Odell leaned on the chair with his hands crossed and watched John eat casually. Some time later, John finally put his cutlery down after he cleaned the plate. He wiped his mouth elegantly with the serviette and smiled at the couple. “Thank you for your hospitality, Master Carter and Mrs. Carter.” “Then, can you please leave already?” Sylvia said. John smiled. “I think my head is still spinning. I might have to bother you two for another night.” Sylvia sulked. She had never seen someone who could conceal his lies with such elegance and nonchalance even though others knew that he was lying. No wonder Sherry always called him a bastard. While she was thinking about another way to chase the man out of the house, Odell held her hand. He smiled at John and said, “Since you are feeling unwell, please stay for another night. I’ll send someone to escort you back to Glenchester when you feel better tomorrow.” John maintained his elegant smile. “Thank you.” Odell then went upstair
Sylvia felt chills travel down her spine. She turned around to Odell. “What did you say? I dare you to say it again.” Odell pinched her face and kissed her lips. He whispered, “You looked really cute when you tried to lecture John.” Sylvia was rendered speechless, but it put a smile on her face. She grunted and buried her face in his chest. “What if he insists on staying here tomorrow?” Would they have to ask John to leave again? Odell hugged her waist. “He will leave tomorrow.” Baffled, she asked, “Why are you so sure?” “Because Sherry isn’t here, and there’s no point of him being here.” “I guess you’re right,” Sylvia said. She shut her eyes and continued, “Let’s get some sleep. I want to visit Sherry tomorrow.” “You can’t go to Sherry tomorrow.” “Why not?” Odell looked at her. “If you go to visit Sherry at the hospital tomorrow, John’s men will locate her.” Sylvia frowned. “Then, what about her?” “Let’s just leave Isabel with her for a few days. In the meantim
Matthew looked furious while Janine’s eyes were red and swollen from all the crying. Her usual elegance and dignified posture of a rich lady were nowhere to be seen; all anyone could see was a mother sobbing to see her daughter. Sherry unconsciously tightened her lips. She had disappeared for more than 24 hours, and no one knew if she was alive or dead, yet her parents only cared about Shannon who had been arrested for contracted murder and even caused a scene in front of the station. Sherry tapped the cross to close the picture. She then scrolled down for more comments. “Based on their outfits, they don’t seem like any John and Jane Doe. They must be the parents of the arrested lady.” “I pity them as parents. I wonder why the lady would want to kill someone instead of enjoying her life as the wife of the richest man. Could it be related to the husband himself?” The particular comment attracted heat from other netizens, all wanting to defend John’s reputation and status. Most
It was not an exaggeration to say that John was the one responsible for Shannon’s arrest. His email did not mention anything about him apologizing or lowering himself to meet her. The words screamed arrogance and egoism as he asked her to go back to him before he forgave her for what she had done. Aside from the fact that what Sherry had done to John six years ago was against her will, even if she did it voluntarily, she had been imprisoned at the Stocktons' residence for two years and tortured sexually. The torment she had received was more than enough to make up for what she had done to him. As Sherry’s chest started to tighten, tears uncontrollably rolled down her eyes, and she started to choke on her emotions. Just when she was about to break down in tears, a tiny pair of hands held her face. “Aunt Sherry, why are you crying?” Isabel had somehow woken up without her realizing it and came up to her. The girl was looking at her crying face worriedly. Sherry immediately
Sylvia added, “If he’s shameless enough to come again, I’ll get Ben or Jacob to throw him out!” Odell curled his lips. “Sure.” …Meanwhile, in the MPV that had just merged into the traffic, John leaned back in the rear seat and went on every available social media platform. The messages he texted her last night were all left unread, and those that got through did not get a reply. It seemed like she had no access to social media. Then, he checked his email. There were a number of new emails, mostly from his subordinates at the office, and agreements from his partners and clients. There was no personal mail, let alone a reply from that woman. He wondered if she had access to her email or even noticed the email he sent her. He started to worry about her condition. Had she gotten so weak that she could not even pick up her phone? The flurry of thoughts furrowed his brows. He took his glasses off and rubbed his temples to ease the unnecessary thoughts. A while later, he cal
A strong sense of disgust rushed into her head. Before her escape, she would have scolded the bastard a hundred times over, but she had learned how to stomach her grievance. She knew he was trying to get her attention so that she would go back to him. She grunted and tossed her phone aside. Sylvia was playing with Flint beside Sherry when she noticed something out of the blue. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing. Just some spam mail,” Sherry said. Sylvia pursed her lips and kept quiet. …The peaceful days went on for a few more days. Sherry was finally given permission to be discharged over the weekend. Sylvia wanted to bring her kids to the hospital to welcome her friend home, but when she got out of the house, an expensive MPV with a Glenchester plate number stopped in front of the gate. The driver came down and opened the door. John came down with a handful of presents. He smiled politely and humbly at Sylvia and her kids. “Mrs. Carter, where are you going?” Sylvia glare
“Alright!” Sherry turned around and held Isabel’s hand. Sylvia carried Flint in one hand and held Liam’s hand with the other. After they got out of the elevator and were about to leave the hospital, Sherry stopped. She released Isabel’s hand, covered her mouth in a hurry, and ran to the trash can to throw up. Sylvia immediately went up to her. Sherry continued throwing up for quite a while before she recovered. "Sherry, are you okay? Did you eat something bad?” Sherry leaned against the wall feebly and said with furrowed brows, “I don’t think so. When you guys weren’t around, I ate the food from the hospital cafeteria. I didn’t order anything from outside.” A nurse who happened to pass by overheard the conversation and added, “The food in our cafeteria is prepared under hygienic conditions with the strictest protocols, so it’s unlikely that you could have consumed something rancid from there. Could you have caught a cold?” Sherry shook her head. “I don’t think so. I sle
“No way!” Isabel said with a pouty expression. “Mommy and you are beautiful. That’s why my brothers and I are all cuties.” Her chubby face had confidence smeared all over it. Sylvia could not help but chuckle at the girl’s comment. Sherry smiled. “You’re right, but your daddy is—” A sudden thought rushed into her mind before she could finish the sentence, hence leaving it unfinished. In terms of looks, Odell was the perfect specimen, but John was also a handsome man. Sherry tightened her lips after a sigh. She smiled and said, “Okay, I’ll listen to my little Issy and give birth to this little baby.” Isabel smiled delightfully, her eyes curving into crescents. “Yay! I’m going to have another sibling!” The little girl’s delightful smile cheered Sherry up. She held the girl’s chubby cheeks and kissed her repeatedly. Sylvia smiled and also sighed a breath of relief. Abortion was harmful to a woman's body, and Sherry was extremely weak lately due to all that had happened. Sinc
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