Odell bellowed, “You have three seconds to get off me!” While grinning, Sylvia clung on even tighter and said, “No!” “You…” His voice grew heavier. Sylvia was stunned for a moment, and before she could react, his handsome face moved closer to hers. He stuck his lips to hers. The man’s dominating presence assaulted her, and his scent gushed into her nose and filled her mind. The intimacy made her freeze for a few seconds. Then, she regained her composure and tried to push him away. However, the stronger she pushed, the tighter he sealed his lips on hers. She kept on struggling until she lost her balance and stumbled. Thud! She fell onto the couch, and Odell’s rigid body came collapsing on her. He hovered above her, looking into her eyes with a mischievous gaze. “I think you aren't actually here for the kids. You are here to seduce me.” Sylvia blushed. Annoyed, she said, “I’m here to see the kids!” He grinned. “Then, why are you hugging me?” “I don’t want you th
After they hugged, Sherry asked in annoyance, “Syl! Since when did you come back? Why didn’t you tell me?” Sylvia tried to force a smile. “I tried calling you several times, but I couldn't get through. Your social media accounts are all private as well, so I simply couldn’t find you.” Sherry awkwardly scratched her head. “Oh my, I actually ran into some trouble back then and I forgot to tell you.” Sylvia knew Sherry would not simply change her phone number and delete her social media accounts. Something must have happened. She asked, “What's going on?” “It’s history. I've forgotten all about it.” She put her hand around Sylvia’s shoulder and continued, “Come on, tell me. When did you come back?” Sylvia knew Sherry wanted to leave it out of the conversation, so she simply did not press on the topic. She continued her walk with Sherry and said, “I’ve been back for some time now.” She briefly told Sherry what happened after she brought Isabel back. Sherry also updated her fr
Feeling vexed, Sherry asked. “What did she do to you? Tell me and I’ll slap the sh*t out of her!” Sherry felt bad for not being by Sylvia’s side three years ago, or else Tara would not have gotten what she yearned and instigated Odell to slap Sylvia. Only she comprehended the terrible and disheartened feeling she had felt when she saw Sylvia’s badly swollen face after the event. Sylvia said with a smile, “It’s okay. I can handle it myself.” There was confidence in her smile, which gave Sherry a strange sense of ruthlessness. Sherry calmed down after that smile. “Okay, if you need anything, anything at all, just tell me. I’ll be there for you. My family might have abandoned me, but I've got a lot of friends. They more or less can lend a hand or two.” Sylvia smiled. “Thank you.” …The next day, Sylvia went to work as usual. Her colleagues, who had arrived earlier than her, greeted her politely when they saw her. Sylvia returned their greetings as well. Only Alister, th
After they sat down, Tristan asked, “Sylvia, what’s wrong? Did something happen at work today?” Sylvia ignored his question and asked, “Tristan, did Tara talk to you?” Feeling surprised, he responded, “How did you know?” As she expected. Sylvia then asked, “Did she tell you about your mother seeing me the other day?” “Yeah, she did.” “Did she also tell you that I rejected you because of Sonia?” Tristan frowned. “She did.” Sylvia squinted her eyes.He was confused. “Sylvia, why are you asking me all this?” She pursed her lips. She did not know how to tell him that Tara had played him. Tara had used his feelings for Sylvia and made him her lapdog. However, Sylvia believed the multiple rejections were hurtful enough for Tristan, and if she told him that Tara had played and tricked him, he would probably be devastated. She knew how it felt being framed and being a pawn in someone else’s game of chess. A quick thought later, she said, “It’s nothing. I have something t
“But I only like you. I have liked you since we were little, Sylvia.” Tristan looked into her eyes. His gaze fueled her guilt. What did she do to earn his love? She looked at him sincerely. “Tristan, it’s not going to work out between us.” “You’re single, I’m single. I even got my parents to agree to us being together. What makes you think we are no match for each other?” Sylvia wanted to argue, but he beat her to it. “I don’t care that you were married before or that you have two kids.” Sylvia’s lips tightened in silence. The air went quiet once again. He then said, “Unless you still love Odell.” Sylvia answered without a second thought, “I don’t love him anymore.” Three years ago, he had slapped her sixty times because of Tara, and she could still feel the imaginary pain on her face. She would never forget the insult and the pain she had to endure. How could she love him anymore? Tristan noticed her cold expression which was changing for the worse. He smiled awk
After dinner, Odell sent Tara back to Lake Victoria Villa before he went back to the Carters' residence. The bodyguards opened the door for him when they saw him. Odell had a glance at one of the bodyguards. “Did the woman come over today?” “Ms. Ross didn't come today.” His already icy expression had an extra scowl to it. The bodyguard timidly looked away. Odell grunted. ‘Did she really go out with Tristan? I thought she would try harder for the kids, but she seems to have forgotten about them now that she’s with a man.’ He went inside with a grim look. The bodyguard sighed a breath of relief after he went inside. At the same time, the bodyguard also grumbled secretly. ‘Gosh, what is wrong with Master Carter? I thought he was the one who stationed us out here to prevent Ms. Ross from coming. Now that she’s not coming, he seems even angrier.’ Odell went straight to Isabel and Liam’s room. The door was open, but no one was inside. The whole house was quiet. ‘Where d
