On the way home, Caraline was mostly silent with her gaze fixed on the side of the road. Now and then she checked her cell phone, which was full of news about her relationship with Diego. Her hatred for the disgusting man grew even more when she saw Diego's sickening smile.Caraline quickly wiped away the tears, trying to keep her composure. She suddenly remembered Deric saying that he didn't like Diego. At first, Caraline thought it was just Deric's jealousy. However, in reality, it was a warning.Caraline closed her eyes, wiping the tears from her face. At the funeral, she cried her heart out without fear of anyone seeing. She didn't expect this to happen to her.Caraline put her cell phone in her bag. Her gaze fell on the bottle Deric had given her. She scrutinized it before finally gulping down the contents. The sweetness of the drink suddenly disappeared and was replaced with bitterness."Are you okay?" asked Anthony.Caraline nodded, putting the bottle back into the bag. The wom
Caraline arrived at the venue half an hour later. Her arrival was immediately greeted by a barrage of questions and camera flashes from journalists. She only smiled slightly when she saw the media enthusiastically approaching her. Her bodyguards deftly blocked the road. However, until she entered the building, she said nothing. Caraline took a deep breath, took off her glasses, and put them in her bag. Her hand accidentally caught sight of Deric's empty water bottle. She thought about throwing it away but decided against it when she realized that she still needed him around. It didn't matter if it was replaced with a water bottle. "Follow me," one of the female employees said. Caraline nodded, entering the elevator. A few minutes later, she again followed the female employee until she stopped in front of a door. "Mr. Diego is in the room." The female employee chose to excuse herself. "Ms. Caraline, is it going to be okay?" asked Anthony with a worried look on his face. "I... will
"Talking about the wedding, have you got everything ready, Diego?" asked Caraline as she approached. "I want ours to be the most extravagant wedding this country has ever seen, even for the son of its president. And I want Henry Hulbert to be there, too. Can you do that?" "You're disgusting." Diego pushed Caraline away, giving her a condescending look. That rotten woman is acting very convincingly, he thought. "I learned from the experts." Caraline laughed. Diego pulled his cell phone from his pants pocket, took a call from someone, and closed it again. "The show is about to start. Be good or I'll get rid of that damn handicapped man." "Looks like I have a lot to learn from you, Diego," Caraline said with a dismissive look, "you've been acting perfectly all this time." "Stop babbling!" Diego pulled Caraline closer to him. "After this show is over, you're going to see that damn deformed man for the last time in your life." Caraline rolled her eyes, turning to the other side. Her h
Caraline immediately averted her eyes in any direction when Deric looked at her. Her heart felt like it was being sliced by a knife when she saw the man's condition. Deric's condition was really bad. He was in pain just by glancing at him. Diego and Wilson were truly horrible monsters. Both of them had the heart to do all this to Deric, who was a disabled man."Are you okay?" repeated Deric while trying to change his position to sitting. His gaze sharpened when he saw Diego behind Caraline. "Is something bothering you?"Caraline remained silent for some time. She looked up, trying not to let the tears fall again. It was a painful feeling to see someone she loved suffer. There was a part of her heart that was cracking and breaking right now.Diego, seeing Caraline's frozen state, quickly grabbed the woman's hand and whispered in an angry tone, "Get this done quickly or I'm going to beat the crap out of that flawed man right in front of your eyes."Caraline withdrew her hand somewhat fo
"You lowly woman!" Diego ruthlessly pushed Caraline into the car. The man shut the vehicle door firmly. "Your brain is really out of whack. How could you possibly be this broken just because of a handicapped man?"Caraline quickly wiped away the tears, looking at Diego with a faint smile. "My life was ruined after I decided to marry a monster like you, Diego.""You!" Diego was about to slap Caraline, but he quickly retracted his hand. "You're disgusting.""Yeah, aren't we both disgusting?" said Caraline with her gaze fixed forward, "I guess I'll have to learn to get used to being around you from now on."Diego chuckled, giving her a condescending look. "You'd better learn to face the fact that you're just a useless piece of trash in front of me. I'm going to make your life far more horrible than a demon's life in hell.""You seem to be good friends with a demon so you know how life is in hell." Caraline chuckled. "Are you perhaps one of them?""Shut up, you lowly woman!" Diego snorted
The days crawled by so fast. A lot had happened to Caraline during this time. Almost every news channel on television and the internet was talking about her wedding preparations with Diego. Several times, the two of them were featured as guests on a television program that wanted to dissect the preparations for their special day. The wedding preparation were almost perfect two days before the event began. The venue and all the facilities had already been decided, and it was all organized by Diego. Caraline was never involved or rather didn't want to be. Caraline and Diego are at a luxury boutique to pick out their wedding attire. Both of them could not escape the onslaught of camera lights. There was a brief interview in front of the boutique until Caraline and Diego finally left the location. Caraline's life was turned upside down by fate and reality. For most of the day, she would be around Diego, pretending to be happy in front of the media and the public. However, after returni
"What are you doing in this place, Catherine?" asked Caraline in an angry tone. She tugged her cousin's hand quite hard.Catherine clucked, patting her hand as if she had just gotten dirt on it. "You're completely uneducated and have no manners. Is that your welcome to your cousin?""Never mind, Catherine." Caraline rolled her eyes. "I don't want to argue with you, especially not in front of my family tomb. You should leave this place immediately.""You have no right to kick me out, Caraline." Catherine snorted in annoyance. "I just accidentally visited this place.""Visiting?" Caraline raised one eyebrow. "What do you mean, Catherine?"Catherine ruffled her hair, rolling her eyes. "Am I wrong to be in this place just to see the grave of someone related to me?""Of course you're wrong," Caraline said firmly, "as long as my parents and my sister are alive, you've never done them any good. You've only come to insult and brag about yourself. Do you want to do the same after they're gone?
