Before Charmine could make sense of it all, Yvonne walked up to her and naturally hooked her arms around hers, smiling as she did. “Sorry to be disturbing you in the following days, Charmine, hope you don’t mind.” Charmine was never one to be so jovial to others. Not only that, but she would suffer migraines every day, and she would not be able to accompany Yvonne. She could not even leave home. She wanted to turn it down but Anthony said, “Alright, come with us.” Charmine eyed Anthony strangely. Did her ears play tricks on her, or did Anthony just agree to it? Anthony was always cold even to his own mother, yet all of a sudden, he agreed to bring a cousin home? This was very strange… “Yay! Thank you, Anthony!” beamed the happy Yvonne as she grabbed her hand, walking her out. Though wary, Charmine could care less of it all. She grabbed Chris' hand and left. It was only then Chris snapped out from the shock he had after watching Charmine in pain. When he saw someone el
Charmine was about to help Yvonne with her luggage when Guy, who was by the side, went forward. “Let me have it.” Anthony’s eyes squinted as his pupils instantly darkened. It was apparent Guy cared about Charmine, always seemingly attentive to Charmine’s needs… Anthony looked at Yvonne. Yvonne quickly turned to Guy and said, “It’s okay, Mr. Granger. I’m an adult, and I can carry it myself.” With that said, she used her strength to pick up the suitcase. She went upstairs with the suitcase, her small figure looking capable of hauling it. Charmine followed behind her and they all went upstairs, with Chris behind them as always. When the three of them were in, Yvonne placed down her suitcase and closed the door. Alert at that, Chris instantly jumped in front of Charmine in a shield-like manner. He glared at Yvonne. “What do you want to do?” “Momo, be good. Don’t worry, Ms. Yvonne has good-intentions. She’s here to help us,” Charmine comforted. Yvonne frowned and look
Yvonne then said to Charmine, “Don’t worry, I’m not a mean person. I’ll know you well after spending a few days with you, and I’ll then decide whether or not I’ll tell you Susan’s secret. If you want to pass my examination, you’ll do well to treat me nicely.” With that said, she gave a cheeky smile and winked at Charmine, much to her silent confusion. “You’ll sleep in here. Let us know if there’s anything.” With that said, Charmine held onto Chris’ hand as they turned to walk out. Yvonne was baffled. Anyone else would have tried to please her upon hearing such an opportunity, yet Charmine just left? She left? “Hey, is this how you’re going to treat me?” blurted Yvonne. “Shouldn’t you be treating me nicer? Help me to unpack or something?” “My apologies, but I’ve never been a pleaser, and I never try to,” came Charmine’s calm reply as she led Chris out through the bedroom door. Although she wanted to learn Susan’s secret, she would not please someone just for that. Yv
Yvonne quickly found a topic to speak with Guy, and they hit it off afterward. With that, Guy did not even have time to speak to Charmine during the meal. Anthony noticed this and his thin lips curled into a small smirk. It was indeed the right choice to bring Yvonne back with them. In the dark and unnoticeable corner, a maid secretly left. After leaving Violet Residence, she made a phone call and reported back, “Sir, they’ve all left and returned with a new member. Everyone is getting along well; there’s no conflict.” On the other end of the phone, Max frowned. He worked on the kitten in hopes it would worsen the tension between Anthony, Charmine, and Chris when the latter brought it home. What he observed was that Anthony got mad at Charmine. Who would have thought that everything changed after they went to the Bailey mansion? He said, “Who’s the person they brought back?” “Apologies, but I’m just a sweeping maid, I can only observe from a distance. I don’t know a
Once she was sure Anthony had left, Yvonne found something and walked into the room Charmine was in. There used to be a small sofa in the resting lounge before it was swapped out with two single beds with a simple drawing hanging above them. The setting was simple and elegant. Nial slept on the outside with his head covered. Guy was also lying down, resting with his eyes closed. He had to maintain his energy so he could be there for Charmine in her migraines, whenever it would strike. He had to ensure his body was in a good state to provide the optimal blood. Knock, knock, knock! Guy looked up to see Yvonne standing by the door. He asked, “Can I help you?” “You’re from the Granger family, aren’t you? You should know how to fix this, right? Can you please have a look at this?” Yvonne opened the door and walked toward Guy’s bed, passing to him a black-colored weapon. Guy, still lying on his bed, was uncomfortable when women got so close to his personal space, but his
What Charmine did not expect, however, was that just as she took a few steps… Beep, beep, beep! The phone next to Guy’s pillow rang urgently. Charmine looked back to see a blinking red sign that popped out on the phone screen. There was a firewall program installed in the device, and the warning beep would only ring when someone tried to locate or dox Guy’s location. Charmine frowned. Who was tapping into Guy’s location? The Grangers, or was it someone else trying to screw them up? No matter who it was, Guy played a vital role in her wellbeing, and he must be kept safe. After a moment of thought, she walked toward his bed and took Guy’s phone. The phone was still beeping out loud, so she quickly worked on it. In less than 20 seconds, the phone was forced to execute its anti-virus program and shut down. Guy looked up and asked her worriedly, “What was it? Was something wrong with the phone?” “Someone’s tapping into your phone, and I need to investigate it,” informed
