Rose suddenly turned pale and asked in disbelief, "Are you kidding me?"
"Yeah, you don't believe me?" Magee responded gleefully.
In truth, he already knew everything about Rose. He knew that Rose was vain, shallow, immoral, and evil.
He chose her precisely for these reasons.
Magee burst into laughter. Somehow, Rose reminded him of Jennifer, another hypocritical woman. His expression changed - a crafty look was on his face now. Suddenly, he wasn't the perfect gentleman he was pretending to be all this time.
He looked at Rose who was smiling forcefully much to his delight, "To be honest, I just wanted to sleep with all the women of the Gu clan's men. Are you happy now?" he was enjoying this and it showed in his tone.
That included Jennifer, Rose, and even Emily, whom Jack and Jacob loved. Magee aimed to sleep with all their women.
He wanted to sleep with all the women of the Gu clan's men well, because... Magee stopped himself - he didn't want to recall any of his bad memories now.
"Sadly," Magee sighed, "I can't sleep with Emily anymore."
Emily! It was all because of Emily!
What was it with that damn woman?
Even though Rose was feeling all kinds of emotions right now, she didn't dare show any of this. "Oh, Mr. Magee, you're just that powerful and charming huh. That any woman would just magically crawl into your bed with you and she wouldn't ever leave as long as you won't let her go."
Magee looked at her fixedly, "Are you telling me to start a war with Jacob?"
Rose bowed her head and replied quickly, "No, I'm not..."
"Did I scare you? Take it easy. I was just kidding," Magee stroked her face with his finger as he continued, "Did you know that Emily's dead now?? Her plane crashed. No survivors."
Rose stared at him, stunned.
This was such a sudden news for her that her mind completely went off the grid - she was feeling dizzy and she was in a trance.
"Surprised? Or too happy to respond?" he asked teasingly.
Magee's voice was just ringing in her ears before she finally snapped out of her trance. She was suddenly overwhelmed with joy that she was blushing.
"Yeah, I'm surprised, but a happy kind of surprised," she said, her voice trembling in an attempt to hide her excitement.
"I told you, I know you," Magee said in a low tone, as he lifted his hand to hold a strand of her hair, and drew her closer to him, then he continued, "If you're happy, show me, Rose, show me how happy you are."
Magee's voice was soft and rich making Rose's heart race.
"The black rose shines like a pear with silent dignity as if it's waiting for someone to pick it up," Magee said as if he was reciting poetry.
Rose gazed at Magee in his elegance and beauty. At this moment, all she could think about was how deeply she cared for him that even Emily's death couldn't take her mind off him.
She whispered, "Yes, that's what my name means."
The black rose shines like a pearl with silent dignity as if it's waiting for someone to pick it up
But who would pick her?
Magee sneered, "Change your name."
"What?" Rose asked in surprise.
Magee repeated what he said but this time more slowly, "I said, change your name. You don't deserve it. Understand?"
Rose's face suddenly paled and her lips shivered - not knowing how to respond. After a while, she just gave a reluctant smile and said, "Okay, Mr. Magee, I'll do whatever you want."
Magee touched her head and rubbed her hair, gently, as if he was comforting an obedient pet. "Good girl," he said, smiling as if he was pleased with himself.
……
Although it was summer in Jingshi City and it was blazing hot outside, Jacob felt chilly. His every fiber of his body was tinged with pain.
He still couldn't believe that Emily was gone now.
Jacob paused and narrowed his eyes. After a while, he finally let go of Jennifer and barked, "Get out of here! I don't want to end up killing you."
But Jennifer refused to leave - in her mind, Jacob still had feelings for and he just didn't want to hurt her. "Your hand's hurt, you need to cover that up, I'll help you," she offered.
As if on cue, a servant came in with a first-aid kit in hand. Jennifer took the kit, sat on her heels, and tried to treat Jacob's wound.
Jacob's face was unreadable and flinched every time Jennifer touched her.
Until suddenly, someone burst in.
"Jacob! You bastard!" Jack was already shouting before he kicked the living room door open. He had just returned from Africa - and this was his first stop. He wanted to settle things with Jacob. The servants tried to stop him but Jack forced his way in.
Before Jennifer even realized what was happening, Jack had already grabbed Jacob by the collar and landed a fist on his face.
"Asshole! Where's Emily! You stole her away from me! Give me back my Emily! You bastard!" Jack bellowed.
Instinctively, Jacob lifted his hand to ward off Jack's punches and moved to attack back. "Jack, if you want to die, I will gladly help you," he said brutally.
These two men were both from the same rich and powerful family and not to mention, uncle and nephew. But they fought each other ruthlessly. They exchanged punches and kicks and slaps with all their anger for one another until they could no longer feel anything.
"You son of a bitch! You killed Emily!" Jack roared, throwing curses at him.
"Shut up! Emily is not dead! She's not dying until I say so!" Jacob screamed. He was still trying to convince himself that Emily was still alive.
Jennifer was standing at the side just watching this whole thing go down but she didn't dare try to block them from one another. "Stop it! Stop fighting!" she yelled but to no avail so she turned to the servants and ordered them to try and put a stop to this fight.
One by one the servants tried to block the two men from one another but they were all either kicked to the floor, pushed aside, or punched on the face.
Jack's eyes were bloodshot like a madman - anger burning in his heart. He glared at Jacob - sharp and angry as if it could pierce him. "She's dead! You killed her! You don't deserve her at all! Jacob, I'm telling you right now that nothing ever happened between me and Emily. That child she's carrying is yours! Not mine! It's yours!
Jacob! You chased her to her death! You're a murderer, goddamn it! This is all your fault! You killed her!"
Jack choked out those last words and finally he let out a desperate cry.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: A Call That Changed Her Entire Life