"Ron is the only one who would believe that you love him.” Carl took a step back. He wore an amused look on his face the entire time but it was clear that there was nothing but stark disdain in his eyes as he looked at the mistress. "Don't look at me like that. I’ve seen countless types of women and you’re the type that I hate the most.” Willow froze and did not know how to respond. Carl ignored her, then he turned around and went toward the parking lot. Anne had brought the two children to her car. Ron, on the other hand, was carried into Carl’s car. Two of his bodyguards carried him and shoved him into the backseat. Carl was not in any particular hurry to leave. As he slowly approached his car, he shot a casual glance at a stationary vehicle parked nearby. He made eye contact with Sherry through the car windows. He winked at her. Sherry jerked backward. With that, Carl got into his car. Soon, both his car and Anne's drove out of the compound. After
Sherry wore a quiet frown. She briskly opened the door and stepped inside the house with Caprice in her arms. John followed her into the house with the food in hand. He placed the container on the table and opened it, releasing the aroma of the food into the house. He turned to Sherry and repeated the same thing. “Caprice ordered these for you, come on and eat.” Caprice urged her to eat as well. “Mommy, it’s very tasty, come on and eat it!” Sherry hesitated briefly, then she approached with Caprice still in her arms. John noticed her apprehension and immediately stepped away from the dining table and retreated to the couch in the living room. Sherry sat down at the dining table with Caprice on her lap. It was a gourmet meal with a vast variety of seafood, chicken, and pork ribs. Aside from that, Caprice even ordered drinks and dessert that she knew her mother would like. The food was mouth-watering. Even though Caprice already ate, she still gulped when sh
Sherry woke up at the crack of dawn before the alarm went off. She woke up with an irritable feeling in her chest. The accumulated emotions from yesterday had carried over. She got out of bed, showered, and dressed as usual. When Caprice woke up, she helped Caprice shower and helped her dress as well. With that, she led Caprice outside. John was already waiting for them by the entrance as usual. When he noticed the pair stepping out of the house, he greeted them with a warm and charming smile, "Morning." ‘Morning my *ss!’ Sherry shot an unnecessarily rude glare at him, then she continued trotting away without acknowledging him. John grimaced and followed. They went to Caprice’s favorite breakfast place. Sherry sat down and put Caprice on her lap. John went to order food for them before joining them at the table. “You look like you’re in a bad mood. Did you not sleep well last night?" he asked innocently. Caprice made a look at him, sensing that he
Without Ron, Aiden, and Caden around, there was a marked improvement in terms of work efficiency throughout the company. This improvement was not only seen in Sherry’s department but in other departments as well. Lisa and Carl rarely showed up over the next few days as they were busy dealing with the aftermath of the scandal. Sherry only saw Lisa once over the next two days and never saw Carl at all. Fortunately, the details of the two projects he signed on had been worked out. The departments were coordinating as they should and things were progressing smoothly. Sherry returned to her usual routine. She would go to work every day and return home on time where she would spend time with Caprice before they went to bed. She hardly paid any attention to John. This evening, Sherry left the office as usual after she finished up her work for the day. She drove past several junctions and swerved into the apartment compound where she lived. After she got out of the car, sh
Sherry flinched. John smirked. The old man commended Caprice with a pleasant smile, "What a thoughtful girl. Go ahead and choose a pair you like." Caprice climbed off Sherry’s arms. The counter was just a little too tall for her. She could barely look at the designs but clutched at them nonetheless, and she ended up taking nearly two dozen bracelets. She seemed very satisfied with her choice and announced, “I’ll be taking this!” Sherry remained silent the entire while. The old stall owner was enchanted by the child’s adorable and innocent demeanor. John stepped forward and thanked the old man with a smile, “We’ll have it in a bag, thank you.” The old man obliged. “Alright.” He took out a bag and tossed the brackets Caprice picked out into the bag. John’s hands were full at this point so Sherry ended up having to take the bag for him. She made sure to pay for it as well. After that, she took Caprice into her arms again. The child was beaming with prid
Caprice was sleeping soundly in her arms. She slung Caprice over her shoulders, leaving both of her hands free. She turned toward the trash cans and fumbled around in the dark. After a while, she was done. She stepped away and walked toward the lobby, making sure that Caprice was asleep the entire time. She stepped into the lobby that was illuminated with ceiling lights. John, who had been standing by his car the entire time, noticed that when Sherry approached the trash cans, her wrist was still filled with bracelets. However, her wrist was empty now. He took a deep breath and furrowed his brows. After Sherry had gone out of sight, he approached the trash cans. He opened them and inspected what was inside. There was scarcely any light, so he could see nothing but stinky piles of domestic waste. He furrowed his brows and stretched his hand out. With an exasperated sigh, he dug his hands into the garbage and began shoveling around. Soon, he tossed the co
Sherry was confused by these discussions. She scrolled up several pages before she saw the video at last. She tapped into the video to play it. The first person she recognized immediately was John. He was squatting in front of a pile of garbage and rummaging through it. She felt her fingers stiffening as she could not fathom what she was seeing. He was with two of his bodyguards, all three of them were digging through the garbage as if searching for treasure. She watched completely aghast as the trio turned over piles of rotten garbage with their naked hands without gloves. Despite it all, John still looked refined and handsome. His shirt was completely unstained the entire time. Still, Sherry could only wonder how much he must have stunk. She had only stood by the trash can for a while but she could still smell the nasty stench after she headed upstairs with Caprice. To think that John had been rummaging through the trash for an hour... What was he up to? Did h
"You have really heavy bags under your eyes. Did you not sleep well last night?" John repeated the question. Caprice grew wide-eyed and stared at her mother upon hearing the question. Sherry avoided John’s gaze and answered curtly, "I had some urgent work to deal with last night so I ended up sleeping late.” "What kind of urgent work?” he asked. This got him a sharp look from Sherry. "Why are you so talkative today?” John pursed his lips and changed the topic. "What do you want for breakfast?" Sherry pretended she did not hear him and ignored him. Caprice answered for her, “I want pancakes!” John looked at Sherry to see if she had other opinions. She did not provide any feedback at all. … The next few days were relatively uneventful. One afternoon, Sherry finally saw Carl. This was her first time meeting him since their last encounter at Ron’s. He was wearing a black suit and his hair was neatly combed. Although he still had a little air of playfu
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