Right before Caprice could reply, the meeting room’s door opened. Brianne and Logan bolted up instantly. Caprice put her phone away and looked at the entrance. The man came in with his handsome suit. His deep eyes looked calm and emotionless but emanated a strong aura. Caprice unconsciously sat up straight and smiled at him. “Good morning, Mr. Carter.” Liam’s cool eyes showed a hint of warmth at her. He smiled back and sat opposite her. Both sides exchanged contracts and began signing. …At the same time in the open parking lot outside, Moses just got into his car. He leaned back and stared at the building. Kenneth hugged the contract that they signed with Carter Tech District and said, “I bet she’s here to see Mr. Carter. I don’t think she has the time to have lunch with us. Why don’t we do a rain check?” He was eager to share the news with Jonathan and the others back home. Moses’ eyes continued to stare at the entrance of the building. “She doesn’t seem like s
Caprice was caught off guard by the text. She did not expect Moses to be waiting for her outside. She replied, “Moses, sorry I didn’t reply earlier. I have something else to do later, I can’t have lunch with you.” Moses replied almost instantly, “Alright. Are you free tonight?” “Nope. Let’s talk when the semester starts.” “Alright. See you.” When Caprice put away her phone, she noticed Liam had been watching her from the side. He managed to catch a glimpse of the conversation. “Who is he?” Caprice innocently assumed he was just asking out of curiosity. She said, “He’s a senior of mine at university. He also hired me for my first summer job.” A momentary silence later, Liam asked, “Why is he waiting for you outside?” No one should be able to enter Carter Tech District at this hour. Feeling strange, Caprice asked, “He came earlier. You didn’t know?” “What’s his name?” “Moses Stewart. He said Carter Tech District is interested in one of his projects, so he came t
“I’m okay,” Caprice said instinctively. Then, a thought rushed into her mind and she said, “But I’m not happy. You have to make it up to me.” Liam narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?” He continued to speak in his alluring voice. Caprice pursed her lips and then said, “Come closer.” Liam moved closer to her face. His handsome face was less than an inch away from hers. Caprice then kissed him on the cheek before she turned and ran toward the car. Liam grinned. He unintentionally glanced at the car beside him before he went after Caprice. The driver and the bodyguards were waiting for them in the car. The bodyguards entered the car after them and the driver drove them out of the parking lot. Moses, on the other hand, was stunned in his car. He stared at the MPV as it left his sight and even with it gone, he could not recover his composure. The scene of Liam rubbing Caprice’s forehead and Caprice kissing Liam on the cheek replayed in his head over and over again.
Before Caprice could react, he pulled his hands back and released her. He flipped to the side and sat down on the grassfield. Caprice followed and sat herself up. Just when she wanted to ask what happened, she realized her collar had opened up after all the action. Her face blushed and immediately covered her collar. Liam frowned. He looked at her with a hint of lust in his eyes and said, “Caprice, I…” He did it on purpose, but when he saw her innocent and adorable face, he suddenly lost his words. Caprice widened her eyes. It was her first time seeing him speechless. She pursed her lips and sat closer to him. She said, “It’s okay.” They were a couple, so kissing and fooling around were normal things to do. Freya told her a lot about what couples should do while they were dating, so she knew how to react. It was just a collar. Even if he wanted to strip her clean, it was fine. With this thought in mind, Caprice lowered her hands and said to him, “We’re going to
The three girls ridiculed and teased her. Freya then asked, “Are you going to see Liam later tonight?” “Nope. I’m going back to the dorm with you guys. I have to go home tomorrow,” Caprice said. Freya was surprised. “You came all the way to Westchester but you’re not spending the night with Liam?” She even teased Caprice with some lewd gestures. Caprice was more embarrassed than before. “We’re not that far yet.” Freya clicked her tongue. “I see Liam is a good boy huh.” Lana nodded in agreement. Piper then asked, “What base are you guys on now? Other than kissing and holding hands, what else did you two do?” Caprice immediately thought of the steamy scene back at the low-gravity grassfield. Her face blushed. She stammered out of embarrassment, “N-Nothing else.” “Caprice, you’re stammering.” “Why is your face red?” “You’re lying.” The three of them pressured her to reveal the truth. Caprice immediately fled the scene. Her friends chased her and continued t
Moses turned around and followed Kenneth and the others out. They stopped by the cashier before leaving to pay the bill, then they walked outside. Caprice withdrew her gaze from them and noticed her friends staring at her intently. She asked suspiciously, "What are you girls looking at?” “Nothing." The three of them shook their heads in unison. Freya suddenly expressed poignantly, “Moses is a good man. What a shame.” Lana nodded in agreement. Caprice thought nothing of it. She knew that Moses was interested in her, but she already belonged to someone else. Moses was a good man, and she was sure there he would manage to find the perfect partner for him in the future. There was no need to feel sorry for him. … After the meal, Caprice and her friends went to the cashier to settle the bill. Just as Caprice reached for her phone and prepared to pay the bill, the cashier suddenly asked, “You girls are seated at table six near the entrance, correct?” Freya
Liam must be busy. Some time passed before he replied, “Yeah. Have you gotten back to the dorm with your friends?” Caprice replied, “We just got back from the restaurant a while ago. I’m already resting in bed.” To prove that she was telling the truth, she took a flattering picture of herself and sent it to Liam. Liam replied, “Good, make sure you get enough rest.” Caprice knew that he had never been a talkative man and was not keen on keeping the conversation going, but it was barely ten o’clock, and it was far too early to sleep. With this in mind, she texted him, “Liam, send me your picture too.” She still did not have a picture of him on her phone. However, after the text was sent, there was no response. Even after some time had passed, it was still radio silence on the other end. She frowned and was just about to fall into a sullen state when a picture popped up on the screen. It was Liam. He had taken a picture of his reflection in the mirror. His appea
He was very aware of Heather’s hostility toward Caprice. He had a feeling that Heather only came to him with this proposal because she wanted Liam for herself. The only thing he was unsure of was how she came to know about his feelings for Caprice. Heather frowned sharply. She did not expect Moses to figure out her true intentions right away. Furthermore, it looked like he knew about Caprice and Liam. Her eyes flickered with shock a few times. Immediately after that, she fixed a smug smile on her lips again and announced, “You’re only partially right. I wasn’t only trying to match you with Caprice. I’m also trying to get her to leave that man who is such a horrible match for her.” Moses did not appreciate the contempt Heather had for Caprice in her tone, but he had to admit she made a good point. Apart from her good looks, Caprice was not particularly remarkable as far as her capabilities went. Besides, her family background did not appear to be anything out of the ordin
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