Chapter 5
Rowena didn’t expect Jordan to suddenly appear. She was briefly taken aback before she locked her phone and calmly brushed him off.
“It’s nothing. You misheard me. Are you here to take me away so you can lock me up again?”
He didn’t expect to hear that. He was surprised when he met her empty gaze.
Frowning, he said, “Don’t be so sharp-tongued, Ro. You’re the one who did something wrong, yet Jasmine still pleaded with me and your parents on your behalf to have you let out. We won’t hold this against you this time, but don’t ever try something like this again.”
He glanced at his phone. “Focus on your recovery. Jasmine’s still in the hospital, too. I need to go care for her.”
The door shut behind him, leaving Rowena alone again. She was covered in injuries, and her lips had cracked from how dry they were. No one was there to care for her.
A nurse came to change her bandages and kindly fed her some water. She even told her some gossip. “There’s a young woman who’s got it all—her situation is something out of a fairy tale.
“She only has a fever, but a handsome guy brought her here, panicked as hell. Her parents even reserved the whole floor for her. Her brother arranged for countless experts to come and see her, saying that they had to make sure she was fine. Her family and boyfriend refuse to leave her side—you should see how doting they are.”
When Rowena didn’t respond, the nurse asked, “How about your family, miss? Why isn’t anyone here to care for you when you’re so badly injured? They’re so irresponsible.”
Rowena looked at her and smiled self-deprecatingly. “The people you just talked about are my family and fiancé.”
The nurse faltered before smiling awkwardly. “Is that so?”
She hurried off after changing Rowena’s bandages, not daring to look back. Silence descended upon the hospital ward again. Rowena shut her eyes to get some rest.
For the next two days, she listened as the nurses expressed their envy over the love and concern being showered on Jasmine. She acted like she didn’t hear them.
She and Jasmine were discharged on the same day, but nobody bothered to pick her up. She headed home alone.
That afternoon, a maid entered a room to clean it before suddenly crying out in shock. “Mrs. Shore, someone broke your heirloom bracelet!”
It lay on the floor in pieces. Melinda’s vision went black at the sight of it.
“Check the surveillance footage! I want to know who did it!”
Upon checking the footage, they found that only Rowena and Jasmine had walked past that room that day. Everyone’s expressions darkened at that, and Philip and Melinda looked at Rowena reproachfully.
The orchestrated abduction was still fresh in their minds, so they reflexively thought she’d done it. “Did you break the bracelet, Ro?”
“No.” Rowena looked numb. “You can check the fingerprints on it if you don’t believe me.”
“That’s enough! How much longer are you going to lie to us, Rowena? Who else could it be if not you?” Roland snapped. He looked at her in disappointment, not even stopping to think about other possibilities.
Melinda and Philip were equally disappointed. Philip said, “Fine, then. You can kneel outside the house since you refuse to admit your mistakes! Come in when you see sense!”
A group of bodyguards stepped forward and grabbed Rowena by the shoulders. They pushed her out of the house.
She didn’t struggle or try to explain this time; she knew there was no point. She was already numb to the situation, anyway. She stood there silently.
It was pouring outside, so Rowena was soon drenched. The coldness of the rain seeped into her bones, and someone kicked her in the back of the knee, making her fall to the ground.
She didn’t do anything wrong, so she tried to get to her feet. However, as she propped herself up, someone kicked her again.
The friction rubbed her palms raw, and the wounds stung. Her injuries had barely recovered, so the attacks made them split open again. Blood dyed her clothes red.
Rowena stubbornly raised her head and looked in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. She watched the heartwarming scene unfold inside the house and listened to the sounds of laughter coming from within. Endless darkness and pain overwhelmed her heart.
