chapter724

Owen Reynolds glanced over at Roseanne with a hint of concern in his eyes. "What happened on the way home? You're two hours later than usual."

It was a bitterly cold winter night, the kind where old neighborhoods like theirs went quiet after nine, and the streetlights flickered unreliably. Owen always worried about her safety, so whenever he could, he'd be there, timing it just right to meet her downstairs.

Roseanne's arrival times varied, but never by more than thirty minutes-tonight, though, she was two whole hours late.

And she'd gotten out of Corley's car.

Owen suspected something must have happened on her way back.

A gust of chilly wind swept by, and Owen noticed Roseanne's nose was bright red from the cold. "Let's get inside. It's freezing out here. We can talk more once we're home."

Roseanne nodded, blowing warm air into her cold palms before turning to say goodbye to Corley.

Under the streetlights, Owen and Roseanne walked side by side, their footsteps perfectly in sync.

The hallway lights flickered on with each step they took, and the faint echo of their conversation could be heard in the background.

Corley stood there, watching them disappear into the distance. His mind

wandered back to the way Roseanne's eyes lit up when she talked about Owen, a shadow of regret crossing his face.

He'd missed his chance once because of his friendship with Murray. Was he really going to watch her slip away again?

He'd planned to take things slow, let everything fall into place naturally, but suddenly, he didn't want to wait anymore.

He'd already paid the price for hesitating once, enduring six long years until she and Murray finally split.

Making the same mistake twice? That would just be foolish.

As he turned away, the shadow of doubt in his eyes was replaced by a steely resolve.

December 25th, the heart of winter.

They say it's the time when the cold really settles in, just before the New Year.

For Roseanne, it held another special meaning-

Her birthday.

Early that morning, the first person to call and wish her well was her dad, Norris Cole.

Still snuggled under her covers, she picked up his video call.

"Happy Birthday, Anne!"

"Thanks, Dad!"

"Your birthday gift is on its way. Remember to pick it up at the post office when you can," Norris said, grinning widely, an apron tied around his waist, the beige tiles of the kitchen behind him.

"A present? What is it?"

Norris chuckled, "Want to know? You'll have to open it yourself!"

"Keeping secrets now?" Roseanne rolled over in bed, cocooning herself in her blankets like a snug little caterpillar.

"Secrets? What secrets?" Madge chimed in, popping her head into the frame.

Norris replied, "Just a little father-daughter secret, nothing for you to worry about."

Madge teased, "What secret could you possibly have? You mean the new "

"Hey! Don't spoil it! There goes the surprise..."

Roseanne blinked, "A new what? Laptop or iPad?"

Norris feigned surprise, "How did you guess?! You've been snooping through my online orders, haven't you?!"

Just last week, Roseanne had

casually mentioned wanting a

smaller iPad to replace her too-large

iPad Air, not expecting Norris to remember, let alone act on it.

"Thanks, Dad! It's a perfect gift, just what I needed!" "Heh... I wanted to surprise you, but your mom here..."

Madge laughed, "Norris really went all out this time. He researched everything, and for someone who never watches livestreams, he spent half a day glued to his screen just to snag a big discount coupon. He even used his secret stash of cash to pay for it."

It must have stung a bit...