Chapter 20
“Thank you. You see, she’s my only sister. As long as she’s happy, I’m happy. Mother, please, let Sophia have it. And in case you’re worried about spending money on me, don’t worry, you don’t need to get anything for me. Just for Sophia.” Rose added a little touch to spice what she was cooking.
Beatrice’s face instantly froze. What did she mean by ‘worried about spending money on me?‘
It brought some murmuring discussion in the crowd. Mrs. Will, who is the blunt person among the group of women that came with Beatrice. She was known to always say whatever came to her head, interrupted straight away without waiting for Beatrice to say anything.
“That’s unfair, dear. You two are both Mrs. Gray’s daughters. Mrs. Gray, you love them both equally, don’t you?” She asked, turning to look at Beatrice with a questioning gaze.
Beatrice forced an awkward smile and replied the best she could as she gently stroked the tip of Rose’s hair. “Oh, definitely. I’ve always loved Rose, even more than Sophia over here. Whatever Sophia has, I make sure Rose has the same and even more.”
Seeing where Beatrice was trying to divert the matter to, Rose moved discreetly slightly away from her step–mother as she defended herself.
“No, mother, it’s alright. I don’t need any jewelry. Besides, I’m not invited to the party tonight anyway. Please, just buy it for Sophia.” Rose waved both her hands while shaking her head. At first, It sounded like Rose was just understanding, but she surely meant more than that.
Beatrice was starting to get furious, not knowing why Rose had been going against her.
Mrs. Phillip reached out and took Rose’s hands and said gently, “Roseline, dear, you are a sweet girl. So why don’t you come to the party tonight and meet some new friends? It will do you good. Besides, you just arrived back. It would be nice to get to know more people that you can reach out to, huh?” Mrs. Phillip looked at Rose with a hopeful expression on her face.
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Beatrice frowned as her face turned all red with anger. What’s that supposed
to mean?
Is she implying that I’ve been mistreating my step–daughter?‘
“But…er…” Rose lightly bit her lower lip, indicating indecisiveness, and threw a fearful glance at Beatrice.
Everyone watched with pity for Rose and they were all in disapproval of Beatrice. Poor girl who can’t even express herself without her step–mother’s consent. They were already starting to guess that Roseline hadn’t just gotten back to the country normally, there seems to be something wrong somewhere.
At this moment, Beatrice was outraged. ‘You little pretentious bugger! What the hell are you doing? What games are you playing here?‘ She screamed furiously in her head. However, she couldn’t really say anything in front of the crowd but cast a warning glance at Rose.
Witnessing how the situation was turning, Sophia reacted quickly and put her arms around Mrs. Phillip’s arm, smiling at her, and said with a put–on loveliness, “Mrs. Phillip, please don’t make it difficult for my sister. You know she doesn’t like to be with many people, that’s even why she has stayed locked in her room ever since she arrived.”
“It’s not that I don’t like to be with people. It’s just…” Rose defended herself cleverly just to the right amount. However, just when everyone was expecting her to finish her words she paused, looked at her step–mother and step–sister worriedly, and shook her head, pretending to negate herself. Then, she continued,
“Sorry, I didn’t mean that. I mean, I’d better listen to my mother, stay home, and work on my studies. Sophia should go and have fun.”
What a clever response! She made the point discreetly yet clear that it wasn’t that she didn’t want to go to the party, but she wasn’t allowed to, and she had to obey her step–mother.
Everyone present at the moment felt sorry for Roseline who looked pitiful, most especially the women present. They were all enraged because they all imagined that it was their child in Rose’s shoes.
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“Oh my goodness, what sort of family is this? How can they do this to such a young loving child?”
“What is the use of pretending when it’s all fake.”
“I know right, there is definitely something wrong in that family and that child is seriously urging to be set free.”
“What a terrible step–mother Mrs. Gray is! She says she loves her step- daughter like her own.”
“How is that possible at all?! She’s fooling all of us. A step–mother is just a step–mother at the end of the day.”
Beatrice became infuriated, hearing all the whispers from the crowd. When has she turned so irritating?
Mrs. Phillip took a quick glance at Beatrice and said persuasively, “It’s a good thing to study hard, but all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Don’t you agree? Mrs. Gray?”
Others were unable to hold their thoughts any longer when they heard Mrs. Phillip’s question, and one after another expressed their disapproval. “Mrs. Gray, why won’t you allow Roseline to go out? Even though she’s your step- daughter, you shouldn’t treat her like this.”
“Exactly. Action speaks louder than words. You say you love your step- daughter, but you don’t seem to show it.”
“What a fool I was to believe you. I guess some people say one thing and do another.”
Beatrice was blushing hard with anger and shame. She was so mad but had to play smart.
“Don’t be silly, Roseline. I would love to have you go out and socialize. That would make me most happy. Come, have a look and pick what you like. I would love to get you some new jewelry to wear for the party.” She said, while wearing a smile on her face as she gestured to Rose to pick out jewelry she likes.
“Mother, it’s alright. I don’t need any new jewelry, really.” Rose shook her
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head, uneasily. “Please don’t be mad, mother.”
Those words were enough to assure everyone that Mrs. Gray mistreated her step–daughter.
