Chapter 5 Rose Disappeared
***
A drop of tear flowed out of the corner of Rose’s eye and fell onto the pillow.
Judson forgot it.
He forgot how she got the butterfly brooch, or, put it another way, he never took it seriously.
***
At the age of thirteen, Rose went to an auction alone with the pocket money she had saved over the years and wanted to purchase the diamond butterfly brooch.
But in the end, she couldn’t even raise the paddle due to insufficient funds.
After returning home, she cried for a week, and she would put ice on her eyes when they swelled. She lied to Tameka that she didn’t have a good sleep.
One night a week later, Judson came to her room and threw the brooch in front of her.
“Take it.”
Seeing her stunned, Judson became impatient as usual. “As a member of my family, you should fight for what you want. Why didn’t you tell us about your failure? Do we mean nothing to you?”
Rose held the brooch with ecstasy in her eyes.
“Thank you, Judson…”
Judson looked at her for a few seconds, extended his finger, and flicked her smooth forehead. “Do not cry again.”
***
When Rose’s parents passed away, she was young and didn’t know much about the world.
After she became a member of the Roach family, the elderly doted on her very much.
However, it was Judson who taught her how to behave.
He used to tell her to fight for what she wanted and if she failed, he would get it for her.
Now, she did what he said, but he thought that she was willful and wanted to cancel the engagement.
How ridiculous.
***
Rose was woken up by the ringtone.
It was a call from Lakisha.
“Come over now! Judson issued a lawyer’s letter!”
Rose hurried to check out. The receptionist smiled sweetly, “Young lady, you can stay in your room at any time for a month. Someone has paid for you.”
Rose refused it and checked out. She transferred the refund to Darrin.
“Darrin, I owe you the room rate, and I’ll give it to you when I receive my salary.”
She rushed to Flourish Media, and Lakisha’s swearing could be heard on the floor.
“He was the one choosing the diamond and putting on clothes for her in the evening. This is conclusive evidence of their hidden relationship for seven years yet they sued us for defaming them. Damn it!”
Seeing Rose running in, Lakisha stuffed the lawyer’s letter into her arms. “Here, this one is yours!”
Rose looked down to read it.
And she almost swore. “Why am I the main defendant?”
“Because they thought you were a pushover!” Lakisha shrugged. “Our department and even our company have become the defendants, but you were paid special attention to.”
“It must be because of Rose’s article. It went viral online. Rose, you’ll surely receive a bonus this month.” Tommie even had the mood to tease Rose.
But the others nodded to echo him. “I think Rose has exposed Judson’s weakness, so he went mad.”
“That’s right. He must have gone crazy because what Rose wrote was the truth.”
Rose raised her head and looked at Lakisha. “Lakisha, you said that this matter wasn’t likely to be turned around.”
Lakisha spat out the lollipop in her mouth out of anger.
“Screw the Roach family!”
Just as she was swearing, someone from the Law Department came over.
He asked for Rose’s ID.
Judson sued Flourish Media for an article and its writer.
In the article, there was detailed information about his relationship with Lillian.
It was the article Rose spent a whole night writing.
But he claimed it to be a rumor.
Rose used her penname, so the Law Department had to confirm her real identity to cope with the lawsuit.
Judson was determined, so a lawsuit would be inevitable.
Rose just took out her ID when someone reached out to push her hand back into her pocket and took the lawyer’s letter.
And that person tore it apart.
“Let him.” Darrin’s face went cold. “He has to bear the criticism since he has the guts to do that.”
No one in this world deserved better than Rose to accuse Judson of his ruthlessness.
“But…” Darrin was always gentle, so when seeing him in fury, the man from the Law Department felt anxious.
“We’ll accept the lawsuit if he dares to initiate one. We don’t have to worry about it,” said Darrin coldly.
“But…” the man spoke again.
Darrin’s expression became utterly cold. “We are such a big company. How could we not even be able to protect an employee?”
He would not let Rose meet Judson at the court.
Judson didn’t deserve it!
***
“Mr. Roach, we haven’t found Rose.”
In the president’s office on the top floor of the Roawards Group, Isidro Bowen felt uneasy.
Judson had been keeping a long face ever since he returned to the Imperial Garden last night.
Isidro was Judson’s assistant. His father worked for the Roach family, and he had been by Judson’s side for more than ten years. It had been long since he saw Judson so furious.
Rose disappeared.
Judson closed his eyes and pressed his temple. “Check the transaction record.”
In front of him was a phone whose screen had been cracked and a bank card that had been broken into two halves.
Isidro recalled the scene of Judson smashing the phone when he couldn’t connect Rose and his hysteria when he saw the bank card on the nightstand.
He still felt lingering fear.
“I’ve checked it. Ms. Edwards didn’t buy anything.”
Judson still had his eyes closed, and he pinched his nose. “Accommodation record.”
“I’ve looked into that as well but found no clues.”
There was a deathly silence.
Isidro didn’t dare to breathe.
After a long time, Judson opened his scarlet eyes. “How did Flourish Media react?”
Isidro was on the verge of tears. “Flourish Media refused to delete the article and said that they would be there if you insisted on a lawsuit…”
Bang!
Judson kicked over the table in front of him. Glass was shattered and scattered all over the ground after the loud sound.
Isidro was almost scared to death.
Judson hadn’t slept for two days.
If he continued to be so hysterical, Isidro might die before him.
“Mr. Roach.” The special assistant Keenan Bright came in and looked at Isidro with sympathy. “Your flight is ready.”
Judson stood up and walked out while tidying up his sleeve buttons with a gloomy face.
Isidro wanted to say something, but Keenan shook his head.
Judson wouldn’t cancel his trip even if his parents died.
Let alone Rose who he hated…
Judson was obsessed with his work.
“Call the police and check all the surveillance footage,” Judson said to Isidro before leaving.
Isidro took the cracked phone and the broken bank card from the shattered glass.
Judson didn’t tell him to do that, but he knew he should.
Though Judson didn’t want this phone, Isidro had to keep the SIM card.
Though the bank card was broken, Isidro needed to get Judson another one.
“Mr. Roach, Mrs. Roach called…” Isidro bit the bullet to report to Judson before they boarded the plane. “She asked if you and Ms. Stewart…”
Judson looked away from the laptop screen and gloomily raised his eyes.
Isidro handed over the new phone and the new bank card. “Mr. Roach, I’ve called the police. We may find something soon.”
Judson didn’t say anything again. He leaned against the cushion in the private plane and looked out of the window at the receding airstrip.
Rose was as scheming and greedy as ever!
