4 Meeting Justin Whitfred

"No, she does not hate you. She only wants you to stop treating yourself like this. She wants you to stop all these. You are making her sad with all these things you have been doing to yourself. Let's adopt another child," he assured her soothingly and finally suggested the adoption of another child.

"No!" she screamed with a hoarse voice and pushed her husband away before standing up. "You want to replace her. I will not let that happen," with that said, she walked out of the bathroom.

Justin sighed once again this night and rubbed his face with his wet hands. At this rate, he could feel his marriage falling apart at an accelerated speed.

***

Four months after her rebirth, rose succeeded in avoiding a lot of dangers and bullying including one where she was pushed down the steps but since she knew that was going to happen, she stepped aside and the girl who attempted it fell down the steps screaming. The force she intended to use against Rose only made her suffer more.

She was glad to have escaped that because she could still remember how painful and embarrassing it was when she fell. She limped for almost a month since luckily the steps were not much or she might have fractured a bone or two.

She avoided bullying by spending most of her free time with the head of the orphanage with the excuse of wanting to study the scripture and the claim that she wanted to become a reverend sister soon after high school. The sister was so happy and made sure to clear off the rumors that she was possessed telling all the sisters in the orphanage about how spiritual she was and all.

With the protection of the very strict head, she avoided most bullies and even helped others who got bullied by reporting the bullies to the head sister – Sister Martha. She soon became the hero of most of the weaker kids.

She pulled some of the girls to join her to study with Sister Martha after assisting them with their difficult assignments. It made the other sisters like her and she was treated well by them all.

***

Rose's gaze did not wander away from the girl before her on the table as they worked together to make a dish with fish. She had suggested grilling the fish hoping the girl will concede and avoid whatever might happen with the hot water she could notice the girl kept glancing at the pot of boiling fish and at someone behind her the person behind it all – her bunkmate.

All those who enjoyed bullying were too angry that their activities had been greatly reduced by Rose's intervention and it took them a while to plan to 'mistakenly' pour hot water to destroy Rose's appearance. This was happening sooner than it did in her past life.

She must have offended them till they had no other option. In her past life, they were learning to cook a fried cake that required them to heat oil but seeing the way the girl poured a lot of water into the pot when it would only spoil the recipe they chose to prepare.

Being divided into groups of two and behind her, her bunkmate – the mastermind was working with her group member. Her group member took permission from the teacher and went out and she had to get the fish from the fire which she did happily that her group member was gone and she could avoid getting a bath in hot fish sauce.

Lifting the pot, she took it away from the burning gas stove towards the table only to get hit by someone. And the fish sauce and sliced fish were soon sprayed up.

With the support from gravity, the hot sauce found a place to land and a scream of pain and horror filled the large kitchen the teacher was running towards them already guessing what might have happened.

As Rose sat on her bed cross-legged later in the night, she remembered someone coming behind her and she turned wanting to give the person passage but the person hit the pot from under and she pushed the pot away from herself toward the person who hit her.

Her bunkmate – one of her biggest nightmares was now in the hospital along with her group member. She also got a small burn on her finger less than a centimeter wide. It was painful but nothing close to what she got on her face in her past life.

She remembered she was the one who screamed and cried and tried to persuade the sisters that it was done intentionally by her bunkmate. They concluded that it was only a mistake after all the other kids told confirmed the statements of her bunkmate.

This time, she did not bother to speak for herself because others spoke for her and her groupmate ended up getting blamed for being careless in the kitchen despite the scar she got on her neck. A pity she might never wear anything that exposes her neck.

***

"Hi, I am Justin Whitfred," a tall handsome man said stretching his hand towards Rose. She looked at him trying hard to recognize him but she could not. She had not seen him in her past life perhaps because she was still lying on the hospital bed with a bandage on her face.

"My name is Rose," she told the man and shook his hand with a slight bow.

Justin smiled. The girl was respectful as well as beautiful. She was perfect for his wife. She could be the reason his already crumbling home was going to get built again. That was the same for Anna. Anna saved his marriage and this girl will do the same.

He liked the look in the girl's eyes. Her hazel green, amber, and brown eyes did not hold any mischievousness like his friend's eyes always held. She had one of the most beautiful eyes he had seen. Her eyes were unique, a uniqueness hardly found.

Rose smiled looking down at her feet. She did not like the way the man was sizing her up. He seemed to be calculating her worth. The man was here for adoption, he wanted a girl, a fourteen-year-old girl. His wife was sick and needed someone to accompany her and make her happy.

The head Sister praised her endless and told the man all the positive things she knew about Rose although she did not want Rose to get adopted away from her dream to become a reverend sister.

Rose might not like the look the man gave her but she liked the way he looked. He was rich and that was just what she needed – wealth and power to get back at the queen and her kids. He was dressed in a navy blue suit, his cufflinks spackled in the smallest ray of light and his wristwatch was just too good to not be expensive.

She might have not been exposed to wealth growing up but she knew a rich person when she sees one.

Gulping in greed, she decided to be at her best to leave a good impression on this man's mind. She was beautiful and that was one of her weapons.

She sat down quietly and played Miss Very Innocent. Couples don't like kids that looked like they will cause a lot of trouble for them in the future. They preferred them to be gentle obedient lambs.

Mr. Whitfred did not talk much and allowed another man dressed in a black suit wearing a pair of reading glasses to take care of most of the necessities. The head Sister was not willing to let her leave but when she saw the look of hope in the girl's eyes, she knew it was best for the girl to do what she wants to.

***

The news spread fast around the orphanage that Rose was getting adopted and most of her new friends stuck to her like gum unwilling to give her a second away from them. The younger ones cried and a few of the older ones cried too. She felt touched but that was it. Their tears could not make her forsake a life of luxury just for her to remain as their hero.

In her past life, none of them cared and they lied to her when they were asked to. They joined the others to make things difficult for her. Seeing them act the way they were only made her smile at the behavior of humans. You get as much as you put in.