"Maximus, that's enough! You're only cruel because you know I'm still hopelessly devoted to you. Do you really hate me that much?" Rose's voice cracked, raw and trembling.

Maximus scoffed, scooping Delilah into his arms as if she were made of glass. "Love? Did I ever ask for yours, Rose? Do you actually think I’m stupid enough to believe that garbage?"

"Yeah, stop the act, Rose," Delilah spat, her eyes glinting with pure venom. "You’re the one who pushed your father to sabotage Maximus’s company, aren’t you? You’re a manipulative snake—you wouldn’t know the first thing about real love."

Rose felt a sharp, jagged pain in her chest. She forced herself to breathe. *No,* she told herself. *Don't fold now.*

"Oh, please! Does love only belong to you two now? Are you really going to stand there and play the happy couple?" Rose snapped back, her eyes flashing.

"You’ve gone too far, Rose," Maximus snarled, tenderly blowing on a tiny, microscopic scratch on Delilah’s arm. He glared at Rose, his gaze ice-cold. "Delilah came here to show some kindness, and you shoved her. Is there any bottom to your desperation?"

"Kindness? Desperation?" Rose’s vision blurred with hot, stinging tears. "What did I even do?"

"You know exactly what you did." Maximus turned his back on her, shutting her out entirely, his focus pinned solely on comforting Delilah.

Seeing them wrapped in their own little bubble of staged affection, something inside Rose snapped. "Get out! Both of you, get out!"

She lunged for the pillow, then the water glass, hurling every object within reach with everything she had left.

"Madwoman." Maximus didn't even flinch. He just muttered the insult, guided Delilah out, and slammed the door behind them.

Rose collapsed, the sounds of her sobbing tearing through the sterile silence of the room.

"Miss, don't cry," Flora, the caregiver, said, her face twisted in disgust as she stared at the closed door. "Those two are nothing but scum. They deserve each other. It’s not worth your tears." She rubbed Rose’s back, her touch firm and grounding.

"It hurts, Flora! I loved him so much... why? Why is he doing this to me?" Rose buried her face in the caregiver's shoulder, her frame shaking.

Just then, the door swung open. Margaret Hayes rushed in, her breath hitched. "Rose? What happened? Why are you crying like this?"

"Mom..." The sight of her mother only made the grief spill over. She buried herself in Margaret’s arms, sobbing harder.

"What’s going on here?" Margaret asked, turning to the caregiver, her expression hardening.

"Madam, it was them," Flora muttered, clearly offended. "That girl came in here acting like she owned the place, and then he followed, just shouting and blaming everything on her. They’re absolutely shameless."

"Shameless?" Margaret’s eyes narrowed. "That must have been that manipulative snake, Delilah."

"Don't cry, my poor girl," Margaret said, her heart breaking for her daughter. "What if we just send you abroad? Somewhere far away from them. How does that sound?"

Rose looked up, the decision crystallizing in her heart. She was done. She was finally done. "Yes, Mom. Get me out. I want to be as far away from Maximus Anderson as possible."

"Good. Dry those tears. Once you’re strong enough, we’ll get you on a flight to France. Just focus on healing for now."

"Okay," Rose nodded, the word heavy with a sudden, icy finality.