The mere thought that Cole might be the one knocking, with his arrogant and domineering presence, sent Elliana’s heart racing.

The persistent knocking left her no time for contemplation. She hastily threw on clothes, secured her wig over her hair, and applied thick makeup to dull her natural beauty before rushing to answer the door.

However, outside stood Jeff, the little troublemaker, glowering at her with his freshly buzzed head gleaming under the hallway lights. “What brings you here?” Elliana asked, maintaining a carefully neutral expression.

Jeff scrutinized Elliana’s deliberately tacky makeup, his lip curling with disdain before he delivered his message. “Let me make something perfectly clear—even though you’re the famous Rosa, I still can’t stand you. I’ll always prefer Trinity over you!”

Elliana’s lips curved into a subtle smirk, finding Jeff’s dramatic outburst utterly pathetic. “Message received,” she replied with deliberate calm. “Anything else you’d like to add?”

Her unruffled response caught Jeff completely off-guard. He had anticipated anger or perhaps even hurt, but certainly not this dismissive indifference. He stood frozen for several seconds, visibly processing her unexpected reaction before finally muttering, “No… Nothing else.”

With startling force, Elliana slammed the door shut.

Jeff, standing dangerously close, barely dodged it, leaping backward with a startled yelp. “Hideous weirdo with zero manners!” he grumbled under his breath as he stormed away. Inside, Elliana released a frustrated curse. That insufferable child had forced her to wash her face all over again.

After securing the lock, Elliana scrubbed away the thick makeup in the bathroom before finally collapsing onto the luxurious, inviting bed.

Glancing at her phone, she realized midnight had already arrived. Not remotely sleepy, she debated texting Adah, uncertain whether her friend would still be awake at this hour.

Just then, her phone illuminated with a message from Adah. “I can practically feel you itching to talk to me right now.”

Elliana typed back, “Our minds must operate on the same wavelength, huh?”

“Called it perfectly!”

Seconds later, Adah’s incoming call appeared on Elliana’s screen.

Elliana answered promptly.

“So, what’s the aftermath like after dropping your Rosa bombshell today?” Adah asked, her curiosity evident.

“Nothing particularly dramatic,” Elliana replied with measured casualness.

Heeding Rita’s warning, Elliana had kept her discreet identity as Rosa under wraps before turning twenty. Now, at twenty, she saw no issue in revealing her Rosa identity to deal with Paige, especially since this move might even let Rita, wherever she was, witness more of her life’s journey.

“And how are things progressing with your husband?” Adah pressed, her voice laced with intrigue.

Elliana hesitated momentarily before divulging the full situation between herself and Cole.

Adah erupted into loud laughter. “You’re kidding! The high-and-mighty Mr. Evans actually has an endearing side beneath all that arrogant exterior?”

Adah’s characterization of Cole as “endearing” triggered Elliana’s own laughter. “Enough about him already. What’s happening in your world? How much longer will you remain in Apricot Blossom Village?”

Like Elliana, Adah enjoyed tremendous independence, living according to her own rules without constant supervision.

Technically, Adah had been fostered by a family in Apricot Blossom Village, but that family merely collected payments from the Norris family while barely checking on her. She could disappear for extended periods, and they wouldn’t express the slightest concern. Whatever she got up to out there, they were clueless about it.

Throughout the years, Elliana and Adah had orchestrated numerous clandestine meetings, embarking on countless adventures together without anyone ever discovering their escapades.

Back when Adah was initially sent away, her grandmother had established strict parameters. No one was permitted to retrieve Adah or visit her in Apricot Blossom Village without explicit approval. Consequently, Adah’s visits to Ublento had been conducted with utmost discretion, never alerting her family to her presence.

Recently, Adah had been residing in Apricot Blossom Village longer than usual, primarily to recover after completing an exhausting project that had drained her energy.

“I’ll be returning to Ublento soon,” Adah revealed with unmistakable determination. “This time, I’m making a proper reappearance as my family’s eldest daughter.”

“The Norris family is actually coming to collect you?” Elliana asked, surprise evident in her voice.

“Yup,” Adah replied, a hint of cynicism coloring her tone. “Not from any sudden wellspring of familial affection, mind you. The Shaw family patriarch is demanding my return to honor a marriage arrangement, so my family has been cornered into action.”

Elliana was familiar with Adah’s childhood engagement to Allan, the Shaw family heir—an arrangement orchestrated by Adah’s mother and Allan’s grandfather. The situation paralleled Elliana’s childhood betrothal to Raylan with remarkable similarity.

Years ago, Elliana and Adah had often joked about their mothers’ inexplicable determination to secure these arranged marriages.

Following Adah’s mother’s passing and Adah’s subsequent exile to Apricot Blossom Village, Elliana and Adah had assumed Adah’s engagement to Allan had been forgotten. Yet now, Allan’s grandfather was resurrecting the arrangement.

Allan’s grandfather’s actions stirred memories of Raylan’s grandfather’s similar persistence.

Neither Elliana nor Adah could fully comprehend why both elders remained so steadfastly committed to these arrangements. Nevertheless, both women welcomed the opportunity to finally associate openly in Ublento—an undeniable positive development.

Elliana mentioned with calculated casualness, “I’ve actually encountered your fiancé, Allan. He moves in the same circles as Cole.”

“Really?” Adah responded, genuine interest animating her voice. “Paint me a picture of him. What sort of man is Allan?”

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