”B*stards! All three of them, b*stards! Just you wait!” Caden shouted, completely furious. Aiden tried to calm him. “That’s enough, don’t let them hear you.” Ron's face darkened significantly. He suddenly asked in a hushed voice, “Have you guys made the arrangements?” Aiden smiled wretchedly. “Yeah, everything is ready, we’re going to humiliate them in front of everyone later.” Ron was glad to hear this as he smiled and assured his sons, “Aiden, Caden, we just need to make sure everything goes as planned today. I’ll take care of the rest and make sure they get booted out of the corporation. Then we can take over and you two can take charge of the corporation from there on.” Aiden and Caden chuckled villainously. … Meanwhile, the trio of Sherry, Lisa, and Carl went into the woods next to the villa. Carl suddenly patted Sherry’s head and remarked, “Sherry, you looked adorable just now when you punched that rascal.” Adorable? Sherry shot a look at him. Was t
Madam Sager scoffed upon hearing this and no longer made an issue of it. She had Anne walk her to her seat, walking past Lisa in the process. Ada followed closely after her and when she passed by Sherry, she made a point of shooting a hostile glare at her. Sherry scowled but did not otherwise respond to the gesture. Soon, Madam Sager was seated directly in front and center of the stage. Anne and Ada took their seats by her side. Ron went up to Lisa and said while swiping a dismissive glance at Sherry and Carl, “I ended up convincing Mom to come along with Anne. After all, today is a big day for Carl and it would be wrong to miss the perfect occasion. She’s here to give her blessings.” Lisa held back an ugly scowl. She doubted Ron would ever have such kind intentions. If anything, he would be the first one wishing for their downfall especially considering what it would signify for him. Still, she was not too concerned because she doubted there was much he could do to d
John averted his eyes from the binoculars for the first time and turned to Caprice with a warm and gentle smile. “You’re right, that was Mommy’s voice.” Caprice perked up upon hearing this and asked naively, "What does love at first sight mean?” John fell silent for a while and considered his response. He answered, "It can mean a lot of things and it depends on the context, who the person saying it is.” This further stirred Caprice’s curiosity. “What does it mean when Mommy says it?” “A white lie.” Caprice raised another question. “What does white lie mean?” John smiled and answered, “It means not telling the truth to not hurt someone’s feelings.” He might have bought it if she had said that her feelings for Carl developed over time, but to say that it was love at first sight? Not a chance. "Ohh.” Caprice feigned understanding despite still failing to see the connection and expressed, “It’s so complicated.” John smiled and suddenly asked, “Caprice, shall we g
As soon as the words subsided, consecutive gasps could be heard across the hall. “No way. Ms. Fowler has a child?” “Was she married?” “Who knows. Why would Young Master Carl marry her? Has she been lying to him?” All the guests looked at Sherry disdainfully. Sherry’s face turned pale. She did not expect someone to follow her and take pictures of her together with John and Caprice in the past few days. No wonder Ron was happy seeing them getting engaged, and no wonder they even invited Madam Sager to the engagement party. It was all because they had planned this from the start. It was then Carl stood before her. He looked at Ron, Aiden, and Caden and said, “Did you guys release the pictures?” Ron scoffed. “What? You have no proof of that, Carl. Don’t accuse us.” Carl scoffed. “Admit it if you are a man. You all have no balls. What, did you lose your balls at the clubs that you fucked around in so much?” Ron’s face turned grim, and even Aiden’s expression froze. C
Sherry stared at Aiden coldly. “Aiden, there are a lot of things that you don’t know about me. Do I need to tell you everything about my life in detail?” Aiden remained smiling wickedly. “If that man is your brother and he’s here in Coastrock with your niece, why didn’t you invite him to your engagement party with Carl?” Sherry frowned. Discussion could be heard from the crowd once more. “Yeah. If her brother is in Coastrock, why didn’t she invite him to the engagement party?” “Something smells fishy.” Ada then said, “What’s wrong, Sherry? No more excuses?” Sherry bit the bullet and decided to exaggerate the lie even more. “They are in Coastrock because I did invite them to the engagement party, but unfortunately, my brother got into a crash last night and is in the hospital right now.” Her words silenced the crowd immediately. Even Lisa was stunned. Meanwhile, the man in the woods outside the hall pursed his lips tightly. Caprice noticed the change of expression on
Aiden then turned to the entrance, which led the others in the same direction as well. However, the breeze from the woods brought no one to the entrance except for silence and refreshment. Ron and Caden looked at Aiden. Aiden frowned. He spoke into the phone, which was still connected, “Where are you? Why aren’t you coming out?” Then, a series of footsteps approached. Aiden looked at the entrance. The one who came in was the person in charge of the engagement ceremony that doubled as Lisa’s assistant. The assistant ran to Lisa, panting, and said, “Lisa, M-Master Stockton is here. He said he’s here to congratulate Young Master Carl and Ms. Fowler.” Lisa was shocked. “Master Stockton? Which Master Stockton?” Ron and the others looked at the assistant curiously. Sherry was the only one frowning. Her fists were tightly clenched as she laid them idly by her sides. Carl frowned. He wanted to stop his mother but before he could, the assistant said, “Master Stockton, the ri
Lisa was stunned and was left speechless for a while. Ron, Aiden and Caden were shocked too. They knew the man before them as Sherry’s ex-husband, but they did not expect him to be such a high-profile person! John Stockton, the richest man in Glenchester! Sherry’s ex-husband was the richest man in Glenchester?! The three of them did not know what to feel. Should they be happy because they had exposed Sherry and her ex-husband, or should they be worried because they had exposed Sherry’s ex-husband as the richest man in Glenchester? After all, be it his background, his looks, or his capabilities, John was a lot better than Carl. Ron, Aiden, and Caden could not believe their eyes. The disbelief put a complicated reaction on their faces, so complicated that they looked nothing like their calm selves. The other guests felt more or less the same way when they recognized John and Caprice as the man and girl on the big screen earlier. John simply smiled at them. Caprice was i
John took a small box out of his pocket and strode to the stage. Lisa, Ron, and the others followed behind him. Sherry was next to the stage with Caprice in her arms. Carl came down from the stage and stood by her side. When John came closer, Carl instinctively stood in front of Sherry, protecting her from the man. John narrowed his eyes. Being cautious, Carl said in a rather deep voice, “Master Stockton, Sherry is my fiance now. Please respect her.” John said with a smile. “Relax, Young Master Carl. I’m just giving her a present to congratulate her.” He then lifted his hand holding the little box. Carl frowned. “What is inside?” “I’m sorry. It’s for her, so I can’t tell you what’s inside,” John said. Carl stared at him brazenly. John’s gaze turned cold as well. Lisa, Ron, and the others pursed their lips helplessly at the scene. They dared not make a noise and did not know what to say. The atmosphere grew awkward by the second. It was until an adorable voice
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