It had been a day after her meeting with Catherine at the cemetery, but until now Caraline had not heard anything from her cousin. On the other hand, she wasn't willing to ask Catherine about it either.After her return from the funeral, Caraline locked herself in her room. Grace and the maids again asked her to come out. They said that they were ready and willing to listen to her heart. However, Caraline still didn't want to leave the room.Caraline took a deep breath when she saw that the news about her marriage to Diego was still a hot topic on television. She could see that she and Diego were close there, often showing off their affection and closeness. She seemed like the happiest woman to be with Diego. However, in reality, she couldn't help but feel sad when she thought of Deric.Caraline turned off the television and walked towards the balcony. She unintentionally chose the balcony that directly overlooked Deric's residence. The memories came back, bringing with them a mountin
Jeremy, Jonathan, and James looked tense as they followed a bodyguard to the edge of the park. The crashing of the waves was a musical accompaniment to their racing hearts. The three men suddenly fell silent when they saw Deric with his back to them near the fence. Shortly afterward, the bodyguard chose to excuse himself. For a few seconds, there was only silence between the four men. Jeremy, Jonathan, and James exchanged glances with each other, confused as to what action they should take at this point. Should they say goodbye? Deric slowly turned around, smiling to greet his three half-brothers. He walked over, but Jeremy, Jonathan, and James did not move from their places or even turn their heads towards him. "I've been waiting for your arrival," Deric said. Jeremy, Jonathan, and James had not paid any attention to Deric's words. Their faces had not completely lifted either. "Didn't you miss me a lot, James?" asked Deric, "you even called me and sent me messages almost every da
Six months later The news of the Universe Corporation President's marriage sent the country into a frenzy. Many of the women who dreamed of becoming his wife suddenly felt heartbreak and deep sadness.Rumors circulated like mushrooms in the rainy season about who the lucky woman who would become Jacob Balderic's partner would be. Six months after the Universe Corporation President appeared in public and introduced himself, the man never appeared in front of the media again. However, the news about him continued to fill news lines and television shows.A week after the news of the wedding broke, the media managed to uncover the lucky woman, who was none other than Caraline. Many people agreed with this because they felt that the two were a good match. However, some sneered and bullied Caraline on social media. Even so, the wedding was held in a private location in the city of Summertown.The news of the wedding became the top and hottest topic ever, and even the news of Caraline and D
All eyes were on Deric who had just recognized himself as the presiden of the number one company in the country. The atmosphere of the event was instantly silent, as were the people watching the news on television channels and the internet. Shortly afterward, the adoring admiration was met with thunderous applause."Oh my," said Helen, "isn't that Mr. Deric? How could this be possible? He can walk on both feet and right now he's in front of us."Helen turned to Caraline who was looking down with a smile on her face. When she realized something, Helen quickly controlled herself. She knew the reason behind Caraline's change over the past two weeks."Miss Caraline," Helen called with a bright smile. Despite the crack in her heart, she was happy to see Caraline now.Caraline was silent and didn't dare to raise her head at the moment. The praise and admiration directed at Deric made her even more terrified of losing him.On the other side, Diego and Wilson were watching the show on the scr
A week passed after Caraline met with Deric on the rooftop of the building. However, her happy smile never faded. Helen, Stevan, and the rest of the maids and guards couldn't understand her attitude. While Caraline had been saddened a few months ago, for the past week, she had been overwhelmed with happiness.Caraline visited an event organized by one of Universe Coporation's subsidiaries in a large park. Many famous officials and businessmen attended the event, including Henry Hulbert.Caraline couldn't sit still while watching Henry Hulbert perform on stage. Her eyes were often drawn to the surroundings. There was a good chance that Deric was also at this event, she thought.Caraline hadn't received any messages from Deric all week. She also deliberately did not contact him. If longing had been excruciating in the past, this longing had only intensified the love."Do you need something?" asked Helen, who was sitting next to Caraline's chair."Nothing." Caraline shook her head, turni
