Two days went by in the blink of an eye. In the past two days, Sylvia would run into him in the morning when he left for work but other than that, she did not see him at all. He probably waited for her to leave before he came home. Today, after her simple breakfast, Sylvia took a ride to Carter Residence as usual. Again, when the car stopped in front of the house, the familiar towering figure came out from the gate. He went straight to his black sports car as if he did not notice Sylvia’s ride stopping in front of the house. Sylvia hesitated for a second before she got out. She wanted to tell him that she would not be coming for a few days, so he did not have to avoid her for the time being. However, before she could catch him, he got into the car and drove off. Sylvia furrowed her brows as she watched the car disappear from her sight. …20 minutes later, the black sports car arrived at the boxing gym in another district. The man came down from the car and strode
The punching bag fell on the floor and he froze. Frustrated, he tossed the boxing gloves on the ground and strode toward the changing room. The owner was right. She was no longer her family, so why would he stay outside instead of spending time with his kids? He wanted to go home and if the woman avoided him, he would throw her out and stop her from seeing the kids anymore. …Back at Carter Residence’s spacious living room, the sun shone through the window and shed its brilliance on Sylvia. Sylvia was sitting on the carpet beside the window and she started to doze off as the sun warmed her up. Isabel was watching anime on her phone by her mother’s legs while Liam was on the other side reading his book. The scene felt heartwarming, but the peace and quiet were broken when the black sports car screeched to a stop outside. The screech woke Sylvia up immediately. She turned to the window and saw the black sports car driving into the porch. Sebastian and the two maids wer
Sebastian was just outside the door when Lily arrived. He wore a bright smile and welcomed her. “Ms. Springsteen, what brings you here?” he asked politely. Lily smiled. “It’s almost Christmas, so I was thinking of visiting the kids and Madam Carter.” Sebastian recalled Odell’s grumpy look when the man returned, so he begrudgingly furrowed his brows. Lily sharply noticed his reaction and asked, “What’s wrong, Sebastian? The kids aren’t around?” Sebastian thought about it for a moment. Odell was fine when he left in the morning but he returned with a grumpy look, so something must have happened outside. Sylvia was also inside with the kids, so things should be fine. He said, “The kids are home but their mother is here as well.” Lily’s expression changed. “Ms. Ross is here?” Sebastian said, “Yes. She’s here to accompany the kids, and I believe she’s leaving in the afternoon.” Lily recovered her frozen smile and said, “I see.” She then brought her assistant and walked
Sylvia booked a ride as soon as she ran out of Carter Residence and went back to her own house. The sky was still bright as the sun was still shining. She returned home and collapsed on the couch, her heart was pounding wildly. Why did he kiss her all of a sudden? Lily even caught them in the act! She assured Lily that she would not ruin their relationship and now, no matter how many excuses she could come up with, it would not clear her name anymore. While the frustrated thoughts bogged her mind, her phone rang. She pulled it out and saw a text from Odell. “Where are you?” Even through the phone, Sylvia could sense the man’s anger. He was the one who forced himself onto her. She should be the one angry, not him. However, her kids were still with him and she could not afford to offend him in any way. She pursed her lips and replied, “I’m at home.” Odell did not reply after that. Sylvia was struggling with her thoughts. She texted him again out of concern, “H
Lily’s expression changed. “Grandmother, you’re saying that that woman seduced Master Carter?” Madam Springsteen angrily said, “What else could it be? If she kept her distance, there shouldn’t be anything between her and Master Carter. You saw them kissing at home. It’s almost Christmas, so Master Carter should be at home since it’s the holidays… I believe she went over every day just to see him and once it got frequent, it wasn't strange for something to happen between them.” Lily angrily clutched her hands. She thought after announcing her identity as Odell’s fiancée at her grandfather’s event, Sylvia would stay away from the man, but now things got worse. Madam Springsteen sat down beside Lily and said, “Lily, don’t be sad. I’ll teach her a lesson and I’ll make her remember the consequences of her actions. No disgraceful woman shall snatch the man of your dreams away from you.” “Thank you, Grandmother.” She originally thought Odell still had feelings for Sylvia but after
It was then someone from the Art Academy typed a new message. “We’ve been tagging her for two hours now. Even a blind man can see it. I think she’s avoiding us.” “Maybe she’s scared and embarrassed to admit it.” Christopher had enough of the criticism and decided to step up. “Enough. Stop this at once.” However, his warning did not deter them as it only fueled their frustration more. “Mr. President, her work represents the face of the academy. If this gets out, it’ll embarrass the whole organization. You sided with her too much.” “I know how much you liked her before but now, she’s a piece of garbage.” “You want us to stop because we’re saying the wrong thing? No, it’s the truth. If you want to stop us from talking about this, we’ll leave the academy.” “Yeah, we’ll leave.” The situation slowly snowballed out of control and many of them threatened to leave the academy. Sylvia decided to type a reply with her shivering hands. “I painted it.” The chat group went
There were only some instant noodles in the kitchen. After a quick search and finding nothing in the refrigerator, she decided to go out to have some freshly cooked food. She walked along the street and stood at a commercial street filled with stalls and restaurants. She went inside the restaurant where she was a regular. The dishes served matched her palate, hence her fondness for it. She sat by the window. She placed her order and the food was served after a while. Eating hot food warmed her body and she enjoyed the meal a lot. Halfway through dinner, several familiar figures came in. Sylvia frowned. The men and women seemed to be from the Art Academy. She met them once or twice during events but since she usually spent time with Christopher and Simon, she was not close with them. Some of them were the ones who scolded her in the group chat earlier. It was then they turned around and spotted her. Sylvia nervously looked down and continued eating, feigning ignora
Just when she was about to cross the street, a white MPV drove toward her and blinded her with the headlights. Sylvia froze and suddenly slipped, falling on her bum. The white car screeched to a stop in front of her. Sylvia tried to catch a breath but then an elegant woman came down from the car. The woman wore a delicate dress and had a thick shawl around her shoulders. The driver also came down and walked her closer to Sylvia. The lady then peered down at Sylvia scornfully. Sylvia finally got a clear look at the lady and it shocked her. “Madam Springsteen?” Madam Springsteen grinned at her. “How’s your day been?” Sylvia’s face turned pale. She immediately thought of the criticism she received from the group chat and ran into a few of them in the restaurant. She shivered under the freezing wind. As she clutched her hands, she asked, “It was you who released the painting?” “It was one of my men,” Madam Springsteen said with a grin, “I want everyone to know how bad t
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