Whispers of Destiny His Belated Love
Chapter 103

Maxwell knew what Rosemary was up to the moment she reached out, but he didn't budge, lettingher snatch the phone away.

A quick glance at the screen, which was still locked, with messages and missed calls notificationshanging there.

Maxwell didn't check it? Then what was he doing staring at his phone screen all this time?

Poking at the phone and sounding none too pleased, Rosemary asked, "What are you even doinghere?"

"Well, you hogged my bed; where else am I supposed to be? Or are you bummed I didn't crash withyou?" Maxwell probably hadn't slept a wink all night, red streaks clear as day. His jacket was tossedaside carelessly, leaving him in just a thin shirt and dress pants, with the top few buttons undone,giving off a vibe of laziness and casualness that wasn't usually his style.

Rosemary looked up at him in disbelief, "How can you keep a straight face, looking all suave anddapper, while spewing such shameless crap?"

Was that what she meant? She was asking why he didn't just roll off to another room to sleep,instead of hanging around on the couch like a ghost all night, God knew fantasizing about whatwhile she was asleep.

The thought alone gave her the creeps.

Maxwell ignored her sarcasm, "What's with your phone wallpaper?"

Her wallpaper was a hand-drawn cartoon that, if not for the fact that it was a spitting image ofMaxwell in his usual attire - minus the head, with "I'll knock your block off" written beside it, wouldn'thave been so odd.

Maxwell continued, "You really want to knock my block off, huh?"

"Isn't it obvious? Don't you know how annoying you are?"

She saw an address from David, and a message, "Is this enough for you, or shall I dig up more?"

Rosemary pocketed her phone and opened the wardrobe.

She had moved out months ago, and Maxwell had said he'd ask the servant to toss all her stuff, soshe wasn't holding out hope for replaceing any clothes to change into - she just couldn't stand thewrinkled mess and stench of booze she was wearing. She pulled open the door, half-hoping to atleast replace a T-shirt.

To her surprise, her clothes were still there, neatly arranged by length as per her habit, even theaccessories sealed in bags and hung up.

Weren't these supposed to be trashed? But that question, likely to steer things towards flirtyterritory, she only pondered in her head without voicing it out.

After grabbing clothes and heading to the bathroom, she found all her stuff still there: face wash,toothpaste, toothbrush, mouthwash cup.

Once she was freshened up and changed, Rosemary made a beeline out of there. She half-expected Maxwell to stop her, even had her retorts ready, but when the man saw her, he justnonchalantly remarked, "Take the bed sheets you dirtied with you."

Rosemary snorted coldly. She'd never again call Victoria an angelic bitch. Anyone who could tame ademon like Maxwell was a downright saint in distress!

Grinding her teeth, she angrily bundled up the pricey sheets and duvet, pillows and all, draggingthem out with her.

After dumping them in the trash downstairs, all sweaty and flustered, she hailed a cab to theaddress David gave her - a grocery store. Upon explaining herself, she was handed a USB stick.

Back home, she plugged in the USB to replace five videos.

Rosemary knew Stacey was no saint, but she didn't expect her to stoop to the lows of honeypottraps to snag a contract for not only once or twice, let alone the plagiarism, gagging others with bothcarrot and stick, and bullying - all standard practice.

Rosemary transferred some cash to David; all she had to do now was wait for the right moment.

She could've sent the videos straight to the media, then paid for some trending hashtags to stir thepot, but that would risk exposing her, and the buzz wouldn't last - after all, Stacey wasn't a celeb,and public interest in business drama wasn't that high, not to mention Stacey had Stellar Groupbacking her.

But before Rosemary could replace her moment, Stacey beat her to it, getting into a brawl over a tablewith an influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers in a restaurant. Neither were the type toback down, and things got physical quick. Stacey's goons, looking like trouble with a capital T, gotinvolved, and the poor influencer ended up with her nose job wrecked, bloodied and wailing.

Someone at the restaurant filmed it, posted it online, and it went viral. With fans clamoring forjustice, Stacey's ordeal became meme fodder all over the web.

Rosemary messaged David to drop those videos he'd gathered when the time was ripe. David wasa pro at this, knowing just when to release them to fan the flames of public outrage.

If at first Stacey could still try to bury the story and hire some keyboard warriors to clean up herimage online, maybe even play the victim once in a while, once David's videos hit, she lost control

over the narrative. She couldn't even show her face without being mobbed, her address and phonenumber outed by netizens.

Watching the personal info spilled online, Rosemary thought back to her own dark days - gettingdragged through the mud, homeless, huddling in dark corners of parks, scared stiff of beingrecognized even though she fully covered herself up.

Beyond the relentless online mockery, there were fabricated salacious rumors and the sickeningharassment from loan sharks.

Thinking about it, it was as miserable as being a sick animal! And Stacey, the instigator, wasprobably living it up somewhere, clueless.

Lost in thought, Rosemary was jolted by the abrasive ringtone of her phone. She turned to seeStacey's name flashing on the screen.

She didn't pick up, but it kept ringing, persistent as a leech. Annoyed, Rosemary grabbed herphone, about to switch it off, when a message from Stacey came in, "Rosemary, if you don't pick up,I'll come replace you. Digging up someone's address is a piece of cake for me."

She could totally feel Stacey's fury just oozing out of the text! But this woman seriously neverlearned. Even after becoming universally loathed like a rat crossing the street - everyone was readyto take a swing at her - she was still so pretentious.

Rosemary smirked, thinking, “If you're gonna be like that. Well, guess what? I'm out!”

She shut off her phone, went through her bedtime routine, and just as she had settled into bed,there were loud knocks at the door.