Trick Him Into Divorce, Then Flee With His Unknow Kid

Chapter 24: Chapter 24 Matching License Plate

Even Oliver couldn’t help clearing his throat at the words "my husband’s mistress."

He couldn’t help taking a serious look at Rose.

Had Rose always been this... dryly sarcastic?

Samantha’s lips curled into a cold sneer. She had no intention of engaging with Rose over such sour remarks born of jealousy.

Her gaze fell on Rose’s vehicle.

"Is that your car?"

"I stole it."

Rose thought the question was ridiculous.

Her answer was deliberately half-hearted.

Ryan glanced at her with a detached expression.

Rose’s face remained unchanged.

He couldn’t very well hold it against her just because she’d teased him about his "mistress."

Knowing Rose was deliberately being difficult, Oliver stepped in on Samantha’s behalf.

"Rose, I think you should reflect on this. Using a matching license plate with Ryan isn’t appropriate, is it? Won’t people mistakenly assume you’re Mrs. Knight?"

"A couple’s license plate?"

Rose frowned.

She looked in the direction Oliver was pointing.

Not far from her vehicle sat a brand-new Range Rover.

The first several digits of its license plate were identical to hers, with only the final number differing.

One ended in 7.

The other ended in 3.

Rose had the 7.

Ryan had the 3.

To anyone looking, they did indeed resemble a couple’s set of license plates.

Parked side by side, they were particularly eye-catching.

Especially considering both vehicles were widely recognized luxury models.

But Oliver’s comment about people "mistakenly assuming she was Mrs. Knight" was genuinely amusing.

She was legally married to Ryan.

What misunderstanding was there to clarify?

Was Samantha really making such a fuss over this?

"Such similar license plates. What a coincidence."

Samantha looked down at Rose.

Her tone remained calm, though the corners of her lips twitched slightly.

"You really went to a lot of trouble."

"Are you implying I did it on purpose?" Rose asked.

Samantha suddenly smiled. "I didn’t say that. Why are you so eager to defend yourself? I’m not even upset."

Rose found the whole situation absurd.

Samantha’s sense of superiority was even stronger than her own imagination.

What part of that had been a defense?

And what right did Samantha have to be upset?

In what capacity?

Did true love now outrank the law?

Had marriage become nothing more than a meaningless piece of paper?

"Since you seem so easily agitated, I could recommend a mild sedative."

Rose’s tone remained perfectly calm.

"Rose, there’s really no need for that."

Oliver stepped in again. "She was just speaking politely and asking a reasonable question about your license plate."

The more he watched, the more convinced he became that Rose was deliberately targeting Samantha.

Getting a similar license plate just to provoke her.

When women became jealous and resentful, they could be remarkably petty.

Samantha immediately followed up. "I’m only offering some advice. That plate number isn’t particularly auspicious. You’d be better off changing it."

Rose stared at her silently.

Samantha was clearly bothered by the matching license plates and upset about the coincidence.

Yet she still insisted on acting generous and magnanimous.

Rose then turned her gaze toward Ryan, who had been indulging Samantha all along.

At that moment, he lifted his eyes slightly and met her gaze.

His expression was unreadable.

Rose couldn’t tell whether Ryan was actually annoyed by the matching license plates.

But his willingness to indulge Samantha was obvious.

Her patience was nearly exhausted.

Looking directly at him, she said flatly: "Please keep your sister-in-law under control."

The moment the words left her mouth—

Samantha’s expression changed dramatically.

Oliver’s smile froze.

He immediately glanced around to make sure nobody had overheard.

Ryan watched Rose as she opened her car door.

He knew perfectly well that she had said it solely to provoke them.

Since when had Rose grown so many sharp thorns?

"Ryan..."

Samantha couldn’t help clenching her fists.

Only then did Ryan slowly withdraw his gaze from Rose’s departing vehicle.

"I’ll drive you home. Don’t worry about it."

Samantha glanced once more at Ryan’s license plate.

A frown creased her forehead.

As a woman herself, how could she fail to see through Rose’s schemes?

On one hand, Rose was trying to attract Ryan’s attention by acting differently and refusing to follow expectations.

On the other, she was using these subtle tricks to create misunderstandings about their relationship.

She would do anything to make people wonder what she meant to Ryan.

She certainly knew how to play the victim.

Samantha refused to lower herself by competing with Rose over something so petty.

*****

Rose paid a visit to the Grand Sage R&D Center.

She needed to oversee the development of new medications and monitor several smart healthcare projects before the New Year.

There was still a great deal to confirm.

The center was packed with researchers who spent their days buried in data.

Many were voluntarily working overtime.

Diana worked in project planning and had been extremely busy lately.

Finally finding some free time, she suggested coming over for dinner.

Rose planned to cook for her at home.

She wasn’t exactly a talented cook.

For every dish, she had to follow recipes step by step.

In fact, she had to review the instructions every single time before cooking.

Diana shook her head in disbelief. "I have a suggestion. Ariel is still growing. Why don’t you just let me raise her instead? I’d do a much better job than you."

Rose glanced at her.

The ulterior motive was practically written across Diana’s face.

"My everyday cooking isn’t anything special, but I’m very good at designing meal plans and managing dietary nutrition."

At the very least, she could keep someone in excellent health.

"Ariel is only five and a half years old! If you keep giving her supplements every day, she’s going to think vitamins count as food. Stop being reckless."

Diana was genuinely tempted to steal the child away.

Ariel was adorable, sweet, and incredibly well-behaved.

Anyone who met her would fall in love with her.

Rose laughed so hard she nearly doubled over.

She had originally opened her phone to look up a recipe.

But somehow, before she knew it, her fingers had wandered into her social media feed.

It was like seeing an irresistible advertisement.

She simply had to take a quick look before returning to what she was doing.

At first, it seemed harmless.

Then she saw a post Oliver had shared not long ago.

It was just a single photo.

A picture of Ryan’s new Range Rover.

Except...

The license plate had been changed.

Oliver’s caption read: "Turns out he really can’t stand being taken advantage of, even over a similar license plate number. The new plate was personally chosen by Miss Hill. The special treatment is honestly ridiculous."

Rose knew perfectly well that Oliver had posted it specifically for her to see.

They had added each other as contacts long ago.

However, all of Ryan’s friends had individually blocked her from viewing their posts.

Anything involving Ryan.

Anything involving his circle.

She had been excluded from all of it.

The only reason she even knew she had been placed in a restricted group was because Diana and the others moved in the same social circles and occasionally shared things.

Back then, she had naïvely asked at a gathering: "Don’t any of you ever post anything? I’ve never seen a single update."

Everyone at the table had simply smiled without saying a word.

Later, she saw Oliver and the others’ posts through Diana’s account.

Only then did she realize how foolish that question had been.

Those meaningful smiles around the table had been nothing but quiet mockery.

She had felt utterly embarrassed.

She had never intended to pry into anyone’s private life.

She had simply felt that being blocked by Ryan’s friends was like being deliberately erased from his world.

And that feeling had left her lost.

Back then, she had gone to Ryan’s study and carefully asked why all of his friends had blocked her.

She still remembered his response.

Ryan hadn’t even looked up from his work.

His voice had remained calm and indifferent.

"If you hadn’t been deliberately monitoring them, how would you have known?"

He paused. "If you’re trying to keep tabs on me, do you really need to go to such lengths?"