Chapter 2
Francis smiled in satisfaction and patted Rowena’s shoulder. “I’ll arrange everything. We leave in half a month.”
After saying goodbye to him, Rowena left, a flame of hope in life rekindling in her heart. When she got home, she reflexively keyed in her birthday to unlock the door. However, it was wrong.
The beep made her return to her senses. She’d only been gone for three years. Had her family already changed the password?
She thought about how they doted on Jasmine and keyed in the latter’s birthday instead. As expected, the door unlocked.
Rowena suppressed the bitterness in her heart and headed to her room. When she opened the door, she found that it had thoroughly changed. It had originally been a dainty princess room, but it was now an adorable pet’s room.
There was a golden retriever inside. Not recognizing her, it barked at her when she entered, even pouncing at her with its mouth wide open. It would’ve bitten her if not for her dodging it.
Rowena paled at the sight of the dog, and she started having difficulty breathing. The dog’s fur floated in the air and landed on her, making her skin start to itch.
She was terrified of dogs and allergic to dog fur!
She gasped for breath, and tears formed in her eyes. Her body swayed as she staggered toward where she remembered her allergy medication was stored.
“My medication…” The spot where the medication used to be stored was now filled with a crystal ornament. She couldn’t find the medication anywhere.
The dog was even more excited when it saw how scared Rowena was. It pounced on her and bit her leg; she instinctively struggled in fear and kicked it away. It crashed against a table leg and whined in pain.
Just then, Philip, Melinda, Roland, Jasmine, and Jordan returned. This was the scene that greeted them.
Jasmine’s eyes turned red when she saw this, and she ran to the dog. She cried, “Why did you hurt my dog, Ro?”
Philip’s gaze instantly turned disappointed. He growled, “I thought you’d turned a new leaf, but here you are, taking your anger out on a dog just because we weren’t around! It hasn’t done anything wrong!”
Rowena felt terrible. Her throat had swelled up so much that she could barely breathe, and her vision was blurry. She could only gasp and force out, “My medication…”
She reached out a hand and felt around for it, barely able to stand.
Roland ignored her agony and snapped impatiently, “That’s enough, Rowena! Stop acting! It doesn’t matter how tormented you make yourself look—it won’t change the fact that you hurt Jasmine’s dog!”
Jordan looked at her coldly, too. He shook his head in disappointment and asked, “Why do you insist on picking on Jasmine, Ro?”
With that, everyone left with the dog in tow. They hurried to a veterinary hospital.
Rowena was running out of oxygen, and her vision was getting blurrier. Just as she thought she was going to die, her hand touched a bottle of pills. She grabbed it and hurriedly took a few pills.
It took her a while to recover. She held the bottle tightly, never wanting to experience that again.
She still remembered when she’d first gotten an allergic reaction to dog fur. Her parents, Roland, and Jordan had been so panicked. They’d stayed by her side and cared for her, never allowing her to come into contact with a single dog since then. They’d protected her like she was a fragile piece of glass.
They’d even kept her allergy medication everywhere in case anything went wrong. Now, however, they’d forgotten about her allergies and even thought she was putting on an act.
Rowena’s heart ached. She looked at the pet room, feeling cold all over.
As she hesitated and wondered which room to take, a maid walked past and gave her a nasty look.
Then, she said rudely, “This room belongs to Ms. Jasmine’s dog, Cookie, now. She adores Cookie, so you’ll have to make do with a guest room, Ms. Rowena.”
It looked like Rowena couldn’t even compare to a dog now. She laughed bitterly and headed to a guest room while holding her bag. She didn’t argue. That room no longer belonged to her, but she didn’t want it anymore anyway.
…
Philip, Melinda, Roland, and Jordan didn’t return that night. Rowena wasn’t bothered. She applied medication to her wound after cleaning up and checked her phone. It was rather outdated, but that didn’t stop her from using it.
She saw that Jasmine had updated her social media. It was a photo of her and everyone else waiting by Cookie’s side. All of them looked equally worried.
Rowena stared at the photo for a long time before putting down her phone and going to bed.
When she headed downstairs the following day, she saw everyone chatting while seated on the couch. Jasmine hurried to her when she saw her and held her hand, pulling her to the couch.
“We want to throw you a party to celebrate your return, Ro. Everyone’s discussing it now. Come and have a seat so we can hammer out the details together! Now, where were we?” she asked enthusiastically.
Roland frowned at Rowena, looking a little resentful. “You’re too kind, Jasmine. I can’t believe you want to throw her a party after how she’s treated you!”
Philip and Melinda looked equally disapproving. Jordan parted his lips to say something but ultimately remained silent.
Jasmine smirked and buried her head in Melinda’s chest. “Come on, guys. Don’t be mad at Ro anymore. I’m sure she didn’t mean to do it. Besides, I didn’t take it to heart, and Cookie is fine. Forgive her this once, okay?”
Melinda laughed at her childish actions, which eased the tension.
