Rosamond was so furious she almost laughed. No wonder he'd shown up to "take care of her" today. He'd come to collect her professional resources for his precious childhood sweetheart. She sat rigid on the hospital bed, not moving a muscle, forcing down the emotions threatening to erupt from her chest. After a long silence, she lifted her gaze to meet Bryce's eyes and spoke, each word deliberate: "My resources. I'd sooner throw them in the trash than hand them to her." Bryce hadn't expected such defiance. His expression darkened instantly. "Rosa, I suggest you think this through. You've already resigned from the firm. Those contacts are useless to you now." "You hurt Olympia. Compensating her with them is the least you can do. Don't be so petty." A sharp pain lanced through Rosamond's chest, and for a moment the world narrowed to nothing but that ache. Olympia had spread lies and framed her, costing her everything she'd built at the firm. These two had shattered her grandmother's keepsake. Last night, they'd nearly killed her on the operating table. And now Bryce was telling her she needed to hand over her professional network to Olympia on a silver platter, to atone for crimes she never committed. What a joke. Rosamond's lips twisted into a cold, humorless smile. "Why should I compensate her?" "Give me one reason." The words had barely left her mouth when Olympia burst into the room, tears streaming down her face. She grabbed Bryce's sleeve, her eyes brimming with wounded innocence. "Bryce, please don't upset Rosamond because of me. I know she hates me. Of course she'd refuse to share her resources." "Rosamond, this is my fault. I shouldn't have come between you two. Hit me, yell at me, I can take it. Just please don't be angry with Bryce. He works so hard running that company all by himself." "I'll go. I'll leave and never bother you again..." She made a show of struggling toward the door. But for someone so desperate to leave, her eyes kept darting back to Bryce, and her feet hadn't moved an inch. Rosamond watched the performance with cold detachment. Not a ripple of emotion stirred inside her. Bryce, however, pulled Olympia into his arms, his voice aching with tenderness. "Olympia, you've done nothing wrong. Why would you leave?" "She's the one being difficult. Don't worry. I'll get those resources for you today." He turned to Rosamond, his face like a storm cloud, and his voice cut through the room: "Since you insist on being unreasonable, I see no reason to spare your dignity." "Rosamond, don't forget. The final draft of your thesis is still in my hands. If you won't cooperate, I'll have no choice but to release it for everyone to 'study.'" Rosamond's eyes went dark. Her voice rose. "You wouldn't dare."
Her fingers curled inward, nails biting into her palms. Something tightened around her heart like a wire, and a suffocating pressure flooded her chest.
That thesis was the culmination of years of work with her advisor. It was their shared achievement.
She'd never guarded herself against Bryce. She never imagined he'd turn it into a weapon.
Whatever warmth remained in Rosamond's heart went cold.
She'd misjudged him. She could accept that now.
When she looked up again, her eyes were empty. Completely, utterly empty.
"Fine. I'll hand the resources over to Olympia. But I want to watch you delete every copy of that thesis with my own eyes. And you'll sign an agreement guaranteeing you'll never leak it."
Bryce shrugged, unbothered.
"Sure. No problem."
"I'm not that low."
He studied Rosamond's composed expression, and a flicker of unease stirred in his gut for no reason he could name.
She wouldn't divorce him over this, would she?
The thought lasted barely a second before he dismissed it entirely.
She loved him too much. She'd never leave.
He'd just have to sweet-talk her afterward. That would fix things.
With that settled in his mind, his gaze toward Rosamond softened a fraction.
"Come on, Rosa. Don't sulk. From now on, just stay home and be a good wife."
"Once you've recovered, we'll start trying for a baby. It's what my mother's always wanted."
"Oh, and since you're going to be a full-time homemaker, I'm bringing my mother here from back home. She was thrilled when she heard you'd agreed to have children. Make sure you treat her well."
Rosamond thought of Bryce's mother, Layla Delgado, and a wave of revulsion washed through her.
Layla had always adored Olympia. The moment she learned Bryce had married Rosamond instead, she'd treated her like a homewrecker who'd stolen her son from his true love.
The woman's tongue was vicious, and her real goal had always been to break Rosamond down.
Washing her feet. Waking at five in the morning to cook for her. Being forbidden from eating at the same table.
In the early months of the marriage, Rosamond had swallowed more humiliation than she could count.
Thankfully, Bryce had sent his mother back before long. Otherwise, Rosamond wasn't sure how much longer she could have endured it.
Bryce noticed her silence and frowned with displeasure.
"My mother has some old-fashioned ideas, sure. But she's still your mother-in-law. Grin and bear it."
"Her train arrives tomorrow at three. Make sure you're there to pick her up."
Rosamond laughed to herself. A bitter, silent laugh.
Funny how she'd never noticed what a devoted son Bryce was.
He opened his mouth to say more, but his phone rang. His assistant's number.
She couldn't make out the other end of the conversation, only catching fragments: "pulling out"... "leaving the country."
Bryce barked a few quick instructions to Olympia and rushed out of the hospital.
The second he was gone, Olympia dropped the act.
She swept a triumphant look over Rosamond, her voice dripping with contempt.
"Rosamond, oh Rosamond. A wife reduced to this. How do you even show your face?"
"If I were you, I'd have had the sense to leave a long time ago."
Rosamond glanced at her, her tone flat and unbothered.
"And I never imagined a mistress could be this shameless about it."
Olympia's face twisted with rage. She fixed Rosamond with a vicious glare.
"Don't get cocky. Mrs. Delgado arrives tomorrow, and she happens to adore me. Once she's here, your life will be a hundred times worse than it is now."
"Look forward to it."
With that parting shot, Olympia swayed out of the room on her heels.
Rosamond watched her go and let out a quiet, scornful breath. Layla Delgado was a force of nature. Olympia, did you really think you'd fare any better under that woman's roof?
But none of that was Rosamond's problem anymore. She looked away, picked up her phone, and called her mother, asking her to send someone to the hospital.
She didn't dare tell her parents about the night before. She said only that she'd fainted from a fever.
Noel and Martha were skeptical, but Rosamond held firm, and in the end they didn't press further.
Early the next morning, Rosamond sent everything she'd prepared to her lawyer, blocked Bryce's number, and boarded a plane without looking back.
