After picking them up, Penn decided to grab a bite at a nearby diner close to the institute, indulging in some good old American comfort food.

Later, Rosalynn concocted an excuse to ditch Rose.

The excuse was so flimsy that anyone could tell Rosalynn was trying to get rid of Rose.

But that was precisely the effect Rosalynn was aiming for. Rose was well aware of the place Wayne held in her heart; otherwise, she wouldn't have been sent packing off to the H Country.

In the months they had spent together, Rosalynn could afford to be kind to her, but Wayne remained the hurdle Rose could not clear. That was the only logic that made sense.

Rose played it cool, didn't throw a fit. When Rosalynn told her to leave, she left without protest.d2

Once Rose was out of sight, Penn and Rosalynn retreated to his office.

As soon as the door closed, Penn's smile faded, replaced by a look of exhaustion.

"She seems... different. Maybe you really got through to her," Penn observed, red veins webbed in his eyes from countless sleepless nights.

"Penn," Rosalynn said, her gaze steady on him, "this is for you."

Penn looked puzzled as he took the file folder she pulled from her briefcase.

He opened it and stood frozen, as if struck by lightning.

Inside was a photocopy of Yvette's diary.

"Your parents may have died in a car accident, but Ayden's death cast a long shadow over your father in his last years. His research came to a halt the day Ayden died, and he remained trapped by it until his own end," Rosalynn said with an eerie calm.

Penn and Rose had grown up together. He saw her like a sister, like family. It was normal for him to be protective of Rose, but Rosalynn was determined to open his eyes to the truth.

"Strictly speaking, if Ayden hadn't died, your father's accident might never have happened," Rosalynn delivered the harsh truth.

After Ayden's death, Natalie withdrew her funding from Osmond Lange.

Osmond moved out from the previous lab and found a remote place to start over.

But had Ayden lived, why would the funding have been pulled?

Without the move to a more isolated place, would the car accident ever have occurred?

The butterfly effect originated from Yvette's selfish act of switching Ayden's medication.

Penn's grip on the folder tightened involuntarily.

"If you can't make up your mind, read the diary again," Rosalynn suggested as she sat down, elegantly crossing her legs. She rested her elbow on the arm of the couch, her palm supporting her chin, her eyes drifting to the lush greenery in the greenhouse window, a stark contrast to the bare trees and grey skies outside.

"That day, I only showed you the pages where she switched Ayden's medicine. Today, I brought the whole thing."

Penn's lips pressed together tightly. Without a word, he sat at his desk, pulled out the contents of the folder, along with a beautifully crafted diamond ring.

"That's Betsy's wedding ring," Rosalynn said without looking, recognizing the sound of metal hitting the desk.

Penn felt a tightness in his throat. He set the ring aside gently, then began to turn the pages of the diary.

Even before his official graduation, Penn had been seeing patients.

Many with psychological disorders used their diaries as a vent for their emotions.

Penn had seen many such diaries.

Seven years earlier, Penn and his professor had assisted the Paris police with a psychological assessment and profile of a serial killer who had murdered 27 women. The killer, a 32-year-old, worked at one of the world's top three art schools.

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