Chapter 17
Rosalie her face swollen and her body still frail from illness, had spent the entire night outside the villa, unable to get in.
The chilly autumn wind stripped away much of her anger and resentment, leaving her shivering and hollow By moming fever crept in again, and she broke down, sobbing uncontrollably, sending one desperate message after another to Emery, each more pitiful than the last
He didn’t reply. Not a single word
it wasn’t until noon the next day that the tightly shut doors finally opened.
The sound woke Rosalie from a shallow fitful sleep Groggy and disoriented, she blinked up just in time to see Emery heading toward his ear She scrambled to her feet, unsteady, and grabbed his hand, clinging to him with trembling fingers
Her eyes, usually so good at inspiring sympathy, brimmed with fresh tears as she pleaded, her voice small and broken
“Emery, look at my face–n’s all brused because Arlene hit me. She even threatened she’d do worse if I told you. I’m scared. Emery, she said she’d hurt me again if dated complain.”
Emery glanced at her cold and detached, his voice stripped of the indulgence had always shown her.
“She hit you? So what? You probably deserved it. And from now on, stay away from her Do you hear me?”
His complete indifference was nothing like what Rosalie had pictured. She stared at him in shock, disbelief written all over her face
“Emery, what’s wrong with you? Why are you saying this? Didn’t you promise you’d always take care of me, that you’d make me happy?”
Her forced trembling sobs only made the contempt flicker brighter in Emery’s eyes. He jerked his hand free and pushed her away..!!
Take care of you? That was just a game. Rosalie. Did you really believe I cared? The only person I’ve ever loved–ever–has been Arlene. You were just a distraction“.
The words shattered Rosalie completely obliterating any hope she’d been clinging to
She couldn’t accept it. Her mask of fragile innocence fell away as she screamed in anguish })
“You’re lying! You’re lying, aren’t you? Emery, you need to face the truth; I’m the one you love! If you cared about Arlene, why didn’t you do anything when i hit her? Why did you leave her so many times to stay with me?‘
At that. Emery’s hands curled into fists, a heat rising in his chest that he couldn’t suppress.
Images flashed through his mind–Arlene standing alone by the river, the calendar pinned up in the empty villa, the arguments at the auction house… In every memory, Arlene was isolated, her eyes full of disappointment she could never quite hide!
Only now, after losing her completely, did Emery realize just how cruel he had been. Regret surged through him, drowning him.”
He desperately wanted Rosalie to stop dredging up the past, but she was relemless, her voice a toment he couldn’t shut out?
“Even if it was all just an act, Emery, you’ve already lost yourself in it! There’s no way you love Arlene–you agreed to the divorce, didn’t you? You wouldn’t have done that if you didn’t care about me!”
The word “divorce ripped open wounds Emery had tried to bury. In that moment, his self–control snapped.
He lunged forward, hands closing around Rosalie’s thin neck, knuckles white with the force of his grip.
Blood rushed to her face, tuming her skin from red to a deep, mottled purple. She fought desperately, but Emery’s strength was too much. Her eyes widened in terror as every breath slipped further away..
dust as she thought she would die right there, Emery finally let go.
She crumpled to the ground like a broken rag doll, her body limp and lifeless.
Emery didn’t spare her another glance. He turned to his assistant, voice flat and final
“I don’t want to see her again. Ever
