Chapter 7
“No.” Jonathan answered. Yet, he recalled Rosalie pinning him down on the bed with intoxicated eyes when he was about to put her on the bed after he brought her back to the rental home in his arms.
At that moment, he was surprised by his carelessness. Had she been someone who wanted his life, he would’ve lost his life there and then!
The man had always been vigilant, so he couldn’t wrap his mind around why he had put down his guard.
However, before he could get up. Rosalie had already cupped his face with both hands. She pushed aside the thick bangs on his forehead and stroked his eyelids with her fingertips.
“You have beautiful eyes… I like them… so much…’ she murmured.
“Like?” That word wasn’t uncommon to Jonathan. After all, there were always women who claimed to like him and complimented things about his eyes and stuff.
His eyes were perhaps the only part that resembled his mother.
Jonathan’s father would often gaze into Jonathan’s eyes and be lost in thought when the latter was a child. His father would then mumble to him, “These eyes may seem affectionate but are, in fact, the most heartless. I wonder, will you be affectionate or heartless in the future, Jon?”
“Mm-hmm. Because… they’re pure…” Rosalie elaborated while burping.
“Pure?” thought Jonathan, snickering. This was the first time someone had described his eyes as pure.
“It’s as if they have never been tainted by any sins… So pure… The woman was in a charmingly tipsy state, her face virtually pressing against his. “Jon, don’t be afraid… I will… protect you….”
With that, she slumped onto his chest and fell asleep in her drunkenness.
“Protect me? You can’t even protect yourself, yet you claim that you’ll protect me? How ridiculous! Jonathan sneered inwardly.
Back to the present, he looked at Rosalie and lied, “You didn’t do anything, just fell asleep”
Hearing that, she breathed a sigh of relief.
His gaze then landed on the red and swollen part of her check. “Does your face hurt?”
Taken aback, she immediately answered truthfully, “Not really.” After all, a slap was nothing compared to the suffering she had gone through in prison.
“What exactly happened yesterday, Rosie? Why did you get hurt, and how did you get drunk?” Jonathan stared intently at
her.
“Nothing much. 1 simply ran into a drunkard and had a minor confrontation, Rosalie replied nonchalantly, not wanting to tell him the shameful events of last night.
She always felt that he was pure and uncorrupted. Even though he was homeless, he still maintained the innocence of a child. Hence, if possible, she hoped he would never change.
“Really?” Jonathan’s eyelashes fluttered slightly as he concealed the glint in his eyes. “If I’d arrived earlier, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt, then
In fact, he could’ve resolved this matter way earlier, but this was merely a game to him that added color to his otherwise monotonous life. He had even anticipated what might happen when she entered the private room.
Unexpectedly, when he saw the result with his own eyes, he found himself unhappy instead.
“It’s good enough that you came to pick me up at the club entrance. If not, I might have to sleep on the road all night,” comforted Rosalie while grabbing his hand. “Thank you, Jon. It’s so good to have you. Besides, I’m really fine. A slap in the face is no big deal to me.”
“Her smile’s so serene, but why do I still find it such an eyesore?” he mused.
“What? Loretta tricked you into becoming an escort? She’s so shameless! I’ll go find her!” Lillian Quinn came to visit her best friend today, only to see the lingering redness and swelling on Rosalie’s check. Only after questioning the latter did she learn about that incident.
“So what if you find her?” Rosalie stopped her friend. ‘I was the one who was too careless. I thought, at most, she’d just try to make some money out of me. Never have I expected that… But, fortunately, Jon came to pick me up when I stumbled out in
a drunken haze”
Jon?
“It’s the
person who lives with me now. I consider him my little brother and told him to treat me as his older sister.” explained Rosalie. At the mention of Jonathan. a smile unconsciously appeared on her face.
“Little brother? How old is he?” Lillian asked.
“Twenty-seven. He’s only a few months younger than me.”
Lillian almost choked on her own saliva. She had a hard time believing that her best friend was actually cohabiting with a
grown man now,
“What were you thinking? What if he has ulterior motives? Have you ever thought about the danger? You studied law yourself, so you should all the more be familiar with cases about male and female tenants who co-rent. Your current situation is even riskier than that!”
“I understand your concerns, but Lillian, having someone to live with makes me feel less lonely. Besides, Jon is a good person”
“Lonely? Don’t you have me!” demanded Lillian. “Look. How about I move in with you?”
“Nah. Your parents would probably dislike me even more if you moved out of your family home, Rosalie quickly rejected.
Back then, she clearly did not drink during the car accident, yet all evidence pointed to her being a drunk driver. No one except Lillian believed her.
During the three years that Rosalie was incarcerated, Lillian had tirelessly worked on the former’s case, even going so far as to give up studying abroad. This, in turn, caused a strain on Rosalie’s relationship with Lillian’s parents, for they blamed her for holding up their daughter’s future.
Frankly, they were right. Without Rosalie, Lillian would probably have had a better life by now instead of working as an insignificant designer in an architectural design firm.
“Furthermore, Jon is like a little brother to me. You should know I used to always wish for a little brother. Now, I finally have one, added Rosalie,
Realizing she likely wouldn’t be able to dissuade her friend, Lillian changed her approach. “Well, can I meet him, then!” She could only feel at ease after meeting the other party.
“Okay,” Rosalie replied.
“By the way, here are copies of the case files from back then and some information I’ve gathered over the years.” While speaking, Lillian handed a stack of documents to Rosalie. “Now that you’re out, do you plan to reopen the case?”
“I’m not sure. The witnesses from back then have disappeared, and all the evidence pointed to me. I haven’t been able to dverturn the case in the past three years. In the future…
“Maybe there will still be an opportunity for you to overturn the case next time. You’re Rosalie Leighton, after all. The
weu, o sepi
Rosalie I know isn’t somebody who gives up easily,” encouraged Lillian.
3.64%
Rosalie smiled bitterly. If she were still the same person from three years ago, she would’ve worked hard to clear her name. However, her spirit and determination had long been worn down by the misery she experienced in prison for three years.
After Rosalie returned to the rental home with the stack of documents, she saw that it was vacant, Jonathan was not around.
“He’s probably still out distributing flyers. Lately, he has been spending his daytime doing this, she mused.
As such, Rosalie then steamed some corn, made a bowl of soup and some vegetables, and waited for Jon to return.
