The little girl did not reject his embrace this time. She allowed her father to carry her around as she peered at him with her big eyes. Ben also watched the father and daughter while holding Liam in his arms. Odell soon noticed the brother and sister looking at him. He asked, “Why are you two staring at me?” Liam asked, “Daddy, why did you go into the female toilet?” Isabel blinked innocently and echoed, “Yeah, I heard the ladies inside call you a pervert.” Odell’s expression turned grim. “Quiet.” Isabel and Liam pursed their lips. They wisely abandoned the topic and secretly sighed a breath of relief. They were relieved that their father did not find their mother. Odell wore a glum expression as he went downstairs with the two of them. His mind, however, was still thinking about the familiar cry and the figure that ran past him. The cry was obviously Sylvia’s, and the figure he spotted highly resembled his presumedly dead wife. His gaze shifted and suddenly stopped wa
Sammy said in a small voice, “Forget about it. Not even all of you together can do anything about it.” One of her fanboys tapped the counter and said, “Come on. Other than the Carters, I’m not afraid of anyone in Westchester. Tell me what happened.” “You’re right. It’s him. Odell Carter. What are you going to do about it? Can you go teach him a lesson for me?” The young man was stunned, and so were the others. “No way. Are you sure it’s Odell Carter?” “I clearly remember he detests places like this, and I heard he’s been diving in Cloudy Heart Lake for months now to find his missing wife. Why would he be here?” Neither of her fanboys seemed to believe what she said, so Sammy raised her voice and explained, “Why should I lie about this? If you don’t believe me, go ask Bella or the other girls. They were there as well. They saw Odell Carter chase me into the toilet and stop me in one of the stalls.” Bella and the other girls were just beside them, so the men then turned to
The picture showed the female toilet of Lush Heaven, and Odell was standing at the side of the picture, staring at the row of toilet stalls. Although the picture only showed the side view, Tara recognized him at first glance. ‘Did he really chase some woman into the toilet?’ Tara’s face turned pale and anxiety rose. ‘Has he fallen for some other woman again? No, I got rid of Sylvia. I can’t just let some other woman snatch him away from me!’ …The next morning, Tara dressed up and went to Carter Tower. The security guards and reception recognized her, so she gained free access to the office. Tara got into the elevator and went straight up to the highest floor. Inside the spacious office, the man in a handsome black suit was behind the desk working his way through a stack of documents. The door opened, and he looked up to find Tara at the entrance. There was a hint of annoyance in his expression. Tara clearly knew he disliked being disturbed while working, but she cou
Tara wept. “Odell, are you in love with another woman?” Odell shut his eyes in annoyance. If Tara had not accompanied him in his darkest times, he would have called security to throw her out of the office. Luckily, he suppressed his irritation and explained, “No. The things on the internet are all fake. I’m not interested in some dancer.” “Then, why won’t you be with me? You have no idea how ugly things are online. Many dignitaries and influential figures of Westchester have even started to mock you and laugh at you. If we get together again, we will be able to clear all the rumors and scandals.” Odell’s frosty look remained. “I don’t care about all those, and you don’t have to either.” Cliff was already dealing with the situation. If he could just leave it for a few more days, the heat would cool down and people would eventually forget about it. Tara froze. She had purposely dressed herself up and cried her lungs out, yet he showed no intention of being with her. Could
He had a meeting to attend later in the afternoon. He had another glance at Tara and noticed a healthy glow on her face, so he planned to get up and go back to work. All of a sudden, Tara bolted up with a scream. Odell turned around to her, and she threw herself into his arms. She hugged him with her trembling arms and said, “Odell, I’m very scared.” Odell patted her back. “Did you have a nightmare?” “I don’t know why, but I dreamt of the baby we would have had. My stomach was big…and I fell down the stairs.” Odell frowned. “It’s over now. Don’t think about it anymore.” She started crying, “Odell, can you stay a little longer?” Odell remembered Sylvia pushing Tara down the stairs and causing the miscarriage. Back then, he was rather surprised that Tara had gotten pregnant after having sex with him just once. Sylvia was also pregnant then, and she was his legal wife, so he actually had a thought of making Tara abort the baby. However, the doctor had said that her body
The next day, at the Carter residence.Tara arrived as usual.She was also carrying two delicate boxes.After entering the living room, she bumped into Sebastian and Aunt Tonya.She changed her expression and showed them a smile. "Sebastian and Aunt Tonya, good morning."Sebastian replied, "Hello, Ms. Avery."Aunt Tonya simply snorted coldly and turned her head to the side, pretending not to see her.Tara secretly cussed at the woman in her heart, but she walked up to Aunt Tonya with a smile on her face."Aunt Tonya, these are gifts that I picked out for Isabel and Liam. Could you please help me take it to their room?" She handed over the boxes to Aunt Tonya.Aunt Tonya's face instantly went cold. "Tara Avery, what kind of tone is that? Do you consider yourself the master here?"'How dare she directly order me to do something?'Does she think I'm too old and stupid to understand her meaning?'Tara immediately put on an innocent expression. "That's not what I meant, Aunt Ton
Odell looked at Aunt Tonya coldly.Aunt Tonya shrank back, but she still said indignantly, "She clearly meant something else. She just wants to take Syl's place as the mistress of this mansion!"He continued to look at her coldly. "Aunt Tonya, didn't Sylvia tell you that Tara is a very important person to me?"Aunt Tonya choked.Odell said, "I'll let you off for Sylvia's sake this time, but if it happens again, you won't have to stay here anymore."Aunt Tonya's eyes widened. She was so angry that she wanted to leave immediately.However, Isabel and Liam were still so young. If she left too, how would they fight back against Tara in the future?She forced herself to swallow her anger and said, "Understood."Only then did Odell's expression ease up a little.Then, he took Tara upstairs.Aunt Tonya stood where she was as she watched their intimate figures, wanting nothing more than to go up to them and tear them apart.Sebastian sighed beside her and said, "Don't look, Tonya."
Aunt Tonya instantly turned ashen with anger.Tara quickly took two steps back and said, "Don't be angry, Aunt Tonya. I'll leave right now."Aunt Tonya choked in place.When Tara saw her about to explode with anger, she could not help but laugh. Then, she turned around and walked out....That night, in Lush Heaven.After Sherry got the news, she hurriedly went to Sylvia's room and said, "Syl, the person who was sent to follow Tara said that she went to several bridal dress stores today. It seems that she wants to book a dress for an engagement.""Oh, okay."Sherry observed how Sylvia merely continued to carve the wooden block indifferently and could not help but say, "Odell is going to become engaged to her. Why are you so calm? Do you really want her to get her way and marry him?"Sylvia looked at her and asked, "Sherry, do you think Melanie will show up when they get engaged?"Sherry was stunned for a moment before she grinned in understanding. "Oh, so you want to use this
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