Chapter 5
Another close friend, Oliver Brown, asked with a smile, “Exactly. Why the long face?”
After taking his seat, James glanced at Samantha across from him. She was poised and graceful, always mindful of her place when interacting with others, and beyond reproach in both conduct and character. Yet Rose had gone out of her way to slander her behind her back.
“Guess who I saw downstairs? Rose.”
At the mention of her name, Ryan’s cold, sharp features remained completely impassive as he casually tapped his fingers against the table.
Clearly, he had no interest whatsoever in the affairs of his wife, Rose.
Samantha poured James a cup of coffee and said calmly, “Did the two of you argue? She’s just a woman—don’t let it bother you.”
Seeing Samantha defend Rose only made James more convinced of the difference between them.
Leaning back in his chair, he gave a derisive snort. “Guess what she said about you? It was absolutely vile. I never imagined a woman could become so despicable out of jealousy.”
He repeated the words he had overheard Diana saying downstairs.
Ryan, who had initially shown no interest in the subject, suddenly felt a chill settle in his deep eyes, and his brow finally furrowed.
“Did Rose say that herself?” he asked emotionlessly, turning to look at James.
Samantha’s expression darkened slightly.
“Since James heard it with his own ears, it must be true,” she replied softly on his behalf.
Oliver immediately scoffed. “Isn’t this just slander against Sam? Rose is a woman herself. No wonder she’s such a failure. After groveling for seven years, she still isn’t loved. Is her mind filled with nothing but petty jealousy?”
After a moment, he added, “Being slandered for no reason like this—we should demand an explanation.”
At Oliver’s words, Samantha took a quiet breath and glanced at the silent Ryan.
Ryan did not respond. He simply picked up his phone and stood to answer a call.
He wasn’t getting involved.
Nor did he intend to stop them.
Oliver and James exchanged a glance, immediately understanding Ryan’s stance.
Seeing Ryan’s complete indifference toward Rose, Samantha lowered her gaze, a satisfied smile curving her lips.
The food had just been served.
Rose had barely taken a few bites when a waiter hurried over anxiously. “Excuse me, is there a doctor here? A guest upstairs is having a medical emergency!”
Rose frowned. As a doctor, she instinctively stood up at once.
“Take me upstairs to check on them.”
Diana remained seated, busy replying to work emails and uninterested in the commotion.
The waiter led Rose to a private dining room upstairs. Worried about the patient, she pushed the door open a little too quickly.
To her surprise, someone was already inside.
As the door swung open, the person carrying a steaming copper pot lost balance and accidentally tipped it toward her.
Rose quickly stepped back, but caught off guard, her back slammed into a firm chest.
Strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her backward.
A familiar, faint scent of mint and rose brushed past her senses—a scent she knew intimately from years of closeness.
Ryan had already raised his hand, swiftly blocking the copper pot before it could spill onto Rose.
The waiter’s face turned pale as he hurriedly grabbed the pot back and apologized repeatedly.
Rose hadn’t expected to run into Ryan there.
Just as she was about to thank him, she noticed Samantha standing behind him.
Protected entirely behind Ryan’s body, Samantha looked distinctly displeased by the unexpected physical contact between Rose and Ryan.
Rose immediately stepped away from Ryan as though avoiding a disease, distancing herself from his reach.
Only then did Ryan glance at her thoughtfully.
“Afraid of getting hurt too? I thought Miss Bennett had thick skin and wouldn’t mind something like that,” Oliver mocked with a laugh.
“It’s a good thing Ryan reacted quickly because he was worried about Sam getting hurt. Rose, don’t misunderstand—he wasn’t protecting you. Otherwise, things would get awkward,” Oliver added with a half-smile.
Ryan’s expression remained indifferent, yet he did not deny Oliver’s words.
Rose understood immediately.
When the pot had fallen just now, there was a real possibility Samantha could have been injured too.
Ryan hadn’t been protecting her. He had only been shielding Samantha, and helping Rose had merely been incidental.
Naturally, Rose wouldn’t misunderstand.
She wasn’t delusional enough for that.
James remained silent, though his eyes carried obvious contempt.
Even though Rose didn’t fully understand what was happening, she could already sense something was wrong.
She turned to leave, unwilling to become entangled with them.
Suddenly, someone seized her wrist.
Long, slender fingers pressed against her skin, sending a sharp ache through her chest. She turned and met Ryan’s cold, piercing gaze.
Looking at her, he spoke in a voice as sharp as a blade.
“Apologize to Sam.”
It felt as though someone had forced sulfuric acid down Rose’s throat, burning through her heart and lungs.
Meeting Ryan’s gaze coldly, she asked, “For what?”
“I think you know exactly why.”
Ryan seemed unwilling to speak ill of Samantha directly.
He quickly released Rose’s wrist, as though afraid even that brief contact might appear inappropriate.
Rose could guess what he was thinking.
He was probably worried Samantha would dislike seeing him touch her.
She wasn’t stupid. Watching how everything had unfolded, she immediately pieced together the situation.
James must have exaggerated Diana’s words.
These people had deliberately lured her here to corner her.
“Rose, if you did something wrong, just admit it,” Oliver said impatiently.
“If you had admitted it honestly from the start, it wouldn’t have become such a big issue,” James added casually while tapping the table.
“Exactly. Samantha isn’t pregnant. She has nothing to hide, so don’t pin such disgusting rumors on her.”
Oliver genuinely couldn’t understand what had gotten into Rose. How could she fabricate such a rumor out of nowhere?
Everyone knew Rose had once received kindness from the Knight family in childhood. It was one of the Knights who had brought her into the family.
Logically speaking, Rose should have been treated as Ryan’s younger sister.
Yet this so-called younger sister had shamelessly climbed into Ryan’s bed the moment she turned twenty.
Forcing her way into a marriage.
Dragging Ryan down into misery with her.
Naturally, none of them had ever welcomed her warmly.
Samantha looked at Rose and spoke generously.
“Rose, if you have any grievances, I hope you’ll address them directly instead of resorting to such underhanded methods. We’re both women, and I don’t want to make things difficult for you. Still, I would appreciate an apology in front of everyone.”
Rose was genuinely surprised to hear Samantha wasn’t pregnant.
She frowned briefly, then quickly let the matter go.
At this point, she no longer cared about the details.
Besides, considering Ryan’s reputation for infertility, even if Samantha had been pregnant, she might not have carried the child successfully.
A scoundrel was still a scoundrel, no matter how minor the offense.
And betrayal was betrayal.
Rose looked at Samantha, marveling at her shamelessness, before calmly saying, “Alright.”
Samantha truly hadn’t expected Rose to agree so easily.
Ryan’s gaze lowered toward Rose.
It seemed even he believed she should have done this from the beginning.
But in the very next second, Rose said: “I can create a few social media accounts and publicly apologize to Miss Hill. I shouldn’t have tried to stop my younger sister-in-law from having an affair with my husband. It was my own narrow-mindedness and lack of vision. After all, I could never compare to Miss Hill, who’s eager to become a mistress, or to Mr. Knight, who’s managing two households at once.”
