Chapter 7
2289 Words
The mansion was silent.
It was well past midnight.
Every light in the hallways had been dimmed, leaving only the soft golden glow of the wall lamps illuminating the enormous estate.
Everyone was asleep.
Or at least…
That was what Rosalina believed.
She lay peacefully beneath her blankets, completely unaware of what was happening downstairs.
Her breathing was slow and even.
Her lavender hair spread across the pillow.
For once, she wasn’t thinking about her family.
She wasn’t wondering why they had changed.
She wasn’t questioning why everyone suddenly wanted to be near her.
She was simply asleep.
Safe.
Unaware.
And downstairs…
Her family had gathered.
There was no tea.
No smiles.
No polite conversation.
No pretending.
They sat around the long dining table in complete silence.
Rosalina’s father sat at the head.
Her mother sat beside him.
Her siblings sat across from each other.
And Adrian sat at the far end.
Nobody spoke for several minutes.
Because they all knew what this meeting was about.
Their behavior.
More specifically…
What they were becoming.
Her father finally broke the silence.
“We need to talk.”
Her brother leaned back.
“About Rosalina?”
“Yes.”
His sister crossed her arms.
“I assume everyone already knows what this is about.”
Their mother looked down.
“We’re becoming possessive.”
Nobody denied it.
“We’re following her.”
“We’re monitoring her.”
“We’re constantly checking where she is.”
Her father sighed.
“And some of us have considered preventing her from leaving the estate.”
Adrian’s eyes lowered.
Nobody needed to ask who he meant.
“I know,” Adrian said.
His voice was unusually quiet.
“I thought about it.”
His wife looked at him.
“What exactly did you think about?”
Adrian didn’t answer immediately.
Then he said,
“Keeping her here.”
Silence.
“Not hurting her,” he continued. “Not forcing her. Just… making sure she never has to leave if she doesn’t want to.”
His brother stared at him.
“That’s still a cage.”
“I know.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“That’s why it frightened me.”
Their mother closed her eyes.
“We can’t become another reason she feels trapped.”
Her father nodded.
“We promised ourselves that this life would be different.”
“It is different,” Adrian said.
“For now.”
Everyone looked at him.
He continued.
“Because she’s still happy to see us.”
His voice became softer.
“She still loves us.”
The words hung in the room.
That was the real reason they had been given this particular moment.
They had returned before it was too late.
Before Rosalina’s love had completely disappeared.
Before she had become indifferent.
Before she had stopped trying to save them.
They had been given the one thing they never deserved.
Another opportunity.
Her brother rubbed his face.
“Then we need to make sure we don’t ruin it.”
His sister nodded.
“We need boundaries.”
Her father looked around the table.
“Agreed.”
A pause.
“Which brings us to the other problem.”
Everyone knew immediately.
The atmosphere changed.
Her mother looked toward the doorway.
“Lily.”
⸻
The name alone was enough.
Lily.
The girl who had never been family.
Yet somehow…
They had treated her like she was.
Perhaps even more than Rosalina.
In the previous life, Lily had entered their lives as a sweet, innocent girl.
She had been charming.
Polite.
Vulnerable.
She knew exactly what to say.
Exactly when to cry.
Exactly when to appear frightened.
Exactly when to need help.
And the family had adored her.
They had invited her into their home.
Given her gifts.
Defended her.
Protected her.
They had listened to her complaints.
Believed her accusations.
Comforted her whenever she claimed Rosalina had mistreated her.
And every time Lily pointed a finger at Rosalina…
The family believed her.
The first accusation had been small.
Lily claimed Rosalina had insulted her.
Rosalina denied it.
The family believed Lily.
Then Lily claimed Rosalina had deliberately ruined one of her dresses.
Again, Rosalina denied it.
Again, nobody believed her.
Then came the jewelry.
The missing money.
The confidential information.
The arguments.
The rumors.
The scandals.
Every time something went wrong…
Lily somehow stood at the center of it.
And somehow…
Rosalina always ended up being blamed.
⸻
Her father stared at the table.
“I remember the first time Lily accused her.”
