Mr. Sanders walked Sherry to the entrance. The parking lot of the nightclub was connected to the parking lot of the building next door. Upon entering her car, Sherry could not resist the temptation to steal a look at the club next door. It seemed rather tranquil outside the club. It was apparent from one glance that it was a very classy and high-profile venue. John was probably here to socialize with his business partners. Sherry could feel her heart thumping rapidly when she recalled the sight of Caprice wrapped tightly inside John’s arms. Two years. The child was now over two years old. Although Sylvia would send her pictures of Caprice from time to time, this was the first time she managed to get a closer look at her even if it was from a distance. She wondered if Caprice was just as adorable as she looked in the pictures. "Miss, would you like to go back to the hotel?" The driver prompted. “Not yet.” She said as she promptly took out her phone an
No words could describe how adorable she looked. Sherry could feel her heart beating so fast that it would shoot out of her chest. The sweet and innocent face, and her adorable gait, this had to be her daughter that she had been thinking of day and night! Sherry stared at her, completely dazzled. Caprice stared back at her with a blank look on her face as if she was staring at an alien. Eventually, she began to babble, "Are you a thief?" Sherry was struck speechless. She felt her voice caught in her throat for several seconds which felt like an eternity. After a while, she said with a quick smile, "I'm not a thief, I'm here for you.” Caprice muttered, "But I don't know you." Sherry found herself at a loss again. For a moment, she almost felt like crying. After a while, she scrunched her nose and asked with a smile, "Is your name Caprice?" Caprice bobbed her head up and down. “Yeap.” Sherry squatted close to her and stared into Caprice’s pearl-like eyes.
John carried her into his arms. Shortly after that, the duo disappeared from the balcony. Sherry felt herself deflating as the tension had escaped her body at last but what replaced it was a hollow, empty feeling. She sat on the ground and replayed the interaction she had witnessed in her mind. She wore a tight grimace the entire time. The b*stard John was a wonderful father to Caprice. Such fatherly love was almost a foreign concept to Sherry considering her upbringing. Caprice seemed to trust him wholeheartedly. Iit was a sharp contrast to how she completely failed to recognize her mother. … Amid the darkness of the night, a silver car swerved out of the parking lot of the clubhouse and made its way toward John’s house. The driver and a bodyguard were seated at the front of the car. John sat in the back with Caprice in his arms. Something seemed to be on the child’s mind. Usually, she would be sound asleep by this hour but today she was staring out th
The driver was spooked by John’s sudden cry and immediately sprang to the task. “Yes sir, right away.” Caprice shrank into her seat. She slowly scuttled over to John’s side and wrapped her tiny arms around John’s. "Daddy, is she a bad person? Don't be angry, I promise to not talk to her again.” John suddenly jolted back to his senses and realized that he must have scared her with his sudden outburst. He pressed Caprice to his chest so she would not see the severe look on his face. After a moment, he took a deep breath and said softly, "I'm sorry Caprice. Did I scare you?" Caprice weakly shook her head and muttered, "I don't want to make Daddy angry.” John was relieved to hear this. “I’m not angry with you Caprice. This person isn’t a bad person, but she’s not exactly a good person either. You’ll understand when you’re older. Daddy just happened to lose his cool, I’m doing fine now.” "Really?" “Yes, really, I wouldn’t lie to you.” He said as he drew away fr
The driver joked. “You’re usually the one on the chase, it’s interesting to see the tables turned around for once.” Sherry expressed with a tired sigh, "I can't confront this man just yet, all I can do is bide my time and hide for now.” It was fortunate that she made it out shortly after John left with Caprice. If she had dallied around a moment longer, she would be caught by John. She wagered that Caprice could not keep her lips sealed and eventually confessed everything to John after getting into the car with him. There was no chance that she would hide a secret from John considering how close the two were. Just the sheer thought of the bond the two shared was searing to Sherry. If it was not for his underhanded move of breaking into the confinement center to take Caprice away from her two years ago, Caprice would undoubtedly choose her over him any day of the week! … An hour later, inside the lobby on the first floor of the clubhouse. John was seated on th
After he was done with his fatherly duties, he turned back to the onlookers and said, “Mom, it’s already midnight, why don’t you all go to bed if you don’t have anything important to do here?” Madam Stockton stared longingly at Caprice. She had a hard time phrasing what was on her mind. "John, you don’t have to always bring Caprice along with you everywhere you go, especially considering how busy you can get sometimes. She’s almost two years old. We should send her to a kindergarten soon so she can have a chance to socialize and make some friends. You don’t have to worry about her, you can entrust her to us and we promise to take good care of her for you.” John glanced at Caprice. She had both her tiny hands balled into fists and pressed them against her cheeks as she slept peacefully. Noticing John’s silence, Queenie urged as well. "Brother, it's not practical for you to bring her with you everywhere you go. Why don’t you consider leaving her at home?” John did not u
John swiftly hung up. Sherry immediately wiped the courteous smile off her face. What was with the sudden show of goodwill? Was he up to something? Ding! Her phone rang. It was a message from John, it contained an address. Sherry sent a short reply, “Okay.” After that, she opened the maps application and looked up the address. … Meanwhile, at John’s house. John leaned against the wall on the balcony outside the bedroom and stared at Sherry’s reply on the display of his phone. His eyes slowly darkened and a grin met the corner of his cheeks. He called Peter. The call was answered swiftly. He instructed curtly, "Let's start making the preparations now. As soon as she shows up tomorrow, we’re going to get her.” Peter replied, “Alright, I got it.” With that, John put away his phone. The thought of finally being able to catch her tomorrow at last made him bubbly with joy. He could not deny the deep satisfaction it would give him. Two years.
John’s eyes immediately sharpened as he looked out the window toward the park’s entrance. He immediately identified a young woman dressed in a red coat and black leather boots. Her hair donned in a curly fashion, an exact fit of the description Sherry provided. She was walking toward the entrance of the park from the other side of the parking lot. From this angle, John could not make out her face due to the hair covering her side profile. However, he was sure that the figure resembled Sherry’s. “The big liar!" Caprice suddenly sprang out of her seat and gestured at the lady with her chubby fingers, identifying her as the liar. Prompted by this, John immediately sent a message to Peter, “She’s here, the one in the red coat.” As soon as the message was sent, dozens of large and fit bodyguards poured out of nowhere into the parking lot. In an instant, they had all rushed to Sherry's side and surrounded her, leaving no room for exit. Caprice seemed completely taken
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