Whispers of Destiny: His Belated Love

Seeing Victoria show up at the door and thinking back to what Rosemary had said, it wasn't rocket science to figure out what was going on.

Maxwell narrowed his eyes, a chill in his gaze. He didn't fly off the handle, but she could feel his anger loud and clear. The grip on Rosemary's hand kept tightening - it was practically brute force, "Did you call her here?"

Pain shot through Rosemary's arm, spreading all over. She couldn't help but hiss in pain, and before she could wiggle free, Maxwell let go.

He looked down, his eyes falling on her reddened wrist, "Sorry, I didn't realize my own strength there."

Although Maxwell was all Mister Nice Guy now, even apologizing after hurting her - which sounded way more sincere than that half-hearted sorry at the studio door - Rosemary instinctively kept her distance.

Because he was giving off major yandere vibes, like those sickos in dramas. Slapped a pair of gold- rimmed glasses on him and he would practically be a textbook creepy psycho.

"Since you brought her here, you can be the one to send her packing."

Rosemary had called Victoria over because she was dead sure Maxwell wouldn't let her off the hook easily. Like she'd really listen to him and shoo her away?

"Rosemary," Victoria cut in, interrupting their little bubble.

She was pale as a ghost, her slender frame trembling, looking utterly humiliated and furious, "I haven't been in touch with Maxwell for ages. You didn't have to humiliate me like this."

She turned to the cool and collected Maxwell with a scornful chuckle, "Even if I was shameless, I wouldn't cling to a man who doesn't like me and become a nuisance."

Maxwell's face turned stormy in a flash, his lips pressed into a thin line, his eyes on Victoria icy and full of warning.

Rosemary watched the whole thing, thinking, here we went again - another pair of drama queens playing the “guess how I feel” game. And she was clearly being used as a pawn to make someone jealous.

What a mess! What on earth did she do in her past life to deserve bumping into these two nutcases? Belongs © to NôvelDrama.Org.

With a sigh, Rosemary said, "Why don't you come in, and I'll give you both some advice?"

Like, seriously, what was the big hurdle here? Dating shouldn't be this exhausting. Anyone would think there was some deep family feud going on.

Victoria, "No need."

Maxwell, "Get out."

They both spoke at once, one with a bitter laugh, the other seething.

Victoria's eyes brimmed with tears as she turned on her heel and walked away. After a couple of steps, she turned back, "Since I'm here, let me clarify. The invitation thing was my agent's idea. I've been thinking about getting into showbiz, and she wanted to create some buzz for me. It was all a misunderstanding. I've given her an earful. It won't happen again. Sorry."

And with that, she left without looking back.

Rosemary also wanted to leave, but before she could, Maxwell caught on. His face clouded over as he threatened, "Have dinner with me, and I'll take you home. Make a scene, and you're welcome to spend the night here."

Rosemary looked at Maxwell striding towards the dining room, her sympathy overflowing for a moment. He was pitiful, really - loaded, powerful, handsome, and pining for someone as prickly as Victoria. It was a classic case of love hurts.

"Can you even stomach food with me around? Need me ask her to come back for you?"

To drag, not to ask - that was the most she'd do.

Maxwell, however, gave her a frosty look, "You're still Mrs. Templeton. Bringing her back, you want the press to make up stories and ruin reputations?"

Right now, Rosemary wished she could go back in time and slap her softer self. She felt sorry for him? For thinking about his sweetheart? She must've been blind!

Maxwell waited for a reply but there wasn’t any, and then shot back, "Cat got your tongue?"

Rosemary snapped, "Because I know better than to make a fuss if it's not about the apple of my eye. The more noise you make, the sooner you bite the dust."

The guy was a lunatic! She nearly had her hand crushed!

After dinner, true to his word, Maxwell drove her back to her apartment. He was in a foul mood, silent all the way. She'd planned to have Jason drive her, but Maxwell wouldn’t have it, and in the end, Jason was behind the wheel anyway.

Talked about being in a pickle!

The next day, Rosemary visited Oswald's office.

She had pored over her mother's belongings the night before and hadn't found anything suspicious.

"What? You're Rosalind's daughter?" Oswald was shocked, looking at Rosemary in disbelief, yet he felt it was the plausible explanation - the similar techniques, the resemblance. It was too coincidental to be a coincidence.

"Why didn't you say anything the first two times I asked about Rosalind? How's your mom doing? Still in the same line of work?"

"My mom passed away. Ten years ago, she didn't just lose touch with you. She died."

Revealing her identity to Oswald wasn't an impulsive decision for Rosemary. She had never found any information about her mother's death. She had once doubted it was truly an accident, but her grandfather was convinced her mother was murdered. After some digging, she discovered her mother had taken on a restoration job before she died.

The painting wasn't finished when she passed, and after her death, it disappeared.

If the enemy was hidden, she'd put herself in the spotlight. Rosemary didn't know if this would make a difference, especially since it had been a decade. Any schemes would have already settled down.

But with no leads, it was worth a shot. She needed to use Oswald's connections to spread the word in their circle - that she was Rosalind's daughter.

Oswald opened his mouth; it took him a few seconds before he continued, "How did your mom die?"

Rosemary laid out the cause of her mother's death, her suspicions, and the clues she'd gathered over the years.

Oswald frowned, voicing his disagreement, "If your mom's watching over us from above, she'd definitely not want you risking your neck. No way, I can't let you play with fire. I gotta look out for you in her stead. We can snoop around in secret; we’re bound to find some leads."

Rosemary revealed, "My grandpa was hell-bent on finding out the killer right up until his last breath. I can't let him down."

"We need to play the long game here." Oswald decided with finality, "You go public as 'Rose' for now. Once you climb the ranks in this scene, who knows, maybe some clues will just land in our laps."

Even though “Rose” had made some waves in the scene over the years, due to Rosemary's low profile, hardly anyone could get in touch with her directly. This meant that despite her prowess, only a select few were in the know.

"The feedback from that last documentary was stellar. Director Madden wants to shoot a reality show with everyday folks this time around. He asked me if I could rope you in, using your public appearance as a gimmick to hype up the show. If you're aiming for the spotlight, this is one heck of an opportunity."