By the time breakfast was over, every single plate and bowl on the table was empty.Covering her bulging stomach with her hands, Isabel cried out, "Mommy, I think I ate too much."Helplessly, Sylvia pursed her lips and was just about to get up to get some digestive enzyme tablets when Odell said, "Where are the tablets? I'll go get them."As he spoke, he stood up and placed Isabel in her arms.Sylvia said, "It's in the medicine box under the cabinet over there."She pointed in the direction of the living room.Odell quickly went over and brought out a bottle of digestive enzyme tablets.Sylvia took two tablets and placed them in the little girl's mouth, gently saying, "Chew them slowly."The girl nodded and began to chew.Sylvia looked at Liam. "What about you? Do you feel bloated?"With a serious look on his face, Liam pursed his mouth and said, "No."Sylvia looked at his stomach.His shirt seemed to be bulging out as well, yet he had said 'no'?Holding back a smile, Sylv
Sure enough, Odell came back in the evening before it got dark.He was dressed in a suit with a long black coat over it, which complemented his tall and imposing figure.He had only just stepped inside when Isabel came running up to him."Baddie, you're back!"Odell picked her up and said to Liam, who was reading a book in the yard, "It's cold. Come inside to read."Liam did not say anything but obediently put away the book and followed him in.They would be having pizza for dinner.At that moment, Sylvia was sitting at the table with Aunt Tonya, making the dough.They both looked up when they saw the father and children come in from outside.Odell smiled at her and quickly walked to the table. Then, he placed the box that he had been carrying in his other hand on the table. "I bought some snacks along the way. You should eat them while they're hot."Through the box, Sylvia could smell the fragrance coming from inside.She pursed her lips. "Okay."Seeing that Isabel was eye
Sylvia pretended that she was unaware that she had been leaning against him and asked, "Where are Isabel and Liam?"Odell pursed his lips. "Aunt Tonya and Sebastian carried them back to their room to rest."Sylvia hummed in reply and opened the door to get out of the car.A gust of cold wind suddenly blew, making her shiver.Just as she was about to move forward, there was a sudden weight on her shoulders, and she found that a large and warm men's coat had been draped over her shoulders.Sylvia stiffened.Odell tapped her forehead. "What are you spacing out for?"She ignored him and quickly walked inside.She stopped when she reached the living room.Odell followed her in.He was only wearing a thin woolen shirt and pants, but his figure was straight and upright as usual.Sylvia raised her hand to take his coat off and return it to him.However, he grabbed the collar of the coat.The coat was already oversized on Sylvia's body.When he pulled the coat, she was wrapped in
Sylvia wanted to refuse, but before she could, Isabel had already pulled open the car door and climbed in.Thus, she had no choice but to take Liam and sit inside as well.The little girl sat in Odell's arms.Sylvia also took Liam into her arms as she sat beside Odell.Odell said, "Drive to the preschool first."The driver responded and started the car.In less than ten minutes, the car stopped outside the preschool.Sylvia and Odell accompanied the children out of the car and watched them enter the school grounds before turning around and returning to the car.She sat at a distance from him.After less than ten minutes, the car stopped in front of the Art Academy.Sylvia turned to get out.Suddenly, there was an iron grip on her wrist pulling her until she was turned around and pressed against a broad chest.She looked up in annoyance.In the next second, the man's handsome face came closer to her.Her lips were soon covered by his.The man’s breath dominantly filled he
Sylvia immediately turned around and went downstairs to a street next to the Art Academy.It was the end of school hours, so most of the snack bars were occupied by students.Sylvia came to a small but cozy restaurant.The owner was very welcoming and asked her what she wanted to eat as soon as she entered.She ordered a main and two sides before going inside, intending to sit down at the innermost window seat.However, before she could do that, she saw that someone was already sitting there.That person was Thomas Carter.What was even more embarrassing was that the moment she saw him, he also looked up and spotted her.His eyes were clear and cold as usual, but his lips were curled up in a shallow smile."...Hi." Sylvia smiled stiffly.Thomas asked, "Did you come here to get take-out?"Sylvia's eyes twitched. She was just about to look for an excuse to bluff her way through when the boss brought her order over and asked with a smile, "Your order is ready, Miss. Where would
In the evening.Sylvia's two classes were successfully completed.The students were very enthusiastic, and she talked to them for a while before returning to the faculty building with her backpack.She went up the stairs and soon arrived at her office.The door was unlocked, so she pressed the handle and pushed it open.The next thing she saw was a man leaning on her desk.He was dressed in a suit as he stood there in a languid and casual manner. However, his aura was so cold that no one would have dared to approach him.Sylvia was startled. "Odell? What are you doing here?"With one hand, Odell toyed with one of her brushes as he looked at her. "Nothing, really. I just came to see you."Sylvia frowned. "This is my office. Please don't come here in the future. It won’t be good if other people see you."Odell's expression immediately turned cold. "Why would it be bad?"His voice was dark as if he was implying something.Sylvia was momentarily confused before giving her answe
Her whole face looked very charming.Odell's throat bobbed.Not waiting for Sylvia to catch her breath, he cupped her face and kissed her again.Sylvia was speechless.'This b*stard!'When he finally let her go again, she quickly took a few steps back and yelled at him, "Odell Carter, did you take the wrong medication today?"Odell merely smirked seductively as he looked at her.Secretly calling him a lunatic in her mind, she picked her backpack up and moved to walk outside.With his long legs, Odell quickly caught up with her.No matter how fast she walked, he followed along beside her.In the end, she had to jog away.She ran to the parking lot, heading straight for her parking spot, and took her keys out to unlock the car door.Just then, the sound of the car door being pulled open came from the other side.Sylvia looked up and saw that the man was already sitting on the passenger side, smirking at her.At this point, she could not kick him out again.She glared at hi
Odell frowned. "Did your mom not go to pick you up?"He had known that he would be relatively busy today, so he had told Sylvia in advance and asked her to pick the children up. She had agreed as well.The girl replied, "Mommy didn't come. Liam and I called her, but she didn't answer her phone either."Odell's expression sank. After a moment, he suppressed his emotions and said, "Wait at the gate with your brother and don't go anywhere. I'll ask Uncle Jacob to pick you up."The girl said obediently, "Okay."Odell immediately called Jacob and instructed him to pick the children up from the preschool as soon as possible.Then, he called Sylvia. Unexpectedly, the phone connected after only a few rings.He frowned. "Where are you?""It's been a long time, Master Carter." An eerie male voice sounded from the phone.Odell's eyes went cold. "Spencer?""Hehe, yeah, it's me.""Why is Sylvia's phone with you?""Because I kidnapped her." Spencer smiled and said, "Master Carter, do you
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