Caraline and Deric looked at each other for some time, lost in their feelings. The lights around the rooftop seemed to change color as time passed."I'm just afraid that you'll lose consciousness like last time," Deric said suddenly."What do you mean?" asked Caraline with flushed cheeks."You know, you suddenly passed out when we were about to do... 'it' in your room." Deric laughed, gently stroking Caraline's hair."Passed out?" Caraline raised one eyebrow. "Didn't we ever do that?""Not at all," Deric said, "you seemed to be so nervous that you passed out, especially since you didn't stop smiling during your sleep."Caraline suddenly turned her back on Deric, closing her eyes with a very red face. She was embarrassed when she heard that. So, all this time she had only dreamed about doing 'that' with Deric. "Don't talk to me anymore. I hate you.""I know if your heart says otherwise." Deric stood beside Caraline."No, I'm serious." Caraline turned her gaze to the other side. "You ar
Caraline's whole body shook even more when she saw Deric standing in front of her. She dropped her cell phone because she couldn't contain her shock. For a few moments, she could only hold her breath with an unblinking gaze.Caraline felt shocked on top of the shock. She had wanted Deric to walk again, but when she saw it firsthand, Caraline was left stunned and unable to do anything. Her lips half opened, but quickly closed again.Didn't Deric look perfect with his current appearance?Caraline pinched her left arm hard. She felt a great pain there. It signaled that she was in the real world. However, Caraline still felt lost in dreamland. Deric, who she thought was a man who had lost his dreams, was the mysterious figure that people wanted to know about. Deric was none other than the richest man in the country.Doesn't Deric look perfect in his current position?Caraline looked back as her feet hit the rooftop barrier. She was at the edge of the room and there was no turning back. Fo
"Deric."Caraline could only remain silent with wide-rounded eyes for some time. Her mouth was half open with a look of disbelief. All the images of her time with Deric instantly faded away, making her body almost collapse on the floor. Tears were rolling down her cheeks relentlessly.Caraline knew that she missed Deric more than anything. However, when he was in front of her right now, she could only stand still without being able to get closer or even hug him tightly.Time seemed to stop for Caraline. All the scenery around her suddenly turned black and white, except for Deric alone. At the same time, the world became eerily silent.Could this all be a delusion?Could it be that he was in a dream?Could it be that God had answered all her prayers and hopes?Caraline still couldn't quite believe what was happening. For months she had searched for Deric's whereabouts with everything she had, but nothing good had come of it. However, at this moment, Deric came to him alone on this roof
Two months laterA talent show organized by one of Universe Corporation's subsidiaries received an overwhelming response from the public. The show had the highest ratings for several weeks. It culminated in the finale that aired last night. The participants put on an incredible show of entertainment and performance. The show was even aired in several neighboring countries. The enthusiasm of the public and netizens for the program was so high that the organizers intended to re-organize a similar event with a fresh and new concept.As a token of appreciation for the achievement and success, a lavish banquet was held for all partners who joined the program. Several Universe Corporation officials were present, one of whom was Henry Hulbert.Caraline was still in the room, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She put on the earrings Deric had given her to complete her look tonight. The search for the man had been ongoing until now, but his whereabouts had yet to be discovered."Wherev
One month passed quickly. Caraline reorganized her life. Diego was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for the crimes he had committed. Although it wasn't worth it, it was enough to make her feel relieved. On the other hand, Wilson was also put behind bars. Although the Wattson family tried to get him released, he was sentenced to eight years in prison.Caraline's life gradually returned to the way it was before knowing Deric. She was busy with office work. However, her longing and love for him became even more unstoppable.Caraline has a new habit now. When she missed Deric the most, she would go to his former residence and spend the night there. Caraline would smile at the pictures on the wall and cry shortly after.The search for Deric, Lucy, and Thomas was still ongoing. However, there was no sign that they will be found. Caraline felt that this was her punishment for hurting and wasting Deric's presence all this time. This longing and regret tormented her.On the other hand, Cat