ALWAYS

IX

She went to their bedroom after she had her time washing away a bit of her never ending sadness... surprised to see him soundly asleep on their bed... his face illuminated by a trifle of light coming from the lamp on their bedside table... but then a muffled sigh came from her throat for she remembered he's here because of his parents.

Afraid to wake him up and may drive him to do abusing and filthy things to her just like he used to whenever he spends the night at the mansion, she silently went to their bathroom to slip on her night gown... she stayed inside for a while... looking at her reflection against the mirror once again... forcing a smile to her tired lips but in the end failed to do so.

She went outside and good thing he's still asleep... for tonight she could escape his lustful torture... and again she silently and slowly went to his side... slid under the covers and reached for the lamp to turn it off carefully and wishing he won't wake up with her simple moves... she just want a break even just for tonight...

She sighed in relief as she finally settled herself on her side... she closed her eyes but then she couldn't sleep... things about her conversation with 'his' mom kept on rewinding inside her mind... she stared at the ceiling thinking of the words her mother-in-law told her a while ago.

[Flashback]

"Is he giving you a hard time dear...?"

Maybe she's too stupid for her not to let out what she really feels... maybe she really loves being abused for she can't let out the truth... just a word away... tell her what he really does to you... but she can't... too afraid that it would add more to his problems... add more to his pain... she swallowed the lump on her throat... swallowing the truth to let out another lie.

"No mom... he's not..."

She saw her smiled and it's enough to correct that lie... she doesn't know why... why can't she tell them so that maybe they could finally give her the freedom that she wanted... but no... for maybe the last strand of hope is still alive inside her...

His eyes that she saw earlier... the way he looked at her... she couldn't feel the hate she used to feel... but instead just blank... no... maybe unreadable... and perhaps it's better to see it that way than to feel the loath and disgust in his eyes.

"He's really a loving child... and so responsible... sometimes I feel bad whenever I see him in so much stress because of our business... he shouldn't be taking all of these responsibilities alone... if only his brother's here..."

She heard the sadness in her mother-in-law's voice... she reached for her hand and tried to comfort her... it's true... he has a lot of responsibilities... especially being the only heir of a big company... but then when she heard about his brother... curiosity began to sprung up to her... she never heard that he has a brother... never she did see him on their wedding... is he dead or something...? She thought.

"Uhm... mom... I never heard that he has a brother..."

She weakly said... she then saw a hint of surprise in 'his' mom's face... she covered her mouth with her free hand... and as if she said something she shouldn't have... Rosé can't help but to raise an eyebrow when she felt 'his' mom's hesitation to tell her the things she doesn't know...

Then after a while... her mother-in-law sighed... she put down her hand only to hold both of her hands... she looked at Rosé apologetically before she started speaking.

"We're very sorry if we kept everything to you... you're family also know about our other son but then we decided to just keep it to ourselves since after all it wouldn't cause any troubles or changes once you knew about him..."