Chapter 39 - Deceiving Jace
Rose rolled and opened her eyes which she closed immediately due to the bright light streaming into the room through the window and door. She rubbed her eyes and stretched lazily wondering why the morning was so bright.
The pillow she found beside her was out of place and it made her pause shortly when she opened her eyes finally and stepped down from her bed further stretching her hands up. The sun was high up in the sky and she had to glance at the alarm clock on the bedside table because she could not understand why this morning was unusually bright.
She always woke up early to go down stairs to do yoga with her sister. The cute pink digital alarm clock told her it was already half past twelve in the afternoon and she was too shocked to hold back the slight scream that escaped her lips.
"How did I sleep for so long?" she asked as she walked to the bathroom hastily. She missed her breakfast and had only thirty minutes to be on time for her lunch. She scolded Anna on her mind for not waking her up early. Such an important day got wasted on the bed sleeping. She frowned unhappily.
.
Standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom, it suddenly occurred to her that she had never slept for so long since the death of her mother. In the orphanage, they had to wake up early to do their chores as well as prepare for school. After her rebirth, she was haunted by nightmares that shortened her night rests that she could not sleep throughout the night at times.
"What happened?" she asked her reflection on the mirror before her but she got no answer as her reflection stared back at her with a sleepy look on her slightly swollen face. She turned the tap on letting the water pour on her hand before rinsing her face with the warm water.
She could still not understand what happened. She slept off at eleven as usual but woke up past twelve the following day. She slept for more than twelve hours when she had not slept for more six hours in a day without torment in her dreams since her rebirth. What was the cause of the sudden change?
After washing up, she decided to shift her heavy thoughts to the back of her mind. She went downstairs and met Mara in the kitchen.
"Miss Anna went to the spa with her friend," Mara replied when she asked for Anna's where about. She expected Anna to be downstairs eating lunch as usual but the dining room was empty.
"Oh, she did not call me," she murmured as she returned to the living room. She hated eating alone in the empty dining room. The empty chairs always reminded her of being an orphan with a father she could not trust and a step mother who will kill her as soon as she gets an opportunity to. Anna was the one who helped her forget it all.
"She checked on you but you were still asleep," Mara informed her also surprised that Rose slept for so long.
"I really don't know what made me sleep for so long," she complained as she waited for her lunch.
Mara nodded. "You really slept for so long. I don't think it is right for you to stay up late," Mara advised.
"I slept early," she replied. Eleven o'clock was early enough for someone like her sleep since they were night not fall asleep at all.
"Oh," Mara could only say nodding head as she could not help but wonder what made Rose sleep for so long. She remembered when Rose passed out a couple of years ago due to sleep deprivation couple of years ago.
Valerie made sure Rose underwent enough therapy with the therapist hoping her nightmares stops but she wondered if the young girl was suffering for more than twelve hours. It would be a very great torture to the young girl's body.
"Did you have any nightmare?" Mara asked worriedly so she could make an appointment with the therapist to pay a visit if that was needed.
"Oh! That is right!" Rose remembered nodding her head thoughtfully. She really did not have any nightmare last night. "No . . . I think I did but . . . I can't remember. I thought I saw someone," she murmured in a low voice too low for Mara to hear her.
"What did you say Miss Rose?" Mara asked walking to closer to Rose to hear her better.
"No, I did not," she answered immediately wearing a smile of assurance on her face hoping Mara does not notice the lie in her words.
"That is a good thing then," Mara told her smiling in sincere relief.
"Perhaps I felt too tired. I was busy yesterday afternoon before dinner," she lied hoping no one takes her excess sleep as some sort of psychological illness because she did not want to be forced to spend an hour in front of Valerie's beautiful therapist.
"I will have them bring your lunch. Madam is busy in her studio upstairs and sir went out a few hours ago," Mara informed her as she headed to the kitchen. She stopped in front of the kitchen door and looked back at Rose. "Should I have them take it upstairs for you?" Mara asked when she remembered Rose disliked eating alone in the dining room.
"No I will eat here," she answered immediately with an it-doesn't-matter look on her face.
"Joyce will clean up your room while you eat," Mara informed her before disappearing into the kitchen.
***
"Hello," Anna said in an unusual soft tone when Jace picked her call.
"Oh hello," Jace said with a slight tint of pink now appearing on his cheeks due to how gentle and soft Anna's voice sounded on the phone.
"Where are you now?" Anna asked trying her best to let her question sound like she cared and not like the interrogation it truly was.
"I am going out for lunch with my brother," Jace answered immediately without a second thought. All the teachings he got from his father when he was newly adopted to keep shut about his where about and prevent telling people randomly thrown out of closed window of the car he sat in with his brother at the fact that Anna sounded like she cared about him.
"Wow, that sounds cool," Anna exclaimed with excitement. "Where are you having lunch at?" she continued her sneaky interrogation with the alluring tone in her voice.
Debby beside her covered her mouth with the fashion magazine she picked up in the spa which was made available for customers while her toe nails were being taken care of by a staff in the spa to prevent herself from laughing out loud. Anna glared her playfully hoping Debby doesn't make her laugh and praying Jace's IQ was low enough to tell her.
Jace's very high IQ simply disappeared into the thin air since he was still hypnotized by the excitement her heard in Anna's voice and he blabbered out the name of the five star restaurant he was going to with his brother without a single atom of restraint despite the cold gaze his brother was shooting at him.
"Wow! That is so cool. I envy you," she told him still using her fake soft voice before hanging up as she could not hold back her laughter any longer. She felt a strong need to teach this friend of hers that he was not supposed to tell her so easily. She could send assassins after them if she wanted.
She was really happy things went easily though. She wanted to stop over at his home but she knew that their house was almost, if not more secured than the palace which was the most secured building in the world, on record. With this information, she could easily meet them outside. She could only hope her plan continues smoothly.
She glared at Debby who wore a disgusted look towards Anna's voice. She shivered rubbing the non-existing goose bumps on her arms.
She further glared at Debby with her beautiful before she also continued laughing. "You almost made me laugh," Anna complained when her stomach began hurting her from laughing so hard.
"Poor boy. I truly envy you," Debby giggled. To be able to make a son of the Hart family do as she wished was more than winning the lottery three times continuously. It was like you became queen because they were even more respected than the royal family in B city.
"I really pity him. If I was someone wicked, I would have gotten that information to do something bad," Anna said seriously.
"Do you think it is easy to harm someone from the Hart family? They are way more protected than the prime minister," Debby reminded her making her heart calm down. She sighed and impatiently waited for the staff helping her with her nails to finish up while glancing at her wrist watch.