Charmine walked to the lab desk, swabbed the poison from the petals, and put the sample into a bottle. After that, she swabbed the poison from the listening device and mixed both poison samples. After dissolving them, she brought them to the lab. The data was interpreted after a few minutes, and Charmine asked for Faye’s report once more. As expected, the two reports aligned. Faye’s poison was caused by a mixture of these two! Nial looked at the data and cried out with astonishment, “Charmine, you’re amazing! You managed to connect the dots so well! Spectacular! Knowing the source now, we can try to deduce it all now.” “Hurry,” urged Charmine. “Alright.” Nial followed this data and analyzed it to start making the antidote. Focusing on TUI and the pollen, he concocted hundreds of antidotes. However, since they did not know what poisons’ proportions were, they did not know the exact measurement and dosage for the antidote. There were hundreds of substances, and any ex
Faye initially thought she passed out because of Charmine. Nial pursed his lips. “Your body is in a critical condition. Your kidney is failing severely.” “What!?” Faye’s face turned pale. Kidney failure? “Charmine!” Faye’s face was so pale that it was terrifying, and she nearly lost consciousness again. She stretched out a shaky finger and pointed at Charmine, shrieking, “How are you so evil? You had the heart to do this to me, just because I wronged you?!” “I was going to ask you this: who did you meet before coming home?” interrogated Charmine intensely.Faye refused to communicate and give her cooperation, despite her body being in a dangerous state. She grew angrier instead. “Just you! I was fine before entering your room. You saw me lifting the pot of flowers meant as your gift, but you got all fierce and attacked me! How can you be so heartless, Charmine?!” Nial, unable to tolerate that behavior, shot Faye a menacing gaze. “Watch yourself, Faye. You’re badly pois
“Wait, don’t leave!” Faye called out urgently with reddened eyes. “I don’t know who she is, I swear. I’ve only ever heard her voice: cold, elegant, but very pompous. I remember her hands and her nails, painted with high-grade nail polish. She seems very pampered, much like a princess would be.” Charmine frowned. An elegant temperament with a high-above manner of speech, and seemed like a princess? Instinctively, a name crossed Charmine’s mind—Waverly. Waverly always spoke with an elegant tone, especially to people without status. She even acted haughtily, placing herself on a greater pedestal. Most importantly, she always used others as her means. Charmine looked at Faye and asked, “She’s the person who asked you to plant the listening devices as well as the flowers inside my room?” “Yes!” Charmine suddenly laughed before she swept an aloof gaze her way. “Should I say you’re stupid or too ignorant?” “What do you mean? I didn’t tell you to laugh at me!” Faye’s face
Although things did not go as she planned, the outcome was not too bad, either. Charmine still had thoughts of marrying Anthony, did she? She wanted to go public with him?Hilarious! Charmine could be jailed for life if Faye could not be saved, yet that woman still wanted to marry Anthony and live happily ever after? Not happening. That one-million deal was worth it! Waverly’s fingers, painted with red nail polish, clicked on the screen as she stonily replied, [Keep a close watch on the situation.] Grinning in glee, she then clicked on Susan’s number and texted the following: [Auntie, are you free? I’d like to have a cup of tea with you.] [I know you don’t like me, but would you accept Charmine who’s responsible for murdering someone? Would you want her as your daughter-in-law?] After a few minutes, Susan replied, [Okay.] Waverly’s smile broadened at Susan’s response. So long as Faye remained untreated, Charmine would be responsible for murdering her! Susan never l
Waverly glanced down at the knife against her neck and carefully turned back to open the box by the side. She took out two antidotes and handed them to Charmine. Charmine took them and withdrew the knife from her neck. “You better not pull anything funny,” she warned. “Don’t worry, these are the only antidotes. Take it or leave it.” Waverly heaved in the air as she distanced herself from Charmine. Charmine smirked. “Still so pompous, are you? I think you should suffer a little more.” Opening her palm, an odorless, colorless powder shrouded Waverly, one that the latter did not notice. “I’ve given you the antidotes, Charmine! What else do you want to do?” she asked cautiously. “You’ll know later. Enjoy!” Charmine smiled coldly and turned away. Waverly looked at Charmine’s back in confusion. What did she mean by that? Why did she open her palm like that? Before she understood, she suddenly felt pins and needles all around her body. Alarms went off in her mind as she rus
Just as Waverly was about to leave, she suddenly felt a sharp pain and itchiness on her skin. She looked at the mirror, and her eyes widened. Another big pimple appeared on her face, along with many red spots! The blood and pus ruined her makeup! It was more severe than the morning! Seeing her grotesque reflection, she slammed her palms against the doctor. “How did this happen? I asked you for medication! How did this happen?!” The doctor bent and explained with his head down, “I… I didn’t expect this either… Your pores might’ve gotten clogged when you put on your makeup, worsening the symptoms…” Waverly’s entire being shook in anger. “You’re so useless! Get out of my sight! Get out!” The doctor scrambled and got out of the room, leaving Waverly staring at herself in the mirror. She knew there was no hope. After a long while of hesitation, she had no choice but to pick up her phone to text Susan the following: [Auntie, I’m so sorry. I’ve got things in the afternoon,
Helpless, the nurses had to help Frank get to the ICU, where Faye listlessly laid in bed, her breathing labored. Faye lifted her head and looked at the door when she heard it opened. She thought it was Charmine with her antidote, but she was instead greeted with the sight of a nurse helping Frank to get in. “Brother…” Seeing him, Faye felt wronged. She began to pant and wail, “Brother… I’m about to die. I don’t want to die! I’m only twenty-one… I don’t want to die…!” Hearing her heaving, Frank turned around and frowned. “What happened? How did you end up like this?” Faye thought of her misfortune, and her pants grew erratic. She gripped her chest for a moment before saying, “I’ll tell you the truth, Brother, but don’t blame me...” An unsettling feeling welled up within Frank at her words. This meant that she had done something for Charmine to treat her in such a manner. Faye began, “A person manipulated me to plant listening devices in Charmine’s room, which she eventua
“Charmine won first prize two days ago, and many hailed her to be a goddess of sorts. Who would’ve thought that she’s actually so mean…” “Sigh! The brother-and-sister pair was fine before, but this woman poisoned the sister and had the brother cancel his operation…” “Sigh! What a shame that the two of them met this evil woman.” When Faye heard this, she added, “I merely misunderstood you, yet you did this to me? How can you be so evil? It was my brother who taught you with much effort the skill you showcased in the Olympics!” The crowd gasped. “Oh, gosh! This is cruel! The man treated her so well, yet she caused so much harm to them!” “How unacceptable!” Charmine did not care about the rest; she did not bother to explain. All she cared about was whether Frank misunderstood her. It was not easy for her to have convinced him for an operation, and if he chose against it… She looked at Frank. “Frank, I didn’t know the flowers were poisoned.” Frank nodded. “I know, Charm
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