Charmine noticed the glint in Anthony’s eyes, and it made her rather uncomfortable. She walked to a side and leaned on the wall to make way for him. “Go on in! Why are you still standing there? You’re dirty.” It only occurred to Anthony that he was still soaked in rainwater. Right, he had to wash up so he could get comfortable. His shoulder brushed against hers as he walked into the bathroom. Charmine noted how the atmosphere got less tense once he left; that man always made the atmosphere heavy in a room. She sighed in relief and walked back into the room. However, the strangely familiar feeling came back to her again. The carpet, the bed, the bedsheet… They all seemed so familiar to her. With a frown, Charmine walked to the bedside and traced her fingers on the bed. It was made of the finest material, seemingly new. The establishment must have changed it regularly, yet the feeling was familiar to her. Unable to hold back her curiosity, Charmine sat on the bed and leaned o
Charmine accepted the call and was instantly greeted with Gloria’s frantic report, “This is bad, Charmine! We put our attention all to Scarlet when the co-lead of the event, Hayley Waltz was admitted to the hospital due to acute nephritis!” Charmine frowned at that. She signed Hayley from HollyOak; a charming, sexy, and attractive woman. Of course, HollyOak forced the innocent, gentle, and girly figure on Hayley and portrayed her as a demure idol with a perfectly alluring body. Hayley raked up an impressive fanbase because of that though she still received backlash for being fake, much to her chagrin. After she was signed to RisingHawk, however, Hayley had the freedom to be and act how she truly wanted to, her true self, so long as it did not harm her reputation. Charmine let Hayley become the co-lead of Horizon Night. The Enchanting Concubine. Alas, Hayley was sent to the hospital, and no one in RisingHawk could model such a style. Who could Charmine look for to replace her,
It was Master Potter. A master in the calligraphy world. A simple word from him could sell tens of millions while his words were documented in the national museum. A man of such importance...called her? Gloria eventually answered the call and genially greeted, “Master Potter, how do you do?” “Gloria, your event is such a success. You managed to clear up Scarlet’s reputation! You’ve improved greatly!” Master Potter praised her, his voice clearly expressing his impression. Even though Scarlet was proven to have been the one cheated on, the third-wheeler term still stuck to her as it tarnished her reputation badly and cost her a lot of followers. However, with this genius plan, Scarlet not only made a contribution to society, but she even partnered with Gigi so that even Gigi’s fans would forgive her completely. This, ultimately, would improve their popularity and likeability. That was an indisputably perfect tactic to save a person’s reputation! “This isn’t my idea at a
Gloria was very grateful; she was quite rude to Charmine the other day after all. As she recalled that day in RisingHawk, Gloria continued, “Speaking of which, I should thank Julian. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have been able to work together. I can tell that he really likes you and is apologetic for what he did. You should reconsider him.” “Gloria, am I a person who’d wear broken shoes?” Charmine scoffed and hung up right away. Charmine sat up to stretch her limbs...when she noticed the time was already twelve at noon! Had she really slept that long? When she walked out of the room, Charmine saw Anthony sitting on the sofa, his legs crossed with a document on his lap. The afternoon sun that peeked through the window glinted against his being. Anthony looked elegant, expensive, regal, and powerful. He looked up to meet her gaze, and his lips parted, “You’re awake? There’s lunch on the table, help yourself.” “Great.” Charmine’s eyes narrowed as a sigh escaped her lips
It caught Charmine by surprise when—as she turned—she rammed against something hard like a wall. It was Anthony. Of course, it was because Anthony walked right behind her, thus resulting in Charmine bumping against Anthony’s arm. Anthony lowered his head to look at Charmine in his arms and frowned. “What now? What else do you want to do in the hotel room?” “You wish! There are too many people out there, and they’ll spot us right off the bat if we go like this. Do you have hats?” asked Charmine. “No,” came his reply. Charmine grimaced. Damn it! Charmine got into the hotel by hiding in Anthony’s arms… How could she leave then? After a moment of thought, Anthony offered, “I’ll lend you my hug again.” Again? He would carry her again? Instinctively, she refused, “No need.” There were other ways to go around it, Charmine thought. At that moment, they heard footsteps that paced toward them. It was not just one person; it sounded like a group of staff walking toward them
Charmine frowned. Was Anthony that immune to pain? She decided to poke him harder, and she moved down to his waist instead. Anthony noticed how there was more force in the way she stabbed him with her finger, thus his gaze hardened. “Not bad,” he spoke, “keep up the good work.” With that, he walked to the lift with Charmine in his arms. Everyone was shocked and surprised. Boss Bailey actually listened to all of the reports and even said ‘not bad’ and told them to ‘keep up the good work’?! Never before had they seen Boss Bailey in such a great mood. Was it because of the woman in his arms? Everyone gave him a respectful bow. “Thank you, Boss Bailey,” they bade in unison as their eyes trailed to Charmine. Who was this woman that Anthony liked? Someone who changed him? They wanted to know who she was! Even though Charmine was already inside the lift, she still felt the gazes that pointed at her like lasers, as though she could get zapped. It surprised her still why An
Anthony looked at her, equally clueless. By then, Chris had already assisted her to the seat. He then scooped a spoonful of soup and aimed the spoon at Charmine. Charmine frowned and questioned, “What’s going on, Momo? Mommy has eaten, I’m not hungry.” “But Mommy needs to eat nutritious food! Even I know it! Mommy doesn’t have to feel embarrassed.” Chris insisted Charmine eat the soup, his eyes practically gleaming at her belly. “Mommy,” beamed Chris, “do you think I’ll have a brother or a sister?” Charmine was staggered. Brother? Sister? Did Chris assume that she and Anthony went to the hotel to do such a thing? Then again… That was likely it! Why else would he make the liver soup and mention a baby? Charmine explained, “Momo, Mommy didn’t do anything like that. You naughty boy, you’re imagining things! Also—” “I get it, Mommy, I get it! You’re superstitious and don’t want to talk about it before you’re three months into the pregnancy!” Chris made a cute gesture w
McKenzie was dressed in a beige-colored dress, elegant and exquisite. “You made me dress up so formally, Grandpa. Who are we actually meeting?” asked the curious McKenzie. “An incredibly prominent person who can shift the tides to her favor without fail. Didn’t your reputation suffer for the past few days? This bigshot can help you change it for the better. Do put on your best behavior later on,” advised Senior Potter. McKenzie’s eyes narrowed at that. An incredibly prominent person? How could there be a bigshot she did not hear of? Also, what did he mean her reputation suffered for the past few days? Of course, she made no attempts to fix her reputation after sending those system texts to Omega users and got heavