Quirina was lying half-naked by the trash can by the time she was discovered by someone. She looked like a frozen chicken with how deathly pale she looked. Her eyes were filled with despair.She was sent to the hospital and underwent an examination. She had a broken rib, numerous cuts and bruises on her body, and a mild concussion.She refused to let the doctor lodge a police report as she thought it was too embarrassing.Abraham went to visit her in the hospital after receiving the call. His face fell upon seeing her disheveled look. Anger rose within him."Call the police! They must catch those two bastards! I want to skin them alive!" he shouted in a fit of anger.Quirina shook her head as she pleaded tearfully, "Forget about it. I can't embarrass myself further. Things will be blown out of proportion if you lodge a police report. How would I show myself in public in the future?"She just had sex with Ron before all of this happened.When Quirina gave birth to Samantha, she e
Holly finished restoring the silk painting after a week. She then called Annie and asked her to get someone to retrieve it and send it to the museum where it would be exhibited later.She thought of how she would be able to see the painting she had restored in the future whenever she visited the museum. Holly's name would be listed under the restorer column, and the painting would be exhibited for generations. She felt rather honored.It was especially so when she thought about how she could bring her future children to the museum. She could tell them that their mother was the one who restored the painting. She felt a sense of achievement by that thought alone.Holly couldn't help but touch her flat belly when she thought of children. She had been trying to get pregnant for a while but to no avail.However, there was no point in rushing things, as she would be learning ceramic restoration under Trevor soon. It would be a long and challenging journey for her.…Holly asked Hayde
Holly replied, "You refused to let me meet people, and I can't even go on business trips. You're too overbearing. It'll suffocate me."I'm an individual that needs to work and have normal social interactions. I can't possibly center myself around you like how I used to."Bryce fell silent. He smiled faintly before replying, "I'm very open-minded. I didn't disallow you from being Trevor's mentee."That was because Trevor was already over 80 years old.Holly couldn't help but laugh. "Alright. You're handsome, so whatever you say goes."Bryce replied, "I've postponed my evening engagement, so I'll come pick you up later. Hurry and eat up."Holly hummed a reply before ending the call. She then went to the reception to foot the bill before returning to the room to continue eating.No sooner after she started eating, Bryce had sent her a WhatsApp message. There was no text, only a smiley face emoticon.He never was one to send emoticons. He rarely sent WhatsApp messages as he would c
Holly woke up early that morning. James drove her to Trevor's Pavilion, which was located in the antiques city.Trevor's Pavilion was an antique store operated by Trevor. It mainly dealt with porcelain, gold artifacts, and glassware, as well as calligraphies and paintings.Today was the day Trevor would officially take Holly in as his mentee. He was seated on a vintage parlor chair in his office.Upon meeting Holly, Trevor pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. It was his monetary gift for her.Holly was mildly surprised. She wasn't expecting him to give her a monetary gift even though he was taking her in as his mentee."Thank you, Mr. Habel," she thanked him before politely accepting it.The envelope was rather thick. She then placed it into her handbag before pulling out another envelope and handing it respectfully to Trevor.It was a credit card prepared by Bryce before she came over. The credit card contained one million dollars, and the password had been written on i
Surprise flashed in Abelin's gaze when he saw Holly, but he remained composed.He smiled slightly and asked, "Why are you here in Mr. Habel's store? I recall that you're working in Treasure Grove."Holly's lips curled into a smile as she replied, "I just became Mr. Habel's mentee today."Abelin became even more shocked and said, "He declined my offer when I asked him to become my mentor not long before, but he actually took you as his mentee now. Looks like I'm no match for you, after all."Trevor stroked his beard as he replied leisurely, "I decided to take Holly as my mentee by fate."Abelin smiled and replied, "If you say so. Come look at this Edgewood vase, Holly.""Alright."Holly put on a pair of white gloves and carefully took the Edgewood vase from Abelin. She then placed it down on the velvet cloth over the counter. After that, she picked up a magnifying glass and started studying it meticulously.She then said, "This Edgewood vase has a graceful shape and a full glaze
The documents fell to the ground loudly.Wendy Myers, the secretary, knocked on the door and entered with a cup of coffee.They bumped right into each other, and she was shocked.After placing the coffee on the table hurriedly, she bent down to pick up the documents.After picking them up and placing them on the table, she carefully observed Bryce's mood.Although he looked calm, his gaze was cold.It was like the rushing current under a calm sea, and a tidal wave could happen at any moment.Wendy was so scared she couldn't breathe. She carefully said, "Mr. Gabelman, here's your coffee."Bryce glanced at the coffee with his frosty gaze and didn't say a word.Wendy held her breath and carefully walked out.She was afraid of angering him again if she walked too loudly.After a few steps out of the office, Wendy heard Bryce pulling out his phone. He made a call and asked, "How do you feel on your first day of class?"His tone was gentle like a breeze.Wendy was stunned when s
Holly arrived at Priscilla's house after half an hour.Before she even got close to the door, she could hear loud noises coming from inside the house. It sounded like there was a fight, and things were being thrown.There was also a man scolding Priscilla.Afraid that Priscilla was being bullied, Holly anxiously grabbed her keys and opened the door.After entering the house, she saw that the living room was in a mess.Broken glasses were everywhere.There were also pillows, remotes, and fruits thrown all over the ground.The chairs were crooked, and the couch and coffee table were out of place.Priscilla's hair and shirt were messy.An unfamiliar man had his hands on his hips as he said, "Give me five million dollars, or you'll be sorry!"Priscilla angrily yelled with her reddened eyes, "Give it up! I won't give you a dime!"Since the two were in a heated fight, they didn't even realize someone had entered the house.Holly coldly looked at the man and asked with her voice r
Bryce shot daggers at Lucas.His dashing face was so cold that it could give anyone chills.Lucas panicked as Bryce stared into his soul.He knew who Bryce was all along.However, that was the first time they officially met.Bryce was domineering. When angered, he was even fearsome.Lucas' mind went blank after being scared out of his wits. His legs went numb, and he instinctively wanted to escape.Thus, he started running for it.However, Bryce grabbed Lucas' arm and pinned him to the wall when he ran past him.There was a loud thud.Lucas' back hit the wall so hard that he started having cold sweat in pain.Bryce grabbed Lucas' collar and held up his fist. Then, he punched Lucas right in the nose.Lucas could only feel a wave of pain in his nose. It was so painful that his vision went blurry, and his ears started ringing.Before he could return to his senses, he received another punch in the corner of his eye.Lucas almost went blind from the punch.He struggled to esc
Sitting by Bryce's bed, Holly softly held his slender fingers as if such a move would keep him safe.She must have been exhausted or emotionally spent, as she soon fell asleep by the bed. She then suffered a nightmare, in which Bryce stood in front of her, covered in blood from head to toe. Forcing a smile, he said to her, "Holly, I can't stay by your side anymore. You need to take care of yourself and be strong."After that, he turned into wisps of smoke and vanished right in front of her eyes. She frantically reached out to hold him, but she was clawing at the air.She waved her hands madly to take hold of him and run after him. Her voice was hoarse from all the yelling. "Bryce! Bryce Gabelman!"Her shouting was futile. Jolting awake, she gasped for air. Her forehead was drenched in sweat, and her eyes were wet from crying.She noticed that she was lying in the caregiver's bed. Someone—perhaps Bryce—had carried her to the bed.Bryce managed to get out of bed and lay by her
"You're injured. Don't stay on the floor—it's cold. Get up now!" Holly cautiously pulled Bryce up from the ground.He was speechless at her response. Any other woman would have happily accepted the ring and put it on.Perhaps, the woman he loved was different from the others.Going on one knee, Bryce refused to get up. He tenderly stared at Holly. "I'll get up after you agree to remarry me.""Get up now, and I'll agree to it."Defeated, he stood up, held her hand, and tried to put the ring on her finger when he was overwhelmed by a wave of dizziness. He lost his balance and collapsed forward onto her.Holly quickly held him and asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"Bryce's lips parted. He wanted to reassure her that he was fine, but he couldn't utter a word. Soon after, his fingers that grasped the ring went numb. The large diamond ring dropped to the ground, spinning and clattering until it came to a stop.Panicking, Holly patted his cheek. "What's going on?"However, Bryce didn't
Looking at the man in Holly's embrace, Abelin turned his attention back to his phone. He asked inquisitively, "Who are you?"The person on the other end of the line was filled with anger. "I'm Bryce. I called her phone, but it was switched off."Abelin replied honestly, "She lost her phone.""Where is she right now?" Bryce questioned indifferently.After Abelin told him the villa's address, Bryce hung up.Abelin once again glanced at his phone before looking toward the dazed-looking Holly. "Holly, I think this man might not be Bryce."Holly shook her head. "You don't need to comfort me.""I just got a call from Bryce. He's on his way here."Holly thought he was lying and refused to believe him. When Abelin wanted to pull her away from the corpse, Holly got triggered and pushed him away. "Don't touch him! He'll be in pain!"Seeing Holly in such a dazed and abnormal state, Abelin felt a sense of pity for her.A tall figure emerged from the door about 45 minutes later. He was we
Abelin wanted to follow through with the protocol, but Holly refused.Realizing they weren't locals, the police decided to let them be. Thus, Abelin sent Holly and the corpse back to a villa their family seldom stayed in.Upon arriving at the villa, Holly did nothing but hold onto the bloodied man dazedly. Her heart felt heavy and chaotic. She was filled with regret and self-blame.Did she regret breaking up with him? The answer was no. Instead, she regretted not being firm enough with her decision. If she had been more resolute and didn't give him any hope of reconciling, he wouldn't have flown to Calria to find her. Correspondingly, he wouldn't have gotten into a car accident and died.Death was such a dreadful word. Bryce was gone, forever disappearing from this world. Holly would never hear his voice or see his smile and face. It was all gone.She would never see him again. She would rather he had lived, no matter who he ended up with in the future. She just wanted him to
The driver pressed the pedal, made a U-turn, and accelerated. When Holly arrived at the address Tobin sent, she saw two deformed cars at the crash scene. However, she didn't find anyone there.Holly's heart skipped a beat. She could only call Tobin repeatedly. However, the call didn't go through.Bryce and the others didn't own a car, only renting one after they got off the plane. Thus, Holly didn't know which car belonged to them.The driver continued driving a bit further until they came upon a collision between a car and a truck. The car's front end was completely obliterated. The driver was cut in half at the waist, and the person in the back seat was so badly mangled that his face was unrecognizable.A loud roar echoed in Holly's mind as it went blank. Her gaze fell on the man's blood-soaked suit. This was the deep-colored suit that Bryce always wore. The man had long legs. The wrist that was hanging out of the car wore a Patek Philippe Celestial watch.Holly remembered the
The moment Bryce reached Calria and got off the plane, he received a call from an unknown number. He took the call with furrowed eyebrows. "Hello. Who are you?"Zenia fumed. "I'm Zenia. Holly and Abelin's wedding is today. Your woman snatched away the man I loved!" She hung up the call after that.Bryce didn't believe her. He tapped into his messages, and several wedding photos came into view. Although the images were not high resolution, one could at least make out the newlywed's features.The groom wearing a suit had striking facial features, and Bryce recognized him as Abelin. Meanwhile, the woman was dressed in a fitted floor-length gown and wore a white veil. Under the thin veil, Bryce could make out her defined features. The woman was none other than Holly.Bryce felt like he had been struck by lightning. His mind went blank, and the hand holding the phone turned cold.He could feel his heart sinking and his blood going cold. Instantly, he felt he got toyed and betrayed
Michelle was gravely ill, with her vision and hearing failing. Thus, they should be able to deceive her.While Abelin let out a sigh of relief, Merope threw daggers at him. She couldn't believe he was stupid enough to let go of such a good opportunity. She wondered why someone as smart as her would have such a dumb son.As it was almost time for the wedding ceremony, Merope wheeled the sickly Michelle out. Michelle's complexion seemed better than a few days back, perhaps due to the joyful event or the effects of terminal lucidity. Her dull eyes were shining when she saw Abelin and the fake bride on the red carpet.Michelle pursed her lips and asked Merope, "Is he really getting married to Holly?"Merope replied unwillingly, "Yes.""Bring me over to have a look," Michelle ordered. When Merope wheeled her over to the fake bride, Michelle took her reading glasses from her pocket with trembling hands.Abelin held his breath as Michelle eyed the fake bride up and down. He was fear
Merope pleaded earnestly, "Abel, your grandmother is on her last breath. Please try to fulfill her last wish for her."Abelin didn't seem to reject this plan as much as before. "Wedding arrangements are already in place, and I've notified a couple of cousins. I'll try to make the entire wedding as genuine as possible."Merope was overjoyed. "Why did you suddenly change your mind? Is Holly the bride?""No. I found a woman who looks quite similar to her. Grandma is old and has blurry eyesight. I doubt she'll recognize her."Merope rebuked, "Your grandma isn't blind!""Well, that's all." Abelin then hung up the call.…Three days later, many relatives gathered at the Gabelman residence. The brightly decorated courtyard was filled with people. Abelin hired a professional wedding team in advance, making sure the officiant, red carpet, circular arch, fresh flowers, and bridal bouquet were all in place. A professional violin team was also playing the wedding march.Although it was a
Abelin called Priscilla's bodyguards, and they arrived at the Calria police station together.The bodies were stored in the morgue. Since they weren't Calrians, the police couldn't find any information on them or confirm their identities.However, they were sure that the two bodies had something to do with Priscilla because one of the bodyguards left a long scratch mark on one of the culprit's arms. At that moment, the mark was rotten due to being submerged in the water. The skin was peeling, and it was a horrifying sight.Clearly, the person behind the culprits was worried they might get caught and expose their employer's identity. So, someone was sent to silence them right away. It was easy for someone like them to kill a person.After giving a statement, the police told Abelin that they were going to do an autopsy on the bodies. Once they had news, they would call him again.After coming out of the police station, Abelin got into his car and called Bryce. "The two guys who hu