The bodyguard and the driver promptly stepped out of the car and went to open the door for Roland. A pair of long and slender legs wearing polished leather boots stepped out from the dark interior of the car. The first thing Roland did was to remove his blazer, revealing a bleached white shirt underneath. The gentle sea breeze parted his hair. Like a curtain drawn apart, his handsome and chiseled features were brought into full view, and the setting sun cast a scarlet glow over his face. Even though Isabel had seen this man countless times, she was still mesmerized by his unfair beauty. Roland handed the blazer to his bodyguard before striding up to Isabel. Isabel sat on the beach the entire time and looked up at him. For some reason she could not quite put her finger on, she felt a strange sort of unfamiliarity with this man standing before her. It was as if this was her first time meeting this handsome man. "Isabel," Roland called out her name. The familiar
Several hours later, inside Isabel’s new, luxurious bedroom. They had left the windows open the entire time, inviting the billowing sea breeze into the room. Snuggling on the giant bed was Isabel who was coddled inside Roland’s arms. Both of them were resting against the headboard. After Isabel recovered back to her senses, she crossed her arms in front of her and turned to Roland who was also staring into her eyes. She asked curtly, “So, will you tell me now?” Roland grinned faintly and told her, "I have what you would call a side hustle.” Isabel asked curiously, "What kind of side hustle?” He remarked casually, "It's nothing crazy. I just show up as an advisor for companies who are dealing with financial crises and help them sort things out.” The way he put it, it sounded like something wholly unimpressive and mundane. However, the sheer fact of the diamond necklace worth hundreds of millions, and the enormous mansion they were currently residing in suggested dif
Isabel spent her time relaxing and filling her stomach with good food. From time to time, she would go to the gym to keep up her fitness level. Roland let her do whatever she wished. In his free time, he would bring her to interesting places in Southboro to sightsee. During their conversations, he would not bring up anything related to Rockwell Corporation unless it was Isabel who asked about them, in which case he would answer all of her questions whatever they may be. Now and then, she would fly back to Westchester for scheduled shootings for “The Wonder”. Otherwise, she spent the majority of her time at the mansion. Two months passed in the blink of an eye. It was a Sunday. Around the evening, Isabel finished shooting the last episode of “The Wonder”. Immediately after that, she got on a plane back to Southboro. Coincidentally, she met Isabella on the plane. They were seated right next to each other. Isabella seemed just as surprised to see Isabel on the same pl
Several hours later, the plane landed on the runway of Southboro Airport. Almost all the passengers reached for their phones. Isabel did the same as well. She promptly switched the airplane mode on the phone off. As if on cue, she received a text from Roland that read, “Are you here yet?” She replied, “We just landed. I’ll be home soon.” Her mind was still lingering on what Isabella told her, so she promptly asked Roland, “I heard something went down at Rockwell Corporation. Is it true?” Roland replied, “Yeah, I'll wait for you at the gate. We’ll talk in person.” He had come to pick her up. Isabel smiled faintly and replied, “Sure.” Just as she was putting away her phone, she noticed Isabella stealing glances at the display of her phone. It was clear as day that she was trying to peek at her conversation with Roland. She dimmed the display and shot a look at Isabella. Isabella sneered, “Are you talking to your dear Roland? Has he told you about what’s goin
Isabella waited for a reply for some time. Eventually, she gauged that Clarice was probably not going to reply any time soon, and with that, she put away her phone with a morose grunt. Her purpose for coming to Southboro this time was to keep Clarice company. She had hoped that she could offer Clarice some emotional support during this current difficult period with what happened with Decker. Perhaps she could get closer to Clarice this way. To her demise, Clarice still held herself above her! Despite this setback, she did not plan to leave Southboro any time soon. Since she was here, she had the chance to witness Isabel’s reaction to the downfall of her poor boyfriend getting kicked out of his family! … Meanwhile, shortly after Roland merged into the highway, Isabel asked the question she had long been wanting to ask, “So, what happened at Rockwell Corporation?" Roland stated calmly, “Capital chain rupture.” Isabel was taken aback by this. Something as serious a
The Houstons? Decker's expression shifted. He had already briefly told Clarice about the ongoing situation at Rockwell Corporation, and she had given her word that she would ask her father to help. However, just like Master Rockwell said, their current predicament was far too great and nearly impossible to recover from. It was a tall task even when considering the vast amount of resources the Houstons had at their disposal. They may have to empty their vault just to help. Would Clarice's father even agree to help? That was when Master Rockwell advised, “Decker, why don’t you talk to Clarice? I know she cares a lot about you. Certainly, she will try to persuade her father to help us.” Decker frowned and said in a troubled voice, "Dad, I think her father might not help even if she threatened suicide right in front of her.” Although Clarice was the eldest daughter of the Houstons, she also had two younger brothers who took higher priority. Another factor was that h
After finishing the movie, Isabel fell asleep with her arms wrapped around Roland like he was a pillow. He smiled faintly and gently carried her in his arms to take her to the bedroom. Shortly after that, he reached her bedroom where he carefully took off her coat and shoes for her. Then, he tucked her under a thick blanket and pecked a gentle kiss on her cheeks before retreating from the bedroom. With that, he went down the corridor leading to his study. After making himself comfortable, he called his assistant. After the call was connected, he instructed, "Tell Decker that I will help him take care of the situation at Rockwell Corporation in the shortest time possible. I only have one condition, and that is that I want half of his shares in Rockwell Corporation." His assistant replied dutifully, "Alright, sir, I’ll speak to him right now.” Roland set aside his phone with a dark, insidious look in his eyes. He turned on the computer and went over his drafted plan
Several days later, at the seaside mansion, it was evening and it was drizzling outside. Roland went to his study after he returned home from work. He had been pretty busy these days, so Isabel was not too bothered. She looked at the clock and noticed that it was almost dinner time. She wrapped up the livestream she set up for her fans and prepared to leave her bedroom. Rox happened to show up at that juncture. “Miss Isabel, dinner is ready." Isabel told her politely, “Got it. I'll tell Roland myself. Why don’t you get back to it?” She knew that Rox was intimidated by Roland. It was probably a combination of his stoic temper as well as the usual power dynamic factor. Rox nodded and went downstairs. Isabel went down the corridor to Roland's study. She was about to knock on the door to announce her entry when she heard Roland's voice on the phone coming through the door, "Tell them that I’ll be there in person to sign to documents tomorrow at noon. "I have some