William watched Rosaline hugging and laughing with Tristen.He was getting increasingly anxious every passing second.As he watched them chat happily like old friends, all versions of Rosaline leaving him for Tristen came into his head.Tristen had a cheerful personality and was a good person. He got along with people well and was an upright person with strong morals. He was dependable and likable.He had always thought of his younger cousin as someone who could bring warmth and sunlight to people around him, but seeing Rosaline chatting happily with him, he got anxious.Suddenly, William thought, with his aloof personality, that he was not good enough for Rosaline. Besides, Tristen did not have any baggage like he had Supriya. Rosaline chatted with Tristen happily for a few minutes.They had met after a long while and decided to catch up soon.Unbeknownst to her, William felt like it was an agonizing few years of his life. When she went to William, William had just managed to schoo

William was not very close to his mother as they both had very different personalities.While William was straightforward, rational, and a good judge of character, his mother, Anabella Brown, was very emotional, tended to get swayed with sweet talks, and was rather long-winded and irrational. They had a decent relationship, partly because they lived separately except for a couple of weeks a year when he came home, and partially because she never interfered in his life. Contrary to his mother, his equations were much better with his father, Anthony Brown, as his father was the one who instilled sound principles and high moral standards in him from a young age.Being an army commander, Anthony was upright and honest. He was very slick and was a good judge of character.Moreover, Anabella always lamented about William’s aloof personality and had tried to “fix” him via preaching or emotional blackmail.Anthony, on the other hand, did not care. His stance was - as long as his son was a g

Rosaline was chatting with Tessa when she received Maddox’s call.“Hey, bro. What’s up? Did my sister-in-law’s phone run out of battery?” She teased immediately.Maddox was not in the mood to joke with her. He got straight to the point.“Lina, what have you been doing recently?”“Nothing important. Why, bro, is there anything I can do for you?”“I ran into Tris the other day. And someone called Evelyn. They said that you were seeing someone.”“Yeah. Kind of, I mean. I’m not sure where it’ll go yet.”“Damn it! I thought you were seeing Liam.”“Why would you think I was seeing Liam? Besides, I told Mom and Dad that I would not get engaged to him. You know we have never met before. I thought that was over already.”“Well, uncle and aunt did not inform anyone that you have refused. Liam is pursuing someone these days. Your sis-in-law and I thought you two were seeing each other. Ah! What a mess!”“Oh! Well!” “Can you text me Liam’s number? I'll clear things up with him directly.”“Alright

Rosaline locked herself in her room and surveyed it carefully.She slowly swept her eyes on each item in the room.Fragments of her childhood played in her mind like a movie on a reel._______‘Mom, Dad! I got the first prize on an interstate quiz for primary level.’‘For next time, try winning fair and square rather than begging Tina to drop out of it. It’s okay to fail, but you can’t succeed by stepping over your sister.’‘Mom, I did not ask her to drop out. She got disqualified from the selection.’‘Don’t slander your sister. She already told us the truth. The poor girl was crying but still tried to protect you. Yet you slander her like this.’_______‘Mom, I was selected for a piano competition.’‘Well, that’s good enough considering your standards. Tina would have won it if she had not injured her fingers while playing with you.’‘Mom, she has not injured her fingers. It was painted and not bruised.’‘You are getting more and more out of hand. Why do you always have to hurt your

Ria was having a blast teasing William.“Brother, how about you pick something you think your girlfriend might like? Since Lina and she are the same age and have common interests, it might suit Lina well.”“I don’t want to pick things for others. ““Brother, please help! I’m the bride.”“Fine.”“Hehehe. Brother, the ‘I’m the bride’ thing always works.”“Of course! You will be an old maid after marriage.”“Brother!” Ria stomped her feet in annoyance.“Alright! Alright! Let’s go.”“Fine. Since you are helping me.”“Does the gift have to be jewelry?”“Yeah. I mean, I have only seen people give jewelry only as in-laws’ gifts.”“Alright, how about this?”William pointed at a pair of platinum diamond studs with two diamonds knotted between platinum bands. The asymmetrical design looked quite simple but gorgeous. William did not know about Lina, but he could picture his ‘Lexi’ wearing something like that. Since it was small, she could wear it casually.“Looks good, brother. I’m sure Lina w