LOGINJerry staggered backward; he still managed to look at Rose. The old man’s lips moved, forming a word without sound: Run. After that, Jerry’s body truly collapsed to the floor with a muffled thud.
Rose froze in place; she did not turn and run… instead, she stood frozen. Then Rose’s body slid to the floor; she cried in restraint with her body trembling. Rose crawled toward Jerry, not caring about Rocco’s men approaching her.
With trembling h
Jerry staggered backward; he still managed to look at Rose. The old man’s lips moved, forming a word without sound: Run. After that, Jerry’s body truly collapsed to the floor with a muffled thud.Rose froze in place; she did not turn and run… instead, she stood frozen. Then Rose’s body slid to the floor; she cried in restraint with her body trembling. Rose crawled toward Jerry, not caring about Rocco’s men approaching her.With trembling hands, Rose lifted her father’s head that had already gone limp. Rose hugged him tightly.Even though Jerry was a criminal with a bad history, he decided to do one good thing at the end of his life. Jerry wanted to protect Rose and atone for his sins, even if it meant sacrificing his life.At that moment, Rose felt the world was very unfair. She had already lost her mother, and now her father, too. Even though Jerry had already repented.Meanwhile Romilda? Instead, Rose
“What exactly are you going to do, Dad?” Rose asked.“I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes with you and Romilda. But I won’t stand by and watch you get taken away, Rose. I’m going to save you.”“Dad, what can you even do?”“At the very least, I can talk to Romilda. Or… whatever her name is now.”Rose shook her head. “Dad, if Romilda finds out, you’ll get dragged into this, too. You won’t survive either.”Jerry fell silent. Rose was right. If anything, he wouldn’t be able to save her at all. They could both end up dead at Romilda’s hands.“Don’t worry. I promise I’ll get you out of here. For now, you need to hold on. Eat whatever they give you so you’ll have the strength. Do you understand, Rose?”Rose nodded. “Okay, Dad.”Hesitantly, awkwardly, Jerry patted her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Ro
The apartment door was already open when Matteo and the police arrived. Matteo looked panicked and terrified, his eyes darting across every corner of the dim, musty room.“Rose! Rose, where are you? Rose!” Matteo’s voice cracked with panic.The police searched the entire place, but they found no one. They reported signs of movement through the back door, but there were no surveillance cameras nearby.Matteo went weak, his gaze fixed on the floor. There lay Rose’s handbag. All her belongings were still inside, including the phone they had tracked.“No… no… no…” Matteo’s voice caught in his throat.He dropped to his knees, grabbed the bag, and held it tightly. He had arrived too late. Rose was gone.“This was a trap. God, Rose… why didn’t you tell me about Romilda?” Matteo whispered in disbelief.Someone approached, and Matteo looked up. It was Detec
The smell of cheap cigarette smoke stung Rose’s nose the moment she stepped into the dingy apartment lobby. No one was there, just a row of dented mailboxes and crude graffiti peeling off the walls.Her heart pounded, matching the echo of her footsteps on the concrete stairs. The elevator was broken, of course. So Rose had to climb to the fourth floor on shaky legs, holding her breath.Every shadow in the stairwell made her alert.“This is for Romilda,” Rose whispered, gripping her bag strap tightly. “She’s your sister, your own blood. You can’t just let her die.”Rose reached the apartment door and turned the handle. It opened with a loud creak. The inside was dark, the curtains tightly shut.
The atmosphere in the Cavanaugh living room was lively. Nicole was busy calling catering vendors, while Letty was choosing fabric samples with Anais. Meanwhile, Rose was occupied looking through wedding cakes.Actually, Rose wanted a simple wedding, but Anais insisted that even a simple one still needed the essentials, like a wedding cake and beautiful decorations.“I think champagne would look nice for the tablecloths, don’t you? I know Matteo wants something simple, but the Cavanaugh version of simple still means Baccarat crystal and imported flowers,” Nicole boasted.Rose let out a soft laugh. “I’ll leave it to you, of course.”“This is your wedding, Rose. You need to make sure everything is perfect.” Anais looked at her. “I want you and Matteo to be happy, no matter how small or big this is.”Rose nodded shyly. “Alright, Anais. I’m sorry for troubling you, and Nicole and Le
Rose’s logic screamed that this was a trap. Not just Aaron, but even Matteo and Alec had warned her that Romilda was dangerous. But another part of her began to waver.Jerry had always been known as a dangerous man. It wasn’t impossible that he was hunting Romilda down to sell her to the mafia. Or even traffic her overseas.Rose knew just how cruel their father was. He was capable of anything to hurt his daughters. It would be better for Romilda to be caught by the police than to fall into Jerry’s hands.Rose glanced at her watch. It was almost three in the afternoon. The restaurant was less than five minutes away. At the very least, she could walk there.I need to make sure what’s really going on with Romilda, Rose thought, torn between confusion and anxiety.Her sense of responsibility as a sister, her fatal weakness, took over. She quickly grabbed her handbag and approached Letty and Nicole.“I&rsquo
Romilda stood on the edge of a dark road, far from the Cavanaughs’ elite neighborhood. Her breath came fast and shallow, like a hunted animal.The phone in her hand was slick with cold sweat. She had no cash left. Her credit cards were probably already blocked by Matteo. And Anais had surely sent t
Rose stiffened when she saw Aaron at the party. But there was no way she could explain why she was with Matteo—not now.Her thoughts drifted back to what had happened earlier…Since Romilda had run away, Rose was forced to sign the divorce papers in her place. It felt like deception to Rose as well
“Who?” Anais stared at Matteo in confusion. She glanced briefly at Letty, then spoke again. “Who is Roseanne Baxter?” Anais repeated to Matteo.But Matteo ignored Anais’s question and went straight to Rose. His expression darkened the moment he realized Rose had been hurt by his mother.“Rose, ar
Rose walked briskly beside Geri, who held an umbrella over her. The maid guided her along a narrow stone path beside the mansion, skillfully avoiding the main entrance flooded with reporters’ flashing cameras.They slipped in through the service entrance near the kitchen, where the catering staff b







