Charmine looked at the people suspiciously. Were they looking down on them because she went out catching lobsters? Amid her doubt, a woman pointed at her and scolded, “You dress so well, but your kid is so rude and wild! The people from the city are so arrogant and disgusting!” Charmine halted. Her eyes were cold as she glared at the woman. Was she talking to her? When the woman met her deadly glare, she shivered and dared not to speak anymore. She went home and closed the door. Charmine frowned and turned to look at Chris. He was so polite and did not speak to anyone. The woman probably was not referring to Chris. Had she over-thought this? Whatever. She led Chris and Chloe back home and started preparing the lobsters. Chris and Chloe helped out, and with that, the meal was prepared quickly. It did not take long before a big pot of lobsters was done. The lobsters were red and shiny as they were bathed in red chili sauce. The fragrance and presentation were on
Chris was tempted by the sweet yet sour scent. He looked up and said, “Mommy, there are some oranges. Can we buy some?” “Yes.” Charmine walked ahead. “Let’s keep an eye out. We’ll buy some later.” “Alrighty!” Both of them continued walking forward, and the scent grew stronger. After walking for a few minutes, they saw an orchard full of oranges. With the dim light, they saw the stall by the side with only a few oranges left. Were they still selling? Charmine noticed that the lights in the house were still on, and she wanted to go and ask the residents about it. However, the door made a sound and was pushed open. A couple walked out with a torch. They shone the light right at the two of them. Charmine narrowed her eyes and frowned. Worried that the light might get into Chris’ eyes, she shielded him. The intense bright light still blew up in her face. Charmine was not pleased, but before she could speak, the couple sneered, “Oh yeah! Here they come again! I caught yo
The woman staggered a few steps back from the brunt of Charmine’s slap. She stood transfixed on the spot for a while. She only reacted when she felt the burn and numbness on her cheek. She got slapped by a woman younger than her! A young woman actually slapped her! “Argh! What a shameless woman! I’m going to beat you up!” The woman opened her huge arms and jumped at Charmine. She even tried to pull her hair. Charmine merely remained on the same spot and looked very calm. When the woman got closer, Charmine calmly reached out her hand and caught the woman’s wrist. She threw her over the shoulder. Thomp! The woman fell to the ground. She was in so much pain that it took her a while to react. She pointed at Charmine with her shaky hand, “You’re so dead!” Charmine towered over as she coldly bit back, “You want to get beaten again?” The woman was so triggered that her face turned pale and her body trembled. She turned to look at her husband with a frustrated look.
“Don’t stay in our village anymore! Leave!” “Ask the village head to come! We must toss this thief out!” Everyone berated Chris and Charmine as they scooped up mud and stones to toss at them. Charmine’s eyes burned furiously as she shielded Chris, flinching away from the stones. She raised her arms and long legs to get away from the stones coming at her. Zip! The stones and mud were sent flying back at the crowd as Charmine moved. The women did not expect this as the stones scratched their faces. They were the ones splattered with the smelly mud instead. Angered, they rolled up their sleeves, ready to fight Charmine. Among the crowd, someone called out, “Our village head is here!” Everyone stopped to look over. Charmine turned around to see Chloe walking toward them with her Grandma. Grandma still had a friendly and peaceful smile on her face, but her tone was more serious. “What’s the matter?” The women started all speaking at once, “This newcomer came steal
With that said, Charmine held onto the old lady. “Grandma, let’s go,” she urged. The aggrieved woman, upon seeing the cash in front of her, instantly forgot about her pain as her eyes lit up. She quickly picked them all up and looked at them with trembling hands. She licked her rough hands and started counting. Everyone looked at Charmine’s back, and then at the stack of cash that the woman could not handle with both hands. Their jaws dropped. Gosh! This was real money! Was she that wealthy? They would not be able to earn this much money, even if they worked hard for a few years, yet she took out this much cash so easily? Where did this mogul come from? She had to have come here on a vacation. Everyone turned to look at the woman who was grinning from ear to ear on the ground. Feeling their eyes on her, the woman held the banknotes close to her and stood up. “Thank you, everyone. I’ll treat you all to a nice meal next time.”She thus quickly went home and shut the do
“Grandma, Chloe, I’ll walk you home,” declared Chris. “I’m a man, and I should protect you!” “Alright, then!” Chloe smiled adorably, and her eyes twinkled like the stars in the sky. Grandma smiled as well. “Okay.” Chris supported Grandma to walk and sent them home. Across the stream, a few women sat below a tree as they muttered to one another. “Why is that woman so close to the village head?” “She’s probably getting old and silly. She can’t tell right from wrong.” “The village head even gave that woman a lot of things! That woman probably tricked her!” “They seem quite rich, though.” “How rich can they be? Why would they be here if they’re rich? The amount she tossed out was only ten thousand bucks.” The women began gossiping, and some even ridiculed Charmine. “Only ten thousand? They can earn as much after working a few months in the city.” “Who knows, maybe she came to a small village like ours to take our money!” “Right! The village head has a lot of land
One of the men shouted at the speaker, “We’re giving money! We’re giving money!” “You no longer have to work for a house!” “Come over! Once you sign this contract, everyone will get a large sum of money!” When a few women heard ‘money’, they could not help going forward to ask, “What do you mean by signing this to get a large sum of money?” The young man said, “We’re developers. We want to turn this village into a commercial tourist area! Once you sign this, you’ll get a large sum of money to buy a house in the city!” “Is there such a good thing?” questioned one of the women. “Yes!” insisted the young man. “Once you sign here, you get it right away!” The other young man with the box opened it, revealing loads of cash inside. The woman’s eyes widened. She picked up the pen and was about to sign before the person by the side nudged her. “Don’t hurry. Ask for details first.” The woman was confused. “Ask for what?” The other woman said, “I heard that the other village w
“Why don’t you sign it later? This is our root, and our generations were, and are, raised here. We can’t give up our roots for instant benefits.” “Right! I heard the living expenses are high in the city, that even a drop of water costs money. You won’t have your own land if you go out to the city. Even vegetables cost money. How are you going to earn money?” “They say there are all kinds of other costs. If your son is going to school, the fees are way higher out there! Without an income, how would you support your family?” Hearing these, everyone else chimed in, agreeing. “That’s right. Don’t sign it! The village is the best!” “Don’t be tempted by instant benefits! They’ll dig out your ancestors’ graveyards! You’ll end up crying!” “Yes, don’t sign it!” The young men who were initially confident saw the tides changing and looked at the village head angrily. “Just let her sell it if she wants to, you old hag! It’s not like she’s selling your land! It’s none of your business
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