Chapter 3 Bury You With My Roses
1530 Words
In the dream, Stacey walked alone in the long, dark, and seemingly endless corridor.
All of a sudden, a cold hand grabbed her feet!
She lowered her head, only to find a woman in a white dress lying on the floor, her entire body covered in blood. The woman, looking scary and sinister, stared at Stacey with eyes dripping with blood, yelling, "Help me! Help me..."
Stacey screamed in fear. The next moment, she woke up from the dream and popped up.
No blood-covered woman was grabbing her feet, and she was sitting on the soft bed, which was lit up by the bright sunlight. She looked around and saw the beautiful rose garden through the window.
Her phone buzzed, and Stacey got a message from her mother.
Sally: Has Bluebeard found you are a substitute?
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???? Her heart sank. The worries in the real world were like ticking bombs that could explode at any time, while her dream was like a bubble that would disapeared in no time, leaving no traces behind.
She went downstairs to the dining room at about ten. To her surprise, Lucas was still having breakfast there in a very graceful manner.
He was perfectly handsome, as always. His hair was brushed up to reveal his forehead, and he wore a white silk shirt with exquisite handmade patterns on the sleeves and neckline. This man was noble and elegant, like a king.
Stacey greeted him a bit nervously, "Good morning, Mr. Anderson."
The man glanced at her, nodded, and concentrated on the breakfast again.
Plucking up, Stacey asked very carefully, "Mr. Anderson, may I ask a question? How will you punish a person who has deceived you?"
She added nervously, "Not deceive, per se, but just a tiny lie that means nothing to you."
Lucas answered calmly after Stacey stammered out her question, "A lie is a lie. Big or small, it makes no difference to me."
He paused, then said, "The roses in the garden are quite beautiful, aren't they?"
Lucas put his left hand on the right, looking at Stacey with his blue glass-like eyes. "That's because I buried liars in the garden with my roses."
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???? Stacey was so terrified that she could not even recall what she said next. All she could remember was herself almost sprinting out of the dining room, then finding the first car that she came across and asking the driver to send her back to her parents' house.
The limo stopped at the gate of the Morris villa, and Stacey got out of the car after thanking the driver. Before she opened the door of the house, she heard the voice of her younger sister, Fiona Morris. "Mom, I don't wanna hide anymore. Please, let me go out. Dad has paid off the debt. That b***h, Stacey, has replaced me to marry Bluebeard. There's no way she has the guts to tell Bluebeard the truth so she won't expose me. Oh, I got an idea. How about we ask her for some money? She'll die soon anyway, so let's ask her for money while she's alive. She won't dare to refuse!"
Stacey froze and her blood ran cold.
She spent four years at a college away from home. A week ago, her mother, Sally Morris, suddenly called and told her that Robert Morris, her father, was hospitalized, and Fiona was missing.
Stacey hurried home, only to find that Robert was in the hospital because he owed the loan sharks 800 million dollars due to gambling, and the loan shark's thugs beat him up. To raise money, Fiona registered to be a candidate for Bluebeard's wife but disappeared after she was chosen.
The thugs beat up Stacey's parents and threatened to let her work as a p********e to pay off the debt. Having no choice, Stacey was forced to marry Lucas as a substitute for Fiona.
Now, hearing Fiona's words, it dawned on Stacy that everything was a conspiracy.
Just as she lied to Lucas, her parents and sister ganged up to deceive her.
Driven by rage, Stacey wanted to rush inside and beat Fiona up.
When she was looking around for a tool to beat her sister up, she saw a black Rolls-Royce passing by on the road. It suddenly stopped slowly, just tens of feet away.
It was Lucas' car! Stacey remembered it. He actually followed her here to catch her back.
She must stop Lucas from going to her home. If he knew she had lied to him, he would bury her in the rose garden.
Immediately, Stacey made a quick choice. She turned around, left her home, and wandered randomly on the street.
She peeped at the car out of the corner of her eyes, and as she expected, it was still following her.
Along the way, many people passed by Stacey, including a young couple in love, elders going for a run, and a family gathering to have lunch together. Only Stacey was alone, feeling like a stranger in this place.
After a while, she went into a*****e to buy a few cans of beer and then sat on a bench in the park. The cold wind blew up her hair. On the grassland, a couple was teaching their kid to play soccer, enjoying a harmonious and cheerful time in the company of their loved ones.
Stacey opened a bottle of beer and took a sip. Suddenly, the boy missed the kick and fell to the ground. His parents burst into laughter, and so did Stacey. However, as she laughed, tears began to roll down her cheeks without her knowing.
At this moment, Stacey could not help but recall that when she was young, Robert and Sally often took Fiona to the park, yet they never took her. As it turned out, she had never been loved.
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???? Drinking up the beer, Stacey felt a little dizzy. She tried to stand up when her phone rang in her pocket.
It was a strange number. She answered. "Hello?"
"Where are you?" It was Lucas' deep and unique voice.
"Mr. Anderson." Alcohol made Stacey braver. Thinking of Lucas' theory about lies, she tried to ask, "I... I'm having lunch in my parents' home."
There was a long silence on the phone.
Stacey had a bad habit of not being able to speak fluently whenever she was guilty or nervous. Now she stammered again, "M-Mr. Anderson, what's the matter?"
There was a short silence again. Then the man sighed. "You lied."
Stacey shivered but found it oddly thrilling as if she was challenging the grim reaper. Thus, she asked bravely, "So what? Mr. Anderson, are you gonna bury me with your roses?"
Lucas didn't answer her but hung up the phone.
With the courage given to her by alcohol, Stacey was fearless. As she was going to call Lucas back to get the answer, a boy came over with a rose and said to her, "Miss, a gentleman asked me to send this to you."
Stunned, Stacey took the rose and said thanks. The boy ran away quickly.
The next moment, a little girl came over also with a rose. Handing it to Stacey, she said, "Miss, this rose suits you perfectly."
Stacey took the rose in surprise. "Thanks."
Then, a young couple handed their rose to her. "Be happy, lucky girl."
"Erm..." Confused, Stacey took the rose in a daze. "Thanks."
"Miss..."
"Miss..."
Four, five, six... dozens more!
Stacey received so many roses that she could barely hold onto them, but still, more and more people came to her with roses in their hands.
Stacey looked around, noticing that all those people came from the same direction. She realized something, rushed out of the crowd, and ran in that direction.
The whisper and laughter of the onlookers sounded.
"Oh, my Goddess! See that gentleman in the wheelchair? He's so handsome and so romantic too! He bought all the roses from the nearby flower stores to make his wife happy. Who is that lucky woman? How I wish I could be her!"
As Stacey picked up her pace, the sea of onlookers before her parted ways, allowing her to barrel through unobstructed. Next, the man in the wheelchair entered her sight like a burst of sunshine on a cloudy day. Stunned, she suddenly paused.
She called his name, choking with sobs, "Mr. Anderson."
Lucas looked at her silently with a calm face.
Suddenly feeling a strong sense of guilt, Stacey bowed. "Sorry, I lied to you."
"I know." Lucas folded his hand gracefully. "So, I will bury you with my roses."
His word was like an order to the surrounding people. They laughed and threw the roses in their hands at Stacey.
In the rose rain, Stacey's tears welled up in her eyes. She looked at Lucas reverently like a believer who had finally witnessed an act of God after a long, hard trip.
She suddenly understood why the women in the story would fall in love with the scary Bluebeard.
It seemed that she wouldn't care even if he killed her at this moment, of course, just at this moment.
- Writer
