Screech! The car screeched to an abrupt stop by the side of the street. Sylvia was startled. She then noticed the gloomy gaze that Odell shot at her. “Sylvia, do you really think I should be spending time with her? Or do you think that I’m joking about wanting to marry you again?” He had already decided to marry her again. Why would she think that he would have an affair with another woman? How bad of an image did she have of him? His expression turned bitter, the frustration even causing the veins on his forehead to pop out. He looked so grim that it was really terrifying. Sylvia shrunk back in fear. “No, I didn’t…” He cupped her face and asked, “Then what’s with that expression on your face just now?” Sylvia tightened her lips, not daring to say a word. Odell had been so angry that he had cupped her face and squeezed it hard before withdrawing his hand. After letting her go, he sat back down in the driver’s seat and said in an annoyed tone of voice, “Sit tight.”
Madam Carter then happily said, “Great! This is great!” Isabel and Liam huddled together and saw the picture on the papers. Isabel curiously asked, “Brother, what’s this? Why did Baddie take a picture with mommy?” “This means Daddy and Mommy are married. They are now husband and wife.” “Husband and wife? You mean like a hubby and wifey?” “Yeah.” Isabel pouted. Liam stroked her head and said with a smile, “Sis, we don’t have to be separated from mommy anymore.” Isabel immediately asked, “Then can we sleep with Mommy?” “Yes.” “This is great!” …The two little rascals’ cheers and Madam Carter’s laughter lit up the atmosphere in the living room. Sylvia did not know what to feel anymore. Happy? Depressed? At the same time, she sensed Odell’s gaze on her. He was a little further away, with his brows slightly furrowed even as his lips curled into a smile. Sylvia averted his gaze and turned her attention back to the kids. Odell’s face fell, but it no longer mat
Sylvia was frozen to the spot. She then said, “There’s no one here. We can just talk about it here.” Odell sensed the caution on her look. He frowned and asked, “Edmund said you slept on the streets before. What does that mean?” Sylvia had not expected this question to come from Odell. Shifting her gaze, she said, “It’s nothing. It’s in the past now, I’ve already forgotten about it.” She did not want to relive the bitter memories. “Why did you end up on the streets?” he asked. She refused to answer. Odell approached her and cupped her cheeks again to forcibly look intently into her eyes and said, “Answer me.” The tone of his voice did not allow for her to refuse. Feeling upset, Sylvia said, “Because I didn’t have money.” “How was that possible?” Sylvia laughed bitterly. “Have you forgotten? You took everything from me when you divorced me back then.” Odell frowned. Back then, Sylvia had pushed Tara down the stairs which had resulted in her permanent infertil
Sylvia reached her house without even realizing it. Aunt Tonya was already asleep but had kept the lights on for her. There were even some of her favorite pastries left on the table. Sylvia smiled. She sat down and enjoyed the pastries. Eating was an effective way to help put her bitter memories aside. She was no longer her old self. She never wanted to live through those dreadful nights again and she would never let anyone else hurt her again.…Back at Carter Mansion, Odell was sitting at the balcony in his room. His towering figure stood in front of the rail as he looked towards Sylvia’s place through a pair of binoculars. A while later, his phone rang. The call was from Cliff. He answered the phone and heard Cliff say, “Sir, what I just found out was that after you kicked Ms. Ross out, she had gone back to her family but the Rosses did not take her in. I also found out that the money her mother had left for her had been taken away by her biological father and step
There were also several bodyguards who had come to help Sylvia move. Aunt Tonya guided them inside. “Please follow me. I’ll take you upstairs.” She then led the bodyguards to the second floor. Sylvia wanted to help with the moving but Madam Carter held her back. She said with a smile, “Don’t worry. They are all strong men, Tonya won’t have to do a thing.” After that, Sylvia had a glance outside the gate and saw a middle-aged woman dressed in professional attire with two metallic boxes in her hands. Madam Carter then said to Sylvia, “She’s my personal makeup artist who has been working for me for many years now. She’s good. So get changed and I’ll tell her to put on some makeup for you. Then, we can go back to the mansion.” Baffled, Sylvia asked, “Grandmother, what’s the occasion?” Madam Carter said, “You are moving back. Today marks the day that you will be living with Odell again. I have to make it a little more official and grand.” Isabel also cheered delightfully.
Sylvia laughed helplessly.Even during her first marriage with Odell, she had never slept in such a colorful room before. However, all that was in the past so it was no longer necessary for her to reminisce about it. After the bodyguards had placed and arranged all her clothes into the closet, Sylvia told them to get some rest. She then continued to tidy up the rest without asking any of the maids to help. She did not mix her clothes with Odell’s. Instead, she found two empty cabinets and placed all her stuff inside. When she was done with tidying up, she took the kids to Aunt Tonya. Aunt Tonya’s room was located on the first floor, which was just next door to Madam Carter’s. The room had specially been prepared for her because the decor and arrangement of the furniture had all been done according to Aunt Tonya’ preferences. When Sylvia came downstairs to check on Aunt Tonya, she found her happily chatting with Madam Carter. Seeing Aunt Tonya’s happy smile relieved her
She got up and took Isabel into her arms before reaching out to Liam. “Liam, come on. Let’s go play in the room.” Just as Liam reached out to hold his mother’s hand, he found himself being lifted up by Odell single-handedly. Odell carried the boy in his arms and said to Sylvia with a smile, “I have some time. Let’s go play.” Before Sylvia could say a word, Odell was already walking towards the kids’ room with Liam in his arms.Sylvia blinked blankly for several seconds before she followed both father and son with Isabel in her arms.Other than the sleeping area, Isabel and Liam’s room had a designated space for them to play where all kinds of toys were available. Sylvia asked Isabel and Liam, “What do you guys want to play?” Liam said, “Anything.” Isabel scanned the room with her big round eyes and said, “Let’s play Princess Racer! The loser will have to take one flick on the nose!” Sylvia had played this game with them before. “Okay.” They then turned their attention
Immediately after the flick, she quickly moved back to her spot. Obviously, there had been multiple intimate interactions between Sylvia and Odell before this. In fact, they had even had sex before. However, this little flick was unlike any of the others. Her heart raced and her face blushed. Fortunately, the two little kids had not noticed her unusual reaction. Isabel then yelled out, “Let’s continue!” As she picked up the controller, she said to Sylvia and Liam, “Mommy, Brother, don’t hold back against the meanie!” Sylvia smiled. “Okay!” Liam nodded and hummed a reply. The little girl then turned to Odell and raised her chubby face to provoke him. “Hehe, Baddie. You are finished. Hmph!” Odell simply smiled at the girl before sneaking a glance at Sylvia. Isabel then shouted, “LET’S GO!” The four racers on the screen started racing again as they dashed away from the starting line. Isabel’s red car and Liam’s blue car secured the first and the second place like bef
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