Chapter 5

Grand Asia Hospital. Jay went to the monitoring room. As soon as he entered, a young man greeted him and gave his report. "Master Ares, the patient's data entered our system twenty minutes ago. We’ve done as you ordered and set up an electronic tracker to track the person who submitted her information. But, this woman looks very different from the photo you gave us…” Jay’s eyes were glued intently on the monitor. The young man shifted the mouse and a woman dressed in punk fashion appeared on the screen. Jay frowned and carefully observed the woman with dreadlocks, lips smeared with lipstick with a cat-eye eyeshadow, trying to suppress the discomfort he was feeling. "Zoom in!" Jay barked. Rose's face was enlarged on the monitor and the high-definition image offered a clear view of her face. She still looked the same... Jay narrowed his eyes. How did Rose escape from his escape-proof net back then? He could not fathom how she had managed to stay hidden when the entire world was searching for her, but her final move of faking her death was admittedly very clever. When Jay thought about how he had been outwitted by a commoner like Rose, he felt a massive blow to his self-esteem. "Grayson, seize her and tie her up.” Jay's thin lips sneered maliciously. "Yes, Master," Grayson replied before leaving the room. … Rose sat on the bench in the hallway, anxiously waiting for the doctor's analysis. She was completely flummoxed by the doctor’s many inexplicable excuses for her mother's admission. First, there were problems with her mother’s indicators. Then, there were suddenly too many patients in Grand Asia and no spare beds, so she had to wait outside. In order to get timely and effective treatment for her mother, Rose could do nothing else but wait patiently for the results. Suddenly, several men wearing tinted glasses and black uniforms approached her. Rose immediately felt that something was wrong and was about to walk away when more similarly dressed men appeared on the other end of the corridor. "Miss, would you please come with us?" Grayson removed his sunglasses and offered a polite smile. Rose finally realized that she had walked straight into a trap by willingly going to Grand Asia. "Who are you? And why should I go with you?" Rose spoke with forced calm. Grayson replied rather firmly, "Miss, don't make us use force. Our men tend to be a bit rough, one small mishap and we might break one of your limbs by accident.” That was nothing short of a blatant threat. Rose was well aware that Jay’s bodyguards were as ruthless as their master. As such, she chose to give up rather than resist and she followed Grayson down the corridor. When they arrived outside the lounge, Rose was reluctant to go in. Grayson threw the door open and shoved her into the room. Rose stumbled a few steps forward before stopping right in front of Jay Ares. Jay was sitting on a black rocking chair that seamlessly blended into his black suit. The scene simply emanated nauseating vanity and arrogance. When Rose came in, Jay’s eyes instantly locked onto her face. "Wash your face clean with that sink over there," Jay ordered her sharply. Jay’s intolerable pompousness sparked the dormant fury within Rose. "Mister, it’s natural for a woman to want to look her best, you know. You’re being unreasonable and impolite." She chose to act dumb. Jay leaned forward and said severely, "My apologies, perhaps I just can’t see you as good-looking.” “Eh— "There’s beauty in all types of flowers. It’s the same for people. I can’t help it if you’re close-minded.” Rose said, holding her ground. "Fine. If you won’t wash your face, I’ll get my people to do it for you." Jay's voice was smooth and silky, but it sent shivers down Rose’s spine. "That won’t be necessary!" Rose stood up abruptly. "I’ll do it myself.” She walked toward the sink, unscrewed the tap, and splashed cold water over her face. She rubbed her face and returned to Jay. “I’m done.” Jay inspected the unchanged painted face and frowned. He instinctively reached out to touch the multicolored makeup on her face. "Is this waterproof makeup?" Even after touching the garish makeup, his fingers were unstained. "I’ll give you three minutes. Right now. Clean up your face. Otherwise, I’ll have one of my men peel the skin off your face." His voice was so icy that Rose thought she was inside a coffin of ice. Rose remained adamantly seated on the sofa opposite him. "I can't wash it off," she said stubbornly. “Come in!” At his command, the door opened from the outside and a group of burly men entered the room and formed two rows around Rose. Rose was dumbfounded. She stammered, "No… I mean... It’s just makeup removal… Is this really necessary?” Jay gave the men a meaningful look, and then a few tall men aggressively grabbed Rose. One of them tightened a hand around Rose's neck, and she quickly had trouble breathing. Another man took a bottle of makeup remover and sprayed it recklessly on Rose's face. Some of it seeped into her eyes and instantly burned her. Then, another person took out a toothbrush and roughly scrubbed Rose's face. Finally, the last person took a bottle of mineral water and poured it over Rose's face. "We’re all civilized people. Why are we acting like primitive monkeys?" Rose yelled angrily. With the rude and forceful assistance of the men, Rose's true face slowly appeared. 　　 As Rose’s face started to look more familiar, Jay’s expression became uglier and uglier. “Rose Loyle!" With their duty complete, the men finally released Rose and promptly left the room in an orderly manner. At that moment, Rose looked like a drowned rat with her soaked face and dripping wet clothes. To say the least, she was embarrassed as hell. “So what if I’m Rose? Bite me!” Rose angrily waved her fists at Jay and looked utterly furious. If Jay felt no compassion for Rose five years ago, he most definitely did not have any to spare for her now. Rose’s evident irritation only made his evil smile grow larger. That woman used to be a docile and well-behaved puppet, bland and tasteless. Who would have thought that she turned out to be a scheming pot of black squid ink!