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
At Astral Restaurant, a five-star restaurant built on the top of a mountain in Westchester. During the day, the restaurant would be clouded in a thick layer of mist. At night, the patrons had a clear view of the city basked in a cluster of lights. This was a premium place for dining, reserved only for the wealthy. Decker was driven to the foot of the mountain. After he stepped out of the car, he was escorted by one of the staff to a special passage that soon brought him to an elevator that went up to the restaurant. Carter Corporation was hosting a dinner tonight for its business partners. Decker arrived with a friend he recently made in Westchester. Being the heir of the Rockwells in Southboro, he was someone of significant status, so it was no surprise that the invitation was extended to him once his friend found out about his background. A beautiful platform, which surface was crystallized marble, was erected over the top of the mountain. Luminous lights were lined
The friend Decker came here with had regular business dealings with Carter Corporation and was considered one of their more respected business partners. It was out of consideration for his status that he and Decker were seated in an esteemed seat at the table right next to Odell’s. One of the senior executives was put in charge of hosting everyone and promptly addressed everyone with a brief speech. After everyone was invited to sit, the dinner commenced. Decker picked up the cutlery gracefully, minding his manners all the while. He waited until all of the noteworthy men had given toast to Odell before raising the glass himself and motioning politely in Odell’s direction. “President Carter, it is a great honor to have met you here. Let me give you a toast.” Odell looked at him rather cordially. “You are very kind, President Rockwell.” Decker downed the glass of wine. Odell raised his glass and took a humble sip from it. Decker sat back in his chair after that. W
“Of course, we wouldn’t know about Mr. Roland’s private affairs.” “Who is this celebrity Mr. Roland has been dating?” They were quite curious about who the revered Roland's girlfriend could be. Decker was more than happy to quell their curiosity, "She’s one of the most famous actresses right now, and I’m sure you all have heard of her.” "Who is it?" “President Rockwell, quit teasing us. Out with it already!” They urged him on. Decker announced her name at last, “Isabel Ross.” "Oh… Isabel!” "She's certainly very famous. I wasn’t expecting someone like Mr. Roland to end up with a celebrity though. I assumed he would have a different taste.” “Well, men love beautiful women, don’t they? Isabel Ross sure is a knockout. I would date her too if given the chance, but then again I have a wife now, so she’s off-limits to me.” Everyone continued to joke and gossip about the tantalizing subject. None of them noticed Odell whose expression had turned ominously dar
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief after Odell left, save for Decker who put on an innocent look and pretended to be surprised. “Was it something I said?” The remaining executive assured him, “Don’t worry about it. President Carter has something important he needs to attend to urgently.” Deep down, he was muttering curses at Decker. ‘Keep your mouth shut, you fool!’ Decker snuck another glance at the elevator where Odell had vanished and grinned smugly. … At Isabel’s hotel in Glanchester, things calmed down in the bedroom at last. Isabel lay like a plank on the bed and was too tired to move. Roland pulled her into his arms and let her rest against his shoulder. Upon noting the content expression on the man’s face, Isabel shot him a playful glare. Roland grinned before reaching lapping his arms around her neck and gently massaging her neck. He applied just the right amount of pressure, so it did not hurt. It was even quite comfortable. Isabel lay silently and
It was a weekday the following day, which meant Roland had to head back to Westchester. After waking up in the morning, the two went at it in bed until it was nearing noon before they finally emerged from the bedroom. Knowing that it would be another week before they could meet again, Isabel was quite reluctant to part with him. They arrived at the hotel entrance. Roland let go of her hand and gently stroked her hair. "I'm going off now." Isabel only grunted in response. Roland looked at her with a thoughtful expression. It looked like he wanted to say something to her but ultimately decided against it. With that, he turned around and walked toward the parking lot. He stepped into the sunlight, the trace of light outlined his striking figure. And yet, there was a certain gloominess about him. Isabel suddenly felt a stuffy feeling in her chest. She cried out, "Roland!" Roland stopped immediately and looked back at her. She ran over to him and threw himself
The film crew took advantage of the rain to finish up most of the rainy scenes. It was a rather busy week, and Friday came before Isabel knew it. On Friday, the crew managed to wrap up everything around three in the afternoon, and Isabel returned to the hotel after that. The first thing she did was take a hot bath. Then, she made sure to apply lotion and doused herself in her favorite perfume. She picked out a dress that hugged her slender waist and accentuated her figure before sitting by the window to wait for Roland to visit. The thought of the though slightly juvenile, yet sweet and innocent surprise that Roland prepared for her last week made her smile. She wondered if he would prepare something similar for her again this week. Time slowly trickled past while she waited. It was already getting dark outside, and even the rain was gradually stopping. She watched as some of the film crew went out together to hang out for the weekend, then she watched as they retu
Flint said reluctantly, “I’ll tell you, but don’t get angry at me.” Isabel snapped at him, “Out with it!" Flint sighed. “I think Dad does not approve of the two of you being together, so he made him quit.” Isabel was flabbergasted. Her father did not approve of them being together? Roland quit because of this? Her mind went blank as she had trouble processing this. "Where is he now?" Flint muttered, "I heard he left Westchester after the ongoing projects at work yesterday." It was his turn to ask Isabel, "You’re his girlfriend. Hasn’t he said anything to you?” Isabel stammered. Flint realized that he had misspoken and quickly tried to rectify his mistake. “Sorry, sis, you know that’s not what I meant. Just calm down and don’t be mad at me. I don’t think Roland would break up with you without at least talking to you about it. There must be some reason he hasn’t spoken to you yet.” Isabel ignored him and promptly hung up on him. Then, she called Roland
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