She stopped trying to leave and allowed him to hold her. "Did you tell my therapist this same nonsense?" she asked coldly.
This time, Justin released her immediately shocked by her question. "Why will I do such a thing? I have not seen your therapist since the last time you told me to go with you," he answered sharply. He did not like the fact that she thought he would go as far as manipulating her through her therapist.
"Call me for lunch when it is time for lunch," she instructed him and walked out of the room to her studio.
Justin exhaled in relief. That was an improvement. Shortly before he left for Y city, she stopped talking to him completely. The door opened less than a minute after Valerie walked out of it.
She glanced at him. "I want to bring Anna back home," she informed him.
"I don't think that is a good idea," he immediately objected without a second thought. "She might . . ."
"I spoke with her doctor and he said she is stable enough to come home. I will just buy a helicopter to rush to the hospital if something happens," she interrupted him hastily. "And besides, it is safer for her to be at home."
"Valerie, I . . ."
"She is coming home tomorrow. I could easily spend some time with her while I am busy. The show takes place in two months. I don't want to disappoint my customers," she told him directly without any room for negotiation.
When she left finally, he thought about it deeply trying to accept her decision or more like to make it easier for him to accept it. If Anna comes home, it will make it easier for Rose to spend some time with her. Well, he had listened to his friend's suggestion and brought Rose home and he hoped the girl's presence will make things easier in their home.
It was lunchtime soon and Rose went downstairs after taking her bath and wearing one of the clothes Mara made available for her. She sat down in the dining room ten minutes before lunchtime. She watched as the kitchen staff laid the table and when she felt like she must be obstructing their work, she got and went to the waited in the living room.
In less than a minute, a very beautiful woman walked into the living room in a simple but elegant beige gown. Her hair was brown and auburn just like Rose's hair making her stand up and paused in shock. The woman also froze when she saw Rose and they both stood gazing at each other.
"Who are you?" it was the woman speaking with a blank look on her face and a trace of anger in her eyes.
"My name is Rose," Rose immediately answered dropping her gaze to avoid appearing rude. This must be the madam. The woman deserved the title and deserved to be the daughter of a royal family although distant but she had everything Rose's stepmother was supposed to have as the queen but did not.
She was very elegant. She carried herself with a lot of dignity and pride that Rose felt she might spend years training to get.
The woman had an ideal height for a woman with a slender beautiful shape. The gown she wore might be free on her body but it could not hide the sexiness of her body. The gown might look bad and out of shape on someone else but this woman wore it so perfectly. She looked like anything will look just too beautiful and perfect on her.
The woman had green eyes just like her mother, the late queen and she looked like the late queen except for her lips and nose which were fuller and had a higher bridge than her mother's. The pictures she saw on the internet showed some resemblance but it was not this much.
"Justin," the woman called in a soft but cold voice. She turned and stared at her husband and stared at him with anger and disappointment. She passed her thoughts almost completely to him through her expression. "Was this your idea?" she asked him her eyes almost boring holes into him.
"What idea?" Justin could not help but ask as he stared back at her with a confused expression although he knew she would easily read through him.
"You found someone that looked like her just to make me . . ." she began but could not continue as her heart began racing fast and a lump formed in her throat. She suddenly held her hand to her chest as tears began pouring down. "She looks so much like her," Valerie cried her voice hoarse and pained.
"Valerie!" Justin called out now worried and almost hating himself for bringing pain to his wife. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly until she calmed down which took quite some time. He helped her mop her tears planting a kiss on her forehead.
He might have brought her pain by bringing Rose into their home but he felt happy that his wife allowed herself to be held in his arms, that was certainly an improvement.
Throughout the whole drama, Rose stood watching in confusion. Mr. Whtfred had said his wife was sick then what was all this? She could not understand any of the things that took place.
She slumped down on the leather sofa behind her and tried to arrange pieces together. The smile Mr. Whitfred wore when his wife stopped crying did not miss her eyes. It was the kind of smile meant for such a moment rather it was the kind of smile someone will wear when he wins a lottery – a big happy victorious smile.
Well, it was obvious from the whole drama that Mrs. Whitfred did not like her much which made her sigh.
"Rose, join us for lunch. I am hungry," Mrs. Whitfred pulled her out of the tunnel of thoughts her mind was to find something important from the scene she just witnessed.
She was shocked. Didn't she just conclude that Mrs. Whitfred did not like her? Why did it seem like that was not the case? What a really fast change in the whole atmosphere.
One minute, it felt like Mrs. Whitfred disliked her, the next second the woman was crying because of her, and the next minute, she was invited for lunch. She could not think of the right way to behave at that moment but tried to keep a smile on her face.
Without waiting for her response, Mrs. Whitfred pulled her husband's hand and led them to the dining room. She sat down when her husband pulled back her chair for her.
Mr. Whitfred glanced at his hands that were held earlier by his wife and smiled. He loved his wife too much to let her go and he was willing to do anything to make her stay with him forever. Although some of his methods might not be good.
Rose walked to the dining with her smile still plastered on her face. She stood in the dining room confused. She glanced at the ten seats around the long marble table. Two seats were occupied by the couple and the others were left empty.
She calculated the appearance she will give by sitting either close to them or sitting far away. She did not want it to appear as though she was given an inch and took a mile by sitting next to one of them. She also did not want to appear like a scared weird child by sitting far from them.
"Come here," Mr. Whitfred was nice enough to save her from the stress of making a decision. "Sit here," he told pointing at the seat on his left-hand side next to him. His wife was sitting on his right.
She pulled the seat back watching the beautiful woman in front of her for any reaction and the woman simply gave her none. Mrs. Whitfred stared ahead blankly looking at nothing in particular.
As soon as Rose settled down to eat, the maids began serving the first course. At this point, Rose's thoughts began trying to understand the woman in front of her. The woman did not look sick and she was very beautiful. Her skin looked pale and she had shadows around her eyes but that was it.
Her eyes appeared sad and worry lines were visible on her face. After trying without progress to understand her new mother, Rose moved her gaze away from the well-known fashion designer down to the plate of food. Welcomed or not, she was now a part of this family.
The random surname she was given in the orphanage was now changed officially to the name of this family. She felt grateful for the opportunity she was granted by fate.
The dishes served were the best she had eaten in her life and she could not help but appreciate it when they were done eating lunch. Mrs. Whitfred only ate vegetables while Rose and Mr. Whitfred enjoyed the high-quality steak.
While Mrs. Whitfred ate her lunch she watched Rose although not making it obvious. The girl looked even more like her cousin when closer and that hair color was too much a match. She was very curious about the girl but also cautious. She could see little signs of it being a setup by someone who knew her too well.