With that, Sherry and Sylvia brought Flint to the living room. When Isabel and Queenie noticed them approaching, they set the tablet aside. Odell and John similarly set down their teacups and turned to the pair of mothers. Liam was still busy fiddling with his toys intently, with Caprice still staring at him. John called out to Caprice to get her attention, “Caprice.” Caprice seemed like she was finally pulled out of a trance. She turned to John with a dazed look in her eyes. John smiled at her. "Come to Daddy.” Caprice suddenly turned away from him and went back to staring at Liam. John was speechless. He rose from his seat and went to get Caprice. Odell, who was seated across from John, rose as well, and he went to Liam. “Come on, Liam, we're going out. Take Caprice with you.” He said in a solemn voice. Only then did Liam direct his attention away from his toys and met Caprice’s bright and reflective eyes. There was not even a ripple of emotion
By the time Sherry and Sylvia joined them, Isabel, Queenie, and Flint were already bunched together inside a go-kart and were racing on the driveway. Caprice seemed keenly interested in Liam as she followed Liam wherever he went. When he chose somewhere to sit and watch everyone play, Caprice proceeded to sit silently next to him. Sherry called after her a few times and she barely responded. Sylvia smiled and assured Sherry. "Don't worry, Liam can take care of her." Liam seemed very unapproachable and indifferent most of the time but deep down, he was very attentive and caring. He was always the responsible brother and took good care of his siblings at home. Caprice was very well-behaved and quiet, especially for her age. She was very easy to care for. Sherry was not against it as children should be allowed to play with their peers. Besides, they had a crew of bodyguards at earshot so there was nothing to worry about. She smiled and dragged Sylvia somewhere else to
Sylvia had completely lost confidence in herself by this point and decided to follow Odell’s advice, so she made her guess. “Even.” Sherry lifted her cup. Four, two, six. Even. Sylvia immediately lit up with joy and turned to Odell. Odell smiled warmly and ruffled Sylvia’s hair, then he proceeded to pull up a chair and sit next to her. After Sylvia threw the dice back into the cup, Odell took it from her and said, “Why don’t you take a break? I’ll win this one for you.” Sylvia smiled. “Alright.” Sherry was slightly bothered by how lovey-dovey the two of them were getting and pouted involuntarily. Was that a taunt? She was not going to go down so easily. She cocked an eyebrow and accepted the challenge. ‘Come at me! You’re not going to beat me!’ Odell shook the cup in his hand several times, the dice clattered around chaotically inside the cup. Sherry pricked up her ears. Just when she felt like she had a good hint on what the number was going to be, Ode
John looked at her. His expression turned serious as he said, “I’m sorry. It was a mistake.” Sherry had no idea if the man was faking it, but listening to his words made her feel awkward. Then, his handsome face moves closer to hers, causing her to instinctively lean back. The man pinched her chin and locked lips with her several times. Sherry was stunned. She might not be a narrow-minded person, but this public display of affection was a first, especially in front of her friend, Sylvia. Her face uncontrollably turned red. When John finally released her, she glared at him. “Don’t be mad. I’ll win it back for you.” He sounded like he was really trying to console her, especially when he stroked her cheek gently while saying that. Sherry pursed her lips and swallowed her scolding for him. Soon, John put the three dice on the table again. Odell said, “Small.” John lifted the dice cup. One, two, five. Small. It was Odell’s turn. He smiled and said, “Master Stockton
Sherry was dumbfounded. She choked on her rising grief. Just when she was about to punch him, he grabbed her hand and spoke gently to her ears, “Believe me. I’ll get it right this time.” Sherry’s gaze flickered, and the grief and anger disappeared. How could he be so sure? Could she have gotten it wrong? Sherry remained skeptical. She lowered her voice and whispered, “If you get it wrong this time, I’ll bite you to death.” John tapped her hand to assure her. Sherry then looked at the dice cup. Odell lifted it. Four, five, and six. Big. Sherry clenched her fists and her eyes bulged in anger. She glared at John as if she wanted to eat him alive. John sighed as he feigned ignorance at her reaction. He said to Odell, “It seems like I’ve no luck today.” Odell curved his lips. “Maybe.” Sylvia sipped on her tea quietly. John then looked at Sherry who grinned ominously and looked cautious. Her expression spelled a ferocious feline that would bite if the man kissed h
Sherry was furious beyond words. After Sylvia followed Odell out of the room, Sherry grabbed the dice cup and swung it at John. Thud! He caught her hand mid-air. John clutched her hand, got up, and approached her. His eyes narrowed as he said, “Sherry, are you trying to kill your own husband?” Sherry angrily said, “Did you do it on purpose?” He smiled. “What do you mean 'on purpose'?” “Did you purposely miss all the guesses?!” “Yes, I did,” he said with curled lips. Sherry choked on his answer. She closed her eyes to clear her mind of the cluttered thoughts, and when she opened her eyes, she asked, “What do you mean?” “What do you mean by ‘what do I mean’?” the man asked. Sherry went straight to the point and said, “Aren’t you supposed to be fed up with me? Then, what the hell was that for?” “Yeah. I was fed up with you a while ago, but now…” He dangerously approached her. Sherry instinctively retreated to the wall, but unfortunately, she had nowhere to esca
The couple walked towards Liam and Caprice. Liam saw them and greeted them indifferently, “Uncle John, Aunt Sherry.” Both John and Sherry responded with a smile. John then said to Caprice, who was still lying down on Liam’s lap, “Caprice, come here. We’ll take you out for some fun. You’re disturbing Liam.” The moment John’s words subsided, Liam helped the girl up. Caprice was like a marshmallow as she went limp and leaned back on Liam. She pouted and said, “Caprice doesn’t want to go out. Caprice wants to play with Liam.” John choked upon hearing her words. Sherry then said, “Caprice, Liam has his own things to do. He can’t play with you all day.” Caprice leaned on Liam’s shoulder and grumbled, “Caprice is not playing. Caprice just wants to be with Liam.” Sherry did not know how to react or what to say.John frowned. He wanted to pull the girl away from the boy, but she swiftly clung onto the boy’s arm, stunning the man. The atmosphere in the glass room became awkw
The rooms were already booked for the two families. Each family had their own suite. To everyone’s surprise, even when they were about to go back to their respective rooms, Caprice refused to be separated from Liam. Liam stared at her, but she remained clingy and she stared at her father with a pleading gaze. Sherry pursed her lips helplessly. Both Sylvia and Odell tried their best in holding back their laughter. Sylvia then said, “Master Stockton, why don’t Sherry and I stay with the kids for the night? You and Odell can take the other suite.”Each suite had multiple rooms, so it was more than enough.“Great!” Sherry cried in delight. John glanced at her. Odell also frowned. “Sylvia, Isabel and Flint are naughty. You can’t possibly take care of them together by yourselves.” Sherry intervened and said, “Don’t worry, I’m with her!” Isabel then said, “Chubby Flint is the naughty one, not me! Besides, it’s been a while since I slept with Mommy!”“Yeah! Every time I
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