All Chapters of The Heiress’s Requim : Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

Republic City had been swallowed by rain that night.Water battered the windows of the government hospital, thunder shook the old building, and the corridors were packed with patients who had nowhere else to go. The electricity had gone out twice already, leaving nurses to move through the dimly lit halls with flashlights while the emergency generator struggled to keep the most important equipment running. Outside, the roads had become almost impossible to navigate, but more people continued arriving—injured passengers, frightened relatives and families desperately searching for doctors.A few hours earlier, a serious accident had occurred on the highway outside the city. Several vehicles had collided in the heavy rain, trapped between huge trucks and narrow roads. Among those caught in the accident was a family whose name alone could open doors across the country. Their pregnant daughter-in-law had been rushed to the nearest hospital after the crash triggered premature labor. She had

Mira’s health deteriorated quickly. For the next several days, Rosella barely left her side except for going to school and her part-time job. She cooked simple meals, washed clothes, fetched water, and hurried back home whenever she could. The little house seemed quieter than usual, as though even the walls had noticed that something was changing. The air carried the faint smell of medicine, boiled water, and the herbs Mira sometimes used when her chest became too tight. Her mother’s coughing had grown weaker, but somehow that frightened Rosella more than the loud coughing ever had.At night, she sat beside Mira’s bed, watching the rise and fall of her chest. Sometimes Mira slept. Sometimes she simply lay there with her eyes closed, breathing slowly as though every breath required effort. Rosella would pretend not to notice. She would pretend that if she kept busy enough, if she cooked enough meals, washed enough clothes, studied hard enough, then everything would somehow return to no

Rosella woke to silence.It was different from the silence she had known all her life. The silence of her village had always carried something with it—the distant crowing of roosters, the sound of someone sweeping outside, children calling to one another, the occasional sound of a motorcycle passing along the road. Even at night, there had always been something. But the silence inside the Tenneson mansion was almost complete. It was the kind of silence that belonged to expensive houses, thick walls, closed windows, and people who had never needed to shout to be heard.For a few seconds, Rosella stared at the unfamiliar ceiling above her, confused about where she was. Then everything returned at once. The mansion. Grace. The enormous corridors. The family portrait. Lina standing across from her at dinner with that unmistakable look of annoyance on her face. The interview. The uniform waiting for her. Republic City. Her new life. And then, like a shadow that followed her everywhere, cam

For Rosella, a place in the classroom represented a future she had almost lost. For Lina, the arrival of that same girl threatened a world she had never imagined sharing.Later that afternoon, Rosella was in the small staff sitting area, sorting through her school documents.The room was modest but comfortable, with a narrow sofa against one wall, a wooden table and a cabinet containing household stationery. A window overlooked the side garden, where the gardeners were trimming the hedges.Rosella had spread her papers across the table. Her admission letter was at the top, followed by copies of her previous school records and the documents required for registration. She checked each one carefully, making sure nothing was missing.Republic City High School.She traced the name on the letter with her finger.It still felt strange to see it written there.For months, she had imagined what it would be like to attend a school in the city. She had imagined classrooms with proper learning fa