”We’ve never even seen you hugging Miss Caprice before. Why did Master Stockton let President Sherry, someone from a rival corporation, take Miss Caprice with her?” The man paused briefly before suggesting, “Is it because they are together?” Everyone stared at Peter expectantly, waiting for an answer to confirm their suspicion. Peter smiled and brushed it off. "This is the president’s private affair, I’m afraid I can’t spare many details myself either. If you guys are so curious, why don't you ask the man himself?” This was more than enough to dissuade them from pressing the matter. In a roundabout way, it also confirmed their suspicion. President Stockton’s personal affairs that Peter could not spare many details on? Now that was curious. There must be more to the relationship between the two presidents. … Sherry got into the car with Caprice, escorted by Jason. Before they drove out of the district, Caprice suddenly pleaded in a voice that was impossible to re
The child seemed like a veteran at the wheel and steered it masterfully. She swiftly drove the excavator into Madam Stockton's garden. When Queenie appeared, Madam Stockton turned to her and noticed that she was alone. She asked, “Isn’t Sherry coming with you?" Queenie assumed Madam Stockton had wanted to see Sherry. She merely nodded and grunted, “Yeah.” That was when Madam Stockton smiled from ear to ear, she seemed very pleased. She was glad Sherry was not around. Caprice would bolt straight for Sherry if she was here while Madam Stockton herself would be nothing but a mere afterthought. Besides, the sight of Sherry evoked nothing but sore memories. Queenie frowned. Did her mother truly hate Sherry that much? … After Sherry returned to her room, she turned on the computer and settled some minor tasks. She then took a shower before throwing herself on the couch in the living room. She reached for her phone and began texting Sylvia. She was going to us
… After John sent the last text to Sherry, he dug through his contact for Odell’s number and called him. The phone rang twice and was promptly hung up on the third ring. John was caught off guard by this. He hung up? Odell may not be the most approachable person out there, but he would not just hang up. Was he in the middle of something too? Both of them were busy at such an unnatural hour… He thought for a moment, then he waited two minutes before calling Odell’s number again. Ring ring… After several rings, the call was hung up again. John scowled. This time, he waited ten minutes before calling again. Unlike the first two times, when the call was connected at the second ring, he heard the ruffled and heavy voice of the man. "What do you need?” He sounded grumpy. John smiled and said, “No, it’s nothing important, I was just calling to help Sherry ask if your wife is busy.” Odell answered, "She's by my side, what does Sherry want from he
Late into the night, Caprice got tired out from all that playing at Madam Stockton's and had fallen asleep. It was Queenie who took her back to Sherry’s. Sherry promptly took the child into her arms. After seeing Queenie off, she carried Caprice back into the bedroom. With the help of Aunt Wanda, Caprice was cleaned up before Sherry put her into bed. She hugged Caprice tightly and surrounded her with her warmth. John stepped into the room around this point. Sherry was just about to fall asleep when she was awakened by John knocking on the door. She glared at him grumpily. "The door is unlocked, what are you knocking for?” John stood by the threshold of the door and looked at Sherry with a snarky smile. “What, did you leave the door unlocked just for me?" Sherry seemed repulsed by this suggestion and said, "You think too highly of yourself, I just forgot to lock the door." John grinned and shot a look at her before turning around. It seemed like he was head
John curled his lips and tightened his grip. His hand clamped onto Sherry’s wrist like a handcuff, so there was no way she could break free. Sherry looked at him shyly, “What are you doing? Let me go!” “Sherry, that’s my question. What are you doing, touching my hand in the middle of the night?” Sherry blushed. She averted his gaze and grumbled, “No one is touching your hand! It’s cold and your collar is opened. I’m just worried that you might get a cold, so I thought I’d help you with it…” John chuckled. “So, I should thank you?” “You don’t need to thank me. Just take your hands off me.” John smiled. He tightened his grip once more, so she was pulled closer to him. Any closer and she would touch Caprice sleeping in the middle. She frowned and grumbled in a small voice, “Stop it! You're gonna wake Caprice!” “If you don’t want to wake her, then come to my side,” he said. Sherry’s eyes flickered. “If you don’t want to wake her, let go of my hand!” “Hmph!” He clung t
The night was quiet. The man and woman lay together intimately in the dark room. Sherry suddenly stopped struggling and her body started to lose strength. She wanted to lie on top of him, but he suddenly let go of her. Her sanity immediately pulled her back from her pleasure, and she quickly moved away from him. Her face blushed as she glared at him with teary eyes. However, in the man’s eyes, she was like a beautiful flower covered in morning dew, looking charming and pitiful. He gulped nervously. He pursed his lips and stroked her face softly and said, “Why are you looking at me like that? Do you want me to kiss you again?” Sherry’s eyes flickered nervously. She tapped his hand and crawled back to her spot, burying herself under the blanket and turning her back on him. John smiled as he lay back down. The room returned to silence, but the two of them could not fall asleep. Sherry frowned as her heart continued pounding. John curled his lips in delight as if he was
Sherry asked, “Do you want to come with us?” Queenie’s eyes gleamed, but she shook her head. “No thanks. I have something else to do today.” “Okay.” The car door opened and Sherry went in with Caprice; John followed. The silver MPV then drove off. Madam Stockton then asked, “Queenie, what plans do you have for the day?” “Nothing.” “Then, why didn’t you follow them?” Madam Stockton complained. She wanted her daughter to keep an eye out for Caprice. Queenie said, “They are going out as a family, so why do I have to follow them? I don’t want to be the third wheel.” Madam Stockton got irritated. She glared at Queenie and grumbled, “If you don’t have any plans, I’ll arrange a date for you with the guy Aunt Doreen introduced. He came to Glenchester yesterday. I’ll contact them and you will meet him in the afternoon.” Queenie frowned. “No. I don’t want to get married!” Madam Stockton glared at her angrily. “You are not young anymore, and you are wasting your time at home d
Sherry called her, “Caprice, Daddy is tired. Why don’t I carry you instead?” Caprice finally looked at her and put her hands out. However, John said, “Daddy is not tired.” Caprice retracted her hands, and Sherry grumpily stared at him. As though he noticed her sour expression, John looked at her with a smile. “I’m taller than you. Caprice can see further if I carry her,” he explained why he did not let her carry Caprice. Sherry’s eyes flickered. Caprice then grumbled, “Daddy, up, up!” Up? Sherry was slightly confused by what that meant. John then carried Caprice higher and sat her down on his neck. Sherry finally realized what he meant by Caprice being able to see further. Although she knew he loved Caprice, she did not expect him to pamper her to this extent. Besides, Caprice seemed to get along better with John than herself. Sherry felt jealous and slightly annoyed. The collaboration with the Stocktons was at its final phase, and when everything was settled,
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