Sylvia was astonished. She was usually not a picky eater and was fine with eating just about anything. She had rarely, if ever, told anyone what her favorite dish was. With that said, a large assortment of her favorite foods had been laid out across the table. The plates that Thomas pushed toward her were filled with the foods that she particularly liked having for breakfast. Even Aunt Tonya probably did not know that these were her favorites. How had he known? Sylvia's eyes widened and she blurted out, “Thomas, how did you know what my favorite dishes were?” Thomas smirked with satisfaction and spoke softly, “Knowing what your favorite foods are should be one of the most basic pieces of information that your suitor should have.” Sylvia felt her face growing hot. Very well. She lowered her head to avoid his gaze, then she picked up the utensils and began to eat. Everything she ate tasted just the same as she remembered them. She was so touched that she
Thomas was wearing a white shirt and trousers underneath a long trench coat. His figure stood tall and straight. When he saw Sylvia, he smiled in delight at her. Sylvia returned the smile and greeted him, “Hey, let’s go.” “Alright.” Sylvia walked out of the living room with him and they both got into a white car. The car drove out of the district as they headed for the nearby cinema. There were not many people at this cinema, partially because this was a rather remote and sparsely populated area to begin with. Sylvia and Thomas were the only ones in the theater for this particular showing. They chose the most ideal seat for the best viewing angle, then they sat together and watched a very newly released romance film. The story was pretty wholesome until an unexpected twist happened nearing the end of the story. It turned out that all of the wholesome scenes they had seen up until this point had merely been the fantasies inside the head of the male prota
Two days later. On this particular morning, Sylvia was spending time in the manor with the children. Liam had become rather obsessed with reading recently. Additionally, he had been making a point of sticking close to Isabel ever since she had fallen into the water. The little girl had so far been very obedient and no matter how excited she became while she was playing, she still made sure that she stayed near her brother. At the moment, the two siblings were sitting together. Liam was reading silently while Isabel was watching a cartoon on a tablet. Sylvia sat nearby as she carved away at a piece of wood in her hands. She planned on carving a piano figurine for Thomas. Over the past few days, he had bought all sorts of gifts for the children as well as Aunt Tonya. Even though she had agreed to allow Thomas to pursue her, she could not justify accepting all these gifts without giving anything in return. Suddenly, Isabel turned off the tablet and crawled over
In other words, the crisis was still very much ongoing. Sylvia frowned and continued to scroll down. Although she was not well versed with the intricacies of such situations, it was not hard to tell judging by these headlines that the Carter Corporation was facing a great crisis. If not handled properly, it may very well be that the financial giant would face bankruptcy and collapse entirely. While she was still intently reading the articles, another new post popped up on her screen. She read the headline written in bold: Master Carter’s Drunken Fit at the Bar, is Carter Corporation Doomed to Collapse? Sylvia clicked on the link and saw that there was a picture right below the headline of the article. It was a long-distance shot that looked like it had been stealthily taken. Upon zooming in, it could be seen that the picture was of a very low resolution. However, she instantly recognized the man in the picture as none other than Odell. He was sprawled out on the sof
After the call, Sylvia went back to bed and tried to nap with the children. For some reason, she did not feel even the slightest hint of sleepiness. The only thing that continued to turn over in her mind was the picture she had seen on the Internet of Odell getting drunk. This was completely contradictory to everything that she knew of him so far. For someone as composed as him to resort to alcohol, the Carter Corporation must truly be facing an unprecedented crisis, the likes of which he could not navigate his way out of. Sylvia rolled over with an irritated frown. They were already divorced. Even if she were to put aside everything that happened between them in the past, the single episode where he had chosen to save Tara while being held at gunpoint himself should be enough to fortify Sylvia’s opinion that she had nothing to do with him anymore! She could not care less even if he died! Despite that, she found herself in a turbulent, irritated state. Even after Liam
Thomas smiled as he insisted, “Then let me drive you there.” He had made the offer in such a tender, understanding way that Sylvia found that she could not refuse him. In the end, she said, “Okay.” ...... The next morning when Sylvia told the kids that she was going to take them to see their father, Isabel jumped out of the bed and ran to brush her teeth and wash her face without any urging from Sylvia. After breakfast, Sylvia took them to Thomas' car. The car drove out of the district and headed towards the city. … News of Carter Corporation’s recent troubles had been spreading like wildfire across Westchester. At this point, almost everyone had already known about it. Meanwhile, at Lush Heaven. Tara was holding a stack of documents as she frantically paced around the entrance. She had never imagined that something like this would happen to Carter Corporation. Neither had she ever expected that Odell would choose to wallow in his grief and wash it down
Odell’s voice was obviously much gentler compared to when Tara had just entered, so her nervousness immediately eased. She thought about what had happened previously when she and Sylvia had been kidnapped and how he had chosen her between the two of them. It was a clear indicator that she still held an important place in his heart. Besides, it did not seem like he was going to punish her for what she had done to him in the past. Thus, she figured that he would probably not squabble over the rights to Lake Victoria Villa. She took a deep breath and walked up to him, presenting the documents to him with bold hands. Odell took them and briskly flipped through them. Most of the people who had come to visit him recently had all wanted something from him. Not a single person had come to express concern or to offer any help. He wondered what property Tara wanted to yield to him to help him out. That was when he flipped to the first page and the glaring words “Lake Victori
Sylvia carried Isabel out of the car. Thomas and Liam got out from the other side. Upon noticing that Thomas wanted to follow them, Sylvia kindly informed him, “Thomas, just wait for us in the car." Thomas answered briskly, "It's kind of boring waiting in the car. I'll go with you." So be it. One way or another, she was not planning to see Odell with the kids. After leaving the parking lot, they arrived at the entrance of Lush Heaven. Sylvia spoke to Sherry last night about their coming. She texted Sherry again when they reached the entrance. Within half a minute, Sherry almost sprinted out of the building. “Isabel, Liam! I miss you kids so much—” Before she could finish her sentence, her sights focused on Thomas. She immediately shifted her behavior and turned into a modest, dignified lady instantly while cautiously asking Sylvia, “Sylvia, who’s the hottie?” Sylvia smiled and introduced, "He's Thomas Carter.” Sherry was startled by this. "Thomas Carter,
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