Coastrock City was famous for its many beaches. After breakfast, Sherry brought Caprice to a famous seaside theme park. There were many attractions for children to enjoy. Sherry bought a mermaid dress for the girl and went on rides with her. They went on every ride possible, and the girl enjoyed every single one of them. The smile on her face never faded since she entered the theme park. When she got on the merry-go-round with Sherry, she even laughed and giggled.John had been following the mother and daughter since the beginning, and he was in charge of carrying Caprice’s water bottle and other necessities. He maintained his distance from the two of them and would stay outside whenever they got onto rides. Caprice finally became tired after a long day. She got thirsty and wanted a drink. John automatically went up with Caprice’s water bottle and gave it to her. Caprice held her water bottle with her tiny hands and started drinking from the straw. When she finally quenche
After a glance at the caller ID, Aiden’s eyes flickered. He answered the phone. “What did you get today?” …The call ended briefly. He then went on his social media and tapped on the pictures and videos he received. Caden noticed the smile on his brother’s face. “Bro, what’s up?” Aiden was not in a hurry to answer. He said to the ladies and guys, “Caden and I have something to discuss. Give us the room.” The guys, who had been playing poker with the brothers earlier, and the ladies left. Caden then moved close to his brother. Aiden showed him the pictures and videos he received. The picture showed Sherry carrying a three-year-old girl in the theme park with a handsome man following them everywhere they went. The videos showed more or less the same thing, but there was an extra scene of the man handing the girl a water bottle. Although Sherry gave the man the cold shoulder, she looked at the girl with a kind and gentle look as if she was a mother looking at her da
There was a subtle change in John's expression which signified his intrigue in seeing Aiden and Caden, but he continued pressing onward and did not pay much further attention to them. They quickly approached him and cut off his path. John looked annoyed. Aiden announced, “We came to see you.” Caden probed, "You know Sherry, don't you?" Although they both wore pleasant smiles and spoke to him politely, it was not difficult to detect the arrogance in their voice. As far as they were concerned, this handsome man that stood before them was a nobody. Anyone of any significant importance would not associate themselves with Sherry, especially considering that he was her ex-husband. John asked sharply, "Who are you two?” Aiden diffused the tension. "We are Sherry's colleagues. Don't worry, we’re not here to hurt you or anything like that. In fact, I think we can help you." John asked, “And what exactly are you going to help me with?" “We can help you salvage your
Aiden and Caden smiled in unison. Aiden began spinning his tale. "Mr. Stockton, since you’re not from Coastrock, you might not know about the true nature of Carl. He’s a good-for-nothing that has his eyes on the family fortune so that he can waste it all away. He's someone who would let our empire crumble without batting an eye. I’m sure you understand why we can’t have him inheriting the throne. “And this is where your ex-wife Sherry comes into the picture. We have to admit that she’s very good at her job and is an efficient leader, which is why Carl needs her help if he is going to inherit the corporation. What we want is for you to remarry her and take her back with you. It’s a win-win situation: you have your lover and we have our inheritance.” As if they had rehearsed the entire monologue ahead of time, Caden immediately added, "Mr. Stockton, the last thing we want is to have Carl bring our family to ruin.” John took a breath and expressed, "I admire your loyalty towar
The night passed without incident. Sherry was woken up in the morning by Caprice. The child had gone to bed too early last night and ended up waking up earlier than usual. Lying in bed with nothing to entertain her, she decided to play with her mother’s hair to amuse herself. When Sherry woke up to Caprice fiddling with her hair, she was not upset in the slightest. It was a dream to wake up to see her daughter’s adorable face. She smiled and kissed her, then they crawled out of bed together. She helped Caprice wash up before stepping into the shower herself. By the time they were done, the breakfast delivery had just arrived. Sherry went to get the door and was surprised to see John instead of the employee from the delivery company. He leaned against the door frame nonchalantly and acted as if he had every right to be there. He smiled politely. “Good morning.” Sherry shot him an unimpressed look, then she snatched the food from his hands before trotting back int
Sherry turned to Caprice and announced, “Caprice, hang in there just a little longer, alright? Once the ingredients get here, Mommy will make something nice for you to eat.” Caprice nodded while munching her snacks. John raised an eyebrow and asked tauntingly, "Can you cook?" Back then when they were living in the rented place nearly a decade ago, Sherry had only tried to cook once and nearly burned down the kitchen in the process of doing so, which explained why that was her only episode in the kitchen. Ever since then, John was put in charge of cooking whenever he had time. Sherry glared at him sharply. “Keep your mouth shut, will you?” If this man was not going to keep his mouth shut, she would kick him out! John noticed the sharp glare in her eyes and zipped his lips. He decided to not get on her nerves anymore. The doorbell rang in no time, and the ingredients Sherry ordered from the supermarket had arrived. She shot a look at John. John took the hint and we
Within an hour, John had prepared two vegetable dishes and two meat dishes with an additional topping of soup to boot. Dinner was served. As if that was not enough, he even went out of his way to make some noodles for Caprice. Every dish was mouth-watering. Sherry gulped as she sat Caprice at the table. She wanted to feed Caprice but the child was a step ahead of her and was already hungrily devouring the bowl of noodles as soon as she sat at the table. Sherry was astounded. John took off his apron and joined them at the table, sitting across the pair. He smiled at the sight of Caprice enjoying the food, then he looked at Sherry. Just like previously, Sherry turned cold and avoided his gaze. He merely smiled and announced, “Come on, dig in.” Sherry did not budge. John asked coyly, "You’re the one who bought these ingredients. Are you not going to eat?” This drew a response out of Sherry. He had a point. Even though he was the one who did the cooking, sh
Sherry took a quick shower before snuggling in bed with Caprice. … Over the next few days, Sherry followed the same schedule. She would hand over Caprice to John in the morning before heading to work. After she returned home from work around the evening, she would take Caprice back with her. John would join them and be in charge of making dinner for them. After the meal, Sherry would help Caprice settle in for the night while John would clean up and leave without being prompted to. This went on until Friday. In the morning, Sherry handed Caprice to John after breakfast as usual before leaving for work. Work was not as hectic today, at least compared to the past few days. She was done with her work around four and had nothing left to do for the day. She grabbed her bag and prepared to call it a day. Just as she was walking out of her office, she chanced into a group of her employees who were chattering about something and shooting sly glances in her dire
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