Devoted Love:The Billionaire's Precious Wife

"Grandpa and Grandma, please don't be mad. It's all water under the bridge now. What we need to focus on is making it up to Rose for the hurt she's endured. I'm fine, really. What matters most right now

is how Rose feels."

Rosemary never expected that with Serena out of the picture, Alma would step into the spotlight. She had heard Alma had a sister who was sick and couldn't make it today.

She just hoped they weren't cut from the same cloth.

"Why would Serena have someone hit you?" David suddenly asked. "Did you two have a falling out?"

Bernard and Cornelia's gaze shifted back to Alma.

"Serena's been bullying me, and it wasn't just a one-off. At Mr. Eugene's birthday bash, she dumped champagne on my face when no one was looking—and she spat in it first."

Everyone cringed at the thought, appalled by Serena's behind-the-scenes behavior. It was just tasteless.

"There must be some bad blood between you two," David said, cutting to the heart of the matter.

"Knowing her, if she didn't like you, she'd just dish out some snide remarks. It wouldn't come to blows unless you really pushed her over the edge."

Alma couldn't believe David was actually taking that little troublemaker's side. And from the looks of it,her mother didn't seem inclined to back her up either!

Her mother must be upset with her for being too brash.

But if she didn't speak up about Serena's bullying now, when would she?

"Alma, what's the real story? Tell us everything you know, so we can all make sense of this," Bernard said, sensing that the situation wasn't as straightforward as his granddaughter made it out to be.

Speaking of that night." Beverly interjected with a graceful smile, smoothly steering the conversation elsewhere, "Alma and I attended Mr. Eugene's birthday party, and who knew that Rose was not only the

chess prodigy Queena but also the violin virtuoso Jamie Noelle."

Everyone but Kenneth and Louisa was gobsmacked.

"Rose is Queena? And Jamie ?" The brothers looked astonished.

Their little sister was just too impressive.

And she had these two amazing alter egos?

"Dad, Mom, why don't you look surprised at all? Did you know about this?"

"You knew and didn't tell us?"

Louisa indeed knew about it, explaining, "I only found out after Mr. Eugene's party. That ingrate Serena even pretended to be Queena's disciple at the party and more than once told friends that it was Rose

who ruined her engagement with Romeo. That's why your father and I decided she needed to spend some time next door to reflect, but we had no idea."

The brothers all knew that Serena had been sent next door to reflect because she had bullied Rose, but they hadn't known she was also masquerading as Queena's disciple.

"I never realized my granddaughter was so remarkable." Bernard and Cornelia were full of praise for Rosemary.

Beverly saw how the topic had smoothly changed and softened her gaze. She had just taken a sip of tea when Sean spoke up.

"What does any of this have to do with Alma getting hit?"

Everyone snapped back to the present and turned their attention to Alma.

"Really, what's the connection between these two things?"

The conversation circled back to the beginning.

Beverly's face remained composed, but she was acutely aware of the events that transpired that fateful night.

Because Alma and Rosemary had lost a violin duel, Serena just had to rub it in Alma's face, which was the last straw that led Alma to violence. She first slapped Serena, pulled her hair, and then got

drenched in champagne.

But Alma wasn't one to take things lying down. After getting splashed with champagne, she retaliated by smashing a cake into Serena's face, pushing her off the swing, trampling her, and even dousing her with red wine.

When it all boiled down, it was Beverly's daughter who had started the bullying, and quite ruthlessly at that.

"That night, Serena mocked my violin playing compared to Rose's, and even said that no matter how talented Rose was, she couldn't touch her deeply rooted status in this family over the past eighteen

years."

"She also said that even if Rose has Collins blood running through her veins, she's still from a no-name family, just like me, not worthy of the high society. I couldn't hold back and argued with her, and that's when she splashed me with champagne."

"She even said that Kenneth and Louisa are notorious for spoiling your daughter, and that all Serena had to do was cry in front of them, and they'd believe her black is white tall tales. If she said it, you

would believe her, and I'd be the one getting a strict talking-to from mom and dad. Even with a hundred mouths, I couldn't clear my name. That's why I've kept silent about this whole mess."

As Alma spoke, her eyes began to glisten with unshed tears.

Everyone was shocked to hear the extent of Serena's cruel words behind the scenes!

Beside them, Rosemary fought off sleepiness, nearly dozing off as she listened.

She hadn't witnessed the altercation between Alma and Serena that night, but she could tell that Alma was lying.

Yet, Alma had hit a nerve with the Collins family.

"The nerve of her, calling Rose lowborn. Saying even with Collins blood, she can't measure up to an adopted daughter of eighteen years?" Bernard was livid.

"Kenneth and Lucas are both my son, I treat them equally. How's Lucas' daughter not fit for society?

Serena! She's clearly trying to drive a wedge between us," Cornelia was equally enraged, feeling she had been blind and had wasted years doting on Serena.

Seeing her plan working, Alma feigned concern, "Grandpa, Grandma, don't be upset. It's the festive season, don't let it ruin your health. Tomorrow we will hold a feast, just think how joyous that will be.

Why don't we talk about the arrangements for tomorrow?"

As they discussed Rosemary's homecoming banquet, the mood lightened somewhat.

Finally, Lucas mused, "I always thought Erik was trustworthy and Martha was so warm and outgoing.

Not just you, but in my eyes, they were family. I never imagined they'd be such rotten characters deep down. If only they had revealed sooner that Serena was their own flesh and blood, we wouldn't have

had to wait until now to find Rose, sparing her eighteen years of undeserved hardship."

"Indeed." Cornelia sighed, fate plays strange games.

Beverly chimed in, "We can't let those two off easy. They need to be dealt with, for Rose's sake."

"It's a pity Martha's gone now, crushed by her own scheming. Otherwise, I wouldn't have let her off so easily!" Louisa said indignantly.

"What do you mean?" Beverly's eyes flickered with surprise, "Are you saying Martha is dead?"

Louisa then recounted the incident of Martha kidnapping Rosemary.