Chapter 60

Third-Person POV

Rose paced her parents’ living room, each step calculated to display distress. Tears streaked her makeup, deliberately ruined before her arrival. The afternoon sun highlighted her red eyes and trembling hands as she clutched a disintegrating tissue.

“I don’t know what else to do,” she sobbed. “Stefan barely talks to me. He sleeps at his family home every night.”

Margaret Lewis watched with exhaustion. The past weeks had stripped years from her face, first Camille’s death, now Rose’s relationship troubles.

“Maybe he just needs time,” Margaret suggested weakly. “The Rodriguez company’s collapse is a terrible shock.”

“Time?” Rose’s voice cracked perfectly. “He talks about canceling the wedding, Mom! Everything we’ve planned!”

Richard Lewis sat with newspaper forgotten, expression guarded. Since the scandal photos emerged, he’d grown quieter around Rose.

“Stefan’s lost everything,” he said finally. “His company, his estat