Bryce was unhappy to see Holly being so protective of Abel.There wasn't much change in his expression, but there was a note of suppressed emotion in his eyes. "I'm going out for a smoke," he said coldly, turned around, and went out.He closed the door harder than usual. However, Holly didn't notice. All she could think about was that night 13 years ago. It had been a nightmare. Wild gusts of wind, roaring flames, unending pain, and shouts of despair rose up in her mind. Abel was the key to that nightmare.The moment he was mentioned, she felt as if her heart had been pierced, and she couldn't calm down for a long time. A tear trickled out of the corner of her eye and dripped onto the blurry photo. After a long, long time, Holly finally calmed down.She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and looked back at the photo. She wondered who was the person helping her in secret.She hadn't even told her own mother about her injury because she was afraid it would worr
Bryce was silent for a moment. Then, he said, "I'll be back in a while.""Come back now. Hurry up."Bryce hung up.Nina walked over to Holly's bed angrily and sat down. She looked hesitantly at Holly but finally said, "Holly, has Bryce been getting very close to Samantha recently?"Holly assented. Nina sighed. "Holly, you're too nice. You can't win over her. She's always been sly, and she's an absolute bitch. Even I am no match for her at those little games."Holly said distractedly, "Oh, really?""Yes. She's always tried to take Bryce away from me. Our families have dealings in business, and we often had meals together during festive occasions. "She would just stick to Bryce and keep whining at him and making him do things for her. She was so fake, but Bryce acted as if he were bewitched. He would do anything she wanted and indulge her every whim."Holly's heart hurt when she heard this, but there wasn't much emotion on her face.Nina said, "After that, I couldn't stand it
Bryce's expression darkened even more.He called the bodyguards, who were supposed to be protecting Holly, and said, "I told you to watch her. Where is she?"The bodyguard said respectfully, "Mrs. Gabelman said that we must be tired after watching over her for so many days. She gave us two days off and said that you were the one who gave the order."Bryce didn't know whether to laugh or not.Holly, who had always been so obedient and demure, was now blithely giving orders on his behalf. He asked coldly, "Where did she go?"The bodyguard could sense his displeasure, so he replied carefully, "Mrs. Gabelman didn't say."Bryce hung up and found Leitia's number. He called her.Her phone was off, too.He frowned and instructed Tobin, "Go and check the security cameras.""Yes, Mr. Gabelman." Tobin immediately went to the hospital control room.Ten minutes later, he called and said, "Mr. Gabelman, someone's deleted all the footage that has Mrs. Gabelman in it."Bryce gripped the p
Somervale Village was at the foot of Somervale Mountain, and it was the old home of Winston. Holly had grown up there. All of them traveled a long way, and by the time they reached Somervale Village, it was already three or four o'clock in the morning. Bryce got out and pushed open the gate to the yard, but it didn't budge. Holly was probably asleep, and Bryce didn't want to disturb her. He pulled the car door open, put the seat down, and got in. He closed his eyes to try to take a nap. He had been running around so much that he was exhausted. He fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, the skies were already bright. Bryce opened the car door and got out. The bodyguard rushed over and said, "Mr. Gabelman, there are people talking in the yard. It sounds like Mrs. Gabelman." Bryce nodded and walked over to the yard. He pushed the gate. This time, it opened. His gaze swept through the yard. It was spacious. Nobody had been living t
"He died long ago. A dead man can't hurt anyone. Someone else crushed Samantha's hand with a hammer, and as for who that person is and why they wanted to get revenge on her, I really have no idea." Holly's voice was perfectly calm, but tears beaded her eyelashes. Bryce looked down at the mound. It was an extremely ordinary-looking grave. It seemed old, and there was a wilted bouquet of wildflowers on it. There were ashes where something made of paper had been burned. The grave was very simple. It was just a mound of earth, and there wasn't even a gravestone. No one could tell whose it was. Bryce's lips curled. In the past, when he had asked Holly who Abel was, she had always avoided answering him. The security cameras had caught the back view of Abel, so she had found an old grave to fob him off.She didn't know that the moment she had called out for Abel in her dreams, he had sent someone to this village to investigate who Abel was. There were 98 families in the vil
It made her heartbeat speed up with how seductive it was. Holly's ears reddened, and she looked sideways at Bryce, hinting at him to take his hand away. Bryce kept a straight face while he spooned oatmeal elegantly into his mouth.No one could tell what he was doing under the table. Holly reached out to grab his hand and tried to move it away from her thigh, but she couldn't. He was holding it tightly instead. He grabbed her hand and entwined their fingers. He even began massaging her palm gently with his thumb. It was making her palm sweat. One of Holly's hands was injured, while the other was held by Bryce. She couldn't eat. She could only sit there without moving.Bryce looked at her and smiled. He asked her on purpose, "Why aren't you eating, Holls?" He usually called her "Holly", but he was now calling her "Holls" on purpose. Holly glared at him in mock anger.Bryce smiled. "Are you only going to eat if I feed you?"He used his spoon to scoop up some oatmea
Holly backed up slightly, causing Bryce's kiss to land on her chin. His change in mood was palpable.Bryce's hand, which had been holding her chin, traveled down her back and rested around her waist. He asked, "Why did you tell Hayden I'm your cousin?"Holly cast her gaze downward and answered softly, "We're going to be divorced soon, anyway. There's no point going around telling others that we're a married couple."Besides, you've got a strong family background. My colleagues would judge me if they were to find out about us. I don't want to be labeled as an outcast of a prestigious family. It'd be much easier telling him that you're a distant relative."Bryce looked at her with a thoughtful look. "You've thought things through pretty well."Holly smiled self-deprecatingly. "I've got no choice, have I? Inconsequential people and their survival instincts.""You're no inconsequential person. You're one of the few people in the whole of Jardington who can order me around," Bryce s
A slight pang of sadness hit Holly. He was making it very hard for her to get rid of all her feelings for him completely.Every time she made up her mind to leave, he would pull her in just a bit closer. And every time her heart softened for him, he would sink a knife deep into it. Being so emotionally entangled with someone was torture.Holly drew her hand back and said coldly, "You should leave. Don't bother coming over again tonight. I grew up here, and everything was fine without you then.""Makes sense." Bryce gave her other hand a light squeeze. "You just look fragile and weak. But you're actually a really strong woman. You're even more hard-hearted than I am."Holly pressed her lips together and thought, "You're the hard-hearted one. Why do you have to bring me into it? How mean."Bryce stood up and said, "I'm really leaving now. Aren't you going to see me out?"She turned and looked away from him with a complex feeling in her heart. She wanted him to leave. But at the sam
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