After River got over her initial shock of the hickeys on her neck and her chest, she finally looked at her reflection closely in the mirror.
The woman who stared at her looked younger than herself. She had long, curly, brown hair and brown eyes with huge eye bags and dark circles, which reminded her of a zombie. Overall, she looked awful.
"Ah!" River clutched the side of her head when suddenly she felt this sharp pain that brought her to her knees and memories exploded in her mind. Memories that didn't belong to her.
Obviously, these were the memories of this body that she now occupied.
Hazel Rose.
She was the youngest child in the Rose family. The only daughter that Grayson Rose had. She had two older brothers, but they were not close. No. They hated her because their mother died when she gave birth to Hazel.
River knew all these, as her line of business allowed her to gather detailed information about important people and the Rose family could be put on the list. This family was rather affluent in Talbar city, though you couldn't compare them to the Leighton family right now, but it was safe to say you wouldn't want to mess with this family, unless you had a great back up.
However, she had never paid close attention to the only daughter of the family, since she was very lowkey and there was nothing significant that Hazel had done.
Therefore, it was a surprise for River to learn the extent of bullying Hazel received at home.
"Dang. As River, I had Aubrey and now, I have two older brothers that were akin to jerks." River kneaded her head. The memories still poured into her mind, but they had slowed down. As she occupied her body, she owned her memories too.
And apparently, the night when River switched her body with Hazel's was the night when the real Hazel died because of asthma. The drug was so strong that it reacted poorly with her body, which caused her death.
"Poor girl…" River then realized that she was not any different. "Poor me…"
She was startled when she heard a knock on the door and Ranon's voice echoed inside the bathroom. He sounded calmer than before, probably it came to his understanding that Hazel was a victim too.
"W- wait! I am putting on my dress!" River shouted and heard him walk away, thus she immediately put on her dress and stared at her reflection in the mirror.
Using her fingers, she combed her curly hair, but it didn't help. She still looked like she had not slept for a thousand years.
Frustrated with her own reflection, River decided to ignore it and then walked out of the bathroom. She found Ranon sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee on the table in front of him. He was wearing a white shirt and pants. He looked casual and homey.
"Sit," Ranon ordered her curtly.
River pressed her lips together and sat down. There was another cup of coffee in front of her, which she assumed was meant for her.
"Look, let me make it clear." River raised her hand to stop Ranon from speaking, which made the man glare dangerously at her. It must have been so rare for him to be interrupted that he looked pissed off, but River had to say her piece first. "I am also a victim here. I don't know, who has drugged me and taken me to your bedroom, but obviously, you need to figure it out yourself. Whoever did that, must have hidden a motive to harm you or your reputation."
Ranon leaned back, as he listened to her rambling, but in the end, River was confused because there was no response from him at all. Being stared at like this was not really good.
River had never encountered Ranon personally before, but her father's business had a clash with his, so it would be safe to say that he was her family's enemy.
But now, after what Aubrey and her fiancé had done to her, her first thought was; family my ass. Her father could be best friends with Hazel's. Now River realized, how similar her life was with Hazel's.
She wondered if her father learned that Aubrey had killed her, would he finally scold her? After all, that excuse of a sister had been the apple in their father's eyes. His baby girl would never do anything wrong.
"Can you say something?" River frowned because Ranon was unresponsive.
"You are smarter than I thought." What this woman had said, resounded well with what he was thinking.
"Is that a compliment?" River didn't think it was. "Well, tell me what are you going to do to find this culprit?"
Ranon was deep in thought, the woman before his eyes didn't look like the timid young girl from the Rose family.
Needless to say, Ranon did his digging the moment he woke up to find out who the woman he had slept with was.
Hazel Rose. The black sheep of the Rose family.
"I will take care of that," Ranon said curtly. "I can see that you are smart, therefore, I assume you know what you have to do about what happened last night."
Ranon thought this woman would argue with him and he had been prepared for a negotiation, but River agreed with him readily.
"Don't worry, I will not say anything about this," River replied. She was still trying to adjust with her new body. She didn't want any more trouble on her plate.
Ranon furrowed his brows. In the end, he didn't think too much and because River had agreed, it was time to talk about settlement.
"Is there anything you want from me?"
River didn't hesitate when she replied. "Yes. Money."
Ranon expected this, thus he wrote a blank check for her, but she refused.
"No. I want cash." Grayson Rose had access to Hazel's accounts.