Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed

"Come on, Roseanne, I know you're in there. Open up. Let's talk."

"Roseanne! Can you hear me?"

...

"Way to go, Roseanne, way to go! Locked the door, huh? You think that will stop me?"

From pleading to calm and gradually raging, Murray's patience was thinning by the moment.

As he was about to give up and turn away, he was caught off-guard by a pair of stern eyes. Frozen, Murray frowned deeply.

Owen stood on the steps in the dimly lit, narrow stairwell, seemingly having just climbed up to this floor.

Given the time, it was clear why he was there.

After the fiasco with Corley and Owen's showing up, Murray was infuriated yet realized that the guys around Roseanne weren't so nobodies.

immediately had someone dig into Owen's background. It turned out Owen was the youngest of the Reynolds family. No wonder even Corley stepped back. Murray broke the silence. "Here for

spoke indifferently, "What if I am?

should know what she means to

Owen challenged, "And?"

you were smart,

famously not the

temper. "Roseanne is mine! She was. She's throwing a tantrum now but will always be mine

She doesn't belong to anyone. If she did, it would be to

fierceness of hate. Roseanne's acting out because she loves me too much." "Don't believe me? Knock on her door yourself. She won't open it for you, either. So, stop pining for what's not yours. It's

Murray walked past him,

He knew Roseanne wouldn't open the door for him. To be precise, she wouldn't

...

waves was constant. The turquoise waters allowed a clear view of the fish swimming below. The sun was warm, the breeze

ago,

and with her handsome boyfriend gone home for the holidays, she'd been sleeping in out of sheer boredom. On a whim,

chin in hand, "how about the Maldor