The car then drove out of the house. Odell had irritation all over his face.‘Why is she going out at night? A date?’ Smack! The binoculars were thrown on the floor. …Meanwhile, inside the car, Sylvia was driving towards the nearby supermarket. She wanted to buy binoculars for herself before the supermarket closed. She used to joke with her kids that if they were driven apart and could not meet, they would use binoculars to locate each other. Being brilliant kids, the two of them must have remembered. Even if they did not, she could still see them with the binoculars. A while later, she went home with her newly purchased binoculars. She stood on the highest spot in the yard and directed her binoculars at the Carters' residence. The two little rascals must have gone to bed because she stood and watched until midnight and still did not see any signs of them. Feeling disappointed, Sylvia put away the binoculars and returned to her bedroom. …The next day, Sylvi
“What’s the hurry? I have something to talk to you about.” Sylvia eagerly rubbed her hands and cracked her knuckles provocatively. Her suggestive demeanor reminded Tara of that time when she was strapped in the rear seat of the car and was slapped in her face. Her face turned as white as a sheet and she faltered in fear. Feeling cautious, she warned Sylvia, “What are you trying to imply?” Sylvia wore a grin. “You told Sonia and instigated her to cause trouble at my studio, chasing me out of the house that my grandparents left me. You even tricked Tristan and made him think that I rejected him because of Sonia. You told him that I met his mother, which led him to starve himself just to make a statement to his parents. Am I right?” Tara reacted with a shifty gaze. She said in a hurry, “I have no idea what you are talking about. Go away. I’m going to Odell.” Sylvia refused to comply. She kept the pressure on and moved closer to Tara. “Odell showed me a picture of Tristan hugging
She was her usual self in every aspect. She put her heart into her job and never started trouble so long as nobody tried to start trouble with her. The crew cycled through their locations during their shoot. The constant travel made her skin break out slightly, but there were no other concerns otherwise. The shoot progressed very smoothly and within three months, they managed to wrap up everything at the mountainous region previously mentioned. It was nearly evening when they wrapped up the shoot. Holding a bouquet in hand, she took a group picture with the crew and celebrated with everyone. After that, she planned to hitch a ride with another crew member and leave for home. To their demise, some men in uniform who claimed to be the road maintenance technicians showed up to break the bad news to them. They mentioned that they had to repair some of the roads urgently and so the way home was temporarily obstructed. The director took his phone and called the city hotline fo
He remembered his first meeting with Isabel. She was sitting all by herself on the floor, in the middle of nowhere. Her vulnerable expression only made her more endearing. So, he managed to get her to go to his place and installed her in his home. He fell for her and paid careful attention to all her needs. It did not take long before Isabel caught feelings for him as well. The two of them got together in no time. Their days were plain and ordinary, but also very fulfilling, that was until he met Clarice. With the help of his father, his power struggle with Roland had reached a tipping point. It was at that opportune moment when Clarice’s father saw something in Roland and planned to wed his daughter Clarice to him to join up their families, which was a cause for alarm for Decker. He stressed over it for an entire night before approaching Clarice himself the very next day. Clarice quickly caught feelings for him as well. Furthermore, Roland had been foolish enough to reject
Decker was smiling quite earnestly at Isabel. Isabel threw a deeply suspicious look at him, then she glanced at the stack of documents laid out on top of the table in front of her. “Transferal of Shares.” She was dumbfounded. "I've gone through the contract, it’s safe to sign so go ahead.” Roland picked up a pen and handed it to her. "Roland, I..." "Sign it first, I’ll explain when we get home.” Isabel frowned and tried to protest. "I—" "Don't make me have to beg." Isabel did not know how to respond. Fine. She briefly scanned through the contract. The contract stated Decker’s agreement to transfer the remaining forty percent of his shares in Rockwell Corporation to her. Roland must have talked to the shareholders of Rockwell Corporation about this as well. They all regarded Isabel with polite smiles. Isabel had flipped through the final page of the document. She signed her name on one of the marked-out sections. She proceeded to sign all thr
