Chapter 3 He Is My Brother-in-law

"Rose, today is your aunt's birthday. Come home to The Crawford family for dinner tonight." The voice on the phone belonged to none other than Rose's biological father-Peter. "..." Normally, she wouldn't even bother answering his calls, let alone set foot in that house. But considering that she had an important matter to resolve, she hesitated for a few seconds before agreeing. Rose rarely spoke about her wretched family history. When she was very young, her father had an affair-with her own aunt. The affair eventually led to her mother's depression and, ultimately, her tragic death. Her aunt then took her mother's place as the new wife, and Rose became nothing more than an unwanted outsider in the household. At the age of ten, Peter sent her abroad. Apart from the bare minimum of financial support, he offered her no fatherly love-essentially leaving her to fend for herself. Now that she was financially independent, her greatest wish was to remove her name from The Crawford family registry, gain legal independence, and sever all ties with her biological father once and for all. With this goal in mind, she set off for The Crawford family home at around four or five in the afternoon. Half an hour later, her car rolled into an affluent neighborhood, stopping in front of a grand European-style villa. Inside the living room, Peter was seated on the sofa, speaking on the phone. Her stepmother, Catherine, was busy instructing the housekeeper. When she saw Rose, an unmistakable look of disgust crossed her face. "Didn't I tell you today is your aunt's birthday? And you show up empty-handed?" Peter reprimanded her. Rose didn't bother with pleasantries. "I'm not here for a birthday celebration. I came to take the household registry and officially remove my name from it." Peter: "..." Catherine's eyes narrowed as she took in Rose's limited-edition Hermès handbag and her ensemble of luxury brands from head to toe. With a cold sneer, Catherine scoffed, "So that's why you suddenly want to split from the family... Looks like you found yourself a sugar daddy?" Rose smirked. "That's right. I recently snagged an old man-he's even older than my father. He casually throws millions at me, so I'm not short on money these days." "You ungrateful disgrace!" Peter flew into a rage, pointing at her furiously. "You spend your days whoring around-do you have any shame left?! Do you want to completely ruin my reputation?!" "Shame?" Rose arched a brow, her tone laced with sarcasm. "Sorry, my parents died young. I was born without a conscience and raised without morals. I've never learned what shame is. But if you knew anything about shame, you wouldn't have done such disgusting, disgraceful things back then." "You-" Peter trembled with fury, gritting his teeth. "Do you really think I can't control you anymore?!" "..." Rose turned away, unwilling to waste another word on this old bastard. "Enough nonsense. Hand over the household registry. I'm changing my surname, and when I die, you won't even have to bother with my funeral." "Cutting ties with The Crawford family isn't that simple!" Catherine, with the arrogance of a matriarch, declared, "Your father and I have raised you for over twenty years. Do you think we'd just let you walk away for free? If you want out, you have two options-" "Either you repay every penny we've spent on you, with interest-" "Or you accept the marriage I've arranged for you. Once you're married, your household registry will transfer naturally, and you can sever ties however you please." That so-called "marriage" was nothing more than selling Rose off to a wealthy businessman's disabled son, in exchange for business resources for The Crawford family. Rose scoffed at the utter shamelessness in Catherine's voice. "Catherine, do you actually think you have me under your thumb?" "No household registry? Fine. Then we'll take it to court." She fixed her gaze on the woman who had driven her mother to her death, then smirked as she delivered a brutal reminder: "When that happens, the whole world will learn the truth-that the 'prestigious' Catherine was merely a foster daughter of The Simon family, who repaid their kindness by seducing The Simon family's son-in-law." "You clawed your way up by stepping over corpses-forcing your foster parents to their graves, stealing The Simon family's pharmaceutical empire, and fabricating a noble reputation for yourself. Let's see how long you can keep up your act in high society." "Shut up!" Catherine's face went deathly pale, her deepest secret exposed. Enraged, she raised her hand to slap Rose. But Rose was faster-she caught Catherine's wrist mid-air and slapped her right back! "Y-You... you...!" Catherine's eyes widened in shock. She couldn't believe that this little bastard had dared to hit her back! "Mom!" At that moment, Catherine's daughter, Daisy, walked in just in time to witness the scene. She rushed over in a panic. "Mom, are you okay?! Did she hurt you?!" "That little bitch actually dared to lay hands on me! I-" Catherine was seething with hatred, ready to launch at Rose again. But then, she froze. Her gaze was locked on someone at the entrance. Rose followed her line of sight and turned around-only to see a tall, austere man stepping into the room. The moment he appeared, the temperature in the entire living room seemed to drop several degrees. And when Rose finally recognized his face- Her heart clenched violently. How... how could it be him?!