Chapter 453 Nicole pivoted and made her way to Roscoe's door.

Finding it unlocked, Nicole swung it open without a second thought. "Roscoe, what..." she began, but the sight before her cut her words short.

Roscoe was perched on a stool, clumsily dressing wounds that marred his back. A deep laceration ran from his shoulder to his lower back.

Struggling to reach the injury, his efforts to apply medicine were ineffective, and the bleeding hadn't stopped.

Nicole's eyes stung with unshed tears at the sight.

As Roscoe noticed her gaze, he hastily covered up and tried to rise.

‘Stay seated, Nicole insisted, her voice thick with emotion.

She reached out, touching his shoulder gingerly. Roscoe sank back down, attempting to downplay his injuries. "It's nothing, really. It's just now that I've seen it..." Nicole, her tone laden with disbelief, pressed, "Do you take me for a fool?"

In the midst of a heavy silence, Nicole's voice trembled slightly. "Is this from the parking lot incident?" Her mind flashed back to the guards, their hands wielding sinister, blade-like weapons, which she had first mistaken for whips.

Those very weapons were intended for her, but Roscoe had intercepted the blow, taking the hit in her stead. When Nicole broached the subject, Roscoe dismissed it with a stoic front. "It's nothing. I've weathered worse." Nicole, driven by concern, unbuttoned his shirt, revealing the grim reality of his injuries. It confirmed Jarrod's words.

Roscoe's existence within the Watts dynasty was fraught with hardship.

As she reached out, Roscoe caught her hand in a tender grasp, stopping her. "Careful, you'll soil your hands," he cautioned.

Nicole bowed her head, noting the crimson that had already transferred to her skin.

With quiet care, Roscoe wiped her hand clean, ensuring

no trace of the ordeal remained on her.

constriction around her heart, and a peculiar

she lost the ability to connect with others emotionally, assuming she had hardened herself into ‘someone unfeeling

She feared the answer might reveal a lack of any real purpose

spilled from Nicole's eyes, landing on Roscoe's

composure faltered. The once skilled surgeon was momentarily at a loss, his hands fumbling as he tried to

smile and took charge. "Turn around. Let me see to those wounds, she

protest was faint. "There's no

around,” Nicole persisted, not willing to take no for

to her, Nicole set to work. She meticulously cleaned the lacerations with iodine, applied clotting agents, and began to wrap the

stiffen, a sign that such care

the bandage, Roscoe donned a white

the silence. "Roscoe, is it me that you want?" The interplay of light and shadow in the room highlighted the clean lines of Roscoe's face, a

barely above a whisper, carried an undeniable allure as she leaned in close. "I'm here,

sacrifice and selflessness. The thought of easing her conscience

trying to awaken him from what she ‘saw as a pointless pursuit with the bait of her

Her appeal was undeniable, potent even, and for someone like Roscoe, who seemed so unversed in matters of the heart, it could

this you've been striving for?" Roscoe's expression shifted

ignore the ache spreading through her chest, pressed

a condition. We end this afterward.” Gone was the naivety of youth from Roscoe's features. He

her poise, her hand curving around the nape of his neck, her facade unwavering. They found themselves locked in a tacit standoff, each waiting for the other to concede defeat first. Roscoe's stubbornness matched her own. His frustration was palpable. He caught her hand firmly,

held onto a sliver of

dared not reveal

themselves, held her gaze, his breath

scenarios. The Roscoe she knew, once easily flushed with embarrassment, had

moment's intensity into a soft caress on her cheek. His voice, barely above a whisper, carried a weight. "Nicole, this

outside, succumbing to exhaustion only

when the first light crept across the

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