It was Cliff.Odell brought the phone to his ear.On the phone, Cliff said in a soft voice, “Master Carter, I just contacted a teacher from the Art Academy who has just returned from Meadow Hills. He said that he went separate ways with Mrs. Carter and three female teachers in the hotel. He mentioned that they wanted to go to several other places, such as the prairie, an ancient city, and another place he forgot the name of. He’s not sure where they went today.”Three female teachers?Odell’s expression relaxed slightly. “Got it.”He hung up the phone, took another cigarette, and placed it between his lips....A few days later, the temperature in Westchester took a sharp dive. It snowed overnight, so the outside was blanketed in white in the morning.It happened to be the weekend. The little ones were probably attracted by the snowy scenery and got up earlier than usual.Isabel dragged Flint outside to step in the snow and throw snowballs. In a rare turn of events, Liam, who
Just when Odell thought Sylvia would say something to care about him, the air went silent.Several moments passed, but her voice was not heard from Liam’s phone.The three little ones stared at her.Although Odell could not see the screen, he saw the image on it moving, so the connection was definitely not stuck. He frowned tightly and coldly pursed his thin lips.Just then, Flint said pitifully to Sylvia, “Mommy, I miss you. Can you come back soon? Daddy is really fierce. He keeps putting me in time-out.”Isabel glanced at him. “That’s because you’re always naughty.”Liam said, “We’re fine at home, Mommy. You can come back after you’ve had fun.”Hearing this, Flint immediately changed his tune. “Uh-huh. Although I miss Mommy, I want Mommy to be happier.”Sylvia was instantly amused and laughed aloud. “I know. You guys have fun at home too.”“Okay.”At the top of the stairs, the expression of the man who had been standing for a while darkened uncontrollably.‘That’s it? ‘She
Shermaine replied, “I said you agreed to someone else’s appointment and couldn’t make it.”Odell said, “Inform them that I’m free now.”“Understood. I’ll notify them now.”Odell put his phone away.After smoking two more cigarettes, Shermaine sent him a message. “Master Carter, they’re all very happy and said they've booked the best room on the second floor of Elysian House. They’re heading there now.”Odell replied, “Got it.”He threw the cigarette butt out of the car, stepped on the gas pedal, and drove in the direction of Elysian House....At Shermaine’s residence, after sending the message to Odell, Shermaine quickly picked out an outfit for herself and put on some makeup.She got ready as fast as she could and jogged outside.Elysian House was not far from her place, so she got in the car and arrived at the restaurant in less than ten minutes.She walked to the door of the restaurant and waited quietly. Soon, she saw the other company presidents arrive. They knew who s
Odell’s mind cleared up a bit once he stood firm. He drew his hand back and walked straight out.Shermaine quickly followed him.The other bosses looked at each other and walked out with smirks on their faces. After saying a few more goodbyes to Odell in the parking lot outside the restaurant, they went back to their cars and left.Odell also got into his car. The alcohol made his body feel a bit weak, so he left the car door open and let the cold wind blow in.Then, he lowered the back of the seat, closed his eyes, and lay down. His brain was intoxicated from the alcohol.Not long after, just as he was about to fall asleep, a soft voice suddenly spoke. “Master Carter, I bought you a cup of honey water. Drink it to sober up.”Odell opened his eyes.A small and fair palm-sized face immediately appeared in his blurred vision.“Sylvia?” He frowned and grabbed her hand.Shermaine’s eyes flickered.Sylvia?A hint of depression flashed in her heart, but that was soon washed away b
When the lobby manager who was walking around the first floor saw Odell come back, he quickly greeted the latter obsequiously. “Master Carter, did you leave something behind?”Odell looked at him. “Let me use your phone.”After saying that, he stretched out his hand.The manager was dumbfounded, then silently took out his phone....Ding.On a prairie in the north, Sylvia was sitting around watching the stars and chatting with her colleagues, Ms. Kang and Ms. O’Neil, when her phone suddenly rang. She took her phone out.It was from an unknown number from Westchester.Was it a call from someone in the Art Academy or Art Association?Sylvia brought the phone to her ear. “Hello?”“It’s me.” The man’s low and cold voice rang out.Sylvia’s eyes flickered, and she was just about to hang up the phone.“If you dare to hang up on me again, I’ll confiscate Liam and Isabel’s phone when I go back. Don’t think of contacting them if you won’t talk to me!”Her grip tightened, but she sti
There was a few seconds of silence on the phone.Then, Odell called out to her in a low voice. “Sylvia.”His tone was full of helplessness as if she was being unreasonable again.Sylvia sneered. “Don’t call me in that tone. Just say so if you don’t want to fire her.”“She hasn’t made any mistakes at work.” After a pause, he added, “But I can transfer her back to the administration department.”It seemed like transferring Shermaine back to the administration department was the biggest compromise he would grant.Sylvia’s chest still felt stuffy.If the incident with Charles did not happen, if she did not see Shermaine bump into him, and if Shermaine did not look like her at all, she would not have made such a request to Odell no matter how pretty Shermaine was.However, he not only defended Shermaine time and time again, but he also called her unreasonable and yelled at her directly in front of that minx.Thinking of those scenes, Sylvia could not suppress her pain. She took a d
Fortunately, Odell did not hear their conversation. At that moment, his mind was completely sober without a trace of intoxication.He got back in the car and drove.When the black sports car disappeared from the road, Shermaine, who had been hiding in the shadows for a long time, came out. Looking at the direction in which his car left, she curled her mouth in a smile, her expression happy and smug.‘His stupid wife left home for so many days, but not only did he not compromise, he still believed in me unwaveringly. How would he be so adamant in defending me if he wasn’t interested in me?’...The weekend passed in the blink of an eye.It was a new week.In the early morning, Odell opened his eyes and looked at the quietness of the room. His eyes were cold and lonely. He got up and washed up.After eating breakfast with Madam Carter and the children, he watched Isabel and Liam get in the car to go to school, hugged a jumping Flint, and then took his car to the office.The comp
John?Odell frowned and asked, “Why is he here?”Shermaine replied, “He said he came to talk to you about a project in Glanchester.”Odell closed the file and said to her, “Tell him to come in, and go make another pot of tea.”“Understood.”...A few minutes later, the door was pushed open, and a young man in a suit walked in holding a two-year-old toddler.The little girl was chubby and pink. As soon as she entered, she called out to him softly, “Hello, Uncle!”Odell smiled at her. “Hello.”John placed her on the ground.Caprice immediately walked toward him with her little legs. She was not trying to hug Odell’s legs. She curiously walked behind him, made a big round, and then continued to explore the rest of the office.John’s gaze followed her for a while. “Caprice, tell Daddy if you want anything. Don’t try to get it yourself, or you might hurt yourself.”The corners of Odell’s mouth twitched. Before John said the last sentence, he thought that John was trying to teach
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