In the past, Odell would have caved in and let them go, but now, thinking of Sylvia only reminded him of how she had left with Tristan without any remorse. She had even abandoned her children to go with him. Odell had a terrible look on his face and did not answer. Liam cocked an eyebrow and observed him while Isabel was still whimpering. After failing to draw a response from Odell, she rested for two minutes before she wrapped herself around Liam and went back to sobbing again. Odell was at a loss for words. His forehead had several creases formed across them. Several minutes later, Isabel seemed tired of crying and subtly turned to him. She tried to steal a look at him from the corner of her eyes. Odell flicked an eyebrow and proceeded to glare into her scrutinizing gaze. She pulled away instinctively and buried her face into Liam’s neck again. Shortly after that, she started whimpering again. Odell stayed silent and put a finger to massage his temple. S
"But I want to see Mommy and talk to her.” Liam patted her head, "Let's call Mommy.” “But the baddie took our phone away. He won’t even let Great-grandma, Uncle Ben, or Uncle Jacob lend us their phones.” "There is one more person whose phone we can borrow.” Isabel's eyes lit up as she asked, "Whose?” Liam smirked mischievously. "Dad's." ...... Several hours later, in the middle of the night, two small figures snuck out of the room and crept across the floor on their bare feet. They reach Odell’s room without making a sound. Liam slowly held the door handle and pulled it down. Isabel slipped inside like a slippery loach. When she saw Odell sleeping soundly in bed, she crept to the head of the bed and stole the phone from the bedside table. She quickly crept out with the prize in hand. Liam closed the door softly and brought Isabel back to their room. He turned on the phone and took Sylvia’s number off the blacklist. Then, he clicked the dial button.
Meanwhile, at the Lake Victoria Villa, in Tara's large living room illuminated by bright crystal chandeliers, Tara could be seen in a swanky dress. She sat gracefully on the sofa with a glass of wine in her hand. Sonia was sitting next to her and anxiously darting her eyes across the room. As expected of the most iconic villa in Westchester City, every nook and cranny seemed like something out of a painting, exuding fine elegance and tasteful architecture. Although Sonia was someone who was born with a golden spoon in her mouth, she was still amazed by the decor. The Rosses lived in an affluent area where the plot of land was priced significantly, but the houses were on the older end. Meanwhile, there were only ten sparse units in Lake Victoria. These properties were something that money could not buy. Tara read every hint of envy in Sonia’s eyes, and she smiled. “Sonia, Odell gave me this wine a long time ago, and I never had time to try it. Give it a sip. It should ta
Sylvia was very satisfied and thanked her. “This is enough. Thank you.” Without any delay, she went to Carl who was in charge of the studio to request half a day of leave, then she drove to Alister’s address. Alister lived in the secluded outskirts of the suburb district, and it took Sylvia almost an hour to get there. She raised her hand and knocked it against the door. Alister quickly opened the door from inside. Her face registered shock the moment she saw Sylvia, and she instinctively tried to close the door. However, Sylvia pushed the door open before she could and walked past the threshold. Alister stumbled backward and regarded her visitor with a vigilant look. "What are you doing here?" Sylvia answered harshly, "You know." The look in Alister's eyes shifted and she said, "I don't." Sylvia was not going to beat around the bush and went straight to the point. "When did Tara pay you to spy on me?" "Who's Tara? I have no idea who that is.” She continued
Apart from Isabel and Liam, Aunt Tonya was the most important person in Sylvia’s world. She could not allow harm to befall her. She rushed back to her house as fast as she could. The gate outside was guarded by two large and intimidating men. Sylvia marched inside quickly. The broomstick that Aunt Tonya used could be seen on the floor. Sylvia entered the living room to see her biological father, Emmanuel Ross, and her stepmother, Dona, sitting on her sofa. She even saw someone pouring tea for them as she entered. She glanced around the room but saw no sight of Aunt Tonya"Where's Aunt Tonya?" she asked urgently. Emmanuel took a sip of tea and answered slowly, "I sent her somewhere else." Sylvia's expression became aggressive. "Where did you take her?" Emmanuel suddenly shouted angrily, “How dare you speak to me in that tone?” Dona said with a pleasant chuckle, "Sylvia, we just asked Aunt Tonya to rest somewhere else for now. You can rest assured that we won
"Damn it!" Emmanuel shot up and nearly charged at Sylvia. Nevertheless, Sylvia was completely unfazed. Dona grabbed him just in time and smiled placatingly. “Emmanuel, don’t be angry. It’s not worth getting angry with this girl. You have to think of your health.” Then, she turned to Sylvia. "I'll let you know who your marriage candidate is and you can think about it. You'd better make up your mind quickly. I don’t know how long Aunt Tonya can keep waiting for you.” Sylvia stiffened. Dona smiled wryly and turned to Emmanuel. “Let’s go, Emmanuel. Give her some time to think about it.” Emmanuel's expression softened considerably as he muttered, "Yeah, sure." He shot another hostile look at Sylvia before walking out with Dona. His crew followed him out of the house as well. The whole house suddenly descended into silence. Sylvia bowed her head and grabbed her head with her hands. The same sense of despair she had felt when she was kicked out of Westchester
Sherry was extremely efficient. Before the sun even set, she had compiled a list of all the properties the Rosses owned and sent them to Sylvia. She attached another message along with it. “Hey, Sylvia. My guy accessed the surveillance cameras in these properties and did not see any sign of Aunt Tonya or anyone suspicious showing up. Do you think there’s a chance they moved Aunt Tonya out of the city?” Sylvia frowned tensely. Judging by what she knew of Emmanuel and Dona, she doubted they would take so much effort to relocate Aunt Tonya out of the city. But if they did not relocate her out of the city, where could they have hidden her? She felt her head throbbing. She sat down on the ground and scratched her head until her hair turned into a tangled mess, and still, she could not figure it out. Her phone rang again. The caller ID was “Grandma”. Sylvia's eyes brightened as she answered the phone immediately. Isabel's saccharine voice greeted her, "Mommy,
“Alright, it's way easier if we only investigate him. I should be able to get back to you by tomorrow morning." “Ok, thanks again.” “No need for these formalities. Make sure you rest early and don't worry too much. They won’t do anything to Aunt Tonya.” Sylvia grimaced and answered, "Okay." ...... At the Carters' residence, when Odell came to the living room, he saw Madam Carter sitting all alone on the sofa. He frowned and asked, "Grandma, where are Liam and Isabel?” The madam had a shifty look in her eyes when she informed him, "They should be playing in their room." Odell stepped towards their room. Before he reached the door, he could hear Isabel complaining from inside, “I’m gonna turn the meanie into a turtle! Or I’ll turn him into a puppy…” She was busy casting a spell on him. Without further thought, he pushed the door open. Isabel, who was on the floor and badmouthing him, immediately zipped her lips. Liam moved in front of her, fearing t
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