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
After she hung up, she went to join Liam on the couch again. Liam turned to her. “Have you told them?” “Yeap.” Liam rose from the couch. “Let’s go.” He promptly headed outside. Caprice obediently followed behind him. They went into the elevator which took them to the lobby. Then, they walked out of the building. His car was already parked by the entrance, and his driver was waiting for him. They entered the car. The car immediately jerked to motion. Meanwhile, there was a Mercedes-Benz parked on the other side of the road. Piper and Freya had just entered the car. Trey was driving. All three of them saw Caprice coming out of the building with Liam. Then they all watched as the car the duo entered drive off into the distance. Trey looked haggard and had dark circles under his eyes. He asked in a conflicted tone, "Is that the Liam Caprice keeps talking about?” Piper smacked her lips and answered, "Yeah." Even from this distance, she could fee
They turned to Caprice and Liam in unison. The duo went up to them. Caprice smiled brightly and greeted Odell and Sylvia first in a cheery voice, “Good afternoon, Uncle Odell and Aunt Sylvia.” Then, she turned to Isabel and Flint. “Hey Isabel, hey Flint.” “Hey!” Sylvia greeted her with the same warmth before taking a box out of the bag Odell was carrying. "Caprice, this is a special gift from your aunt. Open it! I hope you like it.” Caprice took the box and opened it and found a handmade figurine inside. It was a figurine of her favorite anime character. She wanted to buy it in the past, but it was a limited edition that was only sold in Fosterland. Her eyes lit up. She thanked Sylvia with a sharp thrill in her voice, "I love it! Thank you, Aunt Sylvia.” Sylvia gently patted her head. "You're welcome. Come in!” “Okay.” Sylvia and Odell lead the way. Flint went up to Caprice and observed the box in her hand, then he reached over and wanted to touch it. Befo
She spoke with a certain bluntness. Her eyes were opened wide and her expression was darling. Flint remarked with a squint, “It must be pretty boring.” Caprice refuted his point, "No, I hang out regularly with Frey. Piper and her brother came back a little while ago, so we hang out together every night.” Flint stirred. He glanced at Isabel before asking, "Who is Piper? Who is her brother?" “Piper is also my roommate. I’ve known her and her brother for a decade by this point. All of us are very close friends.” "Oh? Are they from Glanchester too?" “Yes." Flint continued to ask tidbits about Piper and Trey while Caprice answered everything with stark honesty. Until Sylvia interrupted Flint at one point, "Okay, enough talk about that. Why don’t you head up and see what your brother and father are talking about?” "Okay, Mom." Flint did as he was told. He rose and went upstairs. Sylvia turned to Isabel, "Isabel, let me talk to Caprice alone. Why don’t you go ups
Flint coughed dryly. Before anyone else could say anything, Liam spoke in his usual deep voice, “Nothing." Sylvia gathered herself. Isabel and Flint distractedly picked up the cutlery. Odell glanced at Liam and said, "Let's eat." Caprice was puzzled by the sudden stiffness, and she snuck a glance at Liam who was beside her. There was not a single trace of emotion on his face, so she figured that it was probably all in her head. She began eating. … Isabel had some work to do later that evening, thus she left after eating. Flint had to return to the laboratory as well and excused himself shortly after. Sylvia and Odell were still feeling jet-lagged from the overnight flight, and they needed some rest. After a short chat with Caprice, Sylvia turned to Liam. "Liam, take Caprice home." Liam grunted, “Hmm.” Sylvia added, “Make sure you come back after that. I have something to tell you." Liam turned quiet for a moment before saying, "Okay." With t
Piper was on the phone when Caprice entered the room. It sounded like she was on the phone with her parents. Freya was not around; she must have gone to work. Caprice climbed into her bed. Piper wrapped up the call shortly after and proceeded to snuggle into Caprice's bed as well. She cast a sincere look at Caprice. "Caprice, my Dad asked me to thank you for him. Thanks for helping us out of that terrible affair back there.” Caprice made a look and said gravely, "Piper, I’m the reason why VV Entertainment plotted against Trey.” Piper asked inexplicably, “Why would it be because of you?” "Heather's father is the chairman of VV Entertainment." "What?" Piper was taken aback by the news. Then, she considered for a moment, "Even if VV Entertainment belongs to her family, what does any of this have to do with you?” "Remember when you went to Emerald V with Frey?” “Yeah, what about it?” “Heather saw you two that day. After you left, she went and called her
Silence stewed for several seconds before Sherry spoke, “Syl, was this yours and Odell’s idea or was it Liam’s?” Sylvia smiled and told her, "I consulted Liam about this before coming to you.” It was evident that this was not only her and Odell's idea but Liam's as well. Sherry was glad to hear this. "Okay, I'll discuss it with John and Caprice later and get back to you." “Gotcha.” After hanging up the call, Sylvia turned to Odell with a smile. “Sherry says she will talk to John and Caprice about it before getting back to us with an answer.” Odell pursed his lips. “Alright.” Sylvia raised her concern, “I think she wants to see Liam and Caprice together as well. The only problem is whether John feels the same.” John treasured his daughter more than anything in the world since she was his only child after all. Odell approached Sylvia and wrapped his arms around her shoulders before pulling her into his arms, “They will say yes as long as it’s what Caprice wants
On the other end of the phone, Sherry turned stiff. John was just as startled by Caprice’s response. He snatched Sherry's phone without warning and asked, "Caprice, be honest with your father. Did Liam do anything to you?” He knew that his dear daughter had been fond of Liam since she was a child. There were several years in a row when her birthday wish had been to be with Liam forever. Now that the Carters proposed an engagement for the pair, she turned it down of her own volition. The only logical explanation for this decision was that Liam had done something to her. John could not see any other explanations. Caprice was taken aback to hear his voice. She was not expecting her father to be listening in. She hurriedly explained, "Dad, it’s not like that. Liam hasn’t done anything to me.” "Then, why don't you want to be engaged to him?" "There's no reason. I just- I just didn’t want to.” "Don't you have feelings for him anymore?” Caprice felt her voice catch
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