A sharp silence took over the moment Sylvia disclosed these past events. Sylvia assumed that Thomas was baffled by the tale and chuckled self-deprecatingly. "You think it's absurd too, don't you?" He clenched his hand into a ball of fist underneath the table, but hung a faint smile on his lips. “It’s pretty incredible, I admit.” After a pause, he asked again, “Does that mean he realized that you were the one who saved him all along?” “Yeah, Tara ended up returning the ring to him. It was sometime around when you took me to Lush Heaven with Isabel and Liam to visit him. After that, I paid him another visit and that’s when I accidentally saw the ring.” An awkward silence descended upon them again. She sensed that something was off and stole a look at him. His handsome expression seemed to beam underneath the ceiling lights. She could see her own reflection inside his hazel eyes. He spoke suddenly, "So, are you planning to go back to him?” This flustered her and
Thomas smiled at Sylvia. “There’s this new children’s clubhouse that opened in the new district. There are all kinds of activities going on there which I think should be very fun for Isabel and Liam.” With Isabel being so excited, there was no reason that Sylvia should refuse. She turned to Liam and asked, “Liam, do you want to go?” He stared blankly at Thomas. Isabel was worried Liam would not want to go and quickly urged, “Liam, lets’ go. Lets’ go!” Liam gave a curt answer, “Okay.” Sylvia turned to Thomas and smiled faintly. “Alright Thomas, we’ll leave in a bit.” “Alright.” ... Just as Thomas described, there were all kinds of fun activities in the children's clubhouse. There were even some high-tech installations that offered virtual gaming experiences such as the spacewalk simulator. Isabel had a blast. Even Liam enjoyed some of the simulations. There was also an escape room designed for a family-sized group. There were several tricky stages, but Thoma
Something warm glowed in Sylvia’s eyes. Just as she was about to voice her opinion, a sharp and intent look surfaced in Thomas’ eyes. Even the very air around him seemed to solidify. He declared, "I’ll see to it that he will not be reduced to poverty, so there’s no need for you to worry about him or concern yourself with this news concerning the state of Carter Corporation.” With that, he removed his finger from her lips. Sylvia smiled and thanked him sincerely, “Thank you, Thomas. I’ll stop worrying myself over these matters.” Now that she had Thomas' word, she finally could stop worrying about Odell. With Thomas’ help, it was very feasible for Odell to recover from this and make a comeback in the future. She only needed Odell to live through this and stand on his two feet so the children have a father to turn to. She felt a weight lift off her chest. Finally, she could breathe easily again. Thomas turned up his wrist and looked at the time on his watch. Then he u
"Go back," he said in a cold voice.The driver quickly turned the car around while asking in a low voice, "Master Carter, are you going back to the nightclub or to the company?""The nightclub."The driver's gaze changed, and he could not help but glance toward Cliff.'The shareholders are about to meet and kick him out, and his wife is with another man. How can he go back to the nightclub? Shouldn't he rush back to the company to try and save himself before the shareholders' meeting?'Cliff pursed his lips and shot the driver a look that said, "Mind your own business and drive."Thus, the driver obediently drove in the direction of Lush Heaven....That night, Sylvia slept much better than the previous night. However, when it was almost dawn, she had a dream that Odell became an impoverished deviant. Not only did he separate her from her children, but he also locked her up again.She begged him for mercy and said that she was willing to give him all her savings, but his expre
Sure enough, when Sylvia was helping Aunt Tonya cook lunch, Thomas came over.The first person to see him was Isabel, who was in the yard. She immediately ran toward him, calling out his name.Aunt Tonya shooed Sylvia out of the kitchen.She and Thomas sat on the sofa chatting, and Isabel sat between them, her little voice piping in from time to time. It seemed very lively with the ongoing banter.After lunch, Isabel was sleepy and wanted to take a nap, and Liam's eyes also seemed heavy, so Thomas helped her carry the two little ones back to the room.When the children were fast asleep, they left the room.He asked, "Do you have any plans for the afternoon?"She replied, "Not really.""Then, let's go out for a walk." He looked at her with a soft gaze.Sylvia was torn. The children had just fallen asleep. If they woke up and could not find her, they might be unhappy.Suddenly, Aunt Tonya spoke up from the side, "Syl, I'll look after Isabel and Liam. You can go out with Thomas.
After running past the curved walkway surrounded by flowers, Sylvia saw a pavilion that was filled with all kinds of painting tools.There was an excellent viewpoint right next to the pavilion. She bought a few tools, sat down on the grass next to the pavilion, and started to sketch the landscape.Thomas stood under the pavilion, leaning his back against the pillar as he looked at her.Not long after that, the phone in his pocket rang with an incoming call.He picked it up to glance at it, and the soft light under his eyes instantly vanished. His face returned to its usual coldness. He brought the phone to his ear and asked in a faint voice, "What is it?"On the phone, his assistant said nervously, "Second Master, the shareholders' meeting has already started. Now, two-thirds of the shareholders are sure to vote to replace Master Carter. If you come over now and inject money into Carter Corporation to solve their difficulties, they'll definitely acknowledge you as the new head of
Cliff responded softly, "The people downstairs have been keeping an eye out, but they haven’t spotted Second Master Carter's figure at all. However, our people who are following the Madam said that he went out together with her not long after lunch."Crack!The teacup instantly shattered.Odell's expression suddenly turned cold and gloomy.Cliff quickly closed his mouth, not even daring to breathe loudly. After a long time, a sinister snort came from him. "I didn't expect him to be the infatuated type."He had allowed Carter Corporation to develop to this point, yet he was still able to hold himself back instead of taking advantage of this situation to take over the company. He was even taking his woman out. What was that if not infatuation?'Cliff trembled as he looked at Odell's face and asked carefully, "Master Carter, should we continue to wait for Second Master Carter to come over?"Odell glanced at him.Cliff was so scared that he took two steps back.Then, Odell stood u
Sunflowers.They were all sunflowers.Whether it was on the flat ground or on the distant hillside, it was densely packed with golden sunflowers.The sunlight shone from one direction, and all the flowers faced that side, standing vivid and gorgeous. It was like being in a world full of sunflowers which felt utterly magical.Sylvia's eyes widened in astonishment.After a long time, she finally came back to her senses and muttered, "Why are there so many sunflowers here?"It did not seem to be the season for sunflowers to mature and bloom."Do you like it?" The man's low and pleasant voice rang out.Sylvia subconsciously answered, "Yes."Only after saying that did she realize something was off. When she glanced around, there were only the two of them besides the sunflowers. There was no one else in sight.How could there only be two tourists in a forest park with such a magnificent sea of sunflowers?'Could it be...?'Her eyes flickered, and she immediately turned around to
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