Time always passed by quickly whenever Anne was with Emily. Before she even knew it, it was already
eight o'clock in the evening.
"Emily, I'm going back now," Anne said as she glanced at the rain outside of the coffee shop.
Emily smile back at her. "If that's the case, let me drive you back home. I want to see your new home
as well."
Emily was looking forward to seeing the Luo Family but after seeing Anne's expression, she suddenly
felt that she had asked the wrong question.
"Oh, uhm… I have something else going on right now, maybe next time?" Emily tried to keep a smile
but it looked off, forced, and awkward.
At that moment, she wished to beat herself up because of shame. Even though Anne had returned, she
must have felt bad about the whole thing.
"Well, if you ever get more free time, I'll take you there,"
Anne replied.
She could feel that Valentina wasn't really friendly to her. She acted politely to her only because she
hadn't done anything wrong to offend her so far.
She had lost control of her right eyelid, which now proceeded to keep on twitching on its own. She had
a bad feeling that something big was about to happen.
In the Luo Family.
The rain fell on the Luo Family's house. The rainwater on the ground reflected the bright lamplights.
After leaving Emily, Anne decided to take a stroll outside for a while to calm her head. It was already
ten o'clock in the evening when she arrived home.
In the torrential downpour, the entire house was lit up brightly, dispelling the darkness of the night.
Anne entered the house and changed into her slippers. Then she saw Valentina and Liam sitting on the
sofa.
Liam wanted to say something to her but stopped himself. At the same time, Valentina was trying to
hide her anger and annoyance.
"Oh wow, so now you come back. Do you know how long we've been waiting for you?" Valentina was
about to burst.
"You didn't have to wait for me." She knew deep down that Valentina was about to teach her a lesson.
"We're supposed to be asleep right now, but the whole family is awake and waiting for you. Anne,
whatever happens, you must come back before nine o'clock. That's the rule," Valentina said.
Liam finally interjected, "There are some exceptions, of course."
Sometimes, Rose would come back a little bit late but Valentina wouldn't react this bad.
"Of course, there are exceptions. But if you tell her that now, will she use it as an excuse in the future?
Now that she's back home, I'll treat her like a daughter of mine. Is it too much to ask?" Valentina
replied.
Liam wasn't able to formulate a counter-argument. Although whatever Valentina had said was hurtful, it
actually made sense.
Anne stood in the middle of the hall, not caring whether she could fit in or not. She only planned on
staying here for only a few days, anyway.
She knew it was painful to live under someone else's roof.
"I'm sorry. I'll pay attention to it more in the future. I'll be leaving in a few days because my house would
be done in the decorations,"
Anne said in a neutral tone, neither humble nor pushy. She was merely telling Valentina that she should
stop before going too far and she could leave whenever she needed to.
Hearing this, Valentina felt scared for a bit. She was afraid that Anne would go out of her way and have
a relationship with Kevin, slowing down her plans of making Rose and Kevin a couple.
"I may have spoken harshly earlier, but it's for your own good. I'm just looking out for you," Valentina
said.
In fact, she never really hated Anne. Her only complaint was her relationship with Kevin, which might
affect Rose's marriage.
"I know. Thanks for that. Anyway, I'm already tired. I'm going to bed," Anne said before she marched to
her room.
Meanwhile, in the Starry Hotel.
Kevin came in to inspect the hotel as usual. In a stunning turn of events, Rose happened to be there as
well.
She had been waiting there especially for him. She wore a vintage dark red sweater with a matching
elegant dress. With her makeup on, she looked a little bit cold and arrogant like Anne usually did at a
glance.
Kevin wore a simple black suit with a vintage gold button embroidered on his sleeve.
He matched this with a pair of black suit pants that made his legs look slender.
"Oh my God, Kevin! What a coincidence…" Rose walked up to him with a gentle smile.
Her gorgeous appearance made Kevin forget about everything for a while because her makeup
reminded him of Anne.
Kevin frowned, trying to suppress the displeasure in his heart.
"Your company is doing well, I've already checked it out for you," Rose said.
She thought that since she's Kevin's "fiancee," she should share the burden of taking care of the
business.
However, Kevin still walked forward and checked the place.
"Kevin? Don't you believe me in my abilities?" Rose asked as he passed him by.
"No, it's just my habit of double checking," Kevin replied in a monotone.
Seeing that Rose's expression changed, the person behind Kevin added in the conversation. "Here's
the thing, miss, Mr. Kevin is used to doing things by himself. Otherwise, he could just get a capable
assistant so he wouldn't need to work as hard."
