“What’s going on then?” Amanda could not make sense of it. Isabel asked warily, “Something wrong?" “Several contracts got called off out of nowhere. Even the brand endorsements I've managed to land for you got pulled last minute. Some of the roles on other shows I manage to land for you got recast as well.” Isabel frowned. "Did they give you an explanation?” “They only told me they found a better fit for the role.” Amanda asked again, “Are you sure you haven’t upset anyone lately?” "No." Decker was the only one who came to mind, but she doubted he had enough degree of influence in the entertainment industry to terminate all of her ongoing contracts. Amanda stated briskly, “Never mind, focus on the shooting. I’ll dig up more information.” “Sure.” Isabel hung up but was still feeling restless. Who was targeting her this time? She racked her brains and thought long and hard but could not figure it out. Just as she was considering enlisting someone to he
Carla did not know how to respond. After a brief hesitation, she asked cautiously, “You look like you’re in a bad mood. Did he say something that upset you?” Isabel’s expression softened a little, and she assured Clara, “It's fine. I'm going to get some rest, and you should catch up on some rest too.” Carla knew her better than to probe Isabel and promptly let her be. Isabel returned to her room after that. Her phone rang the moment she stepped into the room. It was Roland calling her. She eagerly answered the phone, “Hey, why the sudden call? Did anything happen?” "I sent you several texts just now, but you haven’t replied.” After a pause, he asked, "Where did you go just now?" Isabel told him with a sigh, "I had to see someone." “The person who has been targeting you for some reason?” "How did you know about that?” she asked in a startled voice. “It was Clarice’s assistant. She sent him here to deliver a message.” Roland did not sound surprised. “So,
In Glanchester, Isabel had just come out of the shower and thrown herself on the bed. She thought about calling Amanda to tell her to not worry, but Amanda was the one who called her instead. Before Isabel could get a word out, Amanda announced the good news in a jubilant voice, “Isabel, everything is fine now! The companies got back to me and says that they intend to proceed with our initial deal. The directors who told me that they wanted to recast you changed their minds and got back to me as well. Also, guess what? The famous director, Manson Heathrow, says he plans to cast you in a major role in his upcoming film!” Isabel was delighted to hear this. “Already?” Amanda was confused by this reaction of hers. “What do you mean ‘already’?” Isabel was still reeling in shock. “Oh, nothing. Good to know that everything has been taken care of.” “Alright, enough talk for now. I’ll talk to Director Manson for you and get back to you once I have more information from him.” “
Clarice’s assistant informed her fearfully, “Miss, I had to call them several times just now until they finally picked up. They mentioned that Isabel is one of the most famous actresses currently and is not involved in any controversial scandals. All this added to the fact that she is currently working with them makes it hard for them to do anything to her. She’s untouchable.” “Don’t they have enough actors signed to them? What’s the difference one common actress going to make?!” "That's what I was told. I don’t know any more specific details beyond this.” "idiot!" Clarice cursed mightily and hung up. There must be more to this! Her family was royalty in Southboro, and even Solar Entertainment had given their word initially. Some other party must have interjected to result in this sudden turn of events. Who could this outside party be? She thought with her brows furrowed. After a while, her eyes blazed as she had a suspect in her mind. Roland! He was Isabe
Isabel ran out of the hotel just as Roland parked in front of the entrance. Drops of rain pattered endlessly against the ground. Isabel shielded the top of her head with her palms and jogged toward Roland’s car. The door was promptly flung open, and out came the tall, striking figure of the man she had been waiting for. He emerged with an umbrella in hand. He was just about to open it when Isabel sprang in front of him. He habitually put his arms around her. Isabel looked up at him. "What took you so long?” Her face was washed with rain. She could barely keep her eyes open. Although there was a stern, questioning tone in her voice, there was also a clear tint of joy underneath. Roland grimaced faintly. He opened the umbrella and held it over Isabel to shield her from the rain, then he told her, “Something came up and took up my time.” Something came up? "What happened?” she asked hastily while looking at him worriedly. “It’s fine, it's just—“ He seemed he
They went at it until it was nearing midnight. Roland must have been missing her greatly after having not seen her for several days as he was all over her. It was only after Isabel remarked that she had more scenes to shoot tomorrow morning and pleaded for him to show mercy on her that he finally released her. The moment he released her, she felt herself deflating like a balloon and promptly fell asleep. The bedroom was dimly lit. Roland hugged her tenderly and looked at her rosy cheeks, still red from their activity. It did not seem like he was going to sleep anytime soon. … Dawn came. Isabel was awakened by Carla knocking on the door. She woke up and saw Roland lying on his side next to her with one of his arms propping himself up sideways. He was staring at her. She gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I have to go to work. Get yourself some breakfast." Roland sat on the bed and watched her without a word. Isabel was not in the habit of showing up
Isabel still had a couple of scenes to shoot today. After finally filling her stomach, she went over the script a few more times before heading back to the set. Time flew by. It was late afternoon in the blink of an eye, and they were already shooting the final scene for the day. During the break, she went to join Roland in the same spot and informed him, "There’s only one last scene left. We can go back to the hotel after that.” She already told him he could head back after they had their breakfast, but he refused and stuck around until now. Roland smiled faintly. “Sure.” Isabel grabbed some water to drink, then she touched up her makeup before getting ready for the scene. “Action!” the director called out. Isabel and another male actor who was also part of the scene geared themselves up for their monologue. They were shooting a scene of the final breakup between the characters. The heroine played by Isabel wanted to leave, but the male protagonist would not
Isabel slapped some makeup remover on her face. Then, she gently massaged the makeup remover over her face before rinsing it off. With that, she was her usual self again. Now that that was done, she craned her face up toward Roland and said with her eyes closed, “Go on.” She wanted to see how he would go about cleaning this supposed stain on her forehead. Soon, she could hear the sound of water flowing. After a while, she felt a warm and wet towel placed against her forehead. Roland began rubbing her forehead, specifically the very spot where he saw the male lead previously kissing her. He rubbed at that spot repeatedly. After rubbing it a dozen times, Isabel could not take it anymore. She opened her eyes and shot him a look. "Are you trying to dent my forehead?” Roland seemed surprised by this. "Does it hurt?" While it was not to the point of hurting, it was certainly a little excessive. She told him, "It doesn't hurt, but I think it’s clean enough alread
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