The living room was empty with Madam Carter and the two kids nowhere to be seen. He walked further into the house, all the way to the door of the children’s bedroom. It was completely quiet inside. After a moment of hesitation, he pressed down on the door handle and pushed the door open. Liam was reading a comic book while seated at the head of the bed whereas Isabel was dressed in a panda onesie, sleeping soundly in Liam’s arms. Besides them, there was nobody else in the room. At this time, Liam looked at Odell. He asked, “Daddy, is something wrong?” Odell pursed his lips before replying with a question of his own, “What did you both do after coming home from school today?” Liam replied, “We ate, got on a phone call with Mommy, and now we’re reading and sleeping.” A phone call? Odell then said, “Why didn’t your mother come and keep you both company today?” “Mommy went to participate in an event.” Odell’s eyes shifted inexplicably. No wonder she did not show up to
The more Tara thought about it, the more annoyed she became. She even regretted not making a complete fool of Sylvia before kicking her out of Westchester City that year. Fortunately, Odell only loved her now. As long as he did not know the truth, Sylvia could not snatch him away from her. However, she definitely could not lose to Sylvia! She thought about it for a moment before calling Nesta. The moment Nesta answered the phone, Tara said, “Nesta, are you busy right now? I don’t want to be alone, so I'd like to stay with you.” …The next morning, after waking up, Sylvia headed out for breakfast. While walking there, she met a few familiar faces and greeted them with smiles and waves. Some returned her smiles with their own, but many half-heartedly greeted her before rushing off, as if they were actively trying to distance themselves from her like she was infected with a contagious disease. Many of these people had chatted happily with her yesterday, so she furrowed he
Harley thought that Sylvia was not an immoral person like what they said as she taught students like them patiently despite her enormous fame in the art field. Sylvia smiled and curiously asked, “Can you tell me what Tara said about me?”Harley pursed her lips and replied, “Ms. Avery didn’t say anything. It was Ms. Reiss. She came over to us and told us many things about your past.”Sylvia frowned. “She talked about my past?”She was not close with Nesta Reiss. How could Nesta possibly know about her past?“Yeah. She said you were close friends with Ms. Avery, but you also had a crush on Master Carter. You fell out with Ms. Avery because Master Carter likes her, and you started picking on her. She also said you wanted to come between them and be Master Carter’s mistress.”Sylvia was speechless. Indeed, she had loved Odell, but that was before they were divorced. She picked on Tara only because Tara framed and harmed her first. As for being a mistress, that was pure b*llshit.Sy
Madam Carter did not have the heart to refuse Isabel when she acted like a spoiled child. She smiled and replied, “Okay, I will ask Uncle Ben and Uncle Jacob to send you there.”However, Liam said, “We want to go now.”Isabel’s eyes widened as she echoed, “Yeah, we will go now!”Madam Carter frowned and said, “It’s going to be dark after a while. Why don’t you wait for tomorrow?”Liam stared at her indignantly. “We want to go now.”Isabel snuggled into Madam Carter’s arms again and pouted pitifully. “Great-grandma, we miss our Mommy so much. We couldn’t sleep thinking of her last night…”Madam Carter’s face immediately wrinkled in distress. “Oh, my baby, you even lost sleep.”Liam recalled how Isabel had fallen asleep quickly after the call last night and pursed his lips.Fortunately, Madam Carter quickly said to them, “Alright, I’ll ask Uncle Jacob and Uncle Ben to send you over now, but you have to be good. You mustn’t run around before seeing your Mommy, okay?”Isabel smile
However, Tara called out to her again. “Sylvia, Odell brought over a number of bracelets from Chanel. Come and take one.”She smiled kindly and sounded generous, but her actions seemed as if she was doing charity.Sylvia laughed coldly and replied, “No thanks. You can keep it for yourself. I don't need bracelets.”Tara’s face stiffened, and she smiled again. “Okay, but this is a limited edition bracelet. I think you should still take it.”As she spoke, she held an exquisite box and walked to Sylvia, handing it over.Sylvia frowned. “I really don’t need it. Keep it for yourself.”Tara smiled. “Odell made me a VIP Chanel member. I got this bracelet as soon as it was released, so I don’t need it. You can take it.”Sylvia was annoyed. She walked straight ahead and ignored Tara.Nesta yelled at her before she even took three steps, “Ms. Sunflower, what is that attitude? Tara gave you the bracelet out of kindness. Even if you don’t want it, you should thank her.”The others immediat
Sylvia’s gaze frpze.The atmosphere became deadly silent.Soon, two little figures squeezed through the back of the crowd.Liam wore a thick black down jacket and a small hat.Isabel wore the same hat but in red, and a scarf was wrapped around her neck. She wore a thick pink down jacket and was running towards Sylvia while dragging Liam with her. She ran quickly with her chubby legs and was in front of Sylvia in the blink of an eye.Sylvia had yet to react. She subconsciously bent down and held out her arms to them, taking the kids into her embrace. She immediately smelled the milky fragrance of the two kids.Sylvia hugged them and asked, “Liam, Isabel, why are you here?”Isabel grinned and chirped, “Mommy, we came because we miss you!”Sylvia could not help pecking her on the cheek.Isabel said again, “Mommy, it’s Brother who asked Great-grandma to let us come here.”Sylvia then looked at Liam. The boy stared at her expectantly, his big eyes blinking. She smiled and also kis
The other onlookers watching the show also walked over, trying to pull Harley and the others away.The atmosphere became boisterous until an angry voice rang out. “Throw her out!”In an instant, the crowd hushed.Nesta, who was waving her arms like a madman in an attempt to break free and tackle Sylvia, also calmed down. Her lips curled up, and she looked at Sylvia like a triumphant winner. She looked smug as if Sylvia was about to get thrown out.The corner of Sylvia’s lips tugged upward coldly.Soon, Ben and Jacob, who came with the children, walked up.One of them grabbed Nesta’s collar, and the other grabbed her ankles. They lifted her and marched out of the homestay.The crowd was stunned into silence once again.Only Nesta, who was being carried away, yelled out in panic. “Let go of me! You've got the wrong person!”Ben and Jacob continued walking without a change in expression.Nesta felt that something was wrong and quickly turned to Tara. “Tara, ask them to put me do
At this moment, she felt the onlookers' gazes focusing on her from all directions.Tara’s ugly expression immediately became stiffer. After a while, she forced a smile and said, “It is cold here. Let's all return to rest in our rooms.”The scene was silent for a few seconds.Someone then replied, “Ms. Avery, Ms. Reiss is your good friend. Master Carter threw her out. Are you not going out to see her?”Tara was unsure whether that person was reminding her out of goodwill or intentionally saying so.Her face turned red, and she glared toward where the voice came from.Instead, she saw a group of people staring at her with cold glances.Unable to stay there any longer, she spun on her heel and stormed out of the homestay.……Inside the homestay, there was a private restaurant decorated warmly.Many people who did not even live here would travel a far distance for the tasty food here.After Odell walked in with Isabel, Sylvia also entered with Liam in her arms.Odell sat down i
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