Rose woke the next morning to a soft knock at her door. After her talk with Owen, she had drifted off to sleep, dreaming of studio apartments and freedom. She expected to find herself lying on the floor of her room next to Owen, soundly asleep. Instead, she found herself alone in her bed, still wearing the same clothes she had on the night before.

She was starting to wonder how she had gotten into bed, because she had no memory of waking up and climbing into bed, when she heard another knock on her door.

Sleepily, she crawled out of bed and opened the door. She expected, and hoped, she would see Owen standing at the door. She was surprised to see Edward standing before her, and wearing casual clothes at that. 

He cleared his throat. "I would like to see you in my study once you get ready for the day." He turned to leave, but stopped. "Take your time, please," he added, forcibly.

Rose stood dumbfounded in the door for a moment, before she closed it slowly and started getting ready. Edward had been the one to retrieve her himself. Edward was wearing jeans and a button-down. Edward had said the word "please". Was the world ending?

As Rose got ready, she grew more and more anxious about what Edward wanted to talk to her about. Did he see Owen leaving her room in the middle of the night and get the wrong idea? Was he going to call off the marriage and leave her to fend for herself against her father? Did he recently get diagnosed with a terminal condition and want to produce an heir right away to inherit his money when he inevitably passes, leaving her with kids from a man she didn't want and a life that wasn't hers?

"Dear," he would say, "it seems I've come down with an incurable terminal illness and you must bear my child immediately, or else what is to happen to my estate? Oh, also, Owen and I are running away and getting married as soon as you get pregnant."

The ridiculous thought of Owen and Edward running off to get married snapped Rose out of her anxious thoughts. She quickly finished getting ready, and nervously walked to his study. She knocked before entering and stood before Edward, unsure of what to say.

Edward stood upon seeing her, and motioned for her to take a seat. He only sat back down on his office chair behind his desk when Rose cautiously sat opposed to him.

Edward cleared his throat. "Rose, my dear," he started slowly. 

Rose's anxiety peaked at his pause, wondering what could he possibly need to see her for, especially since the night before he hadn't seemed to care about her at all.

Edward shifted uncomfortably before continuing. "It has been brought to my attention that I may have been treating you," he cleared his throat again, "unfairly." Edward said the last word as if he pushed it out far away from him.

"Unfairly," Rose repeated.

"Indeed. My confidant mentioned that last night I especially did not pay you the attention that you deserve. As your husband, I should be… oh, how did he put it? "Showering you with love", was it?" Edward spoke with awkwardness in his tone, like this is something he has never had to do before. Though, that was probably true. Edward did not seem the type for any sort of apology, unspoken or otherwise.

Rose thought on his words, and knew that it was Owen that had brought these concerns up to Edward. She smiled slightly at the thought of someone standing up for her. "Well," she said slowly, and awkwardly as well. Rose, too, wasn't used to these kinds of talks, "I can't say that I haven't felt a little neglected and cast aside. Though, I understand that you're a busy man, and I have only intruded upon your life."

"Nonsense," Edward said with a wave of his hand. "You are my wife. It is only right that I pay you the necessary attention. That is why, today I am at your service. We will do anything you desire!"

Immediately after hearing that, Rose's anxiety dissipated and she grew excited. She could not have guessed that Edward would listen to someone's advice and try with her to make their marriage work. Rose smiled brightly at Edward.

"I want to go shopping for my room, and if we have time I'd like for you to help me remodel," she declared triumphantly.

"Of course, my dear. I will buy whatever you desire. As far as manual labor goes, wouldn't it be better to get the help to do it?" Edward asked.

"You said that we would do anything I desire, Edward. Do not back down on your word," Rose replied stubbornly.

"As you wish." Edward gave Rose a sweet smile that Rose could not decipher.

Rose and Edward returned home hours later with paint and bags full of supplies to redo Rose's room. The furniture would be delivered to the house in a week's time. Rose all-but ran to her room, excited to get started. Edward trailed behind her, not nearly as enthusiastic.

"Are you sure we shouldn't have the servants do this? Or we could hire a professional," Edward said. He clearly did not want to get his hands dirty, but Rose did not care about his wants at this moment. She sent him a glare that had Edward holding his hands up in surrender.

He stepped into her room, and looked around at the interior. "I don't see anything wrong with this room. It's quite lovely."

Rose grimaced and started laying down tarp to not get paint on the floors. "It's way too-" Rose thought through her word choice in hopes to not upset Edward. "-tacky,' she finished, discarding her worries of offending him. 

