His dangerous lover

Chapter 8: Falling for a Dirty Trick

Rose, who had been speaking so softly and hesitantly when they still had an audience, now stood before Melissa with cold and stormy eyes.

In an unconcerned manner, she snorted at the look her cousin was giving her and said, "I was trying to be reasonable, but you just had to resort to violence, didn’t you? Now look what you made me do."

Melissa had no words, but she still tried to say, “Y-you… you—!”

“Want me to do it again?” Rose asked nonchalantly. When Melissa’s answer was to clamp her lips shut in fear, she continued, “Then scram. I don’t care if you don’t want to grieve my parents with me, but I won’t have you disrespecting them by trying to take their portrait down. Just run along now, little cousin.”

When she found herself unable to do anything but follow Rose’s order, Melissa felt utterly humiliated.

…

When Amber came to, she dazedly saw Melissa sitting by her bed, sobbing wretchedly.

"Melissa…?” she said. “What's… what’s going on? Why am I here?” As her eyes came into more focus, Amber got a good look at her daughter, which made her sit up suddenly despite her lingering lightheadedness. "What happened to you!"

She shakily reached for her daughter's tear-streaked face, on one side of which was a red palm print that hurt her to even look at.

Though concerned, she thought at first that her husband must have come back while she was unconscious and that he was the one who did this, so she was almost reluctant to ask, "Who hit you, darling?"

Melissa had been crying so hard that her makeup was smeared and her delicate face was in disarray. Now that Amber had woken up, she finally had someone to share her grievances with, so she lost no more time rattling out, "Rose hit me, Mom! Just look at how she bullied me! Am I still supposed to let things slide when she dares to treat me like this?!"

At those words, Amber’s eyes widened. But at the same time, she shook her head in disbelief. "Rose hit you, you said…?"

She couldn’t be blamed for not taking her own daughter at her word. Although Rose had grown up in a doting environment, she never became spoiled by it. She had always been extremely kind to the point of stupidity. It was only after Amber had had her imprisoned in a mental hospital that she saw her display any temper.

Assuming Rose had really lost her memories… could someone as gentle as she was really hit her daughter like this?

Amber squinted at Melissa a little suspiciously and asked, "Did she really hit you…? Or did you do that to yourself?"

The question left Melissa feeling even more aggrieved and angry. Rose's cold demeanor earlier had left her heart chilled—at least until the sensation was replaced by rage and embarrassment after she was made to scurry off in her own home. Now, she had even made Melissa’s own mother doubt her like this.

"She hit me, Mom!” Melissa replied insistently, now crying mostly in anger. “Why would I lie about something so shameful? Can't you find a way to teach her a lesson? We've been away for only a couple of days, and she has already decorated our house like it belonged to the dead. I just wanted to tell her off for doing that, but she hit me like I had no right to! If we don't stop her now, she will turn our entire lives upside down soon!"

At long last, Amber believed her daughter’s words. She was then filled with anger at the thought of what had become of her home.

"We definitely have to deal with her,” she mumbled coldly. “But how…?"

Over and over again, she turned countless thoughts in her head.

Melissa looked at her mother's preoccupied expression, hoping she could come up with a way to get rid of Rose once and for all.

After a while, Amber's eyes lit up, then she said confidently, "Go and put ice on your cheek for now, darling. Rest assured, I already have a plan to deal with her. I won't let her get away with this!"

…

Another couple of days passed, and they were surprisingly peaceful ones.

Since she had largely been holed up after her return, people’s interest in Rose quickly died down. For the moment, both the netizens’ and journalists’ attentions had been turned to other matters.

As for things at “home”…

After what she had done to Melissa, Rose had been expecting to deal with the consequences, which would have involved playing up her “helpless and confused” act to make her cousin look like a liar.

While it was possible she might not have had Amber fooled this time, her uncle should have still been a different matter. She knew how little he trusted Melissa now.

As there was no movement from either him or Amber, Rose had to assume that one or both of them didn’t know about what had gone down after Amber fainted. She thus wondered why her "helpful" little cousin was so calm this time. Was it because she had really been scared off by her?

Just as she was thinking about how she could take the initiative to do something, there was a knock on the door, followed by Amber's voice saying from outside, "Rose, dear? If you don't have any plans today, do you want to go out to dinner with me?"

Rose was surprised. Although there was surely nothing good that could come of this, she was curious about what kind of plan Amber had in mind.

At the same time, she wasn’t counting on her previous tricks to work on her anymore. She didn't know how this woman would deal with her now. Rose believed that it was more likely than not that she wanted revenge on her for slapping her precious daughter.

"Okay, I'm coming!" Rose said, her face expressionless even though her voice was full of joy and excitement. She quickly cleaned up and then went with Amber.

…

As Rose chatted with Amber on their way to the waiting car, it came as no surprise that it would just be the two of them. Melissa wouldn’t be coming along.

On the car that only carried them in the backseat, Amber was warm, caring, attentive, and considerate towards Rose. It only sent Rose’s alarm bells ringing even more.

It seemed that Amber had had everything arranged. Unlike Melissa, who was reckless and impulsive, Amber was cautious and cunning. This made Rose raise her vigilance secretly.

After they arrived at a restaurant within a magnificent hotel in the city, Rose walked in and found that there was someone else sitting in the private VIP room that Amber said she had booked for the two of them.

When the man saw Rose come in, he got up. He was wearing a suit made of exquisite materials, but his demeanor was far less imposing and special compared to Joseph's. He looked to be less than 30 years old, but his hairline was receding, making him appear older.

