Sylvia walked at a fast pace, almost running out of the hall.The snow was still falling outside, and the ground had already accumulated a thick layer of snow.Sylvia’s feet immediately slipped just as she stepped out. She did not dare to run anymore but still walked quickly.“Stay still!” A familiar gloomy voice rang out behind her.Sylvia frowned and quickened her steps.Within seconds, the man who was still hugging another woman on the stage had come before her, his looming figure blocking her path.Sylvia had to stop her steps.Then, she felt a cold wind on her head.The man standing before her had ruthlessly thrown the hat she wore on the ground.He sneered, and his voice was colder than the snow. “It’s really you, Sylvia.”Sylvia shuddered. She did not say anything, nor did she dare to look up at him.“Why did you come back? I thought you were dead.” As his voice fell, he reached out and lifted her chin.He used much strength, and Sylvia was forced to raise her head.
The frosty snowflakes landed on her unscrupulously following the cold breeze.She covered her face and cried while shuddering.She did not know why she was crying. Perhaps because the weather was too cold. Perhaps she missed the two little ones too much. Perhaps someone was tearing her heart apart because she was in so much pain that she could not breathe.…In the hotel, the banquet hall was behind the ceremony hall. They had to walk a few corridors to reach it.At the moment Odell and Lily walked into the hotel, he let go of her.Odell looked straight ahead, his face cold and scary. He walked in big steps.Lily immediately ran after him, taking his arm. She said softly, “Master Carter, we’ll reach the banquet hall after this corner. Do you want to sort out your emotions first?”He might frighten the guests if he went in like this.Odell halted.Lily’s lips curled up, smiling at him gently.Odell frowned and stayed silent for a while. He took back the coat on her shoulder.
Sylvia sat by the window on the back seat of a car she called from a ride-hailing service, driving smoothly on the road.It was a snowy night, so the driver drove slowly.Sylvia grabbed her phone in one hand and touched her stomach with the other.Thinking of Liam and Isabel, whom she had not seen for half a year, her heart skipped a beat, and the little fellow in her stomach also kicked her.It had been half a year. The kids should have grown taller.She did not know if they blamed her.As her thoughts drifted away, the car arrived at their destination. The driver kindly reminded, “Madam, we’re here. Please be careful of the ground.”Sylvia thanked him and then pushed the door open and got off.At this moment, it was still snowing.Her house was also covered in a layer of snow, shrouding her roof and yard. It was dark.However, the snow in Odell’s yard had been cleared, and the lights were on. The two kids must still be living here.Sylvia sucked in a deep breath and walked
Sylvia went to a nearby mall.She had just returned to Westchester City. She did not have anything with her except for her phone and identity card.The weather in Westchester City was cold. Although she had clothes at home, they were left untouched for half a year. She needed to wash them before wearing them.Sylvia simply bought a few cold-resistant cotton jackets and some essentials. Then, she hailed a cab to go home.After getting off the cab, she could not help glancing over at Odell’s place.The lights were still on, but Liam and Isabel should already be asleep at this time.She wondered if his engagement ceremony with Lily had ended.Regardless of whether it had ended, she would not be able to see the two kids given Odell’s temper.Sylvia decided to tidy up her house and settle down before thinking of a plan. Anyway, Odell could not possibly keep the kids at home.Thinking of this, she heaved a sigh of relief and held the heavy plastic bags as she walked to her house.H
Odell frowned sternly. “What did you say?” Sylvia quickly changed her tone. “Nothing. I was just wondering if you were thirsty.” He scoffed. “No.” She answered briskly, “Okay.” He glared at her. She was perplexed by this behavior and blurted out, “Odell, don’t glare at me like that. It’s not like I’m begging you to let me see the children.” “I wouldn’t care even if you begged.” "I know." He glared at her again. She stopped talking and let him stare at her as much as he wanted. After a while, he crossed his hands in front of his chest and studied her expression. He observed how she looked like she had suffered some great injustice and smirked coyly. “So why did you come back? Thomas doesn't want you anymore?" She frowned and kept quiet. She wore a very hostile look and was visibly not interested in engaging in this discussion. He chuckled. “Weren’t you very insistent on going with him back then? Why? Did he get bored of you in just half a year?”
Sylvia grimaced. "I don’t think I’m going back.” “Yeah, I suppose there really is no point for you to go back since he was already willing to dump you despite knowing that you’re pregnant.” His words were filled with unconcealed sarcasm. Sylvia made no further comments. Odell gave her another look and asked, "Is there nothing else you want to ask me?" She looked at him and smiled in an almost pandering way. "Are you in a better mood now?" Something gleamed in Odell’s eyes. He was not expecting her to care about his feelings. He gave a dry cough and answered curly, “Well enough.” Sylvia immediately followed up. "Then could you let me meet Isabel and Liam? I just need a quick look at them even if it’s from a distance.” A cold and harsh look immediately arrested his handsome expression. Sylvia grimaced. As the atmosphere in the room gradually thickened, the sudden blare of a cell phone interrupted the moment. Sylvia looked at Odell’s pocket. He promp
Early morning. "Wow! There’s so much snow! Liam, come out and play!" Isabel bolted out of the living room and hopped like a bunny in the snow-covered yard. In the neighboring house, Sylvia’s room. She was awakened by the familiar noise of Isabel’s cries and promptly got out of bed. The bedroom was engulfed in darkness. It was as if it was still in the middle of the night. She could distinctly hear Isabel's voice coming from outside. She was telling Liam to come out and play with her. She walked barefoot to the window and pulled the curtains back. What came into view was a giant sheet of metal. The sheet of metal covered the entire window and blocked off what view there was. She could not pry it away from the window no matter how hard she tried. She frowned. She noticed no such installation when she closed the curtains before heading to sleep last night. How did this thing appear out of nowhere overnight? She decided to not give it too much thought and
The silence lasted for several seconds. Sylvia was the one who spoke first, “I… I just came out to get some fresh air.” She was insinuating that she was not trying to meet the kids or spy on them either. Odell ordered with a sharp scowl, “Get back in there.” Sylvia grimaced. She did not need him to order her around. She was going to go home anyway. She had come out in a hurry and forgot to put on a pair of slippers or even a coat at the very least. All she had on were two thin layers of clothing to protect her from the cold. She did not utter a word, then turned and headed toward the living room. "Hurry up!" Odell suddenly barked behind her. His sudden exclamation ended up spooking Sylvia. The soles of her bare feet slipped against the slippery snow. She lost her foothold and felt her body plunging toward the bed of snow. Everything happened in an instant. Then, she felt a muscular arm firmly holding on to her. With such strength, she was pulled back 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