With this in mind, Isabel instructed Carla mindfully, “Carla, go to my fan forum and tell my fans to cool it a little.” Carla was about to say something when Isabel's cell phone rang suddenly. It was Amanda, her manager. Isabel answered promptly, “Hey, Amanda, what's the matter?" Amanda said in a voice seething with fury, “Did you see Isabella’s latest post?” Isabel held her breath. "What did she say?" “Take a look for yourself.” “Okay.” Isabel promptly hung up before swiping to her feed again. The two fandoms were still going at it. There was now a new topic on the trending page that read: Isabella got the role based on merit. Isabel tapped on it and immediately saw a new post made by Isabella only several minutes ago. It was an officially worded post that read: “Formal announcement: The female lead in ‘Legend of the Goddess’ and the guest star spot in ‘The Wonder’ were given out purely on terms of merit. Please calm down, everyone. Don’t get manipulat
As time went on, more people were drawn in by the sensational drama. “What's going on here? Isabel says she’s going to handle herself. Does this mean that it’s true that Isabella stole her roles?” “Wow, don’t mess with her! Isn’t she worried about the netizens riling against her?” “Look at her performance in the past few years since her grand debut. Every show she starred is in at the top of the year-end list, and the variety shows she guest stars in always see record numbers. She’s the type who speaks her mind without fear. Do you remember that old director who was ousted as a sexual predator harassing female students? Isabel was the one who called him out publicly when she went on that variety show. Do you think someone as tenacious as she is is going to be afraid of some measly online gossip?” “Who is the one telling the truth? Isabel or Isabella?” “I don’t know. I guess we will know in time.” Fans of Isabella’s stormed Isabel’s page after that but were eventually
Isabel got out of the car and walked back into her apartment. On her way back, Amanda had called her twice followed by several additional messages. She frantically asked what Isabel was going to do and if she had lost her mind. Several of her friends in the circle had been texting her as well to offer advice and support. It would seem like there were only two options at this point. She had to either concede to Decker or find someone more resourceful than Decker to outwrestle them. Isabel was fully aware of this. She lay on the couch with a tight frown zipped across her face. She stared at her phone and considered whether she should contact Liam or her father for help. She knew that all she needed to do was to ask and they would help her get the roles back for her. The only problem was that she had vowed that she wanted to make a career for herself in the entertainment industry. She did not want to rely on her family connections. It would be very hypocritical of her
Amanda could not make sense of the strange question. “What? Weren’t you the one who told the Carter Corporation president to instruct them to make another official announcement?” Isabel chuckled, amused by the intriguing thought. Roland sure was very thoughtful for someone who always looked so disengaged with things around him. Once the team of the “Legend of the Goddess” and “The Wonder” posted the official announcement, there was no need for her to say anything at all to defend her name. Just like that, the whole internet would know that she had taken back the roles that were rightfully hers. She promptly texted Roland again. She sent him a smiling emoji and thanked him sincerely. “Thanks for pulling through. I promise you I will personally give you a big bonus at the end of the year.” Roland replied curtly, “You're welcome, but no need for the bonus.” Isabel asked brazenly, “Huh? Why?” Who in their right mind would refuse a big bonus? Roland explained tact
Unbeknownst to Isabel, the online debate revolving around her and Isabella continued in full swing after she tucked away her phone. Most of the people paying attention to the ongoing development were reasonable folks, but they could not help but start slandering Isabella. “Look at Isabella. She was being all high and mighty showing off about how she managed to be cast in ‘Legend of the Goddess’ and ‘The Wonder’. Just like that, the official pages came in and rained on her parade by announcing that Isabel was their choice the entire time. I wonder how she feels right now.” “Heh. If you ask me, I’d say it’s pretty embarrassing.” Not content with merely gossiping among themselves about what was happening, some folks decided to fan the flames. They quickly swarmed Isabella’s page, specifically picking her post from the day when she announced her being cast in the two shows. They bombarded her with comments, asking her how it felt to be disgraced. Inside a hotel, Isabella looked
Rumor had it that the Carters were a very close-knit family and that their children were all successful and kept a low profile. There had never been any shape or form of scandal revolving around the family, whether internally or externally. With this information, Decker ruled out the possibility that Isabel was backed by a direct family member. Instead, it must either be a shareholder or a high-ranking member of Carter Corporation. The identity of this person was currently unknown. One way or another, this person was just someone working at Carter Corporation. A mere employee at Carter Corporation could not possibly be a match for him, Decker Rockwell! … Meanwhile, Isabel was busy chatting with several of her friends in the entertainment industry. In addition to congratulating her on reclaiming the roles that were rightfully hers, they were curious about how she managed to pull it off. Isabel was careful to not let outsiders find out about her connection to Carter Corp
Isabel promptly opened the door. Roland was dressed in a suit, standing tall and straight as an arrow. Isabel asked suspiciously, "Why are you here?" “My mother saw the news about you and got worried. She said she’s worried about you not having the appetite to eat, so she made me bring some homemade food for you." He held up a bag filled with food in his hand. Isabel's eyes sparked at the mention of food. She remarked, "Why didn't you just call me and ask me to come over? You didn’t have to trouble yourself with delivering it yourself.” Roland eyed her. “Do you want it or not?” “Of course, I do. Your mother made it for me, and you took the trouble of delivering it to me, so of course, I’ll eat it.” With a smile, she stepped aside to let him into the house. Roland carried the bag to the dining table and set it on top. Then, he carefully opened it and laid out the dishes one after another. Isabel was going to tell him that she could do it himself, but he had a
Isabel seemed embarrassed for having troubled him. “Alright, thanks for the help.” He remarked casually, “No big deal. See you.” There was no reason to keep him around, especially at such a late hour. With that, she bade him farewell, “See you.” She walked him to the door and only closed the door after making sure he had entered the elevator. She stretched lazily like a cat before heading into her room. She was going to take a shower, then settle in for the night. … Meanwhile, Roland returned to his place shortly after. As soon as he stepped into the house, his mother, Martha, came over and asked him worriedly, “Roland, how is Isabel doing? Is she doing fine?” She saw the online debacle of everything that had gone down with Isabel during the day. Although it seemed like things had died down, she was still concerned about Isabel’s mental state. Roland recalled how Isabel looked with her cheeks stuffed with food and remarked, “She’s in a good mood." "Really?
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