Caprice felt a wave of crisis wash through her. Compared to Moses, she had no ambition to speak of. She would not even dare to compare herself to Liam and Heather. They were all top graduates of Aleph University. Liam was practically a mythical figure, being the student who had achieved the highest grade ever in the history of the university. His project, the Carter Tech City was once seen as an impossibility, but he realized his vision and brought it to reality. Although Heather was nowhere near his level, she could do more than pull her weight. She was very efficient at work. It was no surprise that Liam would take a liking to her. Ding! It was Moses again. “Caprice, is everything okay? Was it something I said?” Caprice replied reluctantly, “No, don’t worry about it.” Moses advised her, “Caprice, even though you’re still in your sophomore year and have two years to go until graduation, I suggest that you begin making plans for the future and think about wha
Liam uploaded a new post ten minutes ago. It was captioned: “Overtime.” Just like the post he made the same afternoon, he attached a picture of the view outside his office, the signature floor-to-ceiling windows were easy to recognize. Carter Tech City was a poster metropolis at night. Every corner of the city was basked in dazzling lights, and it was a symbol of prosperity. Caprice saved the picture to her phone and liked the post, making sure to leave a comment as well. “Liam, I know you’re busy but please make sure you get some rest.” She attached a cute sticker of a smiling cat. After two minutes, she received a reply from Liam that read, “Got it.” She smiled. Shortly after that, she received a notification on her phone. It was a message from Heather. “Caprice, Carter Tech City is now open to the public, would you like to visit?” Caprice scowled instinctively. Liam had already invited her to visit. Even if the city was closed to the public, she woul
She waited in their courtyard. When John and Sherry got home, they stepped into the courtyard and immediately noticed Caprice lurking in the corner of the garden. They hurriedly approached her. "Caprice, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?” Sherry asked while pulling Caprice up, her legs had grown stiff from crouching for so long. Caprice broached the subject immediately. "Mom, Dad, I have something I need to tell you." Sherry was taken aback by this. What could be so urgent that it could not wait until the next morning? John gently patted Caprice's head. “Come on, let’s talk inside.” Caprice followed them into the living room. After Caprice sat down, she took a sip from a cup of tea the housemaids brought to them. Then, she plucked up the courage and announced, “I’m planning to go back to Westchester tomorrow." Both John and Sherry were caught off guard by this as it was so sudden. Sherry asked, “You’ve only been here a few days,
She threw the door open and hopped out of the car. Freya ran over to her and greeted her excitedly, “Caprice!” She was going to hug Caprice when she noticed John and Sherry getting out of the car. She suddenly stiffened and looked at the two approaching adults apprehensively. John and Sherry smiled warmly at her. Caprice was not sure why Freya had grown so nervous out of nowhere. She introduced her parents to her, “Freya, these are my parents.” Then, she turned to John and Sherry. "Mom, Dad, this is my roommate Freya.” Cool as always, John gave her a subtle nod. Sherry smiled brightly and greeted Freya, "Hello." “Hi there, Uncle and Auntie." Freya returned a nervous greeting. “So it’s going to be the two of you spending the summer break together, make sure you two look out for each other, alright? If you run into any problems, don’t hesitate to contact me for help." Sherry produced a card from her purse and handed it to Freya. The intricately designed card
Moses smiled at her. Caprice said shyly, “Moses, you don't have to pick me up, I can go to the office myself.” "It's the summer break, you won’t have much luck finding a cab around here. Let me give you a ride." "There are a lot of public bicycles, I can just cycle there.” The office was only a short distance from the dorm. Moses fell into a pensive silence then he insisted again. "I live in the men’s dorm right over there, I figured I might as well pick you up since it's just along the same route.” “I see, alright then.” Since they were taking the same route, it did make sense for him to pick her up. Caprice said goodbye to him and got out of the car. After making sure the girls had returned to the dorm safely, Moses drove back home. … Caprice never had a habit of staying up late. After she took a shower, she chatted with Freya. The two of them caught up with Piper and Lana on the phone. To cap off the night, she went to check out Liam’s profile and li
”Are you Caprice?" Caprice heard a voice from behind her. She spun around and saw a man who looked somewhere in his thirties. The man wore a navy blue suit. He was rather tall and there seemed to be a scent of alcohol that never left his body. She answered politely, “ That's me, and you are?" “I’m Jonathan, your superior from now on.” He observed Caprice's beautiful features before introducing himself with a coy smile. Caprice smiled and greeted him formally, “Hi there, Mr. Jonathan.” He was one of Moses’ business partners. He was his senior in university and was several years older than the rest of them. He was the only member in the administrative department and also helped oversee the sales. This was the first time Caprice met him since he was not around the office yesterday. Jonathan smiled. “Not bad.”Most interns tend to be rather slow, which was understandable since it was their first time in a professional environment. It was a good sign that Caprice im
Caprice hurriedly grabbed her purse and went up to Jonathan. “Sorry for keeping you waiting Mr. Jonathan, I’m ready to leave now.” Jonathan glanced at her purse, then he turned and walked outside. Caprice followed behind him. "Is your bag a counterfeit?” he asked candidly as they got into the elevator. Caprice nodded hesitantly. He asked more questions, "Where did you buy it? It looks just like the real thing.” Caprice made up a lie. “I don’t know, it was a gift from my friend.” Jonathan nodded and left it at that. Then, they got into his car. They drove toward the city center. Caprice watched the illusory streetlights and wondered where they were going. Where was he going to take her for dinner? Before she could ask Jonathan where they were going, the car turned at a junction and stopped outside the gates of Elysian House. Elysian House was a very famous and high-end restaurant. She had been here several times with Sylvia in the past. Why w
Jonathan was not expecting such a fearless reaction from Caprice and was visibly taken aback. After he reeled back from the shock and was still considering his response, President Michael remarked with a smile, “She’s feisty, I like that.” He grabbed a glass of beer and rose from his seat. Then, he lapped around the table to Caprice's side so he could sit next to her. He shot a cross look at Jonathan. “If she doesn’t want to drink, let her be! Why are you forcing her to drink?” Jonathan apologized. With that, President Michael leaned in closer to Caprice. "Miss Caprice, you don't have to drink if you don't like to drink. Have a toast with me, you can drink whatever you want." He raised his glass while coyly putting another arm around Caprice’s waist. Caprice recoiled. She immediately shot up from her seat and snatched a glass of orange juice from the table. She smashed it toward the pervert’s head without any hesitation. Crash! President Michael staggered
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