CHAPTER FORTY THREE

Previously on Avenging Angels

Rose goes to the nursing home to see Matilda Ross but sadly, she got nothing from her except that she knows something about May, 20th, 2000. Rose loses her necklace.

FORTY-THREE

It dawned on me very hard.

I lost my necklace, the only thing I have left of my mother. The gift she gave me because she couldn't spend time with me.

The only thing that kept me going during those harsh nights.

My anchor,

My strength.

Tears nearly blinded my vision and I had the sudden urge to cry in Iris's arms because she is the closest thing I have to a mother.

"What are you looking for, Rose? I've asked you for a thousand times now" I snapped back into reality as I heard Helen's voice.

"Have you guys seen a necklace around here? It's actually a locket, it has a rose on the golden cover and there is a lady's photo inside..." I asked as I tried to dry my sweaty palms on my uniform.

My lips were already shaking.

I can't lose that necklace, I could lose anything else but not that.

Why was I so careless?

I should have taken it with me inside the room when I went to change.

"Oh, that..." Helen mused and I focused my attention on her.

"You have it?" I leaned in.

"Well...no. Miss Helda does. She told us that if any one of us is looking for a necklace, we should meet her in her room" Helen said and I relaxed my tensed-up muscles a bit.

"OK, thank you," I said and left the kitchen from the door that led to the maids' quarters.

I stopped at the last room in the hallway, letting my fingers brush the old peels of wood before I rapped my knuckles on the door.

"Yes? Who's there?" I heard her voice ask.

"It's me, Rosaline" I was answered with a pause.

"Come in" She later said and I turned the doorknob before I stepped inside.

"To what do we owe this great pleasure, Rosaline? What's the matter?" Miss Helda was seated on her desk, putting on her glasses and a book was open before her.

"I came for the necklace you found in the kitchen"

She stilled.

Her entire form stopped moving and she seemed to be stuck in one position, her eyes far away from reality.

"Miss Helda" I called to bring her back.

She suddenly closed the book on the table and took off her glasses as she ran her hands over her wrinkled face which looked disturbed.

"Are you okay, Miss Helda?" I furrowed my eyebrows at her weird behavior.

"Yes," she nodded.

She then opened the drawer by the right and took out the necklace.

My face instantly lit up when I saw the familiar golden rose.

"Is this yours?" She asked.

"Yes, it's mine" I quickly answered.

She clutched the necklace in her hand as she closed her eyes tightly as though she was in severe pain.

"The woman in the picture?" she gritted out.

"Why do you ask that?"

"Is Rosaline Merriweather your mother?" she asked as she finally had the guts to look up.

I was stunned by the abrupt question but I was even more shocked at the tears in her eyes.

How does she know my mother?

"I...I don't know the woman you speak of" I said in a clipped tone and my face remained impassive.

"This necklace was your mother's and it was for her mother. This is the Merriweather's symbol" She said and pointed at the distinct symbol on the locket.

"How do you know that?" I asked and raised my eyebrow.

"Tell me, how do you know my mother?!" I spat and clenched my fists.

"Oh, my dear Rose, it was a long time ago..." she leaned back on her chair.

I said nothing and waited for her to proceed. My throat too dried to speak.

"I was an orphan from a very tender age and I cleaned people's houses for a living back then. I worked at several places, anywhere that I could get money from instead of going to school like my peers"

I tried to ignore the deep pit in my stomach.

"One day, luckily for me, I got a job as a maid in a prestigious mansion. I was elated that I would get to live in such a huge place and vowed to never displease the owners of the house. My task was to take care of their only daughter, Avalor Brewham"

I don't know how well that information sits with me.

"Avalor was cranky, picky and a troublemaker from a young age of ten. Although I was almost twice her age older than her, she called me by my first name with so much disrespect that sometimes it boiled my blood. But I endured it because I couldn't give up on what I received from the family. It was the only way I survived.

"Avalor had little to no friends due to her rude and unruly attitude but the one friend that she had filled the gap of any other friend she could ever have. Her friend was beautiful, polite, and loved by everyone, she often came to visit and play with Avalor so I knew her very well.

"I was envious of the maid that took care of the young lady because she was so calm, pure, and respectful. Even though I wasn't her nanny, she called me with respect and would always chastise Avalor for her rude behavior. She had long, beautiful black hair and a dazzling set of blue eyes"

"That friend was..." my heart sank into my chest.

"She was Rosaline Merriweather, your mother"

I leaned over the wall as my head began to ring from the news. I felt a heat in my chest that struggled to come down.

"There was a boy who was just down the streets from Avalor's house and to my keen observation, Avalor adored him a lot. She would always send him letters and chocolates. Sometimes she even bought gifts for him but what she never knew was that it was an unrequited love.

"The boy had someone else in mind, he loved another girl and when he asked her out, she readily accepted, not knowing it was her best friend's crush. I had never seen Avalor as devastated as she was that day, she cried her eyes out and broke everything in sight. It was a horrible scene. She locked herself up in her room for days without eating a single grain.

"Although her friend begged for forgiveness when she later found out the truth, Avalor kicked her out of her house and out of her life. From then onwards, everything became a competition between both friends. From who got the highest grades in school to who wore the best clothes. Avalor became obsessed with becoming better than Rosaline in everything that she began to lose the little warmth and kind-heartedness she had.

"There was a science project in school that the students had to come up with fertilizer to help an endangered plant produce more flowers. Avalor went on a few sleepless nights just so she could come up with first place in that project and beat Rosaline. When she heard from a mutual friend that Rosaline had gotten the equation for the fertilizer, Avalor became angry and filled with jealousy. She was never the one to lose and she never will be. The next day, Avalor came back home in first place in the project.

"How she did it, no one knows but I was certain she stole the equation from Rosaline who later came by the mansion asking Avalor why she did it. And Avalor with a smug face laughed at Rosaline's defeated face. Since then, the friends drifted apart further and I, being the bystander was heartbroken at the huge crack in their relationship.

"They went to college, got their degree, found a job, and later got married. I was still secretly in touch with Rosaline so I was there when she gave birth to a baby girl, she even gave me the honor to name her and I named her Iris because her eyes shone as beautiful as the flower.

"What I didn't know was that Avalor, even after getting married and given birth to William and Grayson, still harbored great jealousy for Rosaline and Brudy. Avalor created problems for the Thorne's Industry and when it was about to go bankrupt, she bought it all and left them with nothing.

"It was then Rosaline came to meet me secretly to inform me she would be moving to another place because she was tired of the toxic vibes in the town she grew up. I later lost contact with her and so did Avalor until...Avalor gave birth to her baby girl"

"How did she kill my mother?!" I spat and Miss Helda looked up at me in shock.