Free Web NovelChapter 102: Chapter 102 The Birthday No One Remembered
The situation felt as though her chest had suddenly been filled with gravel and molten lava.
A sharp, choking pain surged into her throat.
She was stunned.
No matter how disgraceful things had become, she was still a person, not an object.
She believed Ryan shouldn’t treat her with such contempt.
The camera remained focused on Ryan and Samantha.
She could see his reaction clearly.
He slowly raised his eyes, his expression calm and unruffled.
Rose didn’t wait for Ryan’s response.
She simply hung up.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she told herself she wasn’t curious about Ryan’s attitude at all.
They had already gone their separate ways. They no longer had anything to do with each other.
What he thought was none of her business.
Caleb, sitting beside her, had naturally heard the entire conversation.
His face darkened.
Slamming a fist onto the table, he shot to his feet.
"You’re a human being, not some object they can push around and toy with whenever they want! After all those years of marriage, even if you’re divorced, shouldn’t he react when another man is openly making a move on his wife? Does he even have a heart?"
Caleb was furious.
His handsome face was stormy with anger.
If it had been any other man, he would’ve warned Jordan to stay away long ago.
But this was Ryan.
His complete indifference toward Rose was outrageous.
Rose knew Caleb was angry.
He had always treated her like a younger sister, so his reaction was understandable.
She felt guilty as well.
Because of this failed relationship, everyone around her seemed to be riding the same emotional roller coaster.
"Does he even remember tomorrow is your birthday?" Caleb sneered. "He’s probably been so brainwashed by Samantha that he’s forgotten everything."
He couldn’t even remember his own wife’s birthday, yet he was willing to let another man take Rose on a date.
As a man himself, Caleb was beginning to lose faith in men.
"And that Jordan guy isn’t any better. Forget the investment—we don’t need it."
He had never expected Jordan to treat Rose like nothing more than a plaything.
If that was the case, then so what if the investment was worth three hundred million dollars?
He didn’t care.
Rose stepped forward and patted him on the back.
"It’s okay. I know what I’m doing. I’ll bring the contract tomorrow. If he tries anything, I’ll walk away. At worst, I’ll ask Ryan to transfer the funds early and use my portion of the divorce settlement to cover the investment. Either way, I won’t lose out."
Caleb knew Rose had things under control.
But hearing everything firsthand still made him angry.
And what about Rose herself?
Even if they were divorced, this had to hurt.
It had to.
Rose spent quite a while calming him down before finally seeing him off.
As for her birthday, she didn’t think much about it.
Her mother had been in a coma for years following a car accident, and Logan had never once looked after her.
Her grandfather, Gabriel, drifted between moments of clarity and confusion.
He couldn’t even remember her all the time.
So whether her birthday was celebrated or not didn’t matter much anymore.
No one remembered it anyway.
She called Diana again.
"Don’t worry. I’ll start editing the footage as soon as I get back tonight. The hospital recordings are too long, so I’ll need to review them frame by frame to find the key scenes where Mike administered the medication. I’ll try to have everything sorted by tomorrow night."
Rose finally felt reassured.
Once she returned to New York, the matter would be resolved.
Meanwhile, she’d also developed several new ideas regarding the smart medical robots she’d come to Los Angeles to evaluate.
Los Angeles truly lived up to its reputation as a cutting-edge technology hub.
Determined not to waste the opportunity, she stayed up nearly until four in the morning conducting a detailed analysis of the robots she had inspected.
Later, she caught a slight chill.
Her nose became stuffy, and she spent the rest of the night tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
At first light, she decided to head downstairs for breakfast.
Throwing on a hoodie, she left her room looking so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open.
The breakfast spread at the luxury hotel was incredibly extensive.
She grabbed a few items and found a table.
Before long, someone sat down across from her.
Looking up, she saw James.
Rose continued stuffing a sandwich into her mouth without acknowledging him.
James was accustomed to her attitude by now.
His almond-shaped eyes narrowed slightly.
"You just divorced Ryan, didn’t you? Getting involved with another man so quickly—how is that any different from jumping right back into the fire?"
At first glance, the comment sounded like a direct accusation.
As though she were the one who had wronged Ryan.
Rose instantly lost her appetite.
She stared at him coldly. "Are you standing up for Ryan now? You’re working so hard for him. Do you want me to give you a ’Good Guy Award’ while I’m at it?"
James met her gaze, and for some reason, his chest tightened.
He frowned.
What he had actually wanted to say was that Jordan wasn’t serious and that Rose should stay away from him.
Or, at the very least, decline his invitation tonight.
But somehow, the words had come out differently.
Rose couldn’t take it anymore.
She’d already been awake all night. Her head was pounding, and now she was being criticized first thing in the morning.
At this point, she was starting to wonder if she’d wronged him in a past life.
He seemed determined to make her life difficult.
Setting down her knife and fork, she made no effort to continue the conversation.
Instead, she simply stood up and left.
James instinctively rose to his feet.
Watching her retreating figure, he suddenly realized he had truly lost his mind.
Why was he worrying about Rose at all?
She never appreciated it anyway.
Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he admitted to himself that he’d been acting strangely lately.
*****
Rose returned to her room and caught up on some sleep.
Not long afterward, a WhatsApp message from Jordan arrived.
[Did you answer my video call yesterday? It says we were connected for two and a half minutes.]
[I booked a restaurant for tonight. Here’s the address. See you at 8:00 sharp.]
[Rose, it’s polite to reply when you read someone’s messages.]
[Fine. Just don’t be late.]
Rose: "......"
To avoid an endless stream of messages, she sent an "OK" emoji before falling asleep again.
When she woke up, it was a little after 2:00 p.m.
Her throat was sore.
She drank a large glass of water.
Since she had an online meeting with G.S. later that day and didn’t want to delay her meeting with Jordan regarding the investment, she messaged Caleb to ask where he was.
Caleb told her he was at the hotel pool.
After a moment’s hesitation, Rose grabbed her laptop and headed downstairs.
In truth, she couldn’t swim.
She was actually afraid of water.
Years ago, before marrying Ryan, she had accidentally fallen into the Knight family’s pond—which was nearly the size of a small lake—and almost drowned.
The experience had only deepened her fear.
The only reason she had originally booked the suite with the private pool was because she loved the view.
Now that she had been moved to the Presidential Suite without a pool—even if Samantha had effectively taken the other suite from her—Rose was actually satisfied.
No pool was better.
The hotel’s swimming complex was enormous.
Rose left her laptop at a café table outside the pool area, ordered a drink, and then went inside to look for Caleb.
People wrapped in towels passed by constantly.
Children’s laughter echoed throughout the area.
As she walked, Rose glanced around and quickly realized the place was far too large.
She was already too tired to keep searching.
Pulling out her phone, she sent Caleb a message.
[Which pool are you at? I’ll wait outside. Get changed first.]
After sending it, she turned around.
At that moment, a group of children playing tag came racing toward her.
Just as Rose looked up, one child slipped.
He crashed directly into her side.
Rose instantly lost her balance.
Staggering backward, she stumbled toward the edge of the pool.
Her expression changed abruptly.
Then, before she could react, she fell headfirst into the water.
The pool swallowed her whole.
Water rushed over her head and down her throat.
Long-buried memories surged back.
The suffocating sensation triggered pure panic.
Rose flailed wildly beneath the surface.
"Help..."
Splash!
Another splash echoed through the pool area.
Someone had jumped in.
A strong hand seized her arm.
The next moment, she was pulled upward.
Dazed and disoriented, Rose felt herself being dragged into someone’s arms as they broke through the surface of the water together.
