"..." Sylvia turned to look suspiciously at what the source of the crowd’s chatter was and noticed that Odell was walking towards her. He was wearing the same black shirt from this morning. Only this time, he also had a long overcoat over it since it was getting cold. His defined figure was very eye-catching to this crowd. Even the other good-looking fathers appeared to be quite ordinary when put in contrast to this dashing man who had appeared among them. He smiled as he walked toward her. It was a very subtle smile, but it had this strange effect of adding to his charm. Some of the mothers who were nearby covered their mouths as they gasped and fawned over him. Sylvia frowned and turned her away without looking at him. Odell appeared behind her. He inquired nonchalantly, "Where have you been all day today?" “None of your business.” Then, the school bell rang and the door opened. A group of children emerged in an orderly manner. Shortly after
The uncomfortable silence lasted until they reached the gates of Odell’s house. Odell got out of the car and went to carry the sleeping Isabel in his arms. Sylvia, meanwhile, carried Liam out of the car. They walked into the house together and went to the children’s bedroom, the one that Sylvia usually slept in with them. Upon entering, Sylvia placed Liam on the bed and turned to Odell, “Just put Isabel down, I'll take care of them." Odell did not answer. He deftly put Isabel on the bed, before going to the dresser where he found two sets of pajamas. Sylvia was bewildered by this. She watched as he promptly removed Isabel's little boots, coat, and trousers, all in an orderly fashion, and proceeded to put her in one of the pajama sets. Then, he did the same with Liam, taking off his shoes and clothes before putting on the pajamas for him. In no time, both siblings had been placed in the middle of the bed, and carefully covered with the quilt. He did all of
After waking up and getting dressed, she took Isabel and Liam to the living room. Odell was already waiting for them on the living room couch. Unlike his usual suit and dress pants combo, he was dressed very casually today. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt paired with a pair of fitted pants. His figure was lean and fit as usual, and the casual outfit did nothing to diminish his handsome looks. However, it did make him look a little less intimidating than usual. "Morning." He turned to Sylvia and greeted them with a quick smile. A very charming smile. Sylvia ignored him and was about to take the two children to the dining table when Isabel suddenly greeted, "Morning, Baddie.” Sylvia looked over suspiciously. She noticed that Isabel’s eyes were fixed on Odell, as if she had been enchanted by his look today. Sylvia’s lips twitched involuntarily when she noticed this, and she quickly tapped Isabel’s head. Isabel complained, "Mommy, why are you hitti
“Sure.” Isabel pouted and answered in a slightly offended tone, “Of course I know to not go into the water, I’m not stupid.” After that, she sat down by the creek with Liam. Picking up a net, they threw it into the water, hoping to catch something with it. Meanwhile, Odell pitched the tent for them. Seeing that the children were being very well-behaved, Sylvia decided to help Odell with the setup. The tent was ready in no time. Sylvia threw the blanket and pillows that she brought into the tent. Then, she sat under the tent and watched over Isabel and Liam. Liam was sitting quietly, without moving a muscle. Beside him, Isabel was ceaselessly throwing the net into the creek before pulling it back in again, her hands constantly moving the entire time. It was around this time that the sun began to rise from behind the hill opposite them. Beholding the majestic scene, Sylvia felt as if she was looking at an oil painting. As the sun rose, the rays of sunlight
It was a tug-of-war competition between all the participating families. Since there were exactly six groups of families at the scene, it would be played out in an elimination format. Each family would draw lots to see who they would be matched up against, and the winners of each matchup would advance to the next round. This meant it would be a best-of-six, then a best-of-three before moving onto the grand final. The winners would get a mermaid doll. The mermaid dolls were being displayed on a table. Each doll had been delicately made, depicting a chubby and adorable little mermaid. Most of the fathers in the participating families were large and burly men. Sylvia had been separated from Odell while accompanying Isabel and Liam as they went around the area. This meant it was just the three of them at the moment. There was a chance they would not even get past the first round. Since Isabel was very eager about the competition, Sylvia did not want to ruin the occas
“Hahaha…” They began laughing heartily upon seeing Isabel’s confident taunts. Part of it was because they were charmed by how cute she was, but their laughter was also mixed with some ridicule. That was no surprise, considering how Isabel and Liam were a pair of four-year-olds, while both Sylvia and Odell looked fairly skinny. One thing they had to admit was that this was a rather good-looking family. Isabel was so angered by this that she turned around and cried out to Sylvia and Odell, "Mummy, Baddie, we have to show them what we’re capable of!” Sylvia answered meekly, lacking the confidence to back up Isabel’s talk, "Okay." Odell smirked, “Got it.” Shortly after that, upon the referee's signal, they all picked up the rope. Then, the whistle sounded. The rope was jerked into a straight line in an instant. Although Sylvia was not very confident about their chances this round, she gave it her all for Isabel’s sake. Within seconds, she felt the rope be
Upon wearing the dress, Isabel now looked like a chubby little mermaid. After coming out of the locker room, Isabel ran over to Liam and immediately began to ask, "Brother, how do I look?” Liam stroked the hair of her head and complimented her in a very polite manner, “You look good." "Hey, let’s go to the hot spring then.” The two of them slowly lowered themselves into the hot spring, holding hands the entire time. Sylvia followed after them. When she walked past Odell, she suddenly found her arm being tugged by him. Sylvia immediately pulled her arm back and scowled at him. He cautioned softly, “Careful, it’s slippery. Be careful when you go down and make sure you don’t fall.” Sylvia ignored him. She was not an idiot nor was she blind, of course she could tell that it was slippery. She went to the edge of the hot spring. Just as she nervously raised her right foot and prepared to step in, her left foot suddenly slipped on the surface of the slippery
Sylvia’s figure was reflected in Odell’s obsidian eyes. He studied her for a few seconds before suggesting, “Let's talk outside.” “Alright.” With Isabel and Liam sleeping in here, this was not an ideal location to discuss their divorce. They went to the balcony of the next bedroom. There was a table and chairs on the balcony. Several bottles of beer and a box of cigarettes could be seen on the table. Sylvia sat across from Odell. He picked up a bottle of beer and offered, "Would you like a drink?" Sylvia was not a fan of liquor. More importantly, she was not in the mood to share a drink with him so she turned down the offer, "I don't drink." Without saying anything, Odell reached for a bottle of beer and poured it into a glass. Then, he leaned back in his chair, picked up the glass of beer, and drank cheerfully and casually. All the while, he did not speak. Sylvia could not stand it anymore and repeated the question, "Odell, it’s been three days, have y
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