Her fingers worked on the keyboard quickly as she typed to reply, [Tell William that he doesn’t have to work on my illness anymore. There’s no use. I only need Guy’s blood for another fifty days or so, and I’ll recover.] In other words, 50 days would have passed and all efforts would be futile, even if William worked very hard and succeeded. When Uncle Sam saw her reply, he phoned her right away. “Charmine, why don’t you say this to William yourself? I can’t talk him out of it. Oh, Charmine wants to speak with you…” said Uncle Sam to William in the end.Charmine grew taut. She was still inside the Villa and just gotten out of the bedroom, yet Uncle Sam asked her to talk to William? Anthony was already jealous of Guy, and if he overheard this… She looked back and saw that Anthony was not out yet. She quickly walked to the balcony by the end of the hallway and put the phone by her ear. William’s voice was instantly heard on the other end. “Don’t listen to Uncle Sam, Char
Why did William do it? A sudden gust of cold air tingled down her spine just as she had the thought. It felt as if someone was staring at her from the back, incredibly forbidding. Charmine instinctively turned to look and finally noticed that Anthony had somehow walked to the balcony. His cloudy gaze observed her keenly with an ominous temperament. She was so terrified that her hands jolted, and her phone nearly fell. “An…Anthony…why are you here?” “If I’m not here, how would I know that my wife is secretly talking to another man behind my back?” spoke Anthony, his glare aimed at her before it landed on her phone. His gaze felt sharp and thorny; it was as if her phone was a rival of his. Charmine felt somewhat guilty. She was just talking regularly on the phone, yet he treated her as if she was cheating on him… Unfortunately, Uncle Sam did not have a good hearing and thus did not overhear Charmine talking to Anthony as he continued, “Oh, Charmine, look at how much W
Anthony’s gaze was on her the entire time, thinking Charmine would respond to him quickly. What he did not expect was for her to drift away in her thoughts. It was apparent that the two of them had gone through something! “You’re thinking of another man in front of me? Have I been too lenient on you, Charmine?” His low voice was oppressive as he stood before her at last. Standing at 1.8 meters, he towered over her like a mountain, and it daunted her. Charmine quickly snapped out of her thought and explained, “No… I’m not trying to lie to you. William did take good care of me, but it’s all in the past. You won’t get angry because of this, right?” The way she questioned him made it seem like he would look childish if he was indeed angry at her past. Anthony was speechless… He did not notice how he had turned into this stingy partner who used to be generous. After being with Charmine, it felt rather sickening even if she was to look at another man. He did not hide this fe
Anthony’s gaze narrowed. “You’d do anything I say?” “Yes.” Charmine wanted nothing more than to end this mess! If this went on, they would have wasted so much time with her saying the wrong things. Anthony placed both of his hands on the balcony as his body leaned forward. His clouded eyes bore into hers as he spoke, “As your man, I have the right to know things. That’s not too much to ask, no?” What? Charmine was dumbfounded. She snapped out of her daze a moment later. “What you’re saying is that I must report everything back to you?” Anthony nodded and said nothing. Charmine thought for a while. Perhaps it would be better to report things like what had happened today back to him. “That’s not too much,” she spoke. “I agree.” “If it’s not too much, then from now on, I must be around when you’re speaking to another man on the phone, especially those Uncles of yours and William!” said Anthony abruptly. Charmine was perplexed. Did he not ask just to know things
Charmine’s face grew hotter. She was already self-conscious when found on top of him, yet Anthony unloaded the responsibility on her? One might even mistake her for… The truth was that Anthony staggered and did not catch her… It was then realization dawned on her. A fully grown man like Anthony would not have staggered backward. It was impossible for him to not have caught her falling. He must have known that Guy and the rest were coming, so he intentionally planned this fall. He did this to show off! Charmine was utterly speechless. It was on that day she found out how mean Anthony was! “Come back later,” she spoke to the three. “Mr. Bailey and I have things to discuss…” Nial was the first to react. “Alright, we won’t disturb you anymore. You two…carry on…” With that said, he pulled Guy away. Guy turned around with his ears and cheeks reddened. It stung, yes, but he wanted to be happy for them. Charmine and Anthony were so loving… No, they had always be
Charmine gulped. She landed herself in trouble again! Why did she say that to Anthony? Was she asking for trouble?! Anthony noticed how her complexion turned red. Oh, how easy it was to toy with her. He reached out to place her on his lap as he spoke in a half-whisper, “Alright, I’ll stop teasing you now. Take a rest, and I’ll wake you up later.” She was so immersed in her work for the past two days, caught up with all the planning and preparation, that she only had two hours of sleep. She needed to rest. Charmine also knew Anthony too well that he would not go out anytime soon, so they would have to kill some time on the balcony. Since there was nothing else to do, she might as well sleep for a while. She shut her eyes and calmed herself to rest. Her thoughts still ran rampant, however. Charmine wondered how Uncle Sam was doing with the preparations. She wondered if they could garner the attention of M35 Laboratory. She wondered if Guy’s anemia was progressing for
After thinking for a moment, Anthony said to Nial, “Leave this to me. You and your medical team will get ready to take part in tomorrow’s competition.” “Huh? Why would we take part in a competition at this time? Isn’t it too last minute?” questioned Nial. Anthony’s expression turned cold. “I need results regarding the blood type, and we must fight to get into the top five. Otherwise, you’ll be sent to Africa for a month.” “Bro! Are you serious? Top five? In a day…” Nial wanted to protest, but Anthony sharply added, “Top three!” He left no room for negotiation, rendering Nial speechless. How heartless! He was so caught up with Anthony’s matters that barely had the time to date girls. They were already full with work, yet Anthony decided to give him yet another important task? He knew Anthony too well, though. There was no point talking him out of the things he had decided. Nial could only bitterly leave, and Yvonne gazed at him sympathetically. “You don’t have to make
Anthony’s gaze dulled when he saw Guy’s guilty expression. Charmine would not have to go through so much pain had he not stopped them from marrying. She would have recovered… He wanted to give Charmine the best, but he never thought... When Charmine regained her consciousness, she saw Anthony’s glum expression. She sat up and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you afraid of blood?” That baffled Anthony. Did he look like someone who was afraid of blood? Instead of replying, his large hand held onto her small one and played with it. Her fingers were so fine and fair. Holding her hand was like holding a kid’s hand. He asked, “Does it hurt a lot during the migraine?” Charmine frowned. Why would he suddenly ask her such a thing? Not liking the tense atmosphere, her lipstick-colored lip curled into a smile. “Not a lot. Doesn’t hurt as much as finding out about you and Annabel.” Anthony’s gaze narrowed. Annabel… They had yet to find Annabel. There was no news about her
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