: money, connections, everything within her reach.The whole affair eventually spilled into the public eye, and for a time, it dominated every major media outlet.In less than a week, the Whitehall Group's stock, once a market leader, crashed.Even so, Rosalind had no attention to spare for any of it. She poured every hour and every ounce of energy into finding Samuel. She lost all interest in managing the company and withdrew from its affairs entirely.…A year later, the Whitehall Group went bankrupt.Rosalind's situation only worsened from there. So much time had passed without any w

  • The Heiress Who Lied   Chapter 8

    The instant he saw Rosalind, Victor froze. Then his eyes lit up with wild relief.Assuming she had come to save him, he rushed to her side. "Rose, you're finally here. Jayden wants to hurt me!"Jayden had just witnessed Victor at his most ruthless. Now, as Victor instantly slipped back into his fragile, wide-eyed, innocent-little-flower act, Jayden felt nothing but disgust at the stark contrast between his two faces.Jayden forced himself to endure the searing pain that wracked his entire body and looked at Rosalind.He ground out through clenched teeth, "Rosalind, you've been fooled. We've all been fooled by Victor—"Before he could finish, Victor cut him off sharply, "Shut your mouth!"If Rosalind and the police had not been there, Victor would have used every cruel and vicious method at his disposal to make sure Jayden understood exactly what it cost to anger him.But he could not do that now. He had to keep his image intact.Victor forced himself to calm down. He grabbed Ro

  • The Heiress Who Lied   Chapter 7

    It was Jayden. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair was a mess, and his expression was taut, as if he were teetering on the edge of collapse.Jayden snarled, "You promised. You said if I helped you go after Samuel and ruin him, you'd delete all those photos of me. How much longer are you going to hold this over me?"What had Jayden so terrified and cornered were private photos of him that Victor kept on his phone.Jayden had once accidentally discovered the truth about Rosalind and Victor, and the fact that they were working together to deceive Samuel had enraged him.In a fit of anger, he had decided to tell Samuel the truth so that he could cut his losses before it was too late. But when he tried to call, Samuel had just finished more than ten hours of part-time work.Exhausted, Samuel had gone straight home and collapsed into bed.Jayden had called him more than a dozen times, but Samuel never answered.Impatient by nature, Jayden couldn't wait. He had headed straight to Samuel'

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    Victor, who had rushed over right behind Rosalind, found her looking utterly lost and broken. His first thought was that the body must be Samuel's, and a flicker of joy stirred in his chest.Still, he masked it with concern and spoke gently. "Rose, I know you're in pain, but you need to pull yourself together. We just finished denying all the rumors at the press conference. If a reporter catches you like this, the PR fallout alone will cost us a fortune."In the past, words like those would have prompted Rosalind to put the company's interests first without hesitation. But now, it was as if she had lost her soul. No matter what Victor said, she did not react.Victor reached down to pull her up. "The ground's cold. Don't sit here like this—"The instant his fingers touched her, Rosalind flinched as if shocked and shoved him away with all her strength. "Don't touch me!"Caught off guard, Victor fell to the ground and stared at her in disbelief.Rosalind practically crawled toward t

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    My mind rang with a single, sharp buzz.My mom's health had never been good. Recently, she had been in and out of the ICU several times.I had been in such a hurry to bring Rosalind home to meet her because I wanted my mom to finally feel at ease.I rushed to the hospital like a madman.…Jayden was already waiting outside the emergency room.The moment he saw me, he shoved me hard. "I warned you. Don't become somebody's kept man! You nearly angered your mom to death!"Jayden's parents drank and gambled. They never had time to take care of him, so my mom had always treated him like her own son.I held back my tears. "How is my mom?"The emergency room door opened, and the doctor stepped out and pulled down his mask. "The patient is stable for now, but she absolutely cannot take another shock."My phone buzzed with a transfer notification.Rosalind had sent me 200,000 dollars.Rosalind: [I heard about your mom. Take this for now. If it's not enough, ask me for more.]I had

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