Even Annie thought that something was off with Bryce. While he was away, she whispered, "Mr. Gabelman has been acting a little strange recently."Holly agreed, "You're right."Annie asked, "Is he cheating on you?"Holly didn't think so. "It shouldn't be. He's been treating me really well recently. He's sending me all sorts of toys daily. "He sends me over ten messages and calls me at least three times per day. He comes over to spend time with me as soon as he's off work. Even so, he'd also need to have the time to cheat on me."Annie was completely baffled. "How unfathomable is a man's heart!"Holly asked, "How are things between you and Caleb now?"Annie coughed. "What could still happen between me and that silly guy? We're just friends."Speaking of the devil—Annie's phone rang.When the call was connected, Caleb's casual tone could be heard from the phone. "I'm currently at the pub two miles away from Winds Residences. Come over for a drinking contest!"Annie perked up in
Even a country bumpkin could easily transfer 15 million in foreign currency. It would have been over a million if converted.Unless Samantha obtained her inheritance, she would never have such a huge sum of money at her disposal.She felt a painful sting upon recalling the more than 50 million dollars Holly had swindled from her months ago.…Once Holly and Cooper left, Samantha withdrew some money and handed it over to her driver to carry.She got into the car and gave Arthur a call, over-exaggerating the matter. "I saw Holly in the bank earlier, Uncle Arthur. She transferred over a million to some Aunt Merope or Abel. "That money must've been yours, right? How could she transfer your money to someone else?"Samantha expected Arthur to be furious and harshly scold Holly. She didn't expect him to leisurely reply, "Holly has made quite a bit of money. She could use her own money however she likes."Samantha was stunned. After a while, she muttered, "You're quite generous now, a
Abraham was smoking by the window. He heard all of Quirina and Samantha's conversation.He put out his cigarette and turned around. He then told Quirina, "Bryce will be going on a business trip to Haryndale tomorrow. He'll be meeting up with some material suppliers to sign contracts."Get some burner phones and handle it discreetly."Quirina's eyes lit up upon hearing that there was an opportunity. "How do we handle it?"Abraham stared at her for a moment. "Forget it. I'll just send my men for it. You both lack knowledge and are incompetent."Quirina was unhappy. "Don't look down on us. I could still break Bryce and Holly apart using my methods."Abraham chuckled and said, "With your amateurish tactics, not only didn't you manage to break them apart, but you even sent Samantha to Levi."His expression hardened. He saw a tall figure standing behind the foyer. Upon closer inspection, he found that it was Moses.The smile on Abraham's face froze. "When did you get back, Moses? Why
Bryce got up when they were done with dinner, with Jacob and Andy following suit. Max and the others walked them back to the hotel. Their hotel was right upstairs.With his keen observation skills, Tobin had figured out the reason Bryce had been eying Mariposa's wrist. After all, he had prior experience from buying countless dolls and toys on behalf of Bryce recently.Once Bryce went into his room, Tobin called Mariposa. "May I ask where you bought the bracelet you were wearing tonight? What brand was it from?"Mariposa replied, "I bought it from Gwenzel. It's a Cartier bracelet."Tobin replied, "Alright. Thank you."It was merely an innocent question, yet it made Mariposa start speculating once again. She assumed that Bryce had prompted Tobin to give her a hint.Coincidentally, Max brought a set of documents over to her. "Send these documents to Mr. Gabelman's room, Ms. Perez. Whether tomorrow's deal can be closed depends on you now."They were well aware of the unspoken rule
Max ended the call. Mariposa angrily stormed toward the elevator. She was met with Holly, who was in a white trench coat.Holly's pristine elegance contrasted sharply with Mariposa's overtly striking appearance.Women were jealous creatures by nature. Mariposa couldn't help but spare Holly a second glance.When she saw that Holly was headed toward Bryce's suite, Mariposa assumed she was the new woman Max had sent over. In a fit of jealousy, she turned around and followed behind.Holly rang the doorbell.Mariposa leaned against the wall with a lit cigarette between her fingers.She exhaled a ring of smoke before slowly saying, "Stop ringing the bell, girlie. Even a beauty like me couldn't capture Mr. Gabelman's attention, what more someone as reserved as you? You seemed so pure—are you new to this industry?"Holly eyed her glumly as she continued to ring the doorbell.Mariposa studied Holly's face. "Where did you get your nose job done? It's rather natural. Did you model your
Moses fell silent. He whispered, "I'll think about it. Thank you."Bryce smiled and replied, "You're welcome."After he ended the call, Holly asked curiously, "What illness did Moses have when he was younger? Why would it even affect his fertility?"Bryce casually tossed his phone onto the coffee table. He replied, "He had acute lymphoblastic leukemia."Holly's heart skipped a beat. "It was something as serious as leukemia?"Bryce said, "Yes. He was only three years old when he was diagnosed, and he needed a bone marrow transplant. There wasn't a suitable match in the marrow registry back then. It would take a long time for them to wait for a donor."Aunt Queenie couldn't wait that long, so she got pregnant with a second child and used the second child's cord blood to treat him. Fortunately, his sister's cord blood matched perfectly with Moses."He continued, "He stayed in the sterile room for over a month after the hematopoietic stem cell transplant. When he came out, everythin
Holly invited Nina and Moses over for a meal during the weekend.She had been wanting to set up the two of them ever since she heard Bryce talking about them.They really made a good match just by looking at their appearances. Moses was tall and handsome, whereas Nina was sweet and adorable.Even their personalities complement each other—Moses was steady and dependable, while Nina was lively and charming.Holly and Leitia went to the supermarket early in the morning just to prepare for the meal. They picked out the freshest meat, fish, and vegetables.When they got back, they busied themselves in the kitchen for most of the time. They ended up preparing a feast.…Nina was the most talkative during mealtime.The others were generally people of few words—with Bryce's personality being aloof, Holly's being reserved, and Moses' being calm. Nina was the only one making the atmosphere lively.Moses' lips curled up in a smile as he looked at Nina with a tender gaze. He was busy help
Moses drove Nina home after the dinner.Nina was a cheerful and carefree person. She carried a sense of innocence as she was the youngest in her family and was well protected by the Gabelmans from the harshness of society.She talked nonstop along the way, animatedly recounting interesting stories. Moses listened with a smile on his face, occasionally replying to her.This was their dynamic since they were young—one would talk while the other would listen, and one was lively while the other smiled along.…Soon, they arrived at the Gabelman residence. Moses got out of his car to walk Nina back.It was a cold night. Even the moon hid behind the clouds. There were few pedestrians on the road other than the occasional laughing children and people out for a stroll.Moses and Nina walked side by side together. After a while, he asked, "Why haven't you had a boyfriend yet?"Nina grinned wide with a glint in her eyes. "Mom told me that it's better to be careful and not settle for an
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