At the Emerald V clubhouse, Freya and Piper entered with the VIP card and met Moses shortly after they went inside. He was dressed in a suit and held a glass of wine in hand. He seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with several men of high stature. Freya wanted to go up to greet him, but Piper stopped her from doing so. They only approached Moses after he was done exchanging a toast with the men. The girls were glad to at least meet someone they knew here. The place was known for providing excellent service, and they had a wonderful time. Soon, it was evening. After the event came to a close, Freya and Piper were each given a gift from the venue. After that, they said their goodbyes to Moses before preparing to leave Emerald V. As they were walking out of the hall, they saw Heather coming in the opposite direction. She was wearing an expensive-looking dress. Every other accessory she wore, from her necklace to her bracelet and her purse looked like they
Piper mused, "I suppose she comes from a powerful family in Westchester as well.” Freya nodded. Caprice pursed her lips and stayed silent. After a while, Trey called and talked about bringing them out to get something nice to eat. Both Freya and Piper were eager to go, and since Caprice had not had dinner yet, she went with them. They left the dormitory and hopped into Trey’s car. Trey took them to a famous spot for late-night bites where there was a staggering amount of options. They ate until midnight, then Trey sent them home. Freya drank a lot. The moment she stepped out of the car, she yanked Piper with her and returned to their dormitory. Caprice was the last to leave. She turned to Trey and smiled appreciatively. “See you, Trey. Make sure you catch up on some rest at the hotel.” Trey was dressed in a sporty, casual outfit today. It was undeniable that he was handsome, albeit still rather juvenile, even bratty at times. “Got it, you too,” Trey respon
Over the next few evenings, Trey would regularly hang out with the girls. They would either find something to eat or entertain themselves with some shopping. Even on the night when he had to meet the representatives of VV Entertainment to negotiate their business deal, he still met the girls afterward. Trey may look aloof at times, but he was surprisingly reliable. He always took the group of Caprice, Freya, and Piper to fun places that he knew they would enjoy. Since this was a group of people that Caprice was very familiar with, she had a great time every night. A week later, one night, Caprice, Freya, and Piper were dressed fashionably as always and were waiting for Trey to take them out. Caprice made sure she had her debit card with her. Trey had been footing the bill for a week, so she figured it was time she treated him to something for once. After an hour passed and the sky had turned pitch-black, Trey was still nowhere to be seen. Piper called him. Capr
”Let me call Trey for a second,” Caprice blurted out as she reached for her phone and called Trey. Just as expected, his phone was turned off. She texted Trey. “Trey, don’t do anything stupid. I’ll think of something. You’ll get through this.” Piper suddenly grabbed Caprice’s wrist and pleaded, her voice filled with pain, “Caprice… My brother told me to not ask you for help, but you’re the only one that can bail him out now.” Caprice gripped her hands firmly. “Don’t worry. I’ll think of something.” Ten billion was a hefty sum that would most certainly cripple Piper’s family. As it was, the best solution was to negotiate with VV Entertainment to get them to nullify the contract. Caprice's first thought went to her parents, but she considered that their businesses were largely based in Glanchester. Although they had some ongoing projects in Westchester, they never had anything to do with VV Entertainment. The only one that could be of any service in this situation w
Caprice ground to a stop. Besides, Heather was still Liam's girlfriend. She could not directly confront her. The top priority at the moment was to help the Rockons out of their looming crisis. Moses took this to imply that Caprice had taken his advice, and he remarked, “This is not something that can be easily solved. I think the best solution is to have Piper's parents come forward and have a proper conversation with Heather's father." Caprice frowned sharply. If Heather had manipulated her father to sabotage the Rockons, that meant she had never cared much for Piper’s parents, to begin with. Besides, this was shaping up to be the investment of a lifetime for the Mansons. Who would pass up the opportunity to make ten billion by just investing a billion? Caprice reached for her phone. Ten minutes passed, but there was still no word from Sylvia. Considering the time difference, she was probably still sleeping. "Caprice, there’s another solution,” Moses suddenl
There was a brief, damning silence on the other end of the phone. Then, Liam’s calm voice rang out, "I need to know about this friend of yours.” Caprice told him everything, "His name is Trey Rockon. He’s the guy who drove me to your house last time. His father is the chairman of Rockon Technology, and his sister Piper is also a close friend of mine." After she finished speaking, Liam did not respond. Her uneasiness increased the longer the silence lingered. What if he did not want to help her because Heather was the successor of VV Entertainment? Her voice wavered. "Liam, why aren’t you saying anything?” If Liam was not going to help her, she would have to contact her parents and ask them to contact Uncle Odell for her. One way or another, she was not going to fold to Heather. Just as she was about to become agitated, Liam’s voice broke through the silence. “I just texted my assistant and told him to investigate further. Are you free tomorrow?" Caprice was reliev
It was Freya’s off day. Since Piper had a car, she drove Caprice and Freya to Carter Tech City first thing in the morning. After what happened the last time, the security guards had a deep impression of Caprice. Caprice barely had to mention her name before they opened the gates for her without a word. The car drove unimpeded to the building where Liam worked. Piper and Freya were astounded by the magnificent design of the building. They continued to gawk at it and muse for a moment before following Caprice in. Caprice went to the reception and politely informed the receptionist, "Hi, I'm here to see Mr. Liam. I believe I told him that I will be meeting him today." The receptionist asked her with a professional smile, "Miss Caprice, correct?” "Yes, Caprice." "Mr. Carter has instructed me to bring you to his office once you’ve arrived," the receptionist said while approaching Caprice, then she turned to Piper and Freya who stood behind Caprice. “Will the two ladi
Heather was his girlfriend, what if he would not believe her story and chose to take Heather’s side instead? Caprice stated, “I’ve known Piper and Trey for a decade. Anything that has to do with them directly concerns me as well.” “Just friends? That’s all?” Liam asked rather grimly. She spotted a strange look at him, not understanding the reasoning behind his question. She answered sincerely, "Yeah, I’m very close friends with them.” "Is that all there is to it?” he asked again in an interrogative tone, a sharp look gleaming in his eyes. She was thrown off by the question. "What else could there be?” She was close friends with them. What more was she supposed to say about it? Her eyes grew round and wide, filled with her usual naivety and innocence. Liam scowled. "Nothing." “Well…can you help us?" She looked at him expectantly. He informed her, "I already asked someone to talk to VV Entertainment. There should be news soon enough.” “You already sent someo
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