Just before the main act of the night, Holly pulled out the drawer from the bedside cabinet and took out a thin plastic package, handing it to Bryce. "Don't forget this."Bryce frowned and kissed her earlobes. "It feels uncomfortable."He sounded really slutty.Holly gazed at his handsome face, nearly giving in to him. However, she had to resist. "Do it. What if we accidentally get pregnant?""If that happens, we'll marry again.""Your father would never agree to it.""He was good when you were pregnant before. As long as the deed is already done, he won't be able to do anything to you. "Ron's in jail, and Samantha's been limping because of the car crash. Quirina's been taught a lesson as well, and Penelope won't dare to play the fool again. Marry me again, Holly."Holly turned her face away, saying nothing. The moisture in her eyes diminished slowly.She had considered it before, but she was still being treated coldly by Arthur despite gaining recognition. He still didn't th
Annie even began singing.Holly felt like she had been a worrywart for nothing.As Bryce had said, Annie would be the one doing the bullying, not Caleb.Caleb was just a small fry around Annie.Holly put down her phone. Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and there were frantic knocks on the door.She looked out the window.Quirina was pressing the doorbell, flanked by bodyguards.Quirina's hair was a mess. Her expensive clothes were all wrinkled, and her perfect face was now in shreds.There were traces of blood on her face. Some of the wounds were new and bleeding.Some had formed scabs. Some of the dark-red blood clung to her face.She looked scary.Holly brought her bodyguards out. Then, Leitia opened the door.Quirina was in a rage. In a frenzy, she rushed over, wanting to claw at Holly's face. But as she reached out, she pulled her arm back.She didn't dare to attack Holly anymore.The bodyguards shielded Holly quickly, separating them.Quirina clawed at her face hard. So
"Hold on." Holly went into the house.When she came back out, she had a brown jar in her hands.She handed it to Quirina and said, "There are three pills in this. Take one every day. It'll give you temporary relief. I'll remove the itch completely when you're done sitting by James' grave for three days and compensating his family."Quirina snatched the jar and shook one of the pills out, swallowing it at once.She waited in silence for a few minutes.The itch began subsiding a little.Quirina became arrogant again. She said, "50 million dollars is a lot. What if we cut it down to five million dollars? Three days is too much as well. What if I did it for just half a day? "My dad is your mentor. He knows how to do everything that you do. He'll definitely be able to make the antidote in three days."Holly knew that Quirina was sly.She smiled lightly. "Why don't you wait it out? But if you seek me again in three days, it won't just be 50 million dollars. It'll be doubled, and yo
Quirina wanted to argue.Holly said, "And don't argue with me. Everyone knows what happened. Give them the money and sit at his grave. I'll be sending someone to watch you. You can come to me for the antidote after three days."Quirina rolled her eyes. "Will you go back on your word?"Holly sneered. "Do you think that people are like you? The decision is in my hands."Quirina was defenseless against Holly. She had no choice but to follow her orders.She spat out, "I bet you wouldn't even dare lie to me. If you make me mad, I'm taking everyone down!"50 million dollars was a lot for a rich man's wife like her.Abraham would surely interrogate her if she asked him for money.Quirina was afraid that the car crash fiasco would be exposed. She didn't want her affair with Ron to be found out, either.She would rather cut her losses and run while she still could.Quirina wrote a check and sent it to Lily's house.She went to the clinic and got herself patched up. Then, she brought
Since the banks wouldn't disclose the sender, Holly began calling her own contacts.She started with Hunter."Mr. Fox, I just received a billion dollars as a donation to my account. Did you somehow make a mistake?"Hunter laughed. "It wasn't me. A billion dollars is no small amount. If someone made a mistake, your account would be frozen now. It couldn't have been a mistake. You can try calling someone else."Holly thanked him and began filtering through her contacts by eliminating them.It probably wasn't Bryce. He didn't have to give her money in such a roundabout way.The others were unlikely to do it as well.A billion dollars was a lot. Not everyone could afford that type of money.Then, she thought of Abelin.She called him. "Mr. Gabelman, I just received a billion dollars. Would you have anything to do with that?"Abelin was quiet for a while. "We promised that we would divide the treasure in half."Holly was flabbergasted. "I can't take it. I barely did anything to h
Charles was excited. "Where is it?""It's at Mt. Dragonspine. It's not far off from where Xander's ships sank."Xander and his crewmen left Shontelly around the end of the Monclair era. As they were about to reach Silverbrooks River, they were suddenly ambushed by guards. Xander sank his ships full of treasure to the bottom of the river.Because of that, it created a goldmine of treasure.Countless people went to dig up whatever they could find.It wasn't surprising that Charles, a professional in the antique industry, would know about this.He was so excited that she could hear a tremor in his voice. "Watch them! Don't let anyone steal them! I'll report to my superiors at once and get an archaeological team to head over.""Alright."Just as Charles was about to hang up, he thought of something. "You could have chosen to take the treasure all for yourself. Why didn't you do it? No one could resist a temptation like that."Holly knew that he was testing her. He was speaking fro
The hole was pretty deep. It was about 15 feet deep.When Holly fell, she lost her footing and crumpled to the ground.She landed on her back and her ankle. A sharp pain shot through her neck. It hurt so badly that she teared up.It took her a long time to recover. There was a sharp pain on her face, too. One of the branches had broken and cut her across the face.She touched her face, drawing blood.She was dismayed that her face was going to get disfigured.Holly held back the pain and picked up one of the branches off the ground. She yelled at Lucas, "If you dare to come down, I'll stab you with this branch!"Lucas yelled back, "Don't be an idiot! If I get that treasure, I won't ask you for money anymore! It's also for your own benefit!"Holly knew Lucas was shameless. She just didn't know it was that bad.He was comparable to Quirina and Samantha.She yelled back, "They're coming. It's illegal for you to even touch these things!""To hell with the law! I'm your father, b
Charles hurriedly got his people to bring the pain relief spray.Holly took it and sprayed it all over her ankle.Charles wanted to stay back to dig up the treasure.He instructed his helicopter pilot to bring Holly and her men to Jardington Hospital so that she could get treated.Lucas and his men were all tied up and brought to a nearby police station to be dealt with.By the time Holly reached the hospital and went through all the necessary procedures, it was already 10:00 pm.She lay in bed with an IV drip attached to her arm. Bryce called her and asked, "Why aren't you home yet?"Holly didn't dare to tell him the truth. "I'm on a business trip. I'll only be back after a few days.""Where did you go?""Mt. Dragonspine.""Send me your location."Holly felt like her head was about to explode.Why was he so hard to deal with?She thought of getting Charles to send her his location to keep up the pretense, but there was no signal up the mountain.Holly had no choice but t
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