y'all, the way i panicked the last two hours of finishing up this chapter— like, i was so damn close to finishing but the last scene was so long and i just, UGH. the stress was real.
Also I'll post the chapter aesthetic on IG, so go check it out there once you're done with this chapter. because i haven't made it for now and I'll do that whilst y'all are reading.
Anyway, here's *almost* 30k words of bliss.
Also served you with a loooot of Rosary content because enjoy it while it lasts right? *laughs evilly*
Please have holy water towards end of the chapter, thanks, bye.
•••
【 53.
Fifty-three
Ghar 】
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[ Ghar • home ]
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IF MEHREEN WAS the parent Rose momentarily met alongside Zach at the hotel in Springfield three months ago, then she might have believed the woman to be his biological mother. Except Rose knows better now.
The resemblance isn’t strikingly obvious, not really, but there are enough traces on their facial structures to know there’s a definite blood connection there.
Except for the eyes. That single feature will forever set Zach apart from everyone and anyone Rose knows. Not even Mehreen shares that pair of onyx stones—pure obsidian, like there’s a stretch of the endless universe inside them, as if digging deep enough could actually lead to hidden celestial bodies and all other undiscovered wonders of space.
“Mrs Hawthorne,” Rose nods politely, forcing a small smile onto her face and resisting the urge to elbow Zach in the side when the other woman’s stunned expression and alarmed eyes don’t shift from when they fell upon Rose around a minute ago.
Clearing her throat, Mehreen wrings her hands together, obviously taken aback with the sudden turn of events. “Mrs Bon—” She winces, stopping abruptly and shaking her head, “Davenpo—no, Miss Dave—wait,” she shuts her eyes and shakes her head to herself again. When she meets Rose’s gaze again, her cheeks are flushed with embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I—”
“Rosaline,” Rose offers, the smile she sports this time not forced like the previous one. There’s something reassuring about how the other woman lost composure and seemed to be a bundle of nerves. It took away a large portion of the situation’s awkwardness, so much so that Rose can feel herself trying to fight off her smile from turning into a giggle.
She doesn’t want it to appear like she’s laughing at Mehreen’s expense—but the relief that comes with Zach’s mother just being another human being capable of getting flustered and nervous makes Rose want to laugh. If only because all her internal fretting was now for nothing.
“Or even Rose,” she adds, shrugging. “Whichever you’re comfortable with.”
Mehreen’s shoulders relax, and the uneasiness slowly seeps out of her eyes. Her mouth quirks up into a welcoming, relieved smile. “You can call me Mehreen,” she says. “Mrs Hawthorne seems too formal—and, well, it’s a little odd to see someone that Zach himself brought with him in a formal capacity.”
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