Chapter 195

When Rosalie finished her shift at the diner, she approached her boss, Amelia, and asked, “Ms. Haab, may I request a half-day leave for tomorrow? I need to see my mom.”

Even though the next day’s All Souls’ Day was a national statutory holiday, it was one of the busiest days for restaurants. Therefore, there was no doubt that the workers of restaurants wouldn’t have a holiday.

Rosalie’s request took Amelia aback. She was unaware of the other’s mother’s passing. She replied, “Of course, I’ll approve your leave. If you plan to see your mother in the afternoon, I’ll arrange some items you may wish to take with you.”

“No, thank you. I’ll prepare them myself,” said Rosalie. She even planned to show off her cooking skills to her mother.

When her mother was alive, Rosalie had been too young to showcase her cooking skills. Now that she had grown up and acquired culinary abilities, she desired to demonstrate them to her mother.

“I’ll head home now,” said Rosalie.

“Alright,” Amelia appeared to have something on her mind, but ultimately, she chose not to bring it up.

She considered that since Rosalie had claimed she didn’t know Calvin well, there was no need to involve her. She preferred to address it personally with Calvin when the time was right.

After leaving the diner, Rosalie didn’t immediately head back to the Youngblood residence. Instead, she made a stop at a supermarket to purchase groceries. Afterward, on her electric scooter, she visited a store to acquire the necessary items for paying her respects to her mother the following day.

“Mrs. Fanning, I’d like to purchase some flowers,” Rosalie requested from an 80-year-old woman at the shop. It had become a tradition for her to obtain these items from this store before paying her respects to her mother, except for the three years she spent in prison.

“It’s you, Rosalie. Are you preparing to pay your respects to your mother tomorrow?” Penny Fanning grinned widely at Rosalie, revealing that she had only a few teeth left.

“Yes,” Rosalie answered.

“I imagine you’re planning to showcase your cooking skills to your mother as well,” Penny remarked as she packed all the items Rosalie needed. She then handed them to Rosalie and added, “You’ve been absent for two or three years. I was starting to wonder if you’d come this year.”

“Well, something came up before, and I couldn’t make it here to buy them,” Rosalie explained as she accepted the items from Penny.

“It’s been many years. Your mother must be resting in peace knowing she has such a filial child as you,” Penny commented.

“I’m not that filial,” Rosalie inwardly chided herself. “Regrettably, I couldn’t even preserve the album my mother left behind in its entirety,” she reflected with a tinge of sadness.

And now, despite her desire to care for her mother, she no longer had the opportunity. All she could do was visit her mother’s grave.

After she bid farewell to Penny, Rosalie returned to the Youngblood residence on her electric scooter.

She intended to make her way to the kitchen through the living room to store the groceries she had purchased in the refrigerator upon entering the house. However, a cold voice abruptly echoed, “Why are you returning home so late?”

“Ah!” Rosalie exclaimed softly, nearly dropping the items she held in her hands.

The lights in the living room suddenly illuminated the scene, revealing that a man was seated on the living room couch at that moment.

“Why did you turn off the lights when you were in the living room?” she asked, clearly surprised.

“I was waiting for you,” he replied. He then rose from his seat and approached her. “And what about you? You haven’t answered my question,” he inquired.

She pursed her red lips and replied, “After finishing my shift at the diner, I went to buy some groceries and items I need to see my mom tomorrow.”

ང ་ ཨ ◌ཾ ཨེ༅ ཝཿ “See your mother?” He glanced at a bunch of flowers and some candles in her hand. “Ah, yes, tomorrow is All Souls’ Day. It’s time to see her. Unfortunately, I might not be able to accompany you,” he regretfully mentioned.

Rosalie was taken aback by his words and thought, “I’ve never even considered wanting him to accompany me. Why does he sound as if…” Rosalie paused, recalling that his father had also passed away, and he would need to see his father as well on tomorrow’s All Souls’ Day.

At times, she couldn’t help but contemplate how they seemed to share a similar fate, especially when she considered the fact that they both had to visit their parent’s graves.

After Rosalie stored the groceries in the refrigerator, she turned around and found Jonathan leaning against the kitchen door, looking at her thoughtfully.

She awkwardly averted her gaze, attempting to avoid his eyes. However, he caught her by the arm as she was about to leave the kitchen. “You haven’t said goodnight yet,” he remarked.

Rosalie was momentarily stunned and quickly said, “Goodnight.”

He gazed at her, suddenly smiled, and said, “Rosie, it seems your ‘Goodnight’ is becoming more and more cursory.”

Rosalie felt her throat tightened and didn’t know how to respond to him.

“Someone once suggested that if I want you to like me, I should first please you.” Jonathan leaned in, locking eyes with the person before him. “So, what do you think? If I please you, will you like me?”

Rosalie nearly bit her tongue when she heard his words. She stared at him with wide eyes, her thoughts racing. “What is he talking about? He… wants to please me? How is it possible that those words came out of his mouth?”

Her response amused him. “What’s wrong? Is it so shocking to you that I said I want to please you?”

Rosalie felt as though there were so many things she wanted to say, but they were all caught in her throat at that moment. He raised his hand and delicately traced her lips. “So, Rosie, you must now understand how much I desire your love. What do you say? How can I please you so that you’ll like me?”

She felt her lips burning at that moment, and her heartbeat again intensified.

She had never anticipated Jonathan saying such a thing to her or expected him to desire her love, let alone attempt to earn it by pleasing her.

She couldn’t help but ponder whether he was genuinely serious about it.

However, she refrained from voicing her thoughts aloud.

On the noon of All Souls’ Day, Jonathan arrived at the hospital and entered his grandfather’s ward.

“Have you visited your father’s grave?” Leonard inquired. The man who had once been a prominent figure was now merely an elderly individual lying in a hospital bed.

“Yeah, I’ve visited him,” replied Jonathan.

In the past, on All Souls’ Day, Leonard used to accompany him to his father’s grave to pay respects.

However, as Leonard’s health deteriorated, and he became unable to visit the cemetery, Jonathan alone began going to the cemetery. He would then see Leonard after doing that.

“How do you think your father would feel if he knew you were so infatuated with that woman? Would he want to slap some sense into you?” Leonard snorted with a cold chuckle.

Naturally, he didn’t like the feeling that his grandson was increasingly going out of control.

“Are you trying to offer me some wisdom, Grandpa?” Jonathan raised an eyebrow as he gazed at Leonard. Jonathan’s captivating eyes inadvertently brought to Leonard’s mind memories of Jonathan’s birth mother.

“Those eyes really look like that woman! If it weren’t for that woman, my son and Lwouldn’t have turned against each other, and my son would not have left the house completely and ended up dying,” thought Leonard.