Meanwhile, inside the car…
A heavy silence filled the car as it sped down the empty road. Daniel was focused on his laptop, typing away without the slightest trace of expression on his face. Yet, two wide eyes were fixed on him, staring unblinkingly.
Without even glancing up, Daniel spoke in his cold tone,
“Why are you staring at me like that? Are you hungry?”
Rose, who had been gazing at him with her big eyes, softly replied,
“Hmmmm…”
At this, Daniel finally turned his face toward her, locking his piercing eyes with hers.
“So… were you planning to eat me with that stare of yours?”
Rose innocently nodded her little head. Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“What’s this? You were really planning to eat me?”
Again, Rose nodded.
Daniel let out a deep breath and finally shut his laptop.
“What is your problem? Can’t you talk about anything else?”
Rose hugged the dirty teddy bear in her arms tightly and whispered,
“Uncle, baby needs feeding…”
Daniel’s eyes flicked to the teddy bear.
“So you’re not hungry at all. You want to feed this lifeless toy?”
Rose’s eyes narrowed as she glared at him and replied,
“He is my baby! Call him Piggy!”
Daniel’s expression changed instantly. Anger flared in his eyes.
“How dare you glare at me? And you named this stuffed thing Piggy? How stupid can you be? Don’t you realize you’re too old for this nonsense? You’re not four years old anymore! What on earth did your father teach you?”
With that, he reached to snatch the teddy bear away. But Rose clutched it tightly to her chest and screamed,
“Uncle is bad! Uncle is bad! Uncle is bad!”
Her shrill voice startled even the driver.
But Daniel, fuming now, snapped,
“Shut up! How dare you raise your voice at me? No one has ever dared to do that before— and you, the daughter of my enemy, dare to shout at me? If you utter one more word, I’ll throw your Piggy out of this car!”
Tears welled up in Rose’s eyes. She quickly bowed her head, hugging the teddy tighter. Daniel’s gaze burned holes into the toy. His fists clenched as he muttered,
“This girl… is she truly stupid, or just pretending in front of me? Well… things are going to get interesting.”
A devilish smile crept across his face, while Rose curled up silently in her seat.
Moments later, the car pulled up before a magnificent seaside palace. The place was breathtaking, guarded from all sides. One of the guards rushed to open the door.
Daniel seized Rose’s delicate wrist, leaned close, and growled,
“Inside, you will not speak to anyone. You know only me. You will answer only my questions, follow only my orders. If anyone tries to talk to you, you will ignore them. Got it?”
Rose only nodded quietly. For a moment, Daniel stared at her, then gently ran his hand over her hair, before leading her inside.