It was windy at Cloudy Heart Lake, yet there was a brightly lit yacht parked at the side. Due to the cold weather, only a few souls would pass this place. Edmund and several of his men were among the few. Ned, Harry, and Lloyd had thick puffer jackets on with their hands pocketed as they clumped together due to the cold. Edmund stood further away from them, wearing only a handsome suit coupled with a giant coat and a pair of sparkly leather shoes. His towering figure stood straight as a rock as he gazed further away. Several black MPVs drove in from the freeway and stopped before him. The lights from the car shone directly on his face. A group of more than twenty well-trained bodyguards came down from the cars. Edmund narrowed his eyes due to the brightness and also the sudden appearance of these people. Ned, Harry, and Lloyd, who were squatting down further away, also got up and went over. It was then that a black sports car roared in from further away. It shuttled t
Confused and baffled, Sylvia blurted, “Odell, what are you doing?” She wanted to draw distance from him as she voiced her question, but Odell curled his hand around her waist before she could. Before she knew it, she was lifted up over his shoulder like a sack of grain. Sylvia screamed, “Odell, what the hell is wrong with you? Put me down!” He simply carried her away without giving her an answer. Edmund and the bodyguards fought. He was able to take down a few but was badly outnumbered. A few moments of struggling later, he was kicked in the shin and forced onto his knees. While kneeling on the ground, he saw through the bodyguards’ shifting legs that Odell had taken Sylvia away. He furiously punched the ground and shouted, “You motherf*cker! Odell Carter, this is not the end! I will get you!” …Sylvia was thrown into the car. Before she knew it, Odell was already in the driver’s seat, starting the car. The door was locked from the driver’s side, so she was unable to
His intimidating pressure enveloped her whole. Sylvia was pinned to her wall. Her hands were sandwiched between her chest, and no matter how she tried, she failed to gain enough strength to break free. She was forced to obey and could not resist him at all. A while had passed, and only then did he free her lips. Sylvia gasped strongly for a mouthful of air. She then pushed him away and shouted, “Why did you bring me here?! Let me go!” She gave her fullest in pushing him away, but his mountain-like figure did not budge at all. Sylvia almost ran out of options. The last resort was to sneak out under his arm, but he grabbed her waist and hugged her tightly to his chest, so her face was pressed against his broad chest. Things started to get steamy. She looked up at him, but due to the dark surroundings, she was denied a clear look at his face. Odell finally spoke, “Can’t remember what I said?” The threat between the lines gave her chills. Sylvia shrunk a little and as
Sylvia sighed a breath of relief as she pursed her lips. She waited for him to release her before she would tell him to get out. However, in the next second, Odell tightened his grip. Sylvia bumped into his chest, and her forehead even hit his chin. Then, his deep voice clearly entered her ears saying, “Yes, I have fallen for you.” Awestruck, Sylvia widened her eyes in disbelief. Her mind went black and her body froze. She looked up to him with an inconceivable look and vaguely saw him curl his thin lips. He was also looking down into her eyes with the deepest gaze. Her suffocating chest suddenly grew restless, and her heartbeat rose. She tried her best to fight the discomfort and asked, “Odell, what are you talking about? Is this a joke?” Odell lifted her chin with his strong hand and said in his deep voice, “I never joke.” His rigid expression was right in front of her face. She could even feel his coolness when he spoke. Sylvia was stunned for a few seconds before
Half an hour later, the sports car screeched to a stop in front of Sylvia’s house. Sylvia reached out to the handle and tried to get off, but the door remained locked, so she could not open it. Odell’s deep voice then sounded in her ears. “Mark my words. If I find you seeing Edmund again, you will comprehend the consequences.” As his voice subsided, the door was unlocked. Sylvia simply ran out of the car without giving him a reply. Then, she saw her own car parked in front of the yard. She had driven it to Cloudy Heart Lake earlier, and it seemed like after Odell abducted her, his men had driven it back.She only had one glance at the car before she ran into the house and locked the door tightly. Back in the sports car, Odell finally averted his gaze after Sylvia slammed the door shut. He had a glance at the rearview mirror. He spotted some blood stains on his lower lips, where Sylvia had bitten him earlier. ‘That woman’s teeth are really sharp.’ He curled his thin
Tara tossed a tumbler at where Edmund sat earlier. ‘You’re just some low-life gangster. What gives you the right to order me around?!’ What irritated her more was that despite Edmund being a gangster, he did not rape Sylvia after the first meeting. Instead, he went through all the effort of preparing the yacht to confess to that woman. It would have been fine if it was just a simple confession, but Odell was involved. Tara believed Sylvia must have set this up. ‘It’s been a few years since then, and this bitch has gotten better at toying with men.’ The thought of Odell taking Sylvia away from Edmund upset Tara. Her chest started to hurt. She tossed everything on the table and shouted, “You bitch, I won’t let you succeed! You couldn’t beat me before and you will never beat me now!” …Sylvia came home to take a bath. She had to wash her face with cold water a few times to calm herself down before she headed to bed. It was already midnight when she finally lay down. She
Sylvia was speechless for a while. Annoyed, she argued, “You are also still awake.” “I just finished my work.” Sylvia pursed her lips as she did not want to know what he did. “Say something.” “Mm-hmm…” “Go to sleep.” Just when Sylvia wanted to put her phone away, another text came in. “Reply.” Sylvia gasped frustratedly and simply typed the same reply as before. The chat finally went quiet. With the phone away, Sylvia rolled around her bed out of frustration but still could not doze off. She rolled around for an hour or so until she finally fell asleep. When she opened her eyes again, her room was already basking in the sunlight. Isabel and Liam were tiny balls of cotton jackets as they sat on both sides of the bed, staring at her sleepy face. Isabel threw herself into Sylvia’s arms. “Mommy, you’re awake!” Her adorable voice was the best wake-up call. It even eased the lingering frustration she had from last night. She sat herself up and hugged Liam in her
Sylvia held her frustration back and said, “No. I still have paintings to finish.” Odell went quiet. “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.” “Mm-hmm.” His voice sounded a lot softer, but it did not stop Sylvia from hanging up. Right when Odell wanted to put his phone away, his screen lit up. It was a call from Tara. His brows furrowed a little before he answered the call. Tara’s soft voice echoed in his ears. “Odell, are you here yet? I’m ready.” Odell immediately remembered that he had promised to go out with her tonight. “I’m on my way.” “Okay.” …Late at night, when the shops and malls were closed, the streets were lit up only by the street lamps. A black sports car sprinted out of the wealthy district and headed towards Lake Victoria Villa. Tara looked at him with a heavy heart. “Odell, aren't you going to stay tonight?” “No. I have something to do back in the office.” “Okay.” Her face fell. Odell raised his arms around her for a hug. He whispe
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