The next morning, Rose woke up with a headache. Last night, she fell asleep while cursing the cheaters and planning her next move. She had to be quick to hire a lawyer and sue Mila and Henry.
Rose knew what needed to be done but Henry beat her to it. When she picked up her cell phone, messages poured in like an unstoppable hurricane.
[Did you try to steal Mila's book?]
[It's so good that Henry checked your book thoroughly and recognized that you were trying to steal Mila's work.]
[When did you become like this, Rose?]
As Rose scrolled through the uncountable messages, her heart shattered into pieces.
Henry issued a warning to other publishing companies that Rose Milton delivered a stolen manuscript to him that resembled Mila's latest book. As proof, he attached pictures of Rose's original work under a post on his social media. People already liked and recognized Mila Austin so they were furious when they found out someone was trying to steal their favorite writer's books.
The more comments Rose read, the more her heart sank in the pit of her stomach.
Hurriedly, she looked up the new scandal on the internet, and not-so-surprisingly, Mila already gave a written interview to a famous blog.
Mila stated that she pitied Rose who was her best friend. She didn't expect Rose to steal her book and give it to Henry under the pretext of being the original writer.
She also mentioned that being a writer was hard and as Rose faced multiple rejections in the past, she must be desperate. Mila was a Saintess in the eyes of the keyboard warriors while Rose was a leech who tried to suck her friend's blood.
Rose didn't know for how long she stayed in her room after that. She was dejected and tired. For years, she worked hard to become something, and her dreams were destroyed just like this.
******
In the afternoon, Rose received an unexpected call from her mother. Her broken heart revived for a moment as she picked up.
" Rose Milton, how much more do you want to embarrass us? " Lily Milton, Rose's mother screamed from the other end of the phone.
What was left of Rose was crushed when she heard that voice after three years. She thought that her parents' hearts must have softened after seeing how their daughter was getting thrashed, but apparently, Rose was wrong about them.
" Mom. " She whispered.
" Don't call me that! You are a disgrace to our family. Your father was about to become the President of the hospital and you caused a scandal. " Lily hissed, " Now, thanks to you, the Directors have called him in for an explanation. "
" I didn't want this. " Rose said apologetically.
" You should pray the Directors don't change their mind about your father, Rose, or else you will regret the day you were born just like I regret ever giving birth to a disgrace like you. " Every word from Lily was harsher than the previous one.
Rose didn't know what to say or how to stop feeling the deep ache in her chest. She kept quiet and listened to her mother cursing her out.
When Lily was done venting, she hung up. The beep on the other side of the phone made Rose numb.
Rose thought that this must be what she deserved for abandoning her parents eight years ago. She came from a family where the three generations consisted of specialist doctors.
Her parents wanted her to be a heart surgeon to become another trophy of their family but Rose refused and dropped out of the medical college to go into literature.
Rose always wanted to be a writer. To fulfill her dream, she selfishly disregarded her parent's expectations and so they kicked her out.
Back then, if she had stayed and become a doctor, she would be enjoying life in her wealthy family. But here she was now, in a run-down apartment with nothing much left to eat and her bank account with zero balance.
Rose looked around her. She was alone. Completely isolated.
For a moment, her heart pleaded with her to stop and run away but then she shook her head. She pushed that thought away. She would not let them win. She would still fight.
*****
Days after days, Rose ignored the piling of negative comments against her. She went to a lawyer but was told filing a lawsuit would be futile.
So, in the end, she focused on writing a new book. As expected, it was not hard for her. Heartbreak was always a writer's biggest weapon. It could push them to slip back into their imaginative worlds.
After a month, Rose had another book ready to publish. She was confident that she had talent now but the problem lay in publishing her book.
She went to several publishing companies but was returned with a stern rejection. No one bothered to read her book for fear of offending Henry and Mila.
On the other hand, the cheaters were living a warm life. Often, one of them lingered outside Rose's apartment and pounded on her door continuously.
To avoid running into them, Rose made sure to leave her apartment early in the morning and return in the middle of the night.
Each day, Rose's bad life became worse while Mila's stolen books received International awards after the scandal. This blew the scandal out of proportion once more.
Now, the fans wanted to protect their internationally recognized author and would hunt down Rose wherever they saw her. After all, Henry and Mila conveniently splashed Rose's pictures on their social media accounts to make sure people knew how she looked.
Eventually, it was hard for Rose to find a job to support herself. Unemployed and broke, she gave up on the book. Her dreams became a part of a dusty drawer.
To survive, Rose got a job at a high-end club as a waitress. Here, she could wear a mask to hide her identity and blend with other people.
However, she couldn't hide for long. One day, Henry and Mila found her again but this time, they were not alone.