…Sylvia was woken up by the sweltering heat. It should have been mid-autumn and yet she was drowned in sweat. She opened her eyes in a blur and saw the man sleeping in front of her. He looked very handsome even as he slept. His arms were wrapped around her waist, and she was almost held in his arms by him. She furrowed her brows and immediately shoved him away. Odell snapped his eyes open quickly. After a brief confusion, he quickly registered the situation. He smiled kindly and greeted her, “Good morning.” Sylvia peered at him. Odell let go of her waist and brushed his fingers against her cheeks. "Why did you wake up so early?" Sylvia answered blankly, “I woke up because I felt hot.” Odell paused for a moment, then asked with a coy smile, “Hot? Are you feeling unwell?" He pressed his palm against her forehead to check her temperature, then he shifted his arm to her neck to feel her body heat. He commented, “You’re sweating a lot.” Sylvia tri
Before Odell could make his next move, Sylvia quickly hopped off the bed and went to the dressing area to get changed. Odell looked at her silently. In an instant, all the lust inside him was washed away. He glanced at Flint. Flint stopped snickering suddenly and looked at his father. His eyes widened into two large, reflective marbles. The pair of father and son stared at each other sometime before Odell went to pick him up. Flint began crying out, "Mommy, Mommy…” Odell's face darkened briefly. He walked out of the room with Flint in his arms, but Flint's cries only grew louder from that point on. Sylvia, who had just gotten changed, quickly stepped out of the dressing area. She stepped out just in time to catch a glimpse of Flint being carried out of the room by Odell, his feet wrangling frantically in the air as he repeatedly called for his mother. She felt a twitching sensation inside her chest when she witnessed this picture. “Here’s Mommy, here’s Mommy.
She observed the painting for a while before moving off to where the sculpting tools were and went to work. The day passed quickly. Night soon fell and it was time for bed. When she returned to the bedroom from the third floor, she saw Odell and Flint's figures lying on the bed. Flint was sleeping soundly next to Odell. Just like yesterday, the man leaned against the bedboard while reading a book. When Sylvia entered, he smiled and looked at her. "Are you done?" Sylvia grunted. He put down the book and got out of bed. It seemed like he was heading out. Sylvia immediately asked, "Where are you going?" He replied, “To the guest room." Why was he scuttling away to the guest room? She did not tell him to leave. She became slightly upset and said in an accusing tone, “You were lying down already. Why are you going to the guest room?" Odell approached her with a somber expression. “Didn’t you tell me this morning that I’m not allowed to sleep here again?” Sylvi
Sylvia instinctively mumbled ‘yes’ and quickly regretted it when she met the gaze in Odell’s eyes. Although he was also drenched in sweat, he still seemed rather energetic. It was a trap! She wondered if she would even have the strength to walk out of the shower if she agreed to go with him. “That’s alright. I'll go by myself." After that, she scurried out of bed and went to the bathroom. Odell lay on his side and watched her all the while, chuckling at her escape. Suddenly, the phone on the bedside table rang. It was a customized notification only triggered when receiving messages from a specific sender. He sat up and picked up the phone. It was a message from Skylar. “Master Carter, I got in touch with the clairvoyant at last. He told me that the reason I could not help Sylvia restore all her memories was that I was going too fast. My skills were not honed yet, and I was rushing things. He told me that I should perform the hypnosis a few more times and that
Sylvia rose abruptly. Flint was awake and had crawled next to them at some point. He lay down next to Odell and observed them attentively, being the adorable and playful boy he was. Sylvia was enchanted by how adorable Flint was and waved him to go over with a loving smile. “Flint, come to Mommy.” Odell smiled and sat up to make room for Flint. The little rascal ended up crawling directly over him. He crept atop his leg as if he was mounting over an obstacle and approached Sylvia who smiled and took him in her arms. Flint babbled, “Moh…ning.” Sylvia was pleasantly surprised by this and returned the greeting, “Good morning, you.” While the boy grinned from ear to ear, Odell was delighted to see the mother and son’s wholesome exchange and grinned as well. ...... The following days passed uneventfully. During the day, Odell would go to work while Liam and Isabel went to school while Sylvia stayed at home with Flint. She usually played with the boy until lu
The formal purpose of the party was for Madam Stockton to get together and catch up, but the true intention was to match John with a suitable candidate. By all accounts, Sherry had no right to be there because Madam Stockton would never acknowledge her as John’s partner. John must have been out of his mind to make her attend. He even threatened that she would have to embroider twenty pieces of garments if she did not show up. A gust of cold wind blew in her direction and made her shudder. She shielded herself from the wind with one hand and lifted the wine glass with the other. At least, the wine was good. The young ladies she saw attending the party were all captivating and beautiful. All of them commanded the attention of the passersby. As beautiful as they were though, she realized that she had never seen any one of them. They must all hail from Glanchester. When the party began, Madam Stockton showed up with Queenie and Julie to help her bridge the communicatio
Their hostility meant nothing to her because she was busy savoring the fine food and liquor. Queenie's face was contorted with anger, and Julie's expression was not much better either. After a while, she tried to implore Queenie again, “Forget about it. She must have come here with John’s permission.” What she was really trying to say was that there was no point chasing Sherry out since she was not going to budge anytime soon. Upon hearing this, not only did Queenie abandon her plans to chase her out, but she was also further enraged. This woman was always trying to lay claim to her brother. It was despicable for her to attend a party that was specially held by her mother to help him find a partner for marriage. She was even refusing to leave. What an insult! “Sherry, you disgusting wench, go back to that dirty club you own and stop dragging your filth in here!” That rude remark was followed by her grabbing a glass of wine and splashing it on Sherry’s face. Splash!
As Sherry suddenly stiffened, all the color drained from her face. Janine was wearing a moss green dress that complimented her figure perfectly. Despite her age, all her years of proper maintenance provided ample upkeep for her appearance, and she seemed like she was only in her mid-thirties. Sherry immediately recognized the look of masked contempt on Janine’s face despite her best attempts at hiding it. When Shannon caught Sherry’s eyes, she smiled a sarcastic smile and greeted her somewhat affably, “Sister.” Just as she was about to approach Sherry, Janine quickly grabbed her by the arm, hence she turned back to Janine with a stark look of confusion. Janine did not utter a word and only cast a cruel look at Sherry. Sherry grimaced and continued heading toward the restroom. The restroom was located on the edge of the garden, so it was relatively quiet, and there was nobody inside at the current moment. She went to the sink and splashed icy water on her face to