They ended the call shortly after that. Isabel glanced at Martha and was hesitating if she should break the news right away. Martha seemed to have sensed her staring and suddenly turned to her with a flash of concern. "Isabel, what's wrong?" Isabel took a deep breath and broke the news. "Auntie, Master Rockwell just passed away." Martha's eyes widened. After a lengthy silence that lasted more than ten seconds, she started to break out in tears. She covered her face with her hands and expressed amid bouts of tears mixed with laughter, “Wonderful! About time! I hope he enjoys life in the underworld. God knows that someone like him will never deserve a spot in heaven!” Isabel did not know whether she should celebrate with Martha or console her. Soon, Martha began to collect herself. She briefly wiped away her tears and joyfully took Isabel's hand. "Isabel, let’s go shopping! I’m in such a good mood today, I’m going to go on a shopping spree!” "Okay. But Roland w
Isabel held onto Roland's hand firmly during the entire drive home after leaving the hospital. It was because Roland’s hands were cold and rigid. Isabel sat with him and tirelessly rubbed his hand to keep them warm. After one hand was warm, she would shift her attention to the other. By the time she managed to warm the other hand, the original hand would turn cold again. She decided it was easier to take both of his hands and caress them with the warmth of her palms. Roland looked at her with a gentle glow deep within his eyes. “Thank you, Isabel,” he said softly. Thank you for loving him, and for sticking by his side all this time despite circumstances. Isabel smiled. “I’m just warming your hands, it's no big deal. Still, you’re welcome." Roland smiled faintly and left it at that. Soon, his hands began to warm up off of the heat of Isabel’s palms. When Isabel felt that his hands were no longer freezing, she prepared to pull her hand away. That was when
Decker looked nothing like his usual self. The pompous, arrogant man who held himself far above others and who expected everyone around him to kiss up to him because he was superior to them all. It was as if he had been plunged not only to Earth but a pile of swamp. He had completely lost his usual grace. Isabel said crossly, "Decker, have you gone mental? Is everything going on too much for you?” “Yeah, could you help me?” he said with a coy smile, “Just one hug should be enough to take care of it all.” Isabel rolled her eyes. Without warning, he suddenly braced himself and lunged right at Isabel, stepping past Brandon who was caught off guard by this sudden attack. Isabel barely had time to react. Just when it seemed like his hand was about to graze Isabel, a long pair of arms seized Isabel from behind and jerked her backward. It was swiftly followed by a long, muscular leg shooting outward right next to Isabel. Thump! Decker was kicked to the ground.
"How did you and Roland meet?" Decker suddenly asked. Isabel turned away, fully intent on ignoring him. "Did you meet each other at Carter Corporation? Or did you meet him outside of work and gradually fell in love with him, then you decided to set him up with a position at Carter Corporation?” What did he mean by that? Was he insinuating that Roland was relying on her to snake his way into Carter Corporation? She threw a sideways, belittling look at him. "Do you think Roland is anything like you? He wouldn’t latch on another woman to further his goals.” Decker was not upset by this as he continued with a smug smile. "Oh? Then how did he get into Carter Corporation?" “He proved his worth.” Isabel realized that she had been roped in by Decker again. Nevertheless, she continued, “He passed the interviews himself. I was one of the interviewers and initially planned to dismiss him, but he managed to leave a very good impression on my father and the rest was history.” "
"I never meant to kill him! Roland, you have to believe me. Why would I still try to deceive you when I’m in this state?” “In that case, you can go ahead and explain things to him in the afterlife.” Master Rockwell was taken aback by this, his demeanor tightened. "You...you..." Roland looked at him calmly. "Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. It was Grandma and my parents who raised me. They instilled morals and virtue into me and made sure I’d grow into a decent man.” Master Rockwell was briefly relieved to hear this, but before he could rid himself of his trepidation, Roland continued in a dark voice, "But I won’t forget about you and Decker bribing all those media outlets to defame Isabel. I know you manipulated the stock prices to try to kick me out of the corporation. I’ll make sure to settle our score through the legal system.” If convicted guilty, they would have to rot in prison. “Roland… listen to me, Roland. Decker is your uncle. If you want revenge, you can come
Master Rockwell must have heard their shifting movements and opened his eyes. When he recognized the faces of Roland and Isabel, there was a brief glow in his murky eyes. He motioned to the nurse to have her help him sit up from the bed. After he managed to position himself seated up against the head of the bed, he asked the nurse to leave. Then he cast a loving, tender smile on Roland and Isabel. “Roland, Isabel, please have a seat.” Roland said disinterestedly, "We have things to get to, just hurry up and tell us what you have to say." Isabel stayed silent. A look flashed in Master Rockwell's eyes. Then, he turned to Isabel and expressed regretfully, "Isabel, I’m a foolish old man, it was me who told Decker to leak pictures of you two. He had no choice because I forced him to do so. If you have to blame someone, blame me!” Isabel frowned. She was somewhat impressed by how smoothly the old man switched his mask from one to another. From a forlorn and sad state t