His wife looked at him.
“So do I.”
“Rosalina was standing right there.”
His voice became strained.
“She looked at me and asked me to believe her.”
His fingers tightened.
“And I didn’t.”
Her brother closed his eyes.
“I called her jealous.”
His sister swallowed.
“I told her she was being cruel.”
Their mother whispered,
“I told her to apologize.”
Nobody spoke.
The memories were painful.
Because they could remember Rosalina’s expression.
She hadn’t screamed.
She hadn’t cursed.
She hadn’t demanded anything.
She had simply stood there.
Quiet.
Confused.
Heartbroken.
And then she had apologized.
Even though she hadn’t done anything.
⸻
Adrian’s hands were clenched.
“Lily knew exactly what she was doing.”
Everyone looked at him.
“I didn’t understand it then.”
He stared at the table.
“But now I do.”
His voice was cold.
“She studied Rosalina.”
A pause.
“She learned what would make us doubt her.”
Another.
“She learned which lies we would believe.”
His eyes hardened.
“She knew we would choose her.”
Her mother looked away.
That was the worst part.
Lily hadn’t forced them to abandon Rosalina.
They had chosen to.
Lily had simply learned how easy they were to manipulate.
“How many times?” her sister asked.
“Too many.”
Her father answered.
“She framed Rosalina repeatedly.”
“And we helped her.”
The words came from Rosalina’s brother.
Everyone fell silent.
“We didn’t just believe Lily.”
He looked around the table.
“We punished Rosalina for Lily’s lies.”
Nobody corrected him.
Because it was true.
⸻
Her brother remembered one particular incident.
Rosalina had been accused of stealing from Lily.
She had been called into the family office.
Lily had cried.
Rosalina had stood silently.
Her father had demanded an explanation.
Rosalina had insisted she hadn’t taken anything.
Lily had been sobbing.
The family had surrounded Lily.
Comforting her.
Protecting her.
And Rosalina…
Had been left standing alone.
Her brother remembered what Rosalina had said afterward.
“It’s okay.”
She had smiled.
“I don’t need you to believe me anymore.”
At the time, he had dismissed it.
Now…
It terrified him.
Because he realized that might have been the moment Rosalina had begun giving up on them.
⸻
Her mother looked toward the clock.
“She’s asleep.”
Her father nodded.
“Good.”
“She can’t know about this.”
“No.”
Adrian’s answer was immediate.
“She doesn’t need to know.”
Her sister looked at him.
“What are we going to do about Lily?”
Silence.
Her father leaned back.
“We investigate.”
Her brother frowned.
“That’s it?”
“For now.”
“She hurt Rosalina.”
“I know.”
“She destroyed her reputation.”
“I know.”
“She nearly destroyed the company.”
“I know.”
His father looked at him.
“And I also know that if we act recklessly, Rosalina will eventually ask why.”
That silenced him.
Their goal wasn’t revenge.
Not exactly.
It was prevention.
They needed to make sure Lily couldn’t hurt Rosalina again.
But there was another problem.
They remembered what Lily had done.
And none of them trusted themselves to remain rational.
⸻
Adrian finally spoke.
“We don’t touch her.”
Everyone looked at him.
“We don’t threaten her.”
He continued.
“We don’t do anything that could come back to Rosalina.”
His expression was cold.
“We simply find the truth.”
His wife nodded.
“And if the truth proves she’s guilty?”
Adrian’s eyes darkened.
“Then Lily loses everything she used to hurt Rosalina.”
No one asked what he meant.
They understood.
Her lies.
Her influence.
Her position in the family.
Her access to their company.
Her ability to manipulate them.
Everything.
Their father reached for a folder.
“I already started.”
He placed it on the table.
Everyone stared.
“When?”
“Two days ago.”
He opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Financial records.
Old messages.
Business documents.
Security reports.
Lily’s name appeared repeatedly.
Her brother picked up one of the papers.
“She was already accessing company information before she framed Rosalina.”
His eyes widened.
“She was?”
“Yes.”
Their father pointed to another document.
“She also had contact with one of our competitors.”