At first glance, his sallow face seemed excessively eroded by alcohol and other vices, but he had a reserved smile that made him seem like a gentleman. His stare, however, kept wandering around Rose's face and figure, and a suggestive glint kept flashing in his narrowed eyes.

Coming up just behind Rose, Amber made the introductions.

"Thank you for waiting, Matthew. This is my niece, Rose Sommers. I take it you’ve already heard a lot about her?”

As she spoke, Amber wrapped a hand around Rose’s arm and “guided” her closer to the man called Matthew.

"That's right,” the man replied with a pleasant but shallow smile. “I have indeed heard a lot about Miss Sommers. But I have to say, those journalists and paparazzi have done her a great disservice. Their pictures didn't even capture one-tenth of her beauty."

Amber laughed. “My, Mr. Carlton, what a flatterer you are.” She turned to the younger woman she was practically holding hostage in her grip. "Rose, this is Mr. Matthew Carlton, the CEO of the Alpha Lion Corporation. He started from scratch and became one of the most successful men in the country at a young age. After many years of hard work, he got to where he is without relying on anyone but himself. He is regarded as an example by many entrepreneurial youths. Your uncle told me you wanted to learn about how to run the Sommers Group someday, so I thought it would do you good to get to know him better."

Amid Amber's glowing introductions, Rose pretended to look interested and impressed as she shook hands with the man. "Hello, Mr. Carlton," she said with a small and reserved smile.

“It’s just Matthew, please,” the man replied. “In exchange, let me just call you Rose.”

Rose nodded eagerly. “Of course.”

With the formalities out of the way, the three took their seats. Matthew sat quite close to Rose, and much to her secret disgust, his eyes kept glancing at her chest.

Rose was obviously not happy about whatever was truly going on, but she didn't show it. She skillfully kept her smile up as they talked and laughed over a full-course meal, frequently raising their glasses and acting like they were all enjoying themselves while Matthew humble-bragged about his rise to the top of the business world.

After the meal, Matthew suggested that they all spend more time together somewhere else, but Amber made an excuse not to go with them. She was eager to leave them on their own after this.

By this point, Rose thought she knew clearly what the other woman's entire plan was—to sell her off.

But was it really that simple? Rose couldn’t get over how unoriginal it was…

Hiding her thoughts, she nodded with a trusting smile and agreed to go with Matthew later by herself.

As Amber had said, Matthew was a man of importance. If he could be played properly, he might prove useful to Rose’s future plans. It would be great if Amber’s own scheming were to lead to her suffering more losses instead.

While Rose was thinking about this, her vision suddenly started to go blurry.

At first, she thought it was an illusion, but soon, she realized that something was actually wrong. Her body temperature was rising, and she was feeling hot and sweaty. Accompanied by bursts of weakness and indescribable emptiness, she clenched her fist under the table and realized in anger—she had been drugged!

But she had thought of this possibility going in and had been careful to drink only what the others had also ingested.

So why was she the only one in trouble when all three of them had drunk from that bottle of wine? When and in what manner was the drug administered to her? Could it have been in her food?

The situation was getting worse by the second, and her body's endurance was reaching its limit.

Knowing she didn’t have time to worry about how she had been tricked, Rose tried to stand up as if nothing was the matter. She looked apologetic as usual and chuckled while saying in embarrassment, "Before we leave, will you please excuse me for a moment?"

Her words and manner implied that she needed to use the restroom first. Matthew gave her a meaningful look but did not inquire further. He simply said, "Of course, Rose."

After smiling shyly at him, Rose turned to Amber. “Do you also need to go, Auntie?”

Amber lifted only one corner of her lips as she raised her glass to drink some more wine.

Based on how innocently Rose had gone with her and then gotten coerced into spending time with a man she’d never even met before, she couldn’t help but be convinced that she really didn’t remember anything.

She might have undergone a personality change, sure—but that must have also been due to the trauma that had made her lose her memories in the first place.

There was just no way she would have been this careless around a woman who had already tried taking her life once before.

“No, dearie,” Amber replied with a sweet matronly smile. “I’ll be taking my leave as soon as you return.”

“Okay.” Rose nodded obediently. “I’ll just be a moment.”

As soon as she turned away from those watchful gazes, Rose allowed her emotions to show.

Unfortunately for her, this didn’t just include anger this time. There was also panic.

By “selling her off,” she thought Amber had only wanted to get a rich suitor to buy her hand in marriage. This would not only get her away from Joseph, but it would also hit two birds with one stone by getting her out of their house while also getting her family’s pockets lined further.

The fact that Amber had actually drugged her… it meant that her aims were more immediate and nefarious than that.

Rose wanted to curse, but she bit her tongue. She hated that she slipped up and allowed herself to be so careless, but as long as she behaved normally, she could still temporarily ensure her safety.

Fighting off both her fear that Matthew would follow her and the ever-increasing effects of the drug she’d been given, she tried her best to walk steadily as she left the room like nothing had happened.

Upon closing the door, she then quickly rushed to the bathroom and locked herself in.

Breathing heavily as she felt unbearable heat spread all over her body, she bit her lip, hard. She was hoping that the pain would be enough to ward off the haziness that was closing in all around her.

Before her awareness could slip any further, she took out her phone and dialed a number that she now knew by heart.

In this critical situation, she had only one choice left.

But though she heard it when the call rang as it connected, Rose could no longer hold on until it was answered. Her eyes went dark as her phone slipped from her slackened hand.