Chapter 449 - 447: Unwilling to Settle

"You can," Caleb White nodded, "but be extremely careful. It’s best to have someone looking after you."

"Can I take a long trip?"

"Where to?"

"Rockwellburg."

"It’s best if you don’t. Are you sure you can even take public transportation in your condition?"

"I’ll hire a private car."

"Then suit yourself."

’Hiring a private car from Jansburg to Rockwellburg would take fifteen or sixteen hours. And with injuries this bad? What was he, crazy?’

Keith Coleman had to go back.

He didn’t know what had come over him.

He had a fixation. After the beating, that fixation only grew stronger.

He’d only just realized that since returning to the country, he hadn’t had physical contact with any woman. He didn’t even have the desire anymore.

For the first time, he understood the true meaning of quality over quantity.

Before he met Rose Shaw, anyone would do.

But after he met Rose Shaw, he saw a shadow of her in everyone else.

Being with anyone else had become settling, and he didn’t want to settle.

’Life isn’t set in stone. Maybe a different way of living wouldn’t be as bad as I imagined.’

...

The engagement party was held at a private clubhouse in a high-end villa district. The venue could accommodate a small banquet of over twenty tables, and Felix Hughes had hired a professional event planning company to handle the decorations.

Everything was prepared well in advance.

Felix Hughes’s parents had also traveled from Argent to Rockwellburg to attend the engagement party.

Rose Shaw no longer had any family, so Melody Monroe was there to fill that role for her.

When the two of them arrived at the clubhouse, Rose Shaw was stunned by the grand scene before her. Her plan had been for a simple one-table dinner to formalize the engagement. They would live together for a while, and only then consider marriage.

’Why was everything decorated so lavishly?’

"Rose, this was all Director Hughes’s idea. He didn’t want to shortchange you, so he planned an unforgettable engagement ceremony."

"I never thought someone with his personality would do something like this." Rose Shaw looked at the sea of flowers before her and felt touched.

"Rose." Felix Hughes walked over the moment he saw her. "Rose, Melody, why don’t you two go rest in the lounge for a bit? I’ll handle things out here."

Some guests had already arrived, but they were all Felix Hughes’s friends. The only people Rose Shaw had invited were Melody Monroe and Christopher Sterling.

’Since I don’t know them anyway, I’d rather go to the lounge with Melody.’

She also needed to change into a more formal outfit.

Melody Monroe accompanied Rose Shaw to the lounge, where Rose immediately placed the outfit she’d brought on the bed.

"Which one should I wear?" Rose Shaw asked Melody Monroe.

Just then, she was nothing like her usual sharp, capable self; for once, she seemed hesitant and indecisive.

Melody Monroe opened the closet and took out a formal dress that had been placed there in advance. "Rose, today is a joyous occasion. Of course you should wear this one. Director Hughes picked it out especially for you."

Rose Shaw took the dress. It was a priceless red gown.

"It’s just an engagement, so why is he making it out to be a wedding? Felix, did you know he was preparing all this?"

"Mhm," Melody Monroe nodded. "Director Hughes did ask me for ideas, but I wasn’t much help in the end. He arranged all this himself. I just knew about it beforehand, that’s all."