It was hard to get attached to a man whose face was dark all day, despite how handsome he might be. Holly used to be with him mostly out of gratitude, but that changed when she fell in love with him this year. As far as she was concerned, they were still in the madly-in-love stage, but that was cut off by him when he asked to split up with her. She felt sad, and her eyes were rimmed with tears before she could realize it. Bryce didn't know what was on Holly's mind. Looking at her teary eyes, he thought back to how she had flirted with him so primly, and he was aroused once again. He said, "They say repeated exposure helps. If your legs are sore, we can do it again, and they will no longer feel sore."Holly found something faulty in his logic, but Bryce didn't give her any time to think about it carefully before hovering over her again.Someone's phone suddenly rang, but any man wouldn't be in the mood to take a call during these moments. Bryce grabbed Holly's waist with one h
Holly hadn't slept well in Winston's house the previous night, which added to the exhaustion she felt after having sex with Bryce, so she ended up sleeping very soundly.She slept until daylight. She was so exhausted that she hadn't even had any nightmares. If she didn't have the nightmare she had had for the past 13 years, she wouldn't talk in her sleep, much less call for Abel while asleep.When Holly opened her eyes the next morning and looked at the spot beside her, she noticed that Bryce was already up. So as to not jostle her injured hand, she carefully put on her clothes and got out of bed. She walked into the bathroom, only to realize that Bryce had squeezed toothpaste on her toothbrush for her. She couldn't help but smile before brushing her teeth. After washing up, she headed downstairs, holding on to the stair rail. Bryce was setting breakfast on the table when he saw her. He beamed and greeted her, "Come and have breakfast. These are all your favorite foods." He s
Just as Holly was picking out accessories, a coquettish voice came from behind her, "Holly, you're here to pick out a bag, too?"Holly's scalp numbed. She turned back, and Samantha was standing behind her, dressed in branded clothes, bedecked in extravagant jewelry, and had an expensive Birkin bag in hand. Despite her petite stature, she looked imposing. Holly acknowledged her presence blandly, "Hmm."Samantha latched onto Holly like a piece of chewing gum, asking the sales associate beside them, "Which bag did Holly here set her sights on?"The sales associate, Sarah Miller, showed her the amber Birkin bag and said, "It's this one, Ms. Cott."Samantha sneered. She taunted, staring at the bag Holly was carrying, which was from a brand she couldn't discern, "Holly, you might not know much about valuables since you came from the village. You have to spend more than 25 thousand dollars here to have the right to purchase a bag. "Do you have that much money, Holly?"Holly's gaze co
"Your sister was the one betrothed to Bryce, not you. You only got the chance to get closer to Bryce because she had died young. So, don't ever say that Holly is only a replacement again, especially when you're also a replacement." The woman was unforgiving with her words, not even attempting to preserve a vestige of Samantha's dignity.Holly turned back to see a middle-aged woman standing about 30 feet away from her. Not only was she elegant and charming despite her age, but she was also tall and slender. She wore a long black coat, emphasizing her beautiful legs as she stood ramrod straight. She was Sherry, Bryce's mother. Holly was slightly surprised to see her here, but she quickly greeted Sherry with a smile, "Mom."Sherry smiled elegantly and nodded at her. On the other hand, Samantha was stunned momentarily. She had wanted to throw a tantrum, but she quickly put on a smile instead when she noticed that it was Sherry. She yelled in surprise, "You're back, Aunt Sherry!"
Sherry and Holly walked out carrying a new bag each. They were all smiles as they chatted with each other, leaving Samantha alone, who was rooted on the spot. Sarah, who had seen a lot, figured out what was going on. When she looked at Samantha again, there was something subtle in her gaze.…When Sherry and Holly were outside the store, Sherry suddenly said, "Ex-girlfriends are quite a nuisance, aren't they?"Holly smiled. "Yes, they are.""Don't worry about whether Bryce will eventually forget her. The most important thing is that he loves you at this moment."Holly said nothing. It was a pity because the woman Bryce loved was not her but Samantha. He was suddenly insisting that they not divorce each other now solely because of Olivia's repeated motions to stop that from happening. Bryce was nice to her now because she had taken good care of him during the most difficult and despairing time of his life. He was actually quite righteous when it came to repaying someone else.
"Why would I do that to Holly?" Sherry asked with a frown. Bryce said, his voice devoid of emotion, "You know what kind of person you are."Sherry said nothing. She ended the call and sent Bryce their location through WhatsApp before returning the phone to Holly. With rage in her tone, she said self-deprecatingly, "Damn brat thought I came to make things difficult for you. Do I really look like I'd be a horrible mother-in-law?"Holly thought back to the confrontation in the Hermès store, where Sherry had scorned Samantha coldly. That had indeed been brutal. However, as Samantha had been the one subjected to that, Holly felt vindicated and touched. She smiled softly. "No. You're the most beautiful mother-in-law there is."Sherry's rage subsided. "You're better with your words, that's certain. Damn brat threw tantrums so huge his wife almost left him, and I came here, out of kindness, to make sure she comes back. Turns out he doesn't think me capable of that."Holly understoo
Holly's midnight-blue, floor-length gown was adorned by countless small diamonds that looked like stars in the sky. As she walked, the lights that shone on her and the stars on her gown made her look especially ethereal. Sherry caught sight of Holly as well. She came over quickly and looped her arm through Holly's before introducing her to everyone else, "This is my daughter-in-law, Holly Sinclair."Everyone was shocked. "When did Bryce get married? Why didn't you inform us?"Sherry smiled. "It's been three years. The wedding will be held after some time."A middle-aged rich woman wearing a purple evening gown who was standing close to Holly looked her up and down, praising her, "You're so pretty, and you give off this sense of elegance. You're surely the daughter of some rich family, aren't you?"Holly's gaze dimmed. She was about to speak when Sherry grabbed her hand and said, "Holly's Winston Sinclair's granddaughter. Winston, as in the Master of Restoration, is an expert in
Holly walked over to stand beside Bryce, who stood ramrod straight under the lights. His tall figure made for an exceptionally beautiful sight. Holly looked up and smiled at him, her eyes as bright as the stars. Her pinky finger brushed lightly against his fingers, which were twice longer than hers. Sensing the touch, Bryce held her hand with a smile. He caressed the back of her head with his other hand, saying gently, "Traffic was bad on the way, so I was late. Sorry about that."Holly gave him a small smile. "It's fine. I arrived a short while ago, too."The sight of them pissed Janice off. She opened her mouth, about to say something. However, she feared that she would offend Bryce and be humiliated as a result, so she went elsewhere, taking her glass of wine with her.Bryce took Holly's hand and walked with her to a table, where they sat down. He scooped some caviar up with a mother-of-pearl spoon and placed it before Holly's lips. "This is beluga caviar, which just arrived
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