The Day I Kissed An Older Man by Cher the Cherished

Chapter 2727
"Mister Vince, it's a downpour out there. Miss Rita will get sick if she runs around outside," said Donna.
"It's her own fault if she gets sick," remarked Vince stiffly. "No one told her to go out."
Sensing a slight softening in his tone, Donna quickly interjected, "Why don't I help her? That painting is a cherished memento for
her, so it's understandable for her to be so anxious about it."
In the end, Vince sighed and waved. Donna immediately followed Rita outside.
It was partly the servants' fault that the painting went missing. They only knew that the painting, which had been hanging for over
a decade, was suddenly being taken down, but they completely overlooked where it had been put.
'Oh, what a mess this has turned out,' thought Donna.
She could not bear to see Rita distressed. Thus, she ran into the rain without hesitation.
Finally, Rita found her painting in a small building next door, used for storing junk. She saw the usually clean frame carelessly
thrown on the ground and completely covered in dust. It was as if she alone cherished the memories of their family's past.
Unable to hold back any longer, Rita lowered her head and burst into tears. "Mom, I miss you so much...
Rita returned to the mansion in a daze. Only Donna was there to accompany her. Not even her father, Vince, came out to help
her look for the painting.
Donna tenderly wiped Rita's soaking wet hair. "Goodness, Miss Rita, you're soaking wet, and you've always been easy to get
sick! You'll definitely catch a fever tomorrow."
Donna could not help but shed tears of her own when she saw Rita tightly clutching the painting with her face streaked with
either tears or rain. She watched how Rita remained silent and completely blocked out the outside world. "If only your mother
was still alive...you wouldn't have ended up in such a state."
Indeed, if Rita's mother was still alive, she would never have allowed anyone to mistreat Rita.
Rita missed her mother dearly. It was unfortunate that in such a large mansion like the Russell family's, there was not even
space for her longing for her mother.

Rita had no choice. Her resistance was seen as nothing more than troublemaking in her father's eyes; she was the one who
disrupted the peace of the household.
She carefully carried the painting she had painstakingly found back to her room. Only in her room would the painting cease to be
an eyesore for everyone in the family.
However, Rita did not hang it up. Instead, she hid the painting in the deepest corner of her closet. The painting depicted the
warm family bond of her, her father, and her mother. How beautiful those times
were.
Rita hated how her father had changed. She thought him undeserving of the painting. She did not want to hang the painting
anymore.
'Maybe Karen is right. My family of three had become a thing of the past, and only I remained immersed in it, unwilling to face
reality. Mom is dead, and Dad has a new family... I shouldn't dwell in the past anymore,' thought Rita.
She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth as she looked toward a particular direction. She would make Karen pay for this.
"
Rita stormed toward Karen's room.
Donna followed closely behind, trying to stop her. "Rita, you're not a child anymore. You shouldn't act so impulsively! What if your
father sees you? He'll blame you again."
"Donna, why does my father treat me like this when I'm his daughter?"