Everyone held their breaths and watched intently. Caprice looked on, completely unfazed. When the staff produced the final item inside the purse, a regular credit card, everyone shared a look of disappointment. It was in that decisive moment when she reached for another concealed pocket in the purse that Caprice never used to stash anything. Her expression changed the moment her fingers were tucked into the pocket. She removed something from within and put her hands high in the air. The surface of the pink diamond gleamed underneath the ceiling lights, reflecting its brilliant glow in every direction. It was the necklace along with the treasured gem. Everyone grew wide-eyed, Caprice most of all. She stammered, “No way… How could it be inside my purse?!” “Caprice…” Isabel turned to her. Caprice spoke with a tinge of panic in her voice, “Isabel, it wasn’t me! I did not steal it!” Isabel assured her, “I know, I believe you.” It was just a pink diamond, Caprice h
A man remarked condescendingly, “Banish us out of Westchester? You sure know how to run your mouth.” “What a joke! How dare a common actress like you make threats like this?” “Ha! That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all year!” Everyone laughed and mocked them, especially Heather. She was not even hiding it anymore as she laughed heartily and savored every moment. Isabel tried to charge at her again. Caprice hurriedly stopped her and held her back. “Stop it. Don't be impulsive." Isabel drew a deep breath. "I'll call my Dad right now.” She had enough! Caprice nodded. They would have to let Uncle Carter settle this for them. Upon hearing their exchange, the crowd began hurling snide remarks at them again.“Call whoever you want, call God himself. He won’t save you. You stole Mrs. Duwait’s pink diamond!” Sophia smiled devilishly. "Hurry up and notify Mrs. Duwait, then the police. We’re done wasting time with her. I don’t want to hear her miserable excuses an
Caprice and Isabel turned around at the same time. At the next second, Caprice broke down in tears and grievance drowned her. She cried and ran to her mother. “Mommy…” Sherry’s chest tightened when she saw her precious daughter crying. She too strode toward her daughter. Caprice threw herself into her arms. Sherry hugged the girl and asked, “What’s wrong, Caprice? Tell Mommy what’s wrong.” “Sobs…” Caprice was suffocated by her tears and grievance, preventing her from speaking properly. At a closer look, John realized Sherry was hugging Caprice. He disregarded his image and strode over with furrowed brows. He asked, “What happened to Caprice?” “Daddy…” Caprice then hugged the man as tears continued to roll down her cheeks. John hugged her as he scanned around with a frosty gaze. The security guards and staff who stopped Caprice before were stunned and dumbfounded. The people who went outside to greet Sherry and John and then followed them inside were also stunned.
Isabel scanned the crowd with a frosty gaze before she told Sherry about the stolen pink diamond. Caprice was suspected to have stolen the pink diamond because they found the diamond in her purse. Sherry frowned. Caprice had almost a hundred of those diamonds in her closet, why would she steal someone else’s? Something was not right. “Daddy, Mommy, I didn’t steal it. I don’t know how the diamond ended up in my purse,” Caprice snorted and explained. John and Caprice looked at her gently. Sherry said, “Caprice, we believe you.” John hugged the girl tight and then looked at the crowd coldly. Those who called Caprice a thief immediately averted their eyes from John and looked down in guilt. Sherry scoffed coldly. “You people were loud when you called my daughter a thief. What’s with the silence now?” Then, hurried footsteps came.“Mr. and Mrs. Stockton, Mr. and Mrs. Carter, we’re sorry that you have to wait so long.” The owner of the estate, Mr. and Mrs. Duwait, ca
Mrs. Duwait already knew what happened without looking at the surveillance footage. The reason she told the staff to cast it on the big screen was because she wanted to show everyone the truth and clear Caprice’s name in front of John and Sherry. The staff nodded and went off. “Mrs. Duwait, I have a suggestion,” Isabel stepped up and said. Mrs. Duwait looked at her standing in between Odell and Sylvia. She hesitated for a moment before she said, “What is it, Ms. Carter?” “You can call me Ms. Ross.” Isabel corrected her. Mrs. Duwait looked at Odell and Sylvia in confusion. Odell explained without changing his expression, “She used her mother’s family name.” Mrs. Duwait chuckled. “I see.” She then looked at Isabel and asked, “What are you proposing, Ms. Ross?” Isabel said with a smile, “I’d like to ask your security guards to block every exit of the estate.” Mrs. Duwait knew what Isabel was trying to do. She sneaked a furious glance at Beverly trembling at the side
The footage continued to play on the screen. A while later, Sophia and Heather started to incite a search on Caprice’s purse. Caprice gave her purse to Beverly. Beverly searched her purse in front of the crowd and found the diamond necklace in the deepest compartment of the purse. Caprice finally knew what happened. Beverly intentionally reached deeper into the purse at the very end to sneak the pink diamond inside and take it out in front of the crowd, so that it would look like Caprice had it in her purse all along. Even an idiot knew what happened after seeing the footage. The footage ended after that. The crowd was once again silenced and only the screen’s noise could be heard. Those who criticized Caprice were all silenced, nervous and anxious. Both Mr. and Mrs. Duwait were in an awkward position as well. Caprice was mistreated at their estate and they were unaware of it until now. They did not know how to face John and Sherry without guilt eating them up.
Heather seized the chance to land a few more kicks on Caprice. The women around her joined her and stomped Caprice’s back mercilessly. Isabel was under Caprice’s protection. She shouted, “One more kick and I’ll make sure all of your families are thrown out of Westchester!” Only then the women stopped kicking but their contemptuous gazes remained. It was until the staff at the entrance welcomed Odell, Sylvia, John, and Sherry, the crowd finally dispersed. The footage showed a silent crowd with Caprice and Isabel on the ground, looking miserable. The silence was like the quiet before the storm, so suffocating that people could not breathe. Other than those who were not present, those who were at the scene of bullying Isabel and Caprice were all drowned in guilt. It was John who broke the silence by saying, “Mr. and Mrs. Duwait, if you have any displeasure against me, please come at me. You shouldn’t have gone after my daughter while I’m away.” “It’s a misunderstanding!
“Don’t you know why I hit you in the toilet?” Isabel argued. “You and your friends surrounded her and tried to bully her. If I wasn’t there, you people would’ve bullied her.” Caprice wore a frosty expression and echoed. “Yeah. I ran into them when I was in the toilet. I don’t want to argue with them, so I tried to avoid them. But they stopped me and even pinched my face.” She clearly remembered what happened earlier. Sherry and John reacted coldly to their daughter’s explanation. Heather immediately argued, “No! I was just trying to say hi! I didn’t bully her!” “Let’s put this aside first,” Sherry said. She then looked at Mrs. Duwait and asked, “Mrs. Duwait, can I inspect your worker?” She looked at Beverly and continued, “I want to know why someone is targeting my daughter.” Upon hearing her words, both Sophia and Heather shuddered again. Mrs. Duwait nodded firmly. “Not a problem.” A worker brought over some chairs for John and Caprice to sit down. Odell, Sylvia, a
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