Chapter 3

"It's cold at night. Don't catch a chill."

I gave him one last word of caution before turning and heading back to my bedroom.

Early the next morning, Deborah rushed over and blocked my path.

Just like she had ten years ago, she dropped to her knees in front of me, her voice filled with pleading.

"Maren, Carson is still young. He can't live without you."

"Your dad's and brother's businesses are all tied to the Hastings family's name. If we lose this connection, the whole family will collapse. There are so many mouths to feed in the Calder family. You can't just act on impulse."

I finally couldn't help but interrupt her.

"You've said all this, but why haven't you asked how I've been doing?"

Deborah froze.

The sound of a car engine roaring outside interrupted whatever she was going to say next.

A graceful, striking woman walked in with a smile.

The moment she stepped through the door, Carson sprinted over and threw himself into her arms. "Rosie! I missed you so much."

Hand in hand, the two of them walked right past me without even saying hello.

Drifting over along with the scent of her perfume was the gossip of the maids.

"Ms. Harlow is quite pitiful. She wasted ten years here and amounts to nothing. In the end, she isn't even as good as a newly arrived guest."

"Yesterday she was making a huge fuss about leaving, and today she changed her mind again." Someone sneered. "I bet she panicked as soon as Rosie arrived, terrified she'd lose her meal ticket."

Carson tilted his small face up, rubbing against Rosamund's embrace again and again, his voice sweet and clingy. "Dad has been waiting for you for so long. Let's go find him."

"I like Rosie the best. Rosie smells so good and talks so nicely. Not like some people who reek of the countryside and walk around with a long face all day."

I stood rooted to the spot. It felt as if something had violently pierced my heart.

I grew up in the South, in a humid and sweltering little town. When I first came to New York, I couldn't adapt to anything.

The northern wind sliced across my face like a knife. I fell sick time and time again, barely surviving it.

The maids in the house mocked me for being a hick, refusing to even fetch me a glass of hot water.

During those sick days, only tiny Carson stayed by my bed, comforting me in his childish voice. "Maren, get well soon. You look so cool when you ride your bike!"

That little guy who couldn't bear to leave my side for a single step had now become a sharp spike, plunging ruthlessly into my chest. I never could have dreamed of such a change.

Rosamund greeted me with a radiant smile, every movement exuding gentleness.

But the words she spoke were blatantly provocative.

"Ms. Harlow, don't take a child's words to heart."

I ignored her and turned to help Deborah up. "You see, Desmond and Carson never lack people to take care of them."

Rosamund was the youngest daughter of the Whitfield family.

Simply because she had a face that looked uncannily like Caroline's, she could freely enter the study I was never allowed into, effortlessly stealing the hearts of that father and son.

Standing up, Deborah completely shed her pitiful facade from moments ago. Her expression turned cold as she asked, "Have you truly decided to leave?"

"I don't want to spend my life trapped in this gilded cage, draining myself dry for two men who don't even have me in their hearts." I made myself very clear.

Smack. A resounding slap struck my face.

"Who do you think you are?" Deborah sneered. "Without the Calder family, you are nothing."

"If it hadn't been for my kind heart back then, you would have died in the river long ago! You're so heartless, you're not even as good as a dog raised by the Calder family."

Just as the second slap was about to fall, I grabbed her wrist.

"The Calder family raised me until I was eighteen. With this past decade, I've paid them back."

"We are already even." I looked straight into her eyes, enunciating every single word.

Over these ten years, I endured Desmond’s roughness in bed.

In the house, I managed every matter, big and small, all on my own.

I treated Carson like my own biological son, giving him all my love and companionship.

I had done everything I was supposed to do, and I had a clear conscience.

The only person I had let down was myself.

Realizing that no words would work, Deborah left in exasperation.

I turned around, meeting Desmond's fathomless eyes.