Priscilla teared up and cried until her face was covered in tears. Then, she said while sniffling, "It's great that you're alive. We've been living with great guilt for the past decade. It was heartbreaking to see a good boy die while saving Holls."Abelin wiped her tears with a handkerchief. "Please don't cry, Aunt Priscilla. I'm here now, aren't I? Holly suffered because of me, so saving her was the right thing to do.""About your injuries…"Priscilla was about to lift up his coat and check the scars on his body. However, Abelin quickly stopped her and said with a smile, "I'm fine, Aunt Priscilla. You don't have to worry."She opened her bag and took out a card from her wallet. Then, she shoved it in his hands. "This is a little something from me. The password is Holls' birthdate—618618. Since you saved her life and suffered so much, you should take this money and enjoy yourself."Holly gave Priscilla the card while they were on their way there. She knew that Abelin definitely
Holly rubbed her eyebrows and said, "Not yet. I'm waiting for Arthur to yield first."After they got out of the airport, a black limited edition limousine stopped at the entrance and waited for them. When the window rolled down, they saw a cold and dashing face. Under the sunlight, the man's facial features were well-defined, and it would be hard to hide his radiance.Holly was stunned at first. Then, she was happily surprised. She picked up her pace and approached the car. "Didn't you say you had an important meeting? Why are you here?"Bryce opened the door. "The meeting is over, and I'm heading to a subsidiary company to check it out. Since I was passing by, I decided to pick you up. Get in."She bent over to get into the vehicle. Just as Priscilla was about to open the door on the other side, Bryce frowned subtly. "Mom, you should take your car. I'm not used to having outsiders in the same car as me."She was stunned when she heard him call her an outsider, feeling like sh
It was a long journey that took three hours, and Bryce and Holly finally arrived at the crash site. After they got out of the car, they stood on the pier in the middle of the night and looked into the distance.There didn't seem to be an end to the vast ocean. The waves crashed on the shore, sounding like they were crying.The authorities had sent out rescue teams and began searching the area. However, the ocean was too big, and the waves were too strong. They looked tiny in the middle of the ocean.Holly's face appeared pale as she looked at the water. Her heart was as cold as the night. Bryce held her cold fingers and said, "The rescue team I've sent is already searching, so just wait for the good news. He'll definitely be alright."Although that might be the case, there was no way she wouldn't be worried. Holly stared into the dark ocean and asked, "Are there any other boats?"He held her finger tightly. "What are you planning?""I want to search for him myself.""Don't be
But in the face of danger, Bryce let go of all his hatred and was worried for Abelin. He even sent out a rescue team to find him the first chance he got.Right this instant, Holly felt like the efforts she had put into taking care of him these past two years had paid off.Such was life. You reaped what you sowed.She wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head into his chest, accidentally brushing her hand against his fingertips.They were ice cold.Holly said lightly, "Let's head back. The wind's picking up, and you have to go to work tomorrow.""Alright." Bryce patted her head. "You need the rest to have the energy to wait for him."Holly couldn't help feeling moved.Bryce couldn't even stand to hear Abelin's name back then. But here he was, saying stuff like this.It couldn't be easy for him, considering his temper.Holly felt incredibly guilty. Softly, she said, "I'm sorry."Bryce lowered his gaze, softening it. "Why are you apologizing?""I'm being too emotio
"Is it Abelin?" Holly said, her voice trembling. Her heart beat wildly.Bryce stared at the bloated, disfigured face. He said in a low voice, "No. It's a random person.""Why did you cover my eyes, then?""You'll get nightmares. It's best if you don't look.""No. Let me look. Don't lie to me." Holly did her best to pry apart his fingers.Bryce was afraid she'd hurt herself, so he let go.Holly ran to the corpse, staring intently at the man's features.Three minutes later, she decided that it wasn't Abelin.She sighed in relief and hung her head. She apologized to the rescuer, "I'm sorry I troubled you."The families of the victims all surged toward the stretcher, fighting to see if the corpse belonged to their family member.Just like that, about four bodies were collected from noon until night.Everyone's heart was beating anxiously.They were all afraid that it would be their loved ones.As long as there was no body, it was possible that they were alive.No matter how m
Merope was hurt by his words.She stared at the sneering Bryce and said, "What do you mean by that? You should be more courteous."Bryce smirked. "Since you're brave enough to do dirty things in secret, you should be brave enough to face the criticism."Merope's expression shifted to one of disdain. "So you know who I am?"Bryce looked nonchalant. "You've given yourself away by appearing here. There's no need to cover it up and pretend that nothing happened."Merope's eyes gradually revealed her anger. "So you know Abel's real identity, don't you?"Bryce scoffed coldly.Merope's face turned ashen. She wrung her hands, making her knuckles pop. "I knew it. I just knew that something would happen to Abel one day. I just knew…"She rushed up and grabbed Bryce by the collar, glaring at him. She seethed with anger as she said, "It must be you! You killed him!"Bryce grabbed her wrists and removed them from his collar.He brushed off some non-existent dust off his lapel and said lig
Holly was finding it hard to communicate with Merope. "It was a plane. On top of the unnecessary waste of human life, it's hard to plan a plane crash."Merope sneered. "I heard all about it while I was coming here. The way the plane crashed indicated that it was deliberately headed toward the sea. "In other words, something must have happened in the cockpit or, to be precise, something must have happened to the pilot."She glared at Bryce in hatred. "With his power and wealth, meddling with a plane is child's play."Holle frowned slightly. "Calm down, Aunt Trista. Don't blame anyone before the investigation is even over."Merope roared, "How can I calm down? That's my son! He's the only son that I have. I pray with all my heart that he returns home safely, but all I get is bad news. How can I fucking calm down?"Holly felt extremely guilty.Abelin had indeed stayed in Jardington for her.If he hadn't come to Jardington, he could be alive right now.Sensing her guilt, Bryce pa
Holly grabbed Bryce's arms tightly. "Have you found him? Have you really found him?""We have. The rescue team I sent out found him on a deserted island.""Oh, thank God!" Holly was usually quiet, but now, she wanted to leap for joy.Then, she thought of something. Carefully, she asked, "Is he okay?"Bryce patted her head, looking at her gently. "He's fine. The rescue team will be bringing him over soon."He caressed her thin face and said, "You need to eat up later on, or you'll run out of breath when walking. You won't even have the energy to see him."Holly felt moved and pained at the same time. "It's been hard on you these few days.""It's fine. As long as we've found him," Bryce said lightly.The attendant brought them some food. This time, Holly ate a lot.When it was almost sunrise, the rescue team called Bryce.They said that they had brought Abelin ashore, and they were currently waiting for the ambulance to arrive. They wanted Bryce and Holly to take a look at him.
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