“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
Odell strode over angrily. The fury on his face forced Sylvia to release Tara. Tara threw herself into his arms and started crying. “Odell, my hand hurts…” Odell threw a look at her wrist and noticed a red swollen circle around it like a bangle. He glared at Sylvia who leaned on Tara’s car with her hands crossed and a grin pasted on her face, exuding a devil-may-care attitude. Before Odell could question her, she proactively said, “I did it.” Odell’s gaze turned to frost. “Are you having a death wish?” “Of course not,” Sylvia said with an even wider grin. “She wanted to slap my face first. It was just self-defense.” Odell pursed his lips. “Do you think I’m blind?” He had arrived at the moment when Sylvia slammed Tara’s wrist on the car. Sylvia protruded her lips and sighed. “If you choose to be blind, I can’t do anything about it.” Odell was speechless. He gently pushed Tara aside and strode forward to Sylvia. Nonetheless, Sylvia remained still. Tara was the one
Odell tightened his lips after hearing Sylvia. Tara anxiously denied, “No, Odell, I didn’t do it. I’ve never done anything that she claims I did. What good would it do me?” “I’m curious as well. What good does it do to you? I can’t even see my children now,” Sylvia added. Her face turned to frost when she mentioned her children. Tara looked evasive. She clung to Odell tightly and shot an irritated look at Sylvia. “Sylvia, are you trying to shift all the blame on me? You did everything yourself, and you are trying to hold me responsible? You and Tristan are already dating. Someone even saw you in a restaurant enjoying a candlelight dinner!” Odell’s anger spiked after Tara spewed her words. Not only did Sylvia have candlelight dinner with Tristan, but she even went out in the middle of the night to see him. He glanced at Sylvia and asked, “What else do you have to say for yourself?” Judging from his look, Sylvia knew he would not believe her though it would be strange if he
Could Tara have already informed her? Suddenly, the phone in her pocket began ringing. It was Aunt Tonya calling. Sylvia picked up the call, “Hey Aunt Tonya, what's wrong?" “Sylvia, there are several men outside the house, they’re hulks around the size of Ben and Jacob, and they’re not leaving,” Aunt Tonya reported in a hushed voice masked with concern. "Did something happen again? What's wrong?" Sylvia frowned. Odell was quick to act. "Don't worry. Just lock the doors and leave the house,” she said. It was also at this time when there was a sudden movement outside the studio. Through the glass window, Sylvia saw a group of well-trained bodyguards surrounding the entrance of the studio. She hurriedly hung up the phone. There was no back door in the studio, so she could not run and had to directly confront them. The bodyguard leading the charge spoke to the studio receptionist, “Mr. Odell has dispatched us to pick Miss Sylvia up.” The name “Mr. Odel
With his sharp roar, all the air in the spacious living room was sucked out. Sylvia withdrew the harsh look from her eyes and grinned. She wore a sharp smirk as if to mock him and imply, “Look what a good hostage I am!” Odell was silent. He felt his temper rising in his chest. He paused. With an overpowering stare, he said, "I'll give you three minutes to gather your thoughts and prepare an apology to Tara.” Sylvia smiled. “And what if I don't apologize to her?" "Then, don't even think about ever leaving this place!" The smile on Sylvia's mouth vanished. Was he going to repeat what happened and have her slapped sixty times? Was he going to break her legs instead? After a few seconds, she said, "I won't apologize to her even if you make them kill me today." Odell frowned coldly. She met his gaze without fear, her eyes shining with determination. Odell felt his body tightening involuntarily. Suddenly, Tara tugged at his arm to counsel him, “Forget abou
"I'm fine," Sylvia said, “What brings you here?" “Carl told me." Tristan then turned to Odell and addressed him sternly, “Master Carter, Sylvia hasn’t done anything criminal, has she? And even if she has, it’s the police who should take charge. Surely it’s not for you to play judge?” Odell raised his eyebrows and sneered, “Well, she’s here. What are you going to do about it?” Just like that, he established his dominance. Tristan stammered for a few seconds before composing himself. “I put together a crew of my own as well, and their numbers are no fewer than yours. Do you want to settle a score?” Odell flashed a hostile look. Immediately, Tara spoke up, "Odell, let’s let them go. This whole thing all started because of me. It's my fault. Please don’t be angry." Her voice was tender and thoughtful. However, Odell was unaffected as he peered at Sylvia. Sylvia was emboldened when she heard that Tristan brought more men than Odell. Odell had been long suspect
The car coasted down the lane. Sylvia leaned back in the seat with an iron impression. She felt like all the energy was drained out of her body. Tristan quickly sensed that something was wrong with her. He recalled Odell’s final threat before they left and said to her, "Sylvia, I can help you sue for custody of the child." The look in her eyes wavered. Tristan added, “Isabel has been living with you the entire time. Even if I can’t help you secure Liam’s custody, I will do everything in my power to help you take Isabel back.” Sylvia was quiet for a while before responding, "Thank you, but it’s fine.” It was not that she did not want to go to court against Odell, but she did not want to be the one to bring ruin to the relationship between the Ledgers and the Carters. Both were very well-known families in Westchester that had been working together for a long time. One of the reasons that the Ledgers could grow so rapidly in recent years was attributed to its allian
Jacob opened the door for them before Ben carried them into the car one by one. After entering the car, the children immediately saw Odell’s figure. Liam was slightly startled, and Isabel puffed and pouted. Odell looked at them. His face was as harsh and intimidating as always. Isabel was about to yell at him but immediately decided against it when she noticed the expression he wore. Liam observed him with a narrow look. The two children huddled together and kept as far away from their father as possible. They were visibly scared of him this time and wanted to stay away from him. Odell frowned. "Sit down." They fixed their pearl-like eyes on him with timid expressions and did not move a muscle. "Don’t make me repeat that again.” The two of them exchanged a look. Shortly after that, Liam moved to Odell’s side, and Isabel followed suit and begrudgingly shuffled over to Liam’s side. Odell swiped a look at the siblings and extended an arm to pick Isabel
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