"I will have to walk again. I will but I really don't want to," Anna complained. She thought it was all over at first but it seemed they wanted her to appear again.
"You are very beautiful. That should not be a problem. Your confidence is good enough and beside Rose is your sister," Debby said rubbing her friend's back obviously her friend was nervous.
They spent a few minutes encouraging her before the show began or Anna would have backed out. Wayne got up and sat down on the arm of the chair his friend sat on. He placed his hand on her shoulder. Rose did more of the persuasion earlier but since Rose was busy, he decided to step in.
"I have . . .I don't think I can do it," Anna said standing up.
"Hey, you should not back out," Jace said standing up too and walked over to his friend and crush.
"I . . .," Anna began.
"You can do it," Debby interrupted. "Rose will fail if you back out."
"Hey, Rose is trying hard and you are trying to run away. If you do it well, you will make your mother proud. Your mother will be proud of you. If you don't want to do it for yourself, do it for Rose," Jace tried to persuade her.
"Fine, I guess Rose have stolen all my friends," she murmured with a nervous smile.
"No, we stole her from you," Wayne answered with his bright boyish smile lifting the corners of his lips. He pulled her into his embrace and rubbed her back encouragingly. "I will be watching you so make sure you do your best."
"Enough! I want to hug her too," Debby said pulling his friend away playfully. She glanced at Jace whose expression was not too good.
"Okay." Wayne pulled away without hesitating when he saw the jealous look on Jace's face. It was pity that he was used to hugging his childhood friend and it only got worse because Anna was away for over two years and his other friend left shortly after Anna did.
Jace gulped as he tried to calm his raging heart. Soon, he will leave too but Anna was still far from him. He was not even as close to her as her friends were and it hurts. Wayne was not restrained in behavior with Anna although he was a little restrained with Debby.
He could only guess that was the difference between a childhood friend, a best friend and a friend. He remained seated as he watched his friends encourage his crush while he felt he was more of a failure in going after a girl than his brother was.
He moved his attention to his brother's crush on the screen. She was the girl his brother left home for and abandoned him. He could only conclude that his brother who was willing to do anything for the woman he loved was not a failure at all.
Rose was doing very well and soon all the friends had their attention on the screen each hoping and praying in their heart that their friend wins the prize.
"Excuse me. I will be right back?" Jace said standing up.
"Where are you going to?" Anna asked impulsely with an obvious hint of anxiety. She immediately regretted it when she noticed everyone in the room staring at her surprised.
"I am going out to . . . to the rest room," Jace replied shocked by the sudden question from his crush and he could not hide the blush that slowly crawled up to his face. He immediately walked out of the room to hide his flushed face.
"Oh," Anna said awkwardly. She glanced at her friend who was wriggling her brow teasingly and immediately dropped her eyes to her fingers biting her lower lips.
Jace stepped out of the building into the night. He really needed to leave because he was not having a good time remembering his brother. The feeling of getting abandoned was something his brother knows very well. He hated that feeling. It was enough that their father adopted them.
Perhaps it was a mistake they got to meet Rose. Rose changed their lives. Rose is behind almost every thing and he hated that fact. She stole his brother, she is a princess his family supported completely and she was his crush's sister.
A figure stood a few steps away from him. He noticed the man wearing black jeans, a black hood along with the cap and a black face mask. The build was so familiar but he could not figure out who it was. He walked to person fearless fully aware his guards were hidden all over and over watching him.
"Who are you?" he asked as he got closer.
"Go to hell," the person said and hugged him. He felt a sharp pain in his abdomen that came along with the warm feeling of the person against him. "This just a warning."
"Shit," Jace hissed when the sharp pain intensified and the person moved away from the embrace and ran away. The only thing he could think of at that moment was to call his brother. He dialled his brother's number immediately after his body fell to the floor to weak to keep standing.
He could not remember what he said to his brother and he was slowly losing his consciousness. He did not have the luxury to look around for his guards and Scott. Whoever planned this must have kept them all away. No one else but his brother came to his mind.
"Jace!" Liam called out holding his brother in his arms using his hand to put pressure on the bleeding injury.
"Brother, you came back for me," Jace said as he began feeling dizzy. It was really a gamble,his brother who abandoned him for a girl returned for him. He used is life to gamble. If his brother did not come for him, he might have lost her life.
"Shhh . . . My car is away from here. I will call Charles," he said trying his best to remain calm. His brother was bleeding slowly to death.
"Brother you still love me right?" Jace asked holding his brother's hand.
"Shh. I love you."
"More than Rose?"
"Yes," Liam answered immediately. Jace released his hand and he dialled Charlie's number.
***
"Congratulations," Rose's friends chorused as they threw their hands around Rose and hugged her till they were all hugging her at once.
"Oh God, I'm suffocating," Rose had to cry out when Anna who hugged her first was squeezing the life out of her.
"Thank you," Rose appreciated sincerely taking the bouquet of red roses Wayne gave her.
"You are welcome. I knew you will win. My beautiful friend over here was brighter than a star on the runway. How many people tried to scout you?" Wayne asked his friend.
"Three," Anna answered with a proud smile.
"Where is Jace?" Wayne asked checking around when he noticed his friend was missing.
"I don't know. Where is Scott?" Debby asked staring around.
"I don't know."
They found it weird but they did not suspect what had really happened. There was going to be an interview afterwards.
Rose felt happy although a little nervous and scared. The number of daggers that will be pointed at her from this moment won't be a joke and she might not survive it but she had to start somewhere.
Valerie kept talking about how she did not know Rose was talented and Rose was left speechless. "You are going to work for me, right?" Valerie asked.
"I am going to college," Rose answered immediately without a second thought. Working for her mother was a very good idea but her target was the palace.
"Yeah. When you graduate, there will be a job waiting for you," Valerie told her as she did notwant Rose to work some where else. She could not help but admire her daughter's talent. Rose had a bright future ahead of her and she wanted to help her daughter be the best. Rose was the heir she always dreamt of having in Anna.
She made Anna become a model when she was young introducing her to the fashion designing world but Anna was never interested but she found a talent designer in her second daughter. It was something she wanted to celebrate so badly.
Anna was happy. She had always felt guilty towards her mother for not having the talent she needed to survive and do well in the fashion world. She tried over and over designing clothes to help her mother but none of those clothes were good enough. At least Rose was saving her from that feeling of guilt.
Rose knew what was going on her foster mother's mind and she did not disappoint her. There was no harm in working with her mother while she worked with the royal family. She could learn more and have a good experience until she is ready to open her own company.