Even until the car disappeared into the traffic, the man did not show any intentions of turning away. His charming eyes teared up under the starry night. Some time later, an exasperated sigh could be heard. Lisa had been standing behind him for a while. She tapped on his shoulder and said, “Sherry said she will come to visit us often. Stop standing here. Go home and take a rest.” Everything that needed to be said had been said, thus Lisa then left the office. Carl remained standing before the window with pursed lips. After his mother left the office and shut the door, his body leaned forward against the window. He held up his hand against the window and propped his forehead against the back of his hand. Tears fell from his tightly shut eyes. …It took Sherry a full month to do a complete handover. Her last day was on a Friday. Sherry booked a table at a restaurant to treat her subordinates to a feast. Her subordinates were reluctant to see her go, but they were quite h
After dinner, Sherry and the group arrived at a club near the office. The club was the first to operate under the Sagers after she joined the company, and it continued to be the most popular one in the city. The group had fun until midnight. Many of them got drunk. Sherry waited by the roadside and saw them off before she headed to the parking lot. There were still many cars in the parking lot at this hour, but her car stood out from the rest because there was a tall and elegant figure next to it. The handsome man wore a white shirt, had a pair of golden-framed glasses and looked extra clean-cut with the combination. He held a big bouquet of roses in his hands. When Sherry spotted him, she met his bewitching smile. Her heart raced. She smiled and went over to him. “Sherry, Happy Resignation,” he said and gave her the roses. Sherry took it and said, “Thank you.” “You’re welcome.” He curled his lips and softly pinched her cheek. “What are you doing?” She glared at him.
The flight back to Glenchester was on the next morning. After breakfast, Sherry and John brought Caprice, Jason, and Aunt Wanda to the airport. When they finished checking in, Sherry carried Caprice and was walking through security with John. Suddenly, a ground staff came to her with a smile. “Hi, are you Ms. Sherry Fowler?” Sherry was slightly surprised. “Yes, I am.” The staff then handed her a small bouquet of flowers and a delicate-looking box. “Someone wanted me to hand you this. He wanted me to tell you to be happy.” Looking at the flowers and the box, Sherry was slightly stunned. Noticing her mother’s blank state, Caprice took the little box. The staff then left. Sherry looked at the flowers in her hands. It was a bunch of pink roses with a beautiful daisy in the middle. It was lovely. Caprice then opened the box out of curiosity. Her eyes blinked in awe, and her jaw dropped when she saw what was inside. Sherry looked into the box. There was a diamond neckla
Carl replied, “Alright, I’ll remember that!” Sherry smiled. She put her phone away. Last time, she might have nagged him a little more, but he was no longer the playboy. Carl would only become more and more mature and reliable, and Sherry believed the company would excel under his leadership. “You look happy. Who are you chatting with?” The man’s rich voice suddenly sounded. Sherry regained her composure. Just when she was about to say it was Carl, she was surprised by what surrounded John. His feet and legs were covered in rose petals. Caprice was sitting on his lap, plucking the petals from the roses that Carl had given Sherry and throwing them around. Sherry furrowed her brows at John. John helplessly smiled. “Caprice did it.” In other words, he did not help her or instigate her to pluck the petals. Sherry sighed exasperatedly. Caprice was her baby, after all, so there was no way she could be mad at her. Besides, the fresh roses would wither in a day or two, an
To Sherry’s surprise, Queenie and Madam Stockton came to the airport to pick them up. After leaving the airport, the group of Sherry, John, and Caprice headed back to the Stockton villa. The surroundings of the villa were the same as they had remembered it. However, they noticed that there were new flowers in the garden and some new decorative details on the exterior. Some of the flowers were in full bloom while others were still mere seedlings. As a result, it added a different splash of youthful flavor to the ancient villa that seemed to be a relic of a long gone past. Upon stepping through the courtyard, Caprice leaped out of Madam Stockton's arms and strolled into the garden. She jabbed at a colorful bell hanging on one of the branches. Queenie approached her. "Caprice, I made these myself and hung them around the garden. Aren’t they beautiful?" Caprice nodded, mesmerized by the trinket. She quickly asked, "Aunty, can I take it and play with it?” “Sure—“ She ha
After sending several work-related texts, he turned to Sherry. She was grinning as she stared at her phone display. Based on her giddy expression, John wagered that she was texting Sylvia. He smiled faintly. After observing her for a while, he reached for a platter of fruit set on the table and took a slice of pineapple. He brought it toward her lips. Engrossed in conversation with Sylvia, Sherry instinctively opened her mouth when she sensed something approaching. She only realized she had been given something to eat when the taste of pineapple swarmed her taste buds. It was as sweet as it was sour and was very delicious. After she finished with the first slice, another slice seemed to materialize out of thin air in front of her. Again, she devoured the slice that was magically brought to her lips, her attention still transfixed on her phone’s display the entire time. The same sequence was repeated several times. Every time she finished a slice, she would open her
John must have sensed what was on her mind. He fell silent for a moment before stating, “We can choose to invite only our close friends and relatives.” Only the ones closest to them in their personal lives needed to witness the commemoration of their relationship. He brushed her cheek again and asked softly, "Is that alright?” Sherry wavered for a moment, then she nodded. “Alright.” John smiled softly, the same gentle glow appearing in his charming eyes. She was going to get up and leave, but there was an enchanting, magnetizing power in his eyes that made her draw closer to him. She had barely inched her head toward him when he palmed the back of her head and drew her into him. Their lips locked. … The date of the wedding was set for the next week. The time, venue, and every other logistic detail had been sorted out. Ten sets of wedding dresses had been tailored for Sherry. All she needed to do was to choose her favorite one among them. Needless to say, J
Liam was stronger than he looked, and he could lift Caprice rather effortlessly. Sherry thanked him with a smile and noted, "There's a dollhouse down the corridor. You can bring Caprice there with you.” Liam went to the dollhouse, carrying Caprice in his arms. Sherry turned around and took Sylvia's hand. “Syl, let's talk inside.” “Alright.” Sylvia followed her to another room. The two sat on the edge of the bed and chatted. Despite telling herself that it was just a simple wedding and that it was nothing to make a fuss over, Sherry found herself wrung with anticipation and unable to fall asleep. She stayed up all night. She and Sylvia talked about all sorts of things. They talked about the past and caught up on recent events in each other’s lives until it was nearly four in the morning. They only slept for a few hours before they were woken up by Aunt Wanda. Dawn had broken, and the makeup artist had arrived to help Sherry get ready for her big day. She wo
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