The Reclaimed Rose (Annalise and Steven)

Chapter 603

Zane said with amusement, "It's bad to go without breakfast for this long."

"I don't remember having worked for that long," I said as I picked up my phone and checked the time on the screen. I frowned when I saw that it was already 10:30 am.

The corners of Zane's mouth curled upward. "Be considerate of your health and have some breakfast, Annalise. I made granola and cut up some berries to go with it. You can continue your work after breakfast."

"All right," I said readily. I knew it was bad to miss breakfast. Besides, I was a grown-up, and I ought to set

a good example for the young ones. The last thing I wanted was to encourage them to skip breakfast, which would be troublesome.

I followed Zane down the stairs and heard him muse, "You know, I was known as a workaholic for as long as I could remember. But now, it seems you suit that title more than I do.'

I teased, "You're a great employer, and I might not get so lucky with my next job if I lose this one. I like to think of this as my calling to make as much money as possible. It'd be great if I could make enough to pay for Mom's medical treatment and have some left to do whatever I want.'

anything else you'd like to

I said, "Yes. I told you about it, remember? I want to set up a company of my own where I can give my employees a lot of perks

now if you want,"

to pay for me to accomplish my dream. "I'd prefer to work for the money. I'll make it happen once I

...

eyes when he heard this. He was admittedly stung by the rejection at first, but after some thought, he agreed Annalise could build character by working toward her dreams and learning to grasp every opportunity

to have greasy food for breakfast, so cut

at six in the morning, cutting up a variety of nuts and dried fruits to go with the oats. The

at the spread before me and suddenly recalled the mornings before Steven and I

was the only one who woke up early to make breakfast, yet Steven and Zachary never appreciated my effort. Instead, they blamed me for butting into their diets and not letting them have the food they wanted.

had only told me they were sick of my cooking and

let me know what they were thinking. They

terrible. When I sampled my cooking and found it decent, I thought my judgment was biased because I was used to

Zachary gang up on me