Chapter 123
Even without seeing her face, Rosalie could tell Claudia's features must have been twisted with anger. She knew Claudia must have been upset that day, and that's why she'd said such harsh words. Neither Helena nor she had been upset.
After a few seconds, Rosalie heard Claudia say, “We’re all family. I knew you were going to hold it against me.”
Clasha sure had a lot of patience. No wonder she had managed to beat Rosalie's mother and win, she wondered. Rosalie let out a derisive laugh.
Claudia continued. “Rosalie, you go ahead and finish what you’re doing, but you should still eat dinner. Don’t starve yourself. We’ll wait for you to come back and eat together… I’ll go check on the soup I’m simmering in the kitchen for you. Bye.”
With that, probably fearing Rosalie would say something even more infuriating, Claudia hung up first.
Rosalie didn’t take them seriously and just focused on her own work. It wasn’t until seven-thirty in the evening that she headed to the Graham residence.
“Mr. Graham, Mrs. Graham, Rosalie has arrived,” Hollie said.
When Rosalie entered, she sensed the low pressure in the living room; clearly, the family was in a sour mood. The culprit of this unpleasantness merely glanced at them indifferently, handed her suitcase to Hollie, and said, “Take it upstairs and put it in my room.”
“Yes, Rosalie,” Hollie replied.
At that moment, footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs, accompanied by an extremely discontented voice echoing from the stairwell. “Rosalie, what’s going on? Don’t you know everyone’s been waiting for you to eat? Why did you show up so late?”
The accusatory tone fell squarely on Rosalie. She looked up and saw the old woman and curled her lips into a smile. “Grandma, you are back,” she said nonchalantly, without much emotion, even though the woman was her grandmother.
Ever since time travel, Phyllis had always favored Helena. Rosalie didn’t understand why, as the legitimate granddaughter, she was neglected in favor of a girl brought in by a stepmother.
Because she felt sorry for Helena, Rosalie never took out her frustration on her. Instead, she would ask Edward about it. Edward would say that the grandmother felt bad for Helena’s illness and thus doted on her more.
Over time, Rosalie accepted this behavior. She figured that since she had her father and stepmother’s affection, it didn’t matter if the grandmother favored Helena more.
Even when Phyllis spoke harshly to her in private, Rosalie endured it for her father’s sake. But the reality was, in Phyllis’ eyes, Helena was the true granddaughter, while Rosalie, a member of the Talley family, was perhaps just an outsider.
Phyllis had always been domineering with Rosalie and knew she was usually intimidated by her. Phyllis didn’t expect that after returning from a month-and-a-half-long trip, Rosalie would still have such an indifferent attitude.
First came a moment of surprise, followed quickly by evident displeasure on her face. “Making everyone in the family wait for you in the evening, don’t you feel the slightest bit ashamed?” she said.
“Is that so! You were waiting for me?” Rosalie’s gaze shifted to Claudia. “Didn’t I tell you not to wait for me? You didn’t pass on my message.” Meeting Rosalie’s piercing look, Claudia’s eyes flickered with guilt before she explained, “I took it upon myself to have everyone wait for you. We’re all family; it wouldn’t make sense for us to start eating without you. I just didn’t expect you to be so late.”