Chapter 2
And perhaps the cruelest part of it all…
Was that they had been waiting for Ava's return this entire time.
Rose continued crying. The more she thought about everything, the more tears rolled down her cheeks. Her chest ached painfully, and her vision blurred from crying too much.
Soon, she slowly rose to her feet and walked toward her computer desk. The computer had remained untouched for three whole days, something that had never happened before. Rose practically lived on her computer.
She had originally intended to search for the admission criteria for Empire Academy when her eyes suddenly landed on something unexpected.
A video file.
Rose had CCTV cameras installed in her room, all connected directly to her computer. She valued her privacy and liked keeping track of her surroundings, especially since she hated people touching her things.
The moment she clicked on the video, her expression froze.
Ava appeared on the screen.
The girl was sneaking quietly into her room in the middle of the night. Rose watched with widened eyes as Ava carefully approached her bed before pulling something out of her pocket.
Rose's heart skipped.
"She drugged me…" Rose whispered in disbelief.
That night, Rose had already been drunk and heartbroken after discovering Ava sleeping with her fiancé. Yet Ava had still drugged her further.
"What the hell is that bitch trying to do?!" Rose cursed under her breath as anger slowly replaced the sadness in her eyes.
Her trembling fingers moved away from the video only for another notification to catch her attention.
A Gmail.
It was from the Central Hub.
Rose frowned immediately. The Central Hub was the official organization responsible for genetic marriage registrations and matching procedures.
"Huh?" Rose muttered in confusion. "Am I hallucinating now? Why would I receive a Gmail from them?"
Feeling uneasy, she quickly clicked on it.
The moment she read the contents of the message, her entire body went still.
A genetic marriage application had been submitted using her name.
"What?!" Rose screamed internally, her pupils shrinking in disbelief.
Her personal details had been filled out completely and officially submitted.
Immediately, her thoughts landed on Ava.
Rose quickly returned to the CCTV footage and continued watching. This time, she saw everything clearly.
Ava had sat in front of her computer and spent several minutes typing.
Realization crashed into Rose.
"So this was what you were up to…" Rose muttered darkly. "That's why you sneaked into my room and drugged me? Just so you could submit a marriage application in my name and get me out of the Hart family?"
Her breathing turned uneven from fury.
"How dare she…"
Without another second wasted, Rose grabbed her computer violently before storming out of the room.
She walked past the sunflowers that still irritated her eyes before making her way downstairs toward the dining hall.
The three happy family members were still having breakfast together.
By now, the shameless Williams had already left.
The moment Rose entered the dining room, the atmosphere instantly changed.
Her expression was cold.
Her eyes were red from crying.
And rage radiated from her entire body.
"Did you submit a marriage application using my name?" Rose asked sharply the moment she stopped in front of the table.
Everyone looked up at her.
Rose raised the computer slightly.
"Are you really that eager for me to leave this house?" she demanded angrily. "How dare you?!"
"And don't even think about denying it," she added immediately. "I have evidence. There's a video of you sneaking into my room and tampering with my computer."
"A video?" Mr. Hart frowned slightly.
Ava's expression changed for a split second before she quickly hid it.
"Sister…" Ava called softly with teary eyes as she immediately held onto Mrs. Hart's hand. "I was only looking out for you."
Rose almost laughed from disbelief.
Ava continued with her usual innocent expression.
"Williams and I are together now because he chose me," she said weakly. "He loves me. I just… I didn't want you to feel lonely after everything that happened."
She lowered her head pitifully.
"So I submitted the marriage application hoping you'd find someone perfect too. I only wanted you to be happy again."
Rose stared at her in complete disbelief.
"Does that even make sense to you?" Rose snapped furiously. "You submitted a marriage application in my name without my permission!"
Then she turned toward Mrs. Hart.
"Mother, can you hear what she's saying?" Rose asked bitterly. "How could she do something like this without even asking me first?"
"I'm sorry, sister…" Ava cried immediately before burying her face against Mrs. Hart's chest. "I really only wanted you to be happy…"
"Can you stop all this already, Rose?" Mrs. Hart finally spoke, slight irritation evident in her voice as she stroked Ava's hair comfortingly.
Rose slowly looked at her mother.
Mrs. Hart sighed.
"Can't your sister care about you?" she asked. "Why must you always react this way? Ava just returned to the Hart family, yet you can't even try to be accommodating."
"Accommodating?" Rose repeated with a scoff.
Her eyes reddened again.
"Nice?" she laughed bitterly. "She submitted a marriage application in my name and you expect me to smile about it? Did I ask her to? If I wanted a husband, I would've gone to find one myself!"
"Enough of this nonsense, Rose," Mrs. Hart replied coldly this time. "You should be getting married soon anyway, so just accept your sister's favor and stop making a big deal out of nothing."
Rose froze.
For a moment, she simply stared at her mother quietly.
Then she laughed softly.
A painful laugh.
"So that's what this is really about?" Rose asked. "You want me to get married and leave this family for good, right?"
Mrs. Hart said nothing.
Even Mr. Hart, who had remained silent the entire time, merely exchanged glances with his wife without speaking.
That silence hurt Rose more than anything else.
Slowly, she nodded to herself.
"I understand now."
Then suddenly, Rose looked directly at them.
"Just state the amount," she said calmly.
