Sylvia took a deep breath and emphasized, “Neither of us pushed Grandmother down the hill. We were just chatting on the hill!” Odell grasped her face tightly. With a scornful look on his face, he said, “After so many years, I really thought you had changed. I didn’t think that you would still be the same disgusting liar.” Sylvia was disheartened. Her hands and legs were cold but her heart had become even colder.She tightened her lips and refused to argue anymore. Seeing that her face had suddenly turned ashen, he tightened the grip on her face and said, “Why the silence? Where’s all the excuses?” Sylvia remained silent but her eyes were looking at him blankly, as if there was no more life in her gaze. Odell suddenly felt irritated. Again, he gripped her face tighter and shouted, “Speak!” Sylvia stayed quiet. He threatened her again. “Speak, or I’ll f*ck you here again!”Sylvia finally spoke but without emotion, like a soulless robot. “I pushed Grandmother down the hill
The simplest outcome would be sending Sylvia into prison and letting the prison do the job of torturing her. Melanie exclaimed happily, “That’s great. As long as that b*tch is behind bars, she won’t be able to snatch Odell from you!” …The black SUV drove through the night for almost 20 minutes before it stopped in front of the mansion, the old Carter Mansion. The familiar view of the entrance caused Sylvia to clench her fists tightly. The driver and the bodyguards got out and opened the door for Odell. “Get out,” he said in a tone of voice that brooked no objection.Sylvia pulled her jacket tighter around her and got out of the car as ordered. The other two cars who had followed them here also stopped and all the bodyguards came out. Odell had a glance at the trunk and said with disgust, “Bring him out.” Two bodyguards then opened the trunk and pulled Edmund out. There was street light by the road and when he was taken out, Sylvia noticed his bruised forehead. Hi
Sylvia wanted to stop the bodyguards but she was unable to break free from Odell’s grasp even though she mustered all of her strength. As the car drove away, she turned around and bit Odell on the shoulder. Odell was only wearing a simple shirt and she managed to bite down hard on his flesh. However, the man’s rigid body did not even budge. After a while, she looked up and shot a furious glare at him. He was also looking at her but his eyes lacked warmth, as if he was a vicious monster who struck fear into people’s hearts. At other times, Sylvia might be scared of him but now, all she had was hate for him. She yelled, “Odell, you stupid idiot! All you know is how to f*ck around—” He suddenly grabbed her face and silenced her. Sylvia’s words were stuck in her throat. Since she was unable to scold him, she aimed a glare at him that was as sharp as knives.Odell looked at her wide eyes and his lips curled into a grin. “That’s right. If I wasn’t stupid, why would I fall
The two bodyguards that guarded the living room followed her as she started to move around. Sylvia had a glance at the entrance and headed to the yard for a walk. The two bodyguards followed her like her shadow. When she was tired of walking, she went back inside to seek other entertainment. She turned on the television, only to find that it was not connected to the Internet and had no signal.Fortunately, there were some carving tools and wood pieces that she had previously left behind in her room. She picked up the wood piece and quietly started carving as she sat on the floor. …Meanwhile in a luxurious ward in Westchester Hospital, Madam Carter was bedridden with a respirator over her face. Her eyes were tightly shut and there were no signs of her waking up anytime soon. Odell’s tall and rigid figure sat beside the bed. He had come to the hospital before dawn and had been sitting beside his grandmother ever since. Suddenly, there was a careful knock at the door.
His face was cold and his eyes were frigid and stern as he stared at Sylvia who was trying to escape.Sylvia’s legs trembled, causing her to almost lose her balance and fall. The bodyguard who had received a kick to the crotch finally came over. Sylvia remained hanging at top of the door, feeling undecided as to whether she should jump out or jump back in. An awkward feeling began to set in on the atmosphere. Moments later, Odell got out of the car and approached her. His towering figure placed him almost at the same eye level as Sylvia despite her being on the door. He shot a gloomy gaze at her and said, “Are you coming down, or are you waiting for me to give you a hand?” He stood in front of Sylvia as he gave her the warning but the moment he finished speaking, he moved his slender leg forward as if to kick the door open and bring her down. Sylvia bit the bullet and jumped forward. The moment her feet landed on the ground, she ran. Unfortunately, before she could gai
However, she could not just allow him to ravage her whenever he wanted. She was a person, a living person, not a pet or a mistress that he kept in a house. …The next morning, Sylvia woke up as usual. She went to the kitchen to make herself some food, and then she ate a few cloves of raw garlic and a few pieces of onions. The stench of garlic and onion lingered in her mouth which lasted until evening. However, even after midnight, Odell was nowhere to be found. Sylvia glanced outside the door. The bodyguards were still there watching the gate yet there were no signs of any car arriving. She dared not lower her guard though. She refused to brush her teeth and went to bed in the most conservative pajamas that she owned. The next morning, the garlicky stench in her mouth assaulted her nose and forced her to wake up. She immediately brushed her teeth twice to remove the stench. As a precaution against Odell, she ate some garlic and onion again that afternoon, the sme
‘Prepare, my *ss!’ Sylvia tried to push him away but he wrapped his hand around her neck and kissed her. She was once again silenced by his forceful kiss, all the while wishing she could bite him to death! Moments later, Odell freed her and similar to before, he got up and got dressed. While he was still getting dressed, Sylvia seized the moment to ask, “Odell, I want to see Isabel and Liam.” “You are not worthy of them,” he said coldly, the disgust showing on his face. Sylvia clenched her fists. “They’ll be worried if they don’t see me.” “You don’t have to worry about that. I’ve talked to them. They won’t be seeing you for a while.” “Why? What did you tell them?” Odell looked at her with a blank gaze. “You don’t need to know.” Sylvia was speechless. Odell soon buttoned up his shirt. Seeing her looking angry and gnashing her teeth silently somehow put a delighted grin on his face. He then left the room without saying anything else. Sylvia was left alone, feeli
He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. “Are you being obedient today just because of them?” Sylvia could not tell if he was happy or unhappy about this at the moment. After considering his question, she answered, “Not really.” Odell continued staring at her with a profound look on his face. Sylvia continued, “Can you let me see them?” “No.” His answer was resolute. Sylvia’s face fell but at the very next moment, she curved her lips into a smile. “Then can I video-call them or just simply call them?” “No.” His tone remained resolute as before. Sylvia was disheartened. Then, with a strong gulp, she asked, “Then can you tell me how they have been doing lately?” If he would not allow her to see them, he could at least tell her how they were doing. Odell pinched her chin and said with a smile, “A mother of such low character like you is not worthy of knowing how her kids are doing.” Almost instinctively, Sylvia swung a slap at his face, but he was faster. Before
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