Samantha couldn't be bothered to get changed as she ran into the living room panically. She grabbed Quirina's arm and dragged her out to the courtyard.Quirina asked, "What are you doing? Why are you so anxious?"Tears started falling as Samantha said, "Grandpa—Something happened to Grandpa, Mom!"Quirina frowned and asked, "What happened? Calm down and talk. You shouldn't be crying so much at your grandpa's birthday celebration."Samantha choked on a sob and replied, "Earlier, I wanted to find out if Grandpa loved me or Holly more, so I pushed her into the pond and called for Grandpa's help. "Who knew Grandpa tried rescuing us both at the same time? It was too hard on him, and he drowned."I didn't have my phone with me so I came back to call 911. But—But Abelin called me earlier and told me there's no need to call 911 anymore.""What? What did you say?" Quirina asked, eyes bulging out of anxiousness.Samantha cried as she said, "Grandpa—Grandpa is dead!"Quirina grabbed Sam
Bryce sent the clothes over to Abelin because he had saved Holly back in Dracowaist Village. He didn't want to be indebted to Abelin.Bryce returned to sit beside Holly and pulled her into his embrace. He sat there quietly, hugging her.Holly knew that something was on his mind by the way he was acting. Yet he wasn't telling her anything, making her puzzled.Her fingers caressed his neck before moving upward to touch Bryce's hair. She could catch a faint whiff of the scent of his shampoo from his stiff, black hair. Even his hair was similar to his personality.But such a tough man had gradually become meek before her. It was as if he had become a warmer and more considerate person after Winona's passing.Bryce hugged her for a good while without letting her go. Holly couldn't help but softly ask, "What's wrong?""Nothing. I just wanted to hug you," he replied with a deep voice, seemingly concealing his emotions.Holly burst out laughing and teased, "You've been hugging me a lot.
Abelin quickly averted his gaze after a quick look. He casually picked his wine glass up and took a sip as if trying to mask his emotions. Bryce was keen enough to catch that moment. He felt uncomfortable seeing it.He reached over to ruffle Holly's hair and asked softly, "Are you sitting with the ladies, or do you want to sit together with me?"Holly looked over to the ladies' table. Other than Quirina and Samantha, she didn't know anyone else at that table. She didn't want to sit with Quirina and Samantha, so she said, "I'll sit together with you."Just then, Trevor waved at them and said, "Come over and sit with me, Holly and Bryce!"He had specifically saved two seats beside him just for the both of them. They exchanged pleasantries with the others before sitting down.Trevor patted Holly's shoulders and said to the other guests at the same table, "Let me introduce my last mentee to you. This is Holly Sinclair. She's also Winston's granddaughter. Please take care of her in t
Seeing that they were about to leave, Trevor tried to make them stay. "Holls isn't done eating yet. You should eat more before you go. You don't have to drink if you don't want to."However, Bryce didn't sit down.It didn't matter if he wanted to drink or not.What mattered the most was that Abelin was sitting opposite Holly.His gaze would fall on her from time to time.Witnessing that made Bryce feel uncomfortable.Seeing that Bryce was standing still, Trevor stood up as well.Then, he placed his hands on Bryce's shoulders and forced him to sit back down.Trevor nagged, "Holls has been through a lot today. We can't let her be hungry, can we? You might not care about her, but I sure am."Hearing that, Bryce finally decided to stay.However, he couldn't enjoy the meal at all.Meanwhile, Edna silently watched everything that happened from the women's table.She tilted her head slightly and softly asked Samantha, who was sitting next to her, "Who's that young man sitting in f
Two minutes later, the receptionist smiled at Samantha and said, "Ms. Cott, Mr. Gabelman will see you now."Samantha took the elevator and arrived at Abelin's office.Her eyes lit up as she entered the room. The room had been refurnished with vintage aesthetics.After scanning the office, she could tell the room was expensive.For example, the famous horse painting on the wall was worth at least tens of millions of dollars.Samantha smiled prettily and said, "I never expected the young Mr. Gabelman would like such retro decorations."Abelin sat in his office chair and didn't move at all.With his right palm on the table, he coldly glanced at Samantha and asked, "Can I help you?"Samantha gracefully walked to the huge office table.Running her hand along the table's edge, she smiled at him. "I'm here to talk to you about something.""Get to the point and stop wasting my time." Abelin sounded unhappy.Samantha wanted to use Trevor as an icebreaker and get close to him.But af
Samantha had never seen anyone so stubborn before.Abeline was young, but he was impossible to persuade.Samantha thought it would be beneficial for them to work together. So, she was surprised that he rejected the proposal.Before the security came to kick her out, Samantha left angrily.Right after leaving the building, she fished out her phone from her bag. She couldn't wait to call Edna.Once the call was connected, Samantha started complaining, "Grandma, your plan failed. Abelin kicked me out. He's so annoying, and the things he said were awful!"Edna frowned. "What did he say?""He said he was unwilling to work with me because I have a bad personality. He also said I only know how to share benefits but not the hardship. "How can a man like him say something like that about a woman? He's no gentleman at all. How frustrating!"Edna thought about it for a while before saying, "I did notice there was something special in his gaze when he looked at Holly though. Was I imagin
While desperation could motivate inspiration, that move was too sudden.However, Holly quickly found a way to stabilize herself in the water through survival instinct.After drinking several mouthfuls of pool water, she was floating steadily.It truly was incredibly fast, but it was also incredibly tough.The water didn't taste great at all.Bryce also jumped into the water and watched from the side in case something went wrong.After Holly calmed down, he began showing her some basic movements.First, he held her hand and taught her how to breathe while swimming. Then, he taught her how to move her arms.Next, he grabbed Holly's legs and guided her on how to paddle using her feet and legs.After that, he wrapped his arm over her body and held her wrists to teach her the proper swimming techniques.Bryce even squatted in the water to let Holly sit on his legs and practice how to paddle.He seemed to teach her well through words and actions.After a whole morning, Holly was
Holly was stunned.She tried to get pregnant and did everything she could previously, but it never worked out.Now, she was suddenly pregnant despite not thinking about it.Bryce threw the stone-grilled squid into the trash can next to them and said, "Let's go home. I'll get Leitia to make you some postpartum food."Holly was dumbfounded. "That's for after I give birth.""Then, we'll get her to make something healthy. It's all the same anyway."They quickly walked to the car while holding hands.Even though Bryce wasn't expressing any emotions, he was over the moon on the inside.Meanwhile, Holly was way calmer.Before they reached the car, Holly saw a pharmacy by the road. "Let's get a pregnancy test kit. My period would start a few days late sometimes. So, it's better if we check first.""Sure. Wait in the car. I'll go get it."James opened the car door, and Bryce placed his hand above Holly's head, worried she might bump into the car.Then, Holly got into the car.After
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