Chapter 2
I took a cab back to the mansion.
The second I walked in, I got blasted with ice–cold water from head to toe.
“Oops! Sorry, Rose!” Amber stood there with the garden hose, only lowering it after I was completely soaked through. “I was just watering the plants. Didn’t see you there.”
I blinked the water from my eyes and froze.
My roses–the ones I’d babied for years had been completely dug up.
In their place were patches of some ugly weeds she’d deliberately planted to spite me..
The cold wind hit my wet clothes and my post–surgery body screamed in protest.
The world spun, and I almost hit the ground.
But Marcus and Nathan just exchanged this look, both rolling their eyes like I was putting on some
dramatic show.
“Thought you were actually gone for good this time,” Marcus said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Nathan snorted. “Where else would she go? Even her own mother doesn’t want her.”
That one hit like a knife to the chest.
I suddenly remembered my first day at the Blackwood house.
Nathan holding my hand, trying everything to make me smile.
‘Don’t be scared, Rose. This is your home now,” he’d promised back then.
Marcus had given me the best bedroom in the family mansion.
Later, when we moved to this place for work, he’d personally designed the master suite around all
my favorite things.
He’d told everyone that I was the lady of the house–now and always.
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Slapped Today, Crowned Tomorrow
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Chapter 2
Until Amber showed up, supposedly to “help her mom with housekeeping.”
When she wasn’t throwing herself at the brothers, she was “accidentally” breaking my stuff.
At first, I let it slide. Her life seemed tough.
Then she crossed the line–smashing my dad’s jade pendant right in front of me.
When I finally stood up for myself, Marcus physically pushed me away.
He glared at me. “Amber’s had it rough enough. Why are you, with your silver spoon upbringing,
picking on someone who hasn’t had your advantages?”
Nathan jumped in: “She’s literally younger than me. At your age, couldn’t you just be the bigger
person?”
I stood there holding the broken pieces of my father’s jade, feeling completely lost for the first time.
After that day, everything changed.
I wasn’t their priority anymore.
The housekeeper’s daughter had methodically replaced me.
Becoming the mansion’s new queen bee, pushing me toward the exit.
Fine. There was nothing left for me here anyway.
I just wanted to grab my stuff and bounce.
Inside, I found all my belongings dumped in a messy pile in the hallway.
Marcus had his arm wrapped around Amber, looking down at me like I was trash.
“Get it through your head, Rose. You’re just a parasite living off the Blackwood family. You don’t get to look down on Amber or throw your little princess fits!”
“From now on, you’re sleeping in the maid’s quarters. Amber’s taking over your job, and you’re getting transferred to maintenance. Maybe when you learn how to act like a normal person, we’ll talk.”
Nathan ripped apart the teddy bear my mom gave me to make Amber giggle.
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Chapter 2
“Try making Amber cry again, and you’ll seriously regret it.”
Sis. Sister Rose.
One tiny word difference. A whole world of meaning.
If this had happened before, I would’ve cried myself to sleep for weeks.
But now? I was done. No time for their drama.
I just said, “You’re right.”
“I’ll be out of your hair soon.”
“And don’t bother with the transfer, Mr. Blackwood. I quit.”
Marcus let out this cold laugh.
“So you’re really committed to being a useless freeloader in this house.”
“Whatever. For my mother’s sake, I’ll let it slide this time.”
“Just know your place from now on.”
I walked right past him, whispering, “There won’t be a next time.”
This place had given me some beautiful memories once.
But, it was never really my home.
