“Can you do me a favor, Rose?” His playful mood was long gone.
What kind of favor does he want from me? Honestly, I am ready to do anything for him.
“And I thought you were going to grant my three wishes” Rose asked raising an eyebrow.
“It’s just a simple task and only you can do it” Elijah said and Rose gave in.
“Fine, tell me” she said with a humorous smile.
“Can you please find the whereabouts of the men who attacked me yesterday” Elijah requested making her confused.
“Why?” she asked unable to understand the reasoning behind it.
“I just need to know their situation. It’s important” Elijah said not explaining the reason behind it.
Looking at the seriousness on his face and a hint of discomfort, Rose decided to pester him later, so she just nodded for now, “Alright. I will try”
Saying that Rose left for breakfast. She saw everyone waiting for her eagerly in the dining room except for Aunt Melissa who was busy throwing daggers at her with her eyes.
Unlike the rest of the time, Rose sat on an empty chair between Olivia and Theodore. Mark and Oliver were sitting right opposite her while staring at her in shock.
“What will you have, dad’s cooking” Her father announced from the kitchen.
She saw her father and her uncle Levi wearing kitchen aprons.
‘How can Uncle Levi act so normal after almost killing someone last night?’ she thought in anger.
“Pancakes” she replied plainly while staring at her evil uncle.
“Only pancakes?” Her father questioned.
“You can only make pancakes” She replied turning towards her dad with a chuckle.
“Yes, that’s very true. He can only do that but your uncle Levi will make a French toast for you” Levi interjected but he was again met with a plain stare from her.
‘Like how all of you tried toasting Elijah last night’ Rose narrowed her eyes making Levi question if he did something wrong to her recently but he was genuinely unaware of doing anything that might offend her this time.
She composed herself soon and replied with a bright fake smile, “I would love that”
“That’s my girl!” Uncle Levi replied excitedly.
‘Maybe she is just reacting because of the head wound she got last night’ Levi thought going back to the kitchen with a new mission in hand.
‘Did he hurt his head too last night?’ she couldn’t help but think unknowingly mirroring the thought of Levi.
As she was about to comment further, she saw Laina who was sitting at the extreme corner of the opposite row standing up from her seat.
Rose looked at her weirdly.
With a breaking voice, Laina said, “I sincerely apologize for what happened thirteen years ago, Rose. I was a kid back then, and I had no idea that locking you up in the basement will cause such a profound effect on you”
‘This is not an apology, this is just an excuse’ Rose thought raising an eyebrow at her shamelessness.
“For the record, I was a kid back then, just like you. So, do you think you would have liked being locked up in the basement, all alone in the dark?” Rose retorted back with a straight expression.
“No, of course not. But I didn’t think much. I was just playing around” Laina replied plainly trying to suppress her anger.
“You were just trying to bully me, Laina. Come on, accept it. Be real for once, I might forgive you” Rose said knowing well that she was grilling her by keeping her on the spot in front of everyone.
Laina’s expression hardened just like her mother’s and she glared at Rose openly before answering,
“Alright! I did it purposefully. I wanted to hurt you. I just couldn’t stand you” Laina confessed as she was writhing from inside.
“That’s more like it” Rose said satisfied with the answer as Liana is finally showing some true colors.
“You were always favored by Oliver. I did so much to be in his good books. I was supposed to be his favorite cousin just like I was always everyone else’s favorite” Laina said not being able to control her emotions.
“So, you never gave it a thought that you were favored by everyone else and I was just favored by Oliver. How ungrateful of you!” Rose said folding her hands and sitting back in her chair comfortably.
“That’s not it, Rose. You are different. People treat you differently…” Liana was cut by Rose again.
“Do you mean how people are ‘mean’ to me. If you want to be treated that way, be my guest” Rose replied shaking her head. Liana was beyond livid now. She was keeping things in for too long and now she was just bursting out.
“That’s not what I meant. You are beautiful, smart, and talented, and you were the same even in the past. You were good in both academics and sports. The moment you came to our house, everyone started chanting ‘Rose, Rosey’. Even the guy I had a crush on also liked you and he couldn’t stop repeating ‘Your cousin is so beautiful’ and this and that and… and…” Laina was now heaving in anger.
