The Alchemists - zChapter 1026

They ate breakfast in silence. Duke and Duchess Fournier were busy thinking about how they could do damage control. Rose was thinking about how she had brought so much trouble to Rune.

She realized, Sarah would take that opportunity to embarrass Rune and made it as if the man was an impostor and pretended to be someone from the upper-class to be with Rose.

Rune was innocent and he didn’t deserve to be treated that way, just because Sarah was having a grudge against Rose.

Uff, Rose was imagining all sorts of things she wanted to do to Sarah for causing this problem. She really wanted to pull Sarah’s hair and drag her on the road until she screamed and begged for forgiveness.

Rose was not a violent woman. In fact, she was very cool and nonchalant. However, she had been poked too many times that she was losing patience.

Meanwhile, Rune was thinking hard about how he should handle the situation. He didn’t mind being anyone, actually. He could be rich or poor, whatever Rose needed him to be.

He only needed to know how she would react if she knew he was not actually poor. Would she still accept him to be her fake boyfriend to teach Leon a lesson on humility?

Wouldn’t it actually be better if Rose was dating a really wealthy man like Rune? Leon would see that Rose could get someone better than him.

In terms of wealth and power, even the Camilles and the Fourniers from Medion were nothing compared to the Schneiders whose wealth and power had been acc.u.mulated for centuries and only grew by the day.

So, if Rose was dating Rune Schneider, she was actually getting an upgrade. Yes, it was noble on Rose’s side if she could take a simple and poor man to be her boyfriend and later husband.

She could also make her point to show Leon that wealth and power didn’t matter to her.

However, it wouldn’t do Rose any good if she kept having the poor man as her boyfriend. Rune remembered how Leon looked down on him yesterday when he came to the Fournier’s mansion.

Leon could tell that Rose was still in love with him from her gesture. He had known her all her life anyway. So, it was hard to fool him.

Maybe he could even tell that Rose was intentionally dating Rune to show Leon that she still didn’t care about someone’s wealth and status.

Leon might not suspect that Rune and Rose’s relationship was fake, but he could be thinking that Rose was using Rune while Rune was being clueless.

Leon might think Rose pretended to love Rune and tricked the man into a relationship and asked him to come to Moravia.

Hmm… the more Rune thought of it, the more he was convinced that it would be better if he came out to Rose as himself.

In addition to all the reasons mentioned above, if someone like Rune Schneider from the Schneider Group deemed Rose worthy to be his girlfriend, it should shut down the gossips that had been circulating in the public about Rose and Leon, right?

RING

RING

“Hello,” she spoke. “What did she say?”

Everyone at the dining table turned their attention to Rose, trying to listen attentively to whatever words came out of her mouth.

Seeing their curiosity, Rose decided to put Leon on speaker.

“Good morning, Rose.” Leon’s voice sounded tired. They could hear him sigh several times.

“Yes? I don’t have all day. Tell me what she did!” Rose snapped. She was really angered by what happened this morning. From the sound of Leon’s words, it looked like Anne actually had something to do with it.

“I talked to Anne, and she said she told Sarah about your boyfriend and they were joking about him,” Leon replied.

“They were joking about him? How??” Rose became more impatient.

Leon sighed.

“Sarah said she would play a joke on you by telling a reporter that you are dating Rune Schneider from the Schneider Group. They said it was a harmless joke.”

“Well, you know how dumb Sarah could be, don’t you? She didn’t know the impact on your reputation if people think you are lying to the public about your boyfriend. I am actually disappointed that Anne took part in it by not telling me of what Sarah did.”

“YOU THINK SARAH IS TOO DUMB TO KNOW THE IMPACT ON MY REPUTATION? Gosh, Leon? Have you turned dumb now? Of course, she knew! She intentionally did it!” Rose looked like she wanted to throw her phone to the floor.

“All right, maybe she did know and she did it to spite you,” Leon replied. His voice stayed calm even though they could hear that he was also feeling annoyed.

“What will you do to rectify this problem?” Rose asked. “It’s your wife and her stupid mouth who caused this.”

“Rose, please don’t talk about Anne that way. She didn’t mean to hurt you. It was Sarah’s fault. Anne’s only fault was that she didn’t stop Sarah from doing the vile deed,” Leon said. “I have talked to Anne and given her an understanding.”

“So… you will not do anything to help me address this problem?” Rose bit her lip as her tears were slowly dripping down her cheeks. “I am so disappointed in you, Leon. After everything that we’ve been through together..”

“Rose.. what happened between us is in the past. We have to move on. I have my own life now, and I am sure you have yours too,” Leon interrupted Rose. His words were cold and it pained Rune to watch the suffering on Rose’s face.

He just wanted to hug her and told her he would fix everything for her.

“I can’t believe you treat me like this,” said Rose with an obvious disappointment in her tone, “Apparently, our friendship for two decades means nothing to you.”

SLAM!

Before Leon could finish his sentence, Rose had tossed her phone to the end of the room with all her might. It hit the cabinet and fell to the floor with a bang.

Suddenly Rose’s body was shaking and then she stumbled. If Rune was not quick to catch her, she might have fallen and hit the chair.

The man hugged her and supported her body. Duchess Fournier was frantic and ran to her daughter’s side.

“Rose, are you okay?” she asked in a worried tone.

Rose nodded weakly. “I-I am okay, Mother. I just feel a little unwell.”

“I am so disappointed in Leon. How could he treat you this way,” the duchess was in a rage. “He should have taught Anne a lesson for disrespecting you and let Sarah pull this stunt.”

Rune helped Rose sit on her chair and gave her a cup of tea so she could calm herself down.

“Take this,” he said gently.

“Ah, it’s okay,” Rune said with a smile. “I am not bothered whatsoever.”

Rose sipped her tea and thought about her conversation with Leon. Apparently, even if Anne was at fault, if Leon had to choose between Anne and Rose, Leon would always take his wife’s side.

To Rose, it finally felt the final nail in the coffin. Leon was really gone from her life. Like he said on the phone, now he had his new life, and Rose was only part of the past.

She put down her cup and looked at Rune intently. “I have decided that I will clear your name as soon as possible. I will talk to the journalist and tell him that you are not from THAT Schneider family.”

“What will you tell them? They might think you are only correcting it now since you are worried that you are found out, after lying about my identity,” Rune asked her.

Rose shrugged. “That’s fine. I don’t really care. I think this needs to be extinguished as soon as possible. We don’t want the Schneider to hear about this and come after us.”

Rune smiled when he heard her. “Nah.. they will not after us.”

“How could you be so confident?” Rose asked him.

Rune scratched his head. “Well.. you remember that my sister is close to the Schneider family, right? That’s why we could get a reservation at The Lily in New York?”

“It’s okay. I can talk to them. I’m actually quite close to that family too…” Finally, Rune decided that he better tell Rose who he was.