Silence.
“So it wasn’t only personal.”
“No.”
Their father looked grim.
“She had an agenda.”
The room became colder.
Their mother slowly sat back.
“Then Rosalina…”
“Was protecting us.”
Again.
That realization hurt.
Even when they hated her…
She had been saving them.
Even when they believed she was betraying them…
She had been protecting them.
And Lily had been standing beside them, pretending to be innocent.
⸻
Her sister stared at the documents.
“Why didn’t Rosalina tell us?”
Her brother gave a bitter laugh.
“Would we have listened?”
Nobody answered.
They all knew.
No.
Rosalina had learned that telling them the truth didn’t matter.
They had already decided who they believed.
And that was the most painful thing about their second chance.
Rosalina still loved them.
She still trusted them enough to sit beside them.
She still accepted their gifts.
She still smiled when they praised her.
She still called them family.
But she didn’t know how much they regretted what they had done.
She didn’t know that every smile she gave them felt like forgiveness they hadn’t earned.
She didn’t know that every time she leaned against them, they remembered the times she had reached for them and they had pulled away.
And she certainly didn’t know that they were now discussing the people who had hurt her.
⸻
“There’s something else,” her father said.
Everyone looked at him.
“Lily isn’t the only one.”
Silence.
He placed another folder on the table.
Then another.
And another.
People who had spread rumors.
Business associates who had taken advantage of Rosalina.
Employees who had used her name.
People who had humiliated her.
People who had benefited from her downfall.
People who had watched her suffer and done nothing.
Her brother stared at the growing pile.
“That’s a lot.”
“Yes.”
His sister looked at her father.
“Are we really going through all of them?”
His father looked toward the staircase.
“One at a time.”
Adrian stood.
“We start with Lily.”
Everyone nodded.
But before they could continue, a faint sound came from upstairs.
A door opening.
Everyone froze.
Then footsteps.
Slow.
Sleepy.
Rosalina.
The family immediately stopped talking.
Her father closed the folders.
Her mother stood.
Her brother pushed the papers away.
Adrian’s expression softened instantly.
Rosalina appeared at the top of the stairs.
She rubbed her eyes.
“What are you all doing awake?”
Nobody answered for a moment.
Then her mother smiled.
“We couldn’t sleep.”
Rosalina descended the stairs.
“You should go to bed.”
Her brother laughed softly.
“Look who’s talking.”
“I was thirsty.”
Her mother immediately stood.
“I’ll get you water.”
“Mother, I can—”
“No.”
The answer was automatic.
Rosalina blinked.
Her mother smiled.
“Please.”
Rosalina sighed.
“Okay.”
Adrian walked toward her.
“Are you tired?”
“Very.”
He smiled.
“Then go back upstairs.”
Rosalina looked around.
“You all look suspicious.”
Everyone froze.
Then her father laughed.
“We’re family. We’re allowed to be suspicious.”
Rosalina smiled.
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
She turned.
Then paused.
She looked back.
“Don’t stay up too late.”
Her family stared at her.
That simple concern nearly broke them.
Even now.
Even after everything.
Rosalina was still worrying about them.
She disappeared upstairs.
Her footsteps faded.
The family waited until they were certain she was asleep again.
Then her father reopened the folder.
He looked at Lily’s photograph.
His expression was no longer the same.
“We start tomorrow.”
Adrian looked at the photograph.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
“We start tonight.”
His wife frowned.
“Adrian.”
He calmly closed the folder.
“I don’t mean confronting her.”
He looked toward the stairs.
“I mean finding every piece of evidence.”
His voice became quiet.
“Because last time, Rosalina was alone.”
His eyes hardened.
“This time, she won’t be.”
Nobody argued.
Because the first name on their list was Lily.
The girl they had once welcomed as family.
The girl they had defended over Rosalina.
The girl whose lies had helped destroy Rosalina’s reputation.
And now…
For the first time…
Lily would have to face a family that remembered everything.
A family that knew the truth.
A family that had nothing left to lose.
Except Rosalina.
And they had already decided they would never lose her again.
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