She looked to Edward to see how he would respond to her bluntness, but he didn't show any signs of displeasure. All he did was continue looking around the room. 

"Yes, well, I can see why you think so. Though, I think it comes down to a matter of taste. So," he clapped his hands together affirmatively, "where shall we start?" 

Rose pulled up a how-to article on painting walls on her phone. She felt silly doing so, but she had never really had control over how her room looked growing up, and if her parents wanted to change something then they would hire a professional painter while she was away. This was her first step into independence, though, so she wanted to do it herself. Or at least with help, and this could be a fun bonding experience between her and Edward. 

"I guess we should just… start priming?" She said, squinting at her phone. "Should we get Owen? He's probably done this once or twice." 

"Oh, dear. I gave most of our staff a day off today, Owen included. I thought it would be better for us to have alone time." Edward shuffled his feet, turning his attention to the paint cans to decipher which one was primer. Finally, he found the right one and set it down in front of Rose.

Rose had wondered throughout the day where Owen was, and why she hadn't seen him around. It surprised her that Edward had put even an ounce of thought into today's events. She thought he was just trying to play the part with a bare minimum amount of effort; but here he was, trying to figure out how to get the lid off the paint can.

"Here, let me help." Rose said. Edward handed her the paint can opener and she got to work trying to pry it open. "So… what kind of work do you do at the hospitals?" 

Rose finally got the lid of the primer off, and poured some into a tray. She grabbed a paint roller. She stared at the wall in front of her, wondering how best to go about it. It didn't take long for her to decide just to go for it. She unskillfully rolled the paint onto the wall, trying her best to make the coat even.

"I help daddy with administrative tasks. I fear if I went into depth I would bore you to death. It's too technical for a woman like yourself to understand." Edward copied her by dipping his roller into the primer and plastering it onto the wall. He wasn't as careful as Rose, not trying to make it look good at all. 

Rose laughed at Edward, causing him to tilt his head in her direction. She covered her mouth with her free hand before saying, "Sorry, sorry. Don't you find it so ironic though?"

""It" being?" Edward asked slowly, clearly not getting what she meant.

"I mean," Rose explained, "here you are, dissing my womanly intelligence, yet you are looking at me for guidance in regard to painting."

Edward looked to his paint roller, then back at Rose. "I suppose you do have a point. Maybe this is the exception, don't you think? You couldn't possibly understand anything about the business world." 

"And why is that? Because I'm a woman?" Rose challenged. She felt so different now than she did the night before. She felt powerful, taking charge and changing her room to suit her better, compared to how meek and invisible she felt before. 

"Well, yes." Edward furrowed his brow. It was obvious he wasn't used to being challenged. "Because women are frail and dainty. They are best suited to stay at home and raise children. The world is not built for women."

"Of course the world is not built for women." Rose scoffed. "But it's not because we are frail and dainty. It's because men like those in your family and mine have decided that-"

"And what proof do you have?" Edward roared. "The only women I've seen throughout my life have been, frankly, useless! All you want are diamonds and expensive dresses. All of you are just parasites that leach onto a man's wealth!"

"Edward, that's not-"

"It's not true?" Edward let out an unhumorous laugh. "How dare you try and tell me it's not true! Are you trying to tell me you married me for love and not money?"

Rose stood, her arms went slack and she couldn't help but shiver. She didn't know that Edward would react this way from being challenged even a little, and she certainly didn't know that he truly felt this way about women. She had thought his misogyny was due to his upbringing, but she sensed something deeper at play. 

Edward turned from her. "I don't wish to fight, Rose. Today was supposed to be fun for you." He turned back towards her and stared into her eyes hard. "But you cannot argue that you didn't marry me for my money."

"I didn't-" Rose started to try and defend herself.

"You didn't?" Edward mocked. He stormed towards her and towered before her. "We both know-"

"Will you let me finish one fucking sentence?" Rose shouted. "Don't pretend to know everything about me when you know nothing! You don't know why I married you, you don't know how I feel. I've been trying my best to get along with you and make this marriage work! It's not like you married me for love either. You probably only agreed to the marriage to make your father happy, just like I did!" Rose wiped a tear from her face, hating how she cried when angry. "Get out of my room," she demanded in a low voice.

"Rose, I-" 

"Get out of my room!" She shouted, throwing her paint rolled at him. It bounced off his chest, leaving a splatter of paint across his button down.

Edward turned and left the room without another word. Rose followed after him and slammed the door shut. The vibrations rattled the room, and she picked her paint roller back up and furiously rolled it across the wall.

She planned to eventually put on a smile and play the part. But for the rest of the day, she allowed herself to be angry.