Anthony was worried that something might turn bad, thus he spoke, “Get the devices ready.” “Alright, bring Charmine up here,” instructed Nial before he rushed upstairs. Guy followed behind him, saying, “If anything happens, just let me know how much blood you need.” “Don’t think of it so negatively—perhaps it’s a good thing,” Nial comforted him. Guy looked at the bedroom. Charmine had migraines yesterday, and she suffered so badly every time. How could he not think of it negatively? Anthony worried about the same thing. He walked to the bedside, not wanting to disturb her since she was still asleep. He went to the wardrobe to look for clothes for her, and he even pulled out some socks for her. Hearing rustles and movements, Charmine’s eyes gradually opened as she saw Anthony busy in the dressing room looking for clothes. She was about to get up but felt her body rather listless. She frowned and asked, “Anthony, what are you doing? Can you come and help me?” Anthony
Anthony nodded and looked at Charmine. “I’ll carry you to get some sunlight?” “No need, I’ll sit here for a while,” Charmine replied. Somehow, she felt uneasy as if something was about to happen… Yvonne came to them at that moment as she questioned, “What’s going on? Did something happen?” Anthony did not reply to her. Guy was worried, and he did not speak either. Only Charmine looked at her. Although Yvonne tried to trick her last night, she was an innocent young lady. “Don’t worry,” she replied, “it’s just a full-body checkup.” “Oh, that scared me—I thought something big happened. Did you find anything?” Yvonne turned to Nial. Nial was working in the glass room, immersed in his work. He went through all the procedures and read the CT scan with a hardened, solemn expression. Everyone waited uneasily. Time passed, and half an hour later, Nial walked out of the lab room. Charmine and Anthony, who looked calm a moment ago, instantly asked, “How’s the result?”
Anthony looked at Charmine. “I’ll go out then. If there’s anything, you may seek help from Yvonne or even call me anytime.” “Okay.” Charmine nodded. With that, Anthony turned to walk away, but it was only after two steps that he turned back and ruffled Charmine’s hair. “Take good care of yourself.” His tone was gentle as he spoke. Yvonne was shocked when she heard that. As far as she could recall, Anthony had always been a cold and emotionless robot. She had never seen him so gentle… It was as if he had given all of his kindness to this woman. Well, she had to wait and see. She had to find out if Charmine was worth Anthony’s shower of love. Anthony spoke to Charmine before leaving the villa. With that, only the four of them were left on the third-floor laboratory. Yvonne sat at Charmine’s bedside as she said to Guy, “Mr. Granger, go and have a rest. I’ll take care of Charmine.” “No thank you, I’ll wait here. She might suffer a migraine anytime.” Guy stood where he
“Come, I’ll walk you to the garden to get some sun,” offered Yvonne as she reached out to support Charmine.That brought the latter out of her daze as she was supported into the lift on the third floor. Both ladies went to the ground floor together. The backyard of the villa was a vast garden full of red roses. Charmine had yet to take care of the garden ever since her return to Burlington, thus Kay and his men assisted her to upkeep the garden regularly. Even though it was mid-winter, the large red roses were still incredibly stunning and eye-catching. Yvonne supported Charmine toward the rose garden, and they sat on the stone stools. Noticing this, Guy instantly pulled over a fur carpet and placed it on the stone stool. Yvonne turned to Guy with emotions unreadable in her gaze as she curiously questioned, “Mr. Granger, why did you treat Charmine so well? Why don’t you treat me just as kindly?” Guy’s face flushed red. Everyone who knew him knew he was a helplessly cluel
The worried Charmine stood up at that moment, but she forgot about her physical condition that her legs felt listless the moment she stood. She lost her balance and fell down in the process. Guy instinctively wanted to reach out to hold on to her, but to his surprise, Charmine had grabbed onto the stone table to support herself and managed to sit down. “Go and find out how Yvonne is doing,” she said to Guy. “I’ll sit here by myself, but I’ll be alright.” “But…” Guy wanted to say more but Charmine was insistent. With that, he ran into the villa at the quickest speed possible, spotting Yvonne in the kitchen who cradled her arm that had a patch of redness on it. Nial rushed down at the same time, and he grabbed her arm to rinse it with cold water. When she saw Guy running in, she quickly said, “I’m fine, I just wanted to heat up some food, but I burnt myself. Nial is here to take care of me, so no need to worry. Bring the laptop to Charmine. Take care of her.” Guy eyed t
It was a powerful tool that enabled her to retrace all of Derek’s activities in the past ten days, finding out where he had been and who he met. After locating him, Charmine scrutinized the computer screen. This went on for two hours. Nothing seemed strange. Derek was either meeting his friends or business partners. He did not go anywhere suspicious or had any contact with Annabel. Strangest of all, on the day Annabel disappeared from Violet Villa, there was nothing strange happening outside the villa either. Annabel disappeared in the closed room, and no leads were left that could lead to her whereabouts. Charmine frowned. If that was the case, Anthony might not find anything in Derek’s villa. Where was Annebel, then? Although Chris’ illness was cured, Annabel still had Anthony’s child in her, and it was a given that she suffered because of Anthony and Chris. They had to find her. Just as she pondered over the situation, a bat abruptly came zooming in and att
Nial felt a headache rising. “Can you stop messing around? If you keep doing this and your cousin finds out, he’ll kill you!” “Last one—I promise this is the last! As long as you help me, I won’t mess around after this. I promise I’ll help Anthony to get rid of this rival!” Yvonne promised. Nial hesitated for a moment before he reluctantly conceded, “Okay, last one.” In the garden... Guy, intending to protect Charmine from the bat’s onslaught, was taken aback at how she handled everything on her own. He seemed like an extra instead. “Don’t mind me,” said Charmine to Guy, “carry on with whatever you’re doing.” “Okay.” Guy walked away. For safety reasons, he did not walk too far away and stopped within five meters, standing before a flower bed. There was nowhere to sit down. Squatting at one side of the flower bed, he said to Charmine, “It’s my first time seeing this type of roses. I want to admire them.” Of course, he was not good at lying, and his face did not seem
What was there to celebrate the graduation anniversary for? Was that how a woman would think? Since she was Anthony’s relative while he was considered a guest, he could only raise his glass. “Happy anniversary.” Charmine could only raise her glass as she toasted, “Happy anniversary.” They sipped their wine as Yvonne turned to Charmine. “Let me offer you a toast, Charmine. You have no idea how much you’ve impressed me. I thought my cousin would stay single forever, that nobody would make him smile, yet you made him drop his walls.” Charmine thought of Anthony, and her cold eyes had a hint of warmth. “One day, you’ll also meet someone who’ll change your life.” With that said, Charmine took another sip. Yvonne beamed brightly at her words. “I love hearing such things. Since you gave me a toast, I’ll pour you more of this seven-figure red wine.” She poured Charmine another glass full of red wine, and even afterward, Yvonne found all kinds of excuses to make Charmine dri
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