The assistant's explanation finally eased Rose's nervousness.
The assistant didn't divulge that there were so many hotels in the AN Group and that only the Starry
Hotel and the other one had been run by Anne. Kevin would only go to these two hotels personally to
inspect.
"Okay." Rose looked at Kevin as she calmed down. Although she liked him, she wouldn't dare to get
close to him.
"Okay," Kevin rarely entered the conversation.
"Well, anyway. My parents both wanted to see you. Would you kindly come to my house whenever
you're free?" Rose finally said after a brief period of silence.
They were going to be married soon, after all. It would be more reassuring for her parents to meet up
with Kevin beforehand.
But obviously, Kevin didn't care much about the topic. "Let's talk about it later, okay? I'm kind of
preoccupied at the moment."
It meant that he just wouldn't go lest there was any accident. He just couldn't do anything for the
woman that he didn't like.
Selma had arranged the engagement that was agreed upon by Rose. Although he was the president of
the company, he had no right and ability to refuse.
What was more, Kevin frowned tightly at the thoughts of Anne. The aura he gave off was oppressive.
"Are you free after the inspection?" Rose asked.
"No, I'm sorry but I'm busy," Kevin said nonchalantly.
"Oh… uhm… all right, then."
After hearing his words, Rose felt discontent. If a man always said he was too busy for you, that only
meant that she was not that important in that man's heart.
She knew of this, but she didn't know where to work on to impress him.
"Well… if that's the case, I'll go back. Just let me know if you're free and I'll arrange everything up,"
Rose said with sadness evident on her face.
"Okay," Kevin replied briefly.
When he finally turned around without hesitation, Rose stopped him.
"Kevin, let me ask you. Why do you always feel like you're deliberately avoiding me? Rose asked in an
unnatural voice.
She never would have thought that one day, she would be forced to act like this and wouldn't even give
a damn about her image just for a man.
The assistants had already left the two. Kevin looked cold and cruel with his back turned to Rose.
Rose still felt that Kevin was too high and mighty for her and she could only look up to him.
"Listen, I didn't mean to avoid you. I just couldn't refuse the marriage. But if you're really wise enough,
leaving me would be the best choice for you because anything you do won't make me fall in love with
you,"
Kevin said to her solemnly because no matter how much he tried, he couldn't purge Anne from his
memory or heart, even if she had hurt him badly.
"So? You can marry me just for the child…" Rose's tone sounded a bit more desperate, making her
lose her usual dignity.
"No, please. I'll find a way, even though it's going to be difficult. I'd rather choose the difficult one,"
Kevin said.
"But… you and Anne had already divorced," Rose replied.
"It's my business, not yours." Kevin had had enough of the conversation and walked out to the elevator.
Rose looked a little bit confused as she stood not far from the elevator.
Her phone suddenly rang. Pulling it out and seeing that it was a call from Selma, she chose not to
answer it.
Twenty minutes later, Selma had arrived at the Starry Hotel but missed Rose who had already left.
"Hey, where's Rose?" She happened to come across Kevin who was already prepping up to leave.
"I don't know. She probably left already," Kevin replied in his usual apathetic tone.
"What did you say to her? Kevin, we were going to try out the wedding dress together today!" Selma
explained.
"I never agreed with this marriage. Stop wasting your energy on this," Kevin replied.
With that, Selma finally snapped and slapped Kevin's face as hard as she could. Her eyes were
burning with anger. "Do you even know what you're doing? Eddy's illness is already serious, don't you
know that?"
"I know and I'm sorry but my heart only belongs to Anne. She couldn't bear a child anymore, so what?
We can have a test tube baby instead. There are so many ways to try but you just had to destroy our
relationship!"
It was extremely rare for Kevin to get angry with Selma like that.
His sharp tone had already frightened Selma. But after his words sank in, she became more furious.
She looked terrible and was about to laugh at his face but her voice was full of disappointment.
"You'd rather abandon our family's face just to have a tube baby with a woman? Are you even still my
son? What the hell are you thinking about?" Selma finally yelled at him, making her lose her image of
being a well-educated lady from a rich family.
"I'm not thinking about anything. I just told you what I wanted to do. Mom, don't meddle in my business
if you don't want to destroy Rose."
Kevin had enough. He strode away, his cold and arrogant back making Selma tremble with anger.
"You think I couldn't do anything about it? Anne, you won't get away with this…" Selma clenched her
fist and dug her nails deep into her palms until they bled.
After calming down, Selma had finally returned to normal and left the Starry Hotel.
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