Luckily, there were a few more days until their wedding. Once Anthony sorted out his company matters, they would have their wedding. She could only say, “Okay. Come home soon. I’ll be planning for our wedding.” Anthony stopped short and, masking the dread in his eyes, walked toward her to hug her. “Alright. Stay home, and wait for me.” “Okay.” Anthony lowered his head and his eyes lingered on her for a while. After that, he landed a sacred peck on her forehead, “I’ll go now.” “Okay.” Charmine nodded. Anthony slowly released her from his embrace, and a moment later, he left without turning back. He dared not to look back, afraid that once he did, he would be pulled in by her eyes and would not be able to leave. Charmine remained transfixed, looking at his back until he closed the door. Only then did she look away. She frowned warily. Why did he look so despondent? Why did he look at her like he did not want to go and let go? Was he not off to work and would come home
The laboratory was located inside a secluded forest in Burlington. It was one of the largest pieces of land, owned by Kansas in Burlington. Multiple projects ran in this place.Jennie was at the brain department’s laboratory, and she had been waiting since early in the morning. When she saw Anthony coming in, her lips curled into a cold, knowing smile. The genius with the brain that she wanted was here! Anthony walked over and, with a stoic expression, commented, “Hurry up and get started.” “Okay.” Jennie smiled coldly and led him in. “Let’s start with an XC.” Anthony laid under the machine and was then put in position. He felt as if he would die anytime. A sharp light shone at him right after, and the beam was so sharp that it hurt him, painful enough to make him feel like he was stabbed even after he closed his eyes. After that, an ear-stabbing beeping sound rang next to his ears. Each beep was stronger than before. Anthony knew how much damage the XC would do to a
At M&G Hotel. Waverly stood before the bathroom mirror. Seeing how the repulsive acne had finally disappeared, she smiled coldly as she slowly put on her bathrobe. Charmine made Susan hate her, made her fear of meeting anyone for the past one week, and made her cancel countless appointments. She had to make Charmine pay! She walked out to the living room and was about to make the phone call when her phone rang before she could call anyone—it was Britney. She flexed her nicely polished nails and answered the call, coldly saying, “What is it?” Britney said, “Anthony left to undergo the experiment.” Waverly frowned. Hmph! Anthony was such a fool. He was willing to endure the pain because of Charmine? Poor Charmine had no idea of it, too. She wanted Anthony to see what Charmine was doing behind his back while he endured hell for her. Malice bubbled in Waverly’s eyes as she frostily ordered, “Get me the footage of William sending the artificial kidney yesterday.”
“Thank you.” Charmine took the lift up and went to ward 1812. As she was about to knock, she heard something crisply shattering from inside. She quickly pushed open the door. She saw William in bed with bandages wrapped all over him, the floor littered with broken shards of glass. When William saw the woman in front of him, he thought he was hallucinating. Why would Charmine come? Blinking, he found himself still staring at her before him, much to his bewilderment.“Ms. Jordan, why… Why did you come?” Why did she know he was admitted here? Charmine looked at him and frowned. “Why are you so severely hurt?” William leaned back and said, “I’m fine—it’s a small matter.” Eyeing the broken shards, she had guessed he broke a drinking glass. Could he not hold onto one? She walked to the bedside and poured him a glass of water. “Thank you.” William’s lips were pale and dry. He had been thirsty for a long time, visible in the way he gulped the water the moment he
As Charmine was about to correct the nurse, the nurse left her to attend to other matters, leaving her to reluctantly bring the medication back to William’s ward. Anthony would surely get jealous if he found out about this. They were about to get married, and she did not want any more unwanted incidents to happen. Furthermore, she had to go home to continue planning for their wedding. After a few seconds of hesitation, Charmine walked to the office to have a personal nurse take care of William, paying for his medical expenses to boot. She told the personal nurse what the other nurse instructed her, and she went back to the ward. “Mr. Peterson, I need to leave now. If you have any problem that you don’t want to bother others with, you may call me.” After all, she was the reason why he got hurt. Despite the unwillingness in his gaze, he nonetheless said gently, “Okay. Go ahead with your day—don’t mind me.” Charmine nodded and left. Meanwhile, the individual in black watch
All that mattered was Anthony would come home. However, it was six in the evening, and he was still not home. Charmine started to feel uneasy again…. In the past, even if Anthony was very busy, he would not go on two days without contacting her. Lips twisting into a frown, she leaned back on the sofa and deliberated on it before heading upstairs. She turned on her computer, and her slim fingers fluttered across the keyboard before, not long after, the screen changed and turned black. Following that, strings of codes in red appeared. Charmine keyed in Anthony’s phone number to locate his location. She then found out that he was still in Burlington. She looked at the location in shock. Did he not go overseas? Why was he in Burlington? Furthermore, even if he had returned, why did he not come home? Why did he not contact her? Charmine located his exact location and was shocked to find out that he was on the outskirts of the city, below a mountain. She squinted and
Charmine studied Anthony for a while and noticed that he looked honest. He did not look as if he was lying. It seemed that his reason was believable, that he was not making things up. She asked again, “Are you being honest?” “Of course!” Anthony held her by the waist and asked, “My darling, since when have I lied to you? Why would I lie to you?” Charmine looked at his flashing phone screen, and the suspicion in her slowly ebbed away. “Alright, then,” she conceded. “I’ve wronged you.” Anthony reached out to lift her face by the chin. “Shouldn’t you make up for it, then?” “Don’t mess around. You’ve been out for two days. Let’s go home.” Not one to display their affection in public, Charmine took his hand, wanting to pull her with him when she realized how cold his palm was. It was ice-cold freezing. His palm had always been warm. Why was it cold all of a sudden? Charmine looked at Anthony, confused as she asked, “You’re cold?” Anthony paused as panic momentarily fla
Anthony, however, could barely hold Chris up in his arms as beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. In fear that the truth would be revealed, he huffed, “You’re way out of your Mommy’s league. Go and sleep!” With that, he put down Chris. Chris scoffed at him. “Actually, I like her more, too! I’ll find Mommy to play with me!” he blustered as he hopped toward Charmine with his short legs. Anthony then walked off to the bathroom on the first floor. He leaned against the door and panted heavily the moment he closed the bathroom door, taking deep breaths as he did, yet he still struggled to breathe. Perhaps he exerted too much strength that the pain that had slowly receded came back. He massaged his temple with his hand. When he no longer felt as afflicted, he stood before the mirror and used hot water to splash his pale-like-snow face. He exited the bathroom when his complexion no longer looked as pale. Luke was already gone, while Charmine and Chris were playing on the
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