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
It was Roland. Surprised, Isabel answered the phone immediately and asked, “Where are you?” “I’m in Southboro,” Roland answered with a hoarse voice, seemingly hesitating with the answer. Isabel’s chest tightened. “When did you go back?” “I reached Southboro yesterday morning.” “Why didn’t you tell me?” He did not say a word. Isabel ran out of patience. She asked, “Why did you go back to Southboro?” The man still did not answer. Isabel glanced at the screen of her phone. The call was still connected, Roland did not hang up on her. She snorted. “Is it because of my dad?” “It’s not about Mr. Carter, it’s my own decision,” he said. His own decision? How could he say something like this to her in such a calm manner? Her eyes teared up. She raised her hand to rub her eyes and then asked, “So, are you breaking up with me?” “Isabel, I think we have to be separated for a while.” “Separated for a while? What does that mean?” “I can’t tell you yet.” “Roland, if
Carla secretly gave Amanda a call. Therefore, when Isabel almost threw up from all the drinking, Amanda appeared behind her. She snatched the bottle of beer and tossed it away. Before Isabel could react, she grabbed her arm and bellowed, “Isabel, you’re coming with me.” Isabel had lost consciousness. She only remembered Roland ditched her. He left Westchester without saying anything. Everyone knew except her. Yet the jerk tried to fool her by saying they should be separated for a while and would come back to her soon. He had either taken Isabel as a fool or believed she could not handle the shock of breaking up, hence telling her he wanted to be separated for a while to let her take it in easily. Isabel knew the importance of letting go and she would not care if he broke up with her. There were many other men in this world and there must be someone better than him. However, she could not stop her heart from hurting. Isabel tried to reach for the bottle of beer but m
Carla added, “Isabel, there are a lot of fun places in Glanchester. Amanda is bringing us on a tour around the city.” Isabel’s eyes remained closed. “I don’t want to go. You guys go have fun.” She was not in the mood for a vacation, she just wanted to lie down and do nothing. “Isabel, even if you stay here all day, Roland isn’t coming back,” Amanda said. Isabel opened her eyes and sat up straight. With displeasure, she said, “I’m not hoping for him to come back!” She just wanted to lie down! Amanda crossed her arms and raised a brow. “If that’s what you’re thinking, then you should get up and follow us now.” Isabel frowned. “Provocation?” Amanda chuckled. “Indeed. If you don’t come with us, you’re hoping for him to come back to you.” Annoyed, Isabel mustered her strength and jumped to her feet. She bellowed, “Alright! You ask for it! Let’s go!” She washed her face, changed into some new clothes, and followed Amanda and Carla out of the hotel. …Isabel had visited
Clarice bolted up when she heard the news. Decker was at his desk further away from her. He was shocked by her sudden reaction and he asked, “Clarice, what happened?” Clarice’s eyes fluttered and smiled. “I-It’s nothing.” Decker had a hint of doubt but he did not linger on the topic. He quickly returned to his work. Clarice breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed Decker was not overly bothered. She sat back down and replied to Isabella, “Are you sure about this?” “I heard from my friend that Isabel got drunk alone last Friday night and her manager and assistant came to pick her up. She cried on the way back and took two days off from work. She only came back to the shoot today. I heard from a crew member that Isabel took days off because she broke up with her boyfriend.” Isabella then sent Clarice two video clips. One was Isabel drinking at the restaurant and the other was Isabel being dragged away by Amanda and Carla. Roland ditched her? However, Roland used his
After dinner, some of them returned to the hotel, and some of them took a ride home. Isabel, the director, and some of the crew members returned to the hotel. The director asked, “It’s the weekend. Do you guys want to shoot over the weekend, or take two days off, and we can continue on Monday?” The remaining actors looked at each other. The male lead said, “I’m okay with anything. It’s your call, director.” The others echoed in agreement. The director then looked at Isabel. “Isabel, what about you?” Isabel said without a second thought, “I don’t want to take days off either.” Only when working, she would not think of Roland, therefore she could not stop. The director smiled. “Alright. We’ll continue shooting then.” Isabel said good night to her co-stars and the director before she returned to her room. She spent the entire day shooting, and it was tiring. She just wanted to have a bath and rest. It was then she received a call from Amanda. Amanda sounded worri
Isabel’s light tone was proof that she was not affected by the comments online. Caprice felt relieved. She no longer insisted on visiting anymore and simply said, “Okay.” Sylvia told her to rest properly other than working hard. After the brief family chat, Isabel put her phone down and went to sleep. The night was quiet. When she closed her eyes, her head uncontrollably thought of Roland. It annoyed her. She tossed and turned on the bed and still could not fall asleep. She got up, switched on the lamp next to her bed, and went on her phone to check the comments online. Someone took a video of her that night when she broke up with Roland. She went drinking at the restaurant, got drunk, and was dragged away by Amanda and Carla. As soon as she tapped on the video, she could already hear herself crying. Even through the screen, she felt embarrassed. The netizens gloated at her. “Did the girl break up with her boyfriend? It’s so funny how she cries.” “I’m sorry. I c
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