Chapter 3
Rose's POV
For the next few months, I became like a wounded animal, curled up in my corner of pain, baring my teeth at anyone who tried to approach.
Grandma was elderly and sick, completely unable to care for me. Leonard became my only guardian, but I refused to cooperate with any of his arrangements.
I wouldn't speak, wouldn't eat, wouldn't let him touch me.
"Rose, time for your medicine." Leonard entered my room carrying pills and warm water.
I turned away from him, curling up under the covers in silence.
"You can't go on like this—your body won't hold up." He sighed softly. "Please, Rose, at least eat something."
Still silence. Only the clock's ticking filled the room.
Leonard sighed, placing the medicine on the nightstand. "I know you hate me. If I hadn't let your parents leave the hospital that night... if I'd insisted they stay with you..."
I suddenly turned around, my eyes filled with angry tears. "YES! I HATE you! I hate everyone! Why did you save me? Why didn't you let me go to heaven with Mom and Dad?"
Leonard's face went deathly pale, but he didn't argue. He just said gently, "Because they wanted you to live, Rose. Their greatest wish was to see you grow up healthy."
I turned back around, burying my face in the pillow, ignoring him.
I'd rather be dead.
Then there wouldn't be any pain.
This continued for three solid months.
Until that stormy night when everything changed.
At 2 AM, I suddenly developed a high fever. In my delirium, I felt like I'd been thrown into a furnace, burning all over.
"Rose? ROSE!" Leonard's panicked voice echoed in my ears. "Jesus, you're burning up!"
He scooped me up and rushed to the garage. Thunder and lightning raged outside, rain pounding violently against the windshield. He drove while speaking in a trembling voice. "Hang on, Rose. Please don't leave me... I can't lose you too..."
His voice is shaking?
He's scared?
In my hazy consciousness, I could hear the fear and desperation in his voice—so real, so intense.
He... he really cares about me?
At the hospital, Leonard never left my side. When my fever broke and I woke up, I saw him sleeping with his head on the bed, red-eyed and exhausted, one hand still gripping mine tightly as if afraid I might suddenly disappear.
His face showed clear tear tracks. This usually composed, gentle man looked as vulnerable as a child.
That moment, something struck my heart like a hammer.
Maybe... maybe he really does care about me.
Maybe I'm not alone.
"Leonard?" I called softly.
He jerked awake, enormous relief flashing in his eyes. "Rose! You're awake! How do you feel? Does anything hurt?"
Looking at his haggard face, my nose suddenly stung. "I'm sorry."
"What?"
"I'm sorry I treated you that way." I choked out. "Mom and Dad... they wouldn't want me treating you like that."
Tears instantly flooded Leonard's eyes as he gently stroked my hair. "Rose, you did nothing wrong. I should apologize—I failed to protect your parents..."
"No." I shook my head, my voice growing firm. "This isn't your fault. This isn't anyone's fault."
From that day forward, I began opening my heart, and Leonard showed me all his gentleness as a guardian.
He'd make breakfast every morning, though his cooking was terrible—constantly burning the bacon.
"Rose, breakfast's ready!" he'd call out.
I'd walk to the kitchen to find him frantically dealing with a smoking pan.
"Leonard, I think we should order takeout." I couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey! My cooking skills are improving, okay?" he said with mock seriousness, then seeing my smile, he laughed too.
That was my first real smile since Mom and Dad died.
He'd help with homework, show me medical textbooks, take me to the hospital to observe surgeries. When I cried from nightmares, he'd sit by my bed telling stories until I fell asleep.
"Leonard, why does the heart beat?" I asked curiously.
"Because it pumps blood throughout your body to keep you alive," he explained patiently, gesturing with his hands. "Like Amazon delivery drivers bringing packages to every house."
"So you fixed my heart?"
"Yes, but this heart will always belong to you, Rose."
I tilted my head thoughtfully. "Then you're my heart's engineer!"
Leonard laughed. "If that's how you want to think of it, little engineer."
But what I didn't know was that my heart already belonged to you, Leonard.
The turning point came on Christmas when I was seventeen.
Grey Manor was decorated like a fairy tale—twinkling lights and silver ornaments everywhere. The fireplace crackled warmly, filling the air with scents of cinnamon and apple.
I wore the deep red velvet dress Leonard had bought me, unwrapping presents with him by the fireplace. Snow fell outside, but inside was warm as spring.
"What's this?" I picked up an elegant velvet box, shaking it curiously.
"Open it and see." Leonard smiled mysteriously.
Inside was an exquisite platinum necklace with a small heart-shaped diamond pendant that sparkled brilliantly under the lights.
"Leonard! It's beautiful!" I exclaimed, carefully lifting the necklace.
"This was your parents' gift for your coming of age," Leonard said gently, nostalgia flickering in his eyes. "They wanted me to give it to you on your eighteenth birthday. But I think you're mature enough now."
I stood up and walked to the mirror to put it on, but the clasp was too delicate—I couldn't manage it.
"Leonard, can you help me?"
"Of course. Turn around."
I faced away from him, feeling his warm breath approach. When his fingers lightly touched my neck to fasten the necklace, an electric current I'd never felt before shot through my entire body.
What is this feeling?
My heartbeat suddenly accelerated, my cheeks growing hot.
"There." Leonard stepped back. "Let me see how beautiful our little princess looks."
I turned around, and our eyes met in the air. Firelight danced in his gray eyes, and I nearly drowned in them. In that instant, something awakened in my heart.
Leonard was no longer just my godfather.
In my eyes, he was a man.
A man who made my heart race.
In that moment, I realized I was completely, hopelessly in love with Leonard.