They contacted the paparazzi in advance for tonight’s dinner party.As long as Roland appeared with Isabel, photos of them in the same frame would be published online.The discussions that Roland had previously suppressed would rise again and definitely be fiercer than before.Rockwell Corporation’s shares, which had just stabilized slightly, would certainly fall again.At that time, Decker and Master Rockwell, along with the other shareholders, would force Roland to abdicate!Decker was still frowning.Five years ago, Isabel was devoted to him. She was gentle, intelligent, simple-minded, and intellectual. She did not care about fame and fortune.Now, she was bright, smart, and cunning. She seemed to have all sorts of thoughts. However, she seemed to both care and not care about fame and fortune.He really could not guess if she would take Clarice’s bait and make Roland take her to the dinner party tonight.Seeing how conflicted Decker was, Master Rockwell grew impatient and l
Roland did not say anything.Soon, the car stopped at the hotel entrance.The bellboy at the entrance came forward to open the car door for them.After getting out of the car, Roland took Isabel’s hand and walked in.The staff guarding the entrance of the venue most likely knew from the Internet that Isabel and Roland were together. When they saw her and Roland coming, they did not ask her for an invitation and simply stepped to the side, letting them go straight in.Many people had already arrived at the venue at that point.Isabel had only met Master Rockwell, Decker, Isabel, and a few other familiar-looking senior shareholders of Rockwell Corporation. She did not know anyone else.When Roland and she came in, those people stopped talking and looked at them. Their eyes were filled with mockery and ridicule.No one came forward to greet them.Only Clarice came up while holding Decker’s arm.Decker smiled and looked at Isabel. His eyes were slightly mocking as he sized her up
Isabel pouted. “I want wine.”Roland’s expression was stern. “Drink the juice first.”Fine.Isabel reluctantly took two gulps of juice. Her empty stomach was filled, making her feel much better.Now that she was no longer hungry, she stopped munching on the toast and looked at the table of drinks behind Roland.Roland pursed his lips and brought her a glass of red wine.Isabel smiled and drank the wine immediately.The others saw this scene.The expressions of the Rockwell relatives surrounding Master Rockwell and Decker all turned cold.“He’s the young master of the Rockwells and the largest shareholder of Rockwell Corporation, but he’s completely wrapped around the finger of a woman from the entertainment industry. How embarrassing.”“This woman is very clever. I wonder how she coaxed Roland into being so considerate.”“It must be dirty tricks.”...Although Master Rockwell was unhappy with Roland’s action of pouring wine for Isabel, his lips also curled when he listened
Isabel stared back at Roland before answering the phone. She immediately heard Amanda’s frantic voice, “Isabel, are you at a dinner party with Roland right now?” Isabel cocked an eyebrow and asked, “Yeah, why?” “There are people sneaking pictures of you two together! You should get out of there as quickly as you can. They are posting pictures of you and Roland online right now. Those ridiculous discussions that you managed to squash last week are back up on the trending charts again!” Isabel scowled. So, this was why Clarice texted her and hinted at her to bring Roland here. This was the plot she had weaved the entire time. She answered with a brisk smile, “Don’t worry about a thing, Amanda. Something spicy is coming up later tonight, so make sure you stay tuned.” "Huh? What do you mean by that?” "You'll find out soon enough." Without bothering to elaborate, Isabel hung up. While Roland was still in the middle of his phone call, he looked at Isabel with a
One of them, who seemed like a rather mannered man nearing his forties, expressed in a scornful voice, “Roland, have you seen what people are saying about her? They’re starting to make fun of you as well because you’ve been getting involved with her. What are you even thinking? Why are you getting associated with a woman with no self-respect who messes around in the entertainment circle?” Immediately afterward, his other relatives began to chatter as well, “Look what happened to Rockwell Corporation's stock prices now. Is this what you want? Are you going to ruin our family business for a woman like her?” One of them glared at Isabel with an offended look as if she was the carrier of a deadly disease. His eyes were stark with contempt and disgust. “How dare some wench like you try to slither into our family?! Don’t even think about ever becoming Madam Rockwell! I’ll have you know that even if Roland stubbornly insists on being with you, none of us will ever acknowledge your statu
Everyone seemed to have completely forgotten about tormenting Isabel and Roland as they crowded toward the entrance as well. Isabel calmly took Roland’s hand and unhurriedly paced toward the entrance. With that, a sizeable crowd formed by the entrance. Isabel immediately recognized her parents as well as her eldest brother stepping into the bright hall. They were escorted by the group of Master Rockwell, Decker, and many others. Odell was dressed in a black suit. Even at his age, he still stood a head taller than most people and exuded a fine, elegant air about him. Sylvia walked next to him, dressed in a beautiful dress with a shawl thrown around her. She adorned herself only in simple, non-flashy jewelry, but even so, it did little to conceal the dignified air that set her apart from any other woman present at the scene. Liam was dressed in a suit as well. He was lean, tall, and even intimidating due to the stoic expression he wore on his face constantly. Several me
Master Rockwell turned as pale as a sheet of paper while he shifted his attention back on forth between the expressions of Odell, Sylvia, and Isabel. His lips seemed to quiver like he had something to say, but no words were produced from him. Clarice had turned so white that it looked like she was going to faint. Her eyes were wide with disbelief. How could this be? Isabel Ross, the third-rate actor who should never deserve a place in the spotlight was the daughter of the chairman of the Carters of Westchester?! Decker was stiff and quaking all over, his face colored entirely with shock and disbelief. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever thought that the same woman he had once slapped and abandoned when he decided to get with the Houstons to climb up the social ladder was the daughter of the Carters. Everybody else was extremely silent. The venue turned into a graveyard in the dead of the night in an instant. Even the two older shareholders, who were supportive of Roland
A stiff silence hung over them. Then, Isabel poked Odell's arm. "Dad, don't be angry." Odell made a face and ignored her. Isabel poked at Sylvia this time. While Sylvia took a deep breath, she could relate to how Odell was feeling. Even now, she was rather upset about the things she read online, and what people were saying about her dear daughter. "Isabel, your father and I have talked about this and decided that we are fine with you continuing your career as an actress, but only on the condition that you cannot keep hiding the fact that you are our daughter. If you are not okay with that, you’ll have to come home and take over the family businesses instead.” Sylvia’s tone was stout. Isabel was slightly troubled to hear this. Still, she understood that they were deeply bothered by what people were saying online about her. After a while, she answered, “Alright, I understand.” They sat in silence together for a while again until Liam, who was in the middle row,
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