Charmine was so focused that her face seemed apathetic. One would not want to disturb her with such an expression. Yvonne was livid as she was left standing by the side. Any other girl would have bent over backward to please Yvonne just to look good for Grandma Bailey or to even hear Susan’s secret. Why was Charmine not so keen? Just as Yvonne was about to scold Charmine for that, Charmine’s fingers stopped moving and an IP address appeared on the computer screen as well as some codes. The IP address showed Royal Hospital...where Max and Waverly were at! Charmine instantly understood right off the bat. It was Max working against them again, as was his goal… Charmine looked at Yvonne and asked, “Ms. Eckert, do you know you’ve been used?” “Huh?” Yvonne was dumbfounded. Charmine said, “You wanted to use this wooden gun to test whether I’ll be with Guy, but I won’t fall for that. I have my standards. You should know, though, that someone hacked into Guy’s phone at this
Charmine searched her phone storage for a certain video before turning it to a video that looped back and forth. Meanwhile, in the hospital... Max sat before the computer with Waverly as they tapped into Yvonne, but when they found out Yvonne’s plan, they stopped tapping so other devices would not be able to pinpoint the mini listening device they planted on her. They never would have thought that Charmine was able to deduce from logic and her eyes to find the listening device on Yvonne’s slippers! “Don’t worry,” Max assured Waverly. “With what we’ve done today, Charmine had to have gotten close to Guy, and Yvonne will hate her guts for it. As long as Grandma Bailey hates Charmine, it won’t be easy for Charmine to stay with Anthony.” “Let’s hope so,” Waverly sighed. She wanted nothing more than to have Charmine kicked out by the Bailey mansion. Once everyone hated Charmine, she would not be as arrogant and she might treat Waverly nicer. Just as the thought occurred to t
There was an unnoticeable glint in Sonia's eyes. She nestled herself further into Harry's arms as she added, "Let’s go to Pares. We'll come back after I give birth to the baby.""Alright."Harry stayed by Sonia's side as he watched over her, cared for her, and talked to her until she finally slept in his care.He stood up tiredly and walked out of the room to sit in the living room.Thuck!Something fell out of his pocket.He narrowed his eyes to the source of sound and spotted a USB.Since when did he have a USB in his pocket?With a small frown on his face, Harry curiously picked it up and noticed the front side of the USB glowing. Something was carved onto its surface, too.[Granger].Was it Dior’s USB? Why was her USB inside his pocket?Harry’s clear fingers held on the USB tightly. He thought for a moment before he took out a laptop, turned it on, and plugged in the USB.A moment later, the screen showed what seemed to be peculiar surveillance footage with a descriptio
Dior was still lost in her storm of thoughts when a shadowy figure zipped past her and ran toward Harry.When she spotted this familiar figure, she reacted quickly and held onto him."Let go of me!" growled Guy. "How dare he slap you and misunderstood you? I have to beat some sense into him!"Harry broke free and chased after Harry.Dior, despite having lost all hope and life in her, mustered the last strand of her will to chase after Guy and reeled him back. "Brother, don't," she muttered, "spare your energy…" Her sorrow clouded her eyes as she mumbled, "He’s the man I love. Even though he hates me, I won’t allow you to hurt him. As for the explanation…"Dior smiled ironically. "Whatever. That slap decimated every beautiful daydream I have about him, anyway."She no longer expected anything from him.He had no trust in her, so what would it matter if she finally got him? He did not even love her, and he did not trust her either.Dior smiled elegantly, but her eyes were fille
Dior looked forward to that new shift.She watched as Harry made his way into the restaurant silently, unable to deter her mind from the daydreams she had of him, of the new chapter of their story they would have.He would apologize to her, trying to redeem himself, and kiss her dearly as he embraced her. Later down the line, they would have a child of their own, too.Harry's long legs walked in strides, his dark gaze trained on Dior.The bright light shone on Dior’s delicately stunning face, and she also wore a red dress.He remembered her wearing this back in Mount Village.He could remember how alluring she looked back then, how they stayed in the same room, how she put down her ego to treat him with so much gentleness.Harry’s cold face mellowed down, but recalling a certain memory, the vague wistfulness in him vanished and he sat in front of her.Dior looked at him fondly, like she always would. "Long time no see."Her eyes burned brightly as if she wanted to drink in his
