Chapter 42
Rose and I sat in front of each other in the backyard. I couldn’t look her in the eye. I was ashamed of what I had done. My intentions were never malicious. I didn’t want to hide Rosie from them to hurt them. I just didn’t want my success to be linked to
to anyone but me. I had lived my entire life in the shadows of big names. For once, I didn’t want my success to be linked to any of them.
“My son
yson hurt you a lot, huh?” Roses
spoke, making me look at her.
“He did..” I nodded, inhaling.
“Why did you name her Rosalie?” she asked me. She had a motherly smile on her lips.
“Because you were there for me when nobody else was. You always stood by my side and supported me in a way I had never experienced ever since my mother’s death. I wanted to show you that I never forgot about you the moment I would bring Rosie to meet you.” I told her honestly.
“When can I meet her?” Enthusiasm was evident in her voice.
Today if you’d like. We didn’t want to bring her here before telling you. We wanted to prepare you first,” I told her,
Something caught Rose’s attention when she looked over my shoulder. I turned and found Harper walking towards us.
“She’s here to talk to you. I’ll leave you two to sort everything out.” Rose got up from her place and walked back inside the house.
“Can I sit here?” Harper asked.
“Sure,” I mumbled, not looking at her. She sat on the white chair that Rose once occupied.
I wasn’t mad at her. I just didn’t like the way she spoke to me, but I understood that she was angry.
“I’m really mad at you,” she whispered, looking at me.
“I know and you have every right to be,” I told her. Harper and Julian shared the same shade of blue eyes, but her hair wasn’t as dark as his.
“And I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you” She sounded sincere.
“It’s fine.” I offered her a small smile.
“I understand, you know. I get it… I get that you didn’t want to be linked to Julian or us in any way,” she continued talking. “I just wish that you hadn’t kept Rosie away from us. I had always wanted to be an aunt.”
“I’m sorry… For so long. I wanted my success to be attributed to my hard work, not a family I belonged to. It was hard for me to cope with everything around after what Julian had done and I needed to have a fresh start. For once, I didn’t want to be a Kensington or a Harolds.”
Being all alone was never easy. There were so many nights when I cried myself to sleep. I wanted somebody to hold me and assure me that everything was going to be okay, but I had no one. Even Maya was far away and couldn’t just get in her car and console me like she used to do.
The day I was in labor was still fresh in my memory. When my water broke, I freaked out at first, but then I forced myself to calm down and took a cab to the hospital. I was in dire need of somebody to hold my hand and had it not been for the kind nurse who refused to leave me alone, I would have experienced all of that pain without any kind of support by my side.
It was never easy for me to be on my own, but I had to do it.
“Was being a Kensington bad?” Harper frowned.
“Not at all… I loved being a Kensington and I loved being a part of your amazing family, but you… you weren’t there, Harper. You didn’t see the way Julian spoke to me when he accused of cheating on him. You weren’t there when he threatened to make me regret contacting you. You didn’t see how he threw a check at me and told me that cheaters didn’t get anything, but he didn’t mind a bit of charity. Everything he did that day was still carved in my memory. “I didn’t want to belong to him in any way after what he had done.”
“My brother is an idiot,” she muttered. “I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you and for what he put you through”
apology on behalf of her brother, because it didn’t
“It’s okay. I’m not upset with you. I understand,” I assured her, getting up. I meant to ignore her ap mean anything. The damage was done. “I’m going to pick Rosie up and bring her here.”
“I can’t wait to meet her!” Harper exclaimed happily. “Show me a picture of her!”
I strolled through the photos on my phone until I found a cute one c of her.
“That’sher.” Thanded her the phone. Harper’s eyes glistened and they almost turned into hearts.
“She’s adorable!
“I will go get her,” I told harr
Chapter 42
Harper and I walked back i
inside
- The three of them seemed concerned at first, but when they saw that we were fine and talking, they relaxed.
“Im going to bring Rosie, I announced.
“You came here with me. Let me drive you back. We need to explain to her the situation anyway.” He was right. We needed to explain to her that she was about to meet her family.
“Okay.” I nodded.
When she met Julian for the first time, she took it well, because I prepared her for that moment. I did tell her that she had a family, but I didn’t talk much about them and thankfully, she didn’t have a lot of questions.
I called her nanny on my way back and asked her to dress Rosie because I didn’t want to waste so much time.
“Rosie, there’s something we want to talk to you about,” I said, looking at her. She was in the back seat. Julian surprised me with the car seat he bought for her upon his second day of finishing out about her.
“What is it?” She titled her head to the side.
“Today, you’re going to o mert s face.
some people who love you so much, Julian told her. She didn’t seem excited though. Confusion was obvious on her
“Who are they?” she wondered, playing with her red skirt.
“Your grandparents and aunt,” I said. I kept my eyes fixated on her face, attempting to read how she was feeling. My daughter was very talkative, so when she didn’t say anything back, I started to worry. “What’s wrong, cupcake?”
“What if they don’t like me?” She didn’t even look at me while saying that
“Rosie, they’re going to like you so much. You don’t need to worry about that Julian was quick to assure her.
She wasn’t used to meeting so many people in a short period of time, so of course, she was nervous.
When we arrived at the mansion, I saw how wide her blue eyes got. “They live in a princess house! It’s so big!” she exclaimed, making me laugh.
Although I was a millionaire, I didn’t choose a huge mansion for us to live in because there were only two of us. There was no need for a huge place,
“Do you like it!” Julian asked her as he parked the car.
“It’s
‘s perfect” She grinned.
Julian and I got out of the car, then he got Rosie out. I looked at her and saw her clinging to his hand. I loved how it was easy for her to trust him.
“Mommy“” she called for me as she extended her hand. I smiled and held her tiny hand in mine and the three of us walked towards the front door. If somebody saw us from afar, they would think that we were a happy family. Rosie was the linking point between us,
Julian rang the doorbell and we waited for them to open the door for us. I expected a maid to do so, but I found an excited Harper in front of us. The moment she spotted Rosie, she knelt to her level with a big smile on her face.
-You must
st be R
Rosie, right!” Harper beamed at her.
“I am. Who are you?” Rosie asked her.
“My name is Harper and I’m your aunt,” she introduced herself.
“Hi” my daughter smiled widely at her.
“Do you think I can hug you?” Harper softly spoke to her.
“Yes.” Rosie nodded, still smiling.
Harper didn’t hesitate and was quick to wrap Rosie in her arms. I saw how her eyes brimmed with tears, making my heart crack a little. “I’m so happy to meet you, she murmured and kissed Rosie’s check. “You know! I have two kids and they’re close to your age. I’m sure you’re going to be great friends”
can play with them” Rosie asked her excitedly, earning a nod of excitement from Harper.
Harper took Rosie to the living room, and we followed her behind. The moment Rose and Uncle Steven spotted Rosie. I knew that the meeting was