“I was ten back then and you were thirteen, for God’s sake. I couldn’t possibly understand his romantic feelings” Rose replied in disbelief.
“Wait, is that farmer’s boy, Reuben?” Rose asked curiously and looked at Theodore for confirmation who he nodded silently in affirmation.
“You stole everything from me back then, and now, you even stole my own brother. I hate you, Rose! I hate you!” She shouted before storming out of the room.
There was a dead silence in the room for a moment until Rose broke the ice.
“Wow, that was a mature conversation” Rose said casually, not showing a hint of disturbance on her pretty face.
Everyone was still in a trance including her dad and uncle, until Rose broke the silence again.
She knocked on Olivia and Theodore’s chair to grab their attention. Once they were looking at her, along with very eager Mark and Oliver, she asked,
“Well, do you know any Smith family here?”
The moment she asked that question, a lot of heads turned towards her at the same time. Everyone looked shocked, to say the least.
From the corner of her eyes, she saw her mother’s eyes widen too.
“The Smith? You mean the grand Smith from Ketchikan?” Olivia asked wondering.
“There is any other Smith’s in the area too?” Rose asked in uncertainty.
“Nope, there is only one Smith family here and they are filthy rich” Olivia replied in amazement.
“Stinking rich! They live like royals!” Theodore added for the drama.
‘So, he was speaking the truth. He is extremely wealthy and he can seriously grant me three wishes’ Rose thought thinking about her new found Genie.
“Why are you asking about the Smiths?” Oliver asked with a hardened expression making Rose give him the weird look.
Only Mark, the clueless one, was looking at her confusedly, the rest all agreed with his question and glanced at Rose with demanding eyes.
“Because I heard someone talking about them yesterday” She waved her hand casually.
“Exactly who?” He asked looking more serious than before.
“I don’t know. Some strangers in the forest last night who helped me and guided me towards the house” She replied priding herself that she could actually lie smoothly this time but she was surprised that Oliver wasn’t done with his questions yet.
“Do you know who they were?” Oliver asked and everyone was hanging on to their every word.
“Do you know what stranger means?” She asked in annoyance.
“But you must remember how they look. There are not many people who live here. I think I can recognize them if you tell me about their looks and attire” Oliver replied seriously.
“Sorry can’t remember. Bad memory” Rose replied in casual manner but she was tense with the intensity of the question. She wasn’t expecting such a bad reaction for a simple question.
“Rose, you have photogenic memory” Oliver commented and everyone nodded waiting expectantly for Rose’s next reply.
“I hit my head last night, if you remember, Oliver Blue!” Rose replied showing her annoyance on her face.
“Oh, sorry” Oliver looked down in guilt.
After Rose and Oliver’s little argument, nobody said a word until the breakfast was done.
She was about to finish and leave until she saw Uncle Levi storming out excusing himself to receive an urgent call.
She stuffed her mouth with a big bite and followed him instantly, leaving everyone confused behind.
Without making a sound, she was following Uncle Levi. She saw Levi moving towards the bathroom. She hid behind the pillar until he went inside.
She observed that he switched on the tap water before talking.
‘Smart move but I have the ear of a dog, dear Uncle’ with that thought she stood next to the door to eavesdrop carefully.
Normally, she was never interested in their conversation but since she promised Elijah, she had to know the whereabouts of Uncle Pete, Uncle William, and other villagers.
“Hmm. Say it. I am at a safe place now” Uncle Levi whispered on the speaker.
The one on the other line didn’t reply for some time, so Uncle Levi added urgently,
“Say something Milly, how is William, Pete, and others doing?”
“William is recovering well. His leg is burnt but I gave him some morphine so he is sleeping right now. We might need to take him to the hospital later but…” she stopped in the middle of the statement and started sobbing.
“Pete..” She stopped all over again.
‘Come on, woman! Say it. We don’t have all day’ Rose was beyond annoyed by her halt at intervals.
“What happened to Pete?” Uncle Levi asked almost immediately much annoyed with the silence similar to what Rose was feeling.
“I am sorry. He is no more”