Dior examined the footage the moment she received it.True enough, it showed Sonia and George talking about their little deal. It also showed how Dior was telling the truth while they both ganged up on her.Dior’s frail heart felt as though it was rejuvenated once more, feeling as though blood was once more pumped into her heart. Her dull eyes devoid of hope regained their lost luster once more.Not thinking twice, she dialed Harry's number with this evidence, though he had to be busy, seeing as he did not pick up even after the phone rang for a long while.Just as she was about to hang up, Harry picked up the phone."What do you want?"On the other end of the call was the voice that she had missed for so long. His low, hoarse voice sounded so cold and emotionless.Hearing his voice brought Dior back to the image of his handsome face, and her heart skipped a beat.She tried her best to restrain her fluttering emotions as she tried to speak calmly, "Do you have time? I’d like to
At Mount Village…Inside the elegant bamboo house was Dior, dressed in a beige dress. She sat in the front yard as she took sips of her wine.The sunlight shone past the leaves and illuminated her, yet she exuded an air of loneliness.She swirled the glass and could not help recalling the moments she spent with Harry.In the beginning, she was attracted by his looks; he looked so gentle and elegant.She gave him money, kept him company, and continuously showed up around him in hopes of conquering him.Alas, she ended up in this state.The time she spent with him in Mount Village was the happiest time she had ever had. They had lived inside the bamboo house together, where he took care of her and claimed her to be his woman.They even laid inside the same room.Everything was so beautiful.Cursed was her luck, however, that it was just an illusion. He had been using her from the start, while he chose to stay with the woman who lied to him and even hurt him!No matter how mu
"Although Susan was unhappy, she should've voiced out her displeasure instead of bottling things. Cheating is wrong, regardless. Furthermore, if she wanted a career, she didn't have to stay home and depend on her husband."Grandma Bailey halted.Was that what Charmine truly thought of?Grandma Bailey thought Charmine would find Susan too aggressive unto herself.Charmine glanced at Susan again and apathetically commented, "She doesn't want to make money on her own, but she wants to be rich while complaining about her man not making time for her and taking care of her? If a woman has no ability of her own and also blames others for her miseries, all she's worth is to sit quietly at home and wait for her husband to come home. She also has no right to cheat! This is how the world works."Charmine patted Grandma Bailey’s shoulder and held Anthony’s hand, her words met with everyone's evidently surprised gazes and their silence.Grandma Bailey was shocked. Sure, Charmine sounded rathe
The colossal cruise started to drift away from the pier.Eric stood on the cruise and let the wind blow at him, loneliness and hatred still oozing from his being.He stared at the blue ocean ahead of him as Charmine's words rang in his mind unceasingly.'Will you really feel good after you've killed them?''You saw Susan suffering from a serious wound; would you still kill the one sibling you have left in the world?'"Forgive them and yourself.'Deliberating everything carefully, his lips curled into a bitter smile.It was true, after all, that Charmine understood him the most.Eric poured himself another drink and downed it with loneliness as he allowed the cruise to bring him wherever it would take him.…Susan was still inside the operating room when Charmine and the rest of the Baileys rushed into the hospital.Darryl stood before the room, his expression blank, his figure lonely and helpless.So many things had happened in half a day.He found out about his wife's inf
"No one's stopping you now. Eat!"Anthony clenched his hands tightly and took another glance at Charmine. He was more determined than before, and he was close to eating the pills in the bottle.Charmine, who was held hostage, gradually opened her eyes at that moment. Her gaze drifted toward Eric before she asked, her tone challenging, "Will you really feel good after you've killed them? You saw Susan suffering from a serious wound; would you still kill the one sibling you have left in the world?"Eric halted, and his eyes darkened.Charmine had just woken up, yet what she said…He cast a cold glance at Charmine. "It's my business, and it has nothing to do with you!"They were his family, and he did not want a family like this!Charmine looked squarely at him. "Eric, I don’t care if you used me or plotted against me all these years; I've treated you like a true friend, nothing more nor less. You were the only person who stayed by my side in the past five years, so I hope that you
Anthony's breath hitched when he saw Charmine.He clenched his fists and, without doubting himself, relented "I can agree to your terms, so let her go right away. This has nothing to do with her; you only hate me after all. As long as you let her go, I'll take the pill. Everything will end right away."Susan shook her head. "We'll die after eating the pill. I’m not taking that!"She had just reunited with Eric, and she did not want to die yet. She looked at Eric and begged, "Please let Anthony be, why don't you? He’s your brother, after all, and he doesn’t even know about your existence. If you’re really angry, just kill Charmine, and I'll make it up to you—"Anthony's expression contorted in sheer fury upon hearing Susan's plea, and he glared at her with murderous intent."This was all your fault, so what right do you have to make Charmine take your blame?!""What on earth are you going on about?" snapped Grandma Bailey. "Charmine has been kidnapped because of you, yet you want