Haytham took two more steps to the side. Sylvia did not even need to look at their phones to know what happened. She glared at Haytham. “Haytham, you helped Madam Springsteen set me up before, and now this. What is wrong with you? Did I do something to you?” She had no contact or exchange with the man; there was not even a word that was spoken. Haytham got nervous and avoided Sylvia’s gaze. He looked around nervously and quickly fled. The students quickly gave chase. Isabel and Liam went after him as well. Together with the students, they surrounded Haytham. Haytham shouted at the students, “Do you all want to continue the competition? Stay out of my way!” The students stared at him without moving. Sylvia came over with her frosty gaze. “It isn’t your call to remove them from the competition. If you keep threatening them, I’ll tell the president that you instigated them to do this.” Haytham’s expression changed. He shouted, “You have the nerve to do this because you
Odell peered down at Haytham emotionlessly. “So, did you instigate them?” he asked. Haytham instinctively tried to deny it, but when he met the man’s frosty gaze, he got nervous. He was at a loss for action and unconsciously said, “Yes, yes, I did it. I didn’t know what I was doing. I just thought of ending Sylvia’s career…” Odell’s expression remained frosty. “Did you also help Madam Springsteen set Sylvia up?” “Yes. Madam Springsteen forced me to. I just did what she told me.” Odell’s furrowed brows added a layer of ferocity to his handsome face. “What did she tell you to do?” Haytham quivered. Sylvia’s expression shifted. She said in a small voice, “Odell, that’s a long time ago. Just forget it.” Carter Corporation and Springsteen Corporation were partners, and they were in front of a crowd, so it was inappropriate to reveal the schemes that would affect the working relationship between the two companies in public. Odell continued to stare at Haytham. “Speak!” Ha
The family of five soon left the crowd’s sight. The crowd soon regained their composure and dispersed while talking about what just happened. “I didn’t know Haytham was such a dick.” “Who would have thought? We assumed she was just Ms. Springsteen’s simp. No one knew he would do something like this.” “Don’t you think Madam Springsteen is the bitch here? Sylvia painted poorly due to her condition, and the woman used it to force her out of the art scene. She even wanted to destroy Sylvia after that. That’s really bitchy.” “I bet she’s doing this for Lily.” “Don’t you know that the engagement was a fake? Lily and Master Carter never really got engaged. Lily said it herself that they pretended to be engaged for the sake of their project, so how would Madam Springsteen not know about it?” “Then, why did she set Sylvia up like that? Does she really think Lily and Master Carter would be together?” “I guess Lily likes Master Carter as well.” …The discussion slowly faded as
Confused, Lily looked at her grandfather. “Grandfather, what’s wrong with me being the competition judge?” Master Springsteen looked at her seriously. “Your painting has improved a lot since last time.” Lily’s eyes gleamed with delight, but before she could smile, her grandfather said, “But it’s not enough to make you a good judge yet. Others might not say anything about your painting, but as your grandfather, it is my duty to tell you the truth.” Lily’s expression froze. She frowned and argued, “Are you saying that my painting is mediocre?” “That’s right. You might look good while you paint, but you are not there in terms of skills yet. You lack the idealization and experience, so you need to practice more.” Master Springsteen was reluctant to hit her with the proverbial pail of cold water, but it was a fact. He pursed his lips and sighed. “Compared to Simon and the other two veterans, your painting is too far behind.” Lily clenched her fists and asked reluctantly, “What a
After a satisfying meal, the family went home. The kids fell asleep on the way home. When they arrived home and got out of the car, Sylvia and Odell carried them back to their room. Aunt Tonya and Sebastian were in the living room. Sylvia tugged on Odell’s sleeve after putting the kids to bed and whispered, “Let’s go back to our room.” He hummed a reply before turning around and striding away without waiting for her. Sylvia furrowed her brows. She carefully closed the door before she strode to her and Odell’s room. The door was left open, so she went in without knocking. “Why didn’t you tell me about what happened?” the man asked gruffly. Startled, Sylvia looked at him with surprise. His towering figure leaned beside the door and his stern expression shadowed his handsome features. He peered down at her, waiting for her answer. Sylvia looked into his eyes. “It’s history. If I didn’t run into Haytham today, I wouldn’t even have remembered.” “Why didn’t you tell me
Sylvia was suffocating from the hug. “Odell, I can’t breathe.” The man’s grim expression softened and loosened his hug. It took him a while to hide his frosty look, and only then he released her. He stroked her face and said, “I’ll go make a call. Rest if you are tired. I’ll be back soon.” Sylvia asked, “Why are you making a call at this hour? Who are you calling?” His face was emotionless. “It's a work-related call.” Sylvia was worried. “Odell, I’ve gotten over it already, so please don’t do this. Don’t start a war with the Springsteens, or whatever you’re going to do.” The Springsteen Corporation might not be as big as Carter Corporation, but the family was still one of the biggest families in Westchester, and they were Carter Corporation’s business partner. Odell smiled. “Don’t worry. I know how to differentiate private and work matters.” “Great.” Sylvia sighed a breath of relief. She went to the closet and changed into her pajamas. Odell took his phone outside.
She sat in front of her piano by the window with furrowed brows. Her eyes stared out of the window blankly. Her grandfather had rightfully scolded her, and it made sense, but she refused to accept it. She refused to accept defeat from Sylvia, not in this terrible way. Ding. Her phone rang. Her assistant from the company called her. Annoyed, she answered the call and put the phone next to her ear. “What is it?” “Ms. Springsteen, something has happened to the project with Carter Corporation. They just informed us that they have some problem at their side and are taking back their workers. They said they wanted to pause the project.” Lily bolted up. “Pause? What happened? Why are they taking back their workers?” While the Springsteen Corporation might have proposed and become the major stakeholder of the project, the core personnel and workers were mostly supplied by Carter Corporation. Carter Corporation was needed to solve many of the critical problems, and the project c
Both Madam Springsteen and Mrs. Springsteen stuck their ears to the door to listen to the noises inside. Their eyes widened in disbelief when they thought they heard Lily say sorry. Madam Springsteen got nervous. “Lily, what are you talking about? Open the door now. Don’t scare me.” Given her understanding of Lily, the girl would never say something like this. Something must have happened. Just before Madam Springsteen left to find the spare key, the door opened. With teary eyes, Lily appeared behind the door. Both Madam Springsteen and Mrs. Springsteen looked at her in shock. Madam Springsteen said, “Lily, don’t be sad. She’s just better than you at painting. You don’t need to be mad about someone of her status.” “She’s better than me at drawing, she’s better looking than me, and she’s better than me at almost everything,” Lily said as she looked at her grandmother calmly. “Grandmother, you don’t need to cheer me up anymore. Please don’t look down on Sylvia either. Grand
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