All Chapters of Irreplaceable Rose: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

The next day around noon, I was on the phone with my mother's hospital wing when the sharp click of heels echoed through the foyer, mixed with George's low, easy laugh."Georgie, I brought you lunch," Sarah's syrupy-sweet voice chirped.My grip on the phone tightened. He never laughed like that with me—so freely, so sweetly, like it was dipped in honey.And he never allowed me to call him "Georgie." He said it was too intimate.He was walking beside her, deliberately slowing his long stride to match her shorter one.She tilted her head, said something playful.He leaned in close, turning his face toward hers, listening with a soft smile playing on his lips.The sight was a physical ache. He had never been that way with me. With me, he was always just George—distant, untouchable, someone I was constantly straining to reach.The difference between being loved and being tolerated was painfully obvious."Oh, Catelyn, you're here too," Sarah said, her smile saccharine.I forced a

George didn't finish his sentence. His hand lifted, reaching to smooth my hair.I turned my head away. His hand froze in midair, his gaze lingering on me for a long time.Then he rolled off the bed, his back to me, voice hoarse. "Go."I struggled to my feet, grabbed whatever clothes I could find from the wardrobe, and slipped them on.At the door, I turned once to look back. His head was bowed, fingers flying across his phone as if sending a message.A bitter smile tugged at my lips. Without another glance, I walked away.Outside, the midnight streets were deserted, fine rain drifting down like threads of ice.I didn't bother with an umbrella, letting the cold water soak me through.I had no idea how long I walked before stopping, sensing the presence trailing behind me. Turning, I saw Jordan standing a short distance away, his figure stretched long and solitary under the streetlamp."Why are you following me?" My voice was hoarse.He shifted awkwardly, words caught on his to

George stormed into the doorway, rage blazing in his eyes."Catelyn! What the hell are you doing?" he roared.He hurried to Sarah, who lay crumpled on the floor, and gathered her into his arms with trembling urgency."Sarah, are you hurt? Tell me where it hurts." His voice shook with panic, his expression carved with worry.Then he swung his head toward me, his glare like a blade. "Sarah came here out of kindness to see your mother, and you hurt her? Are you so petty you can't even tolerate her presence?"I tried to explain, my voice breaking. "I didn't push her! She fell on her own… And she pulled off my mother's oxygen mask!"George refused to listen."Enough!" he cut me off coldly. "Sarah didn't mean it. She must have knocked it off by accident. Besides, your mother is nothing more than a vegetable. What difference does it make whether she lives or dies?"My chest seized."You don't need to make such a fuss," he continued with chilling calm. "I'll buy your mother the finest

When I returned to George's house to pack my belongings, the muffled sound of breathless moans drifted from the master bedroom.I froze outside the door, a dull ache spreading through my chest. Not for George, but for the foolish me who had once loved him so blindly.I looked around. It struck me that none of this truly belonged to me. Everything here had been bought with George's money. I had no right to take a single thing.I turned to leave, but the moment I opened the door, a hand shot out from behind and gripped my wrist.George, disheveled, chased after me in panic. His eyes carried a rare flicker of unease."Catelyn, that day at the hospital… Why did you suddenly disappear? I took Sarah for her check-up, and when I came back, you were gone."I almost laughed. I was nothing more than the afterthought he remembered once Sarah had been seen to. Never the first choice. Never the only one.I stared coldly at him. "So when you finally thought of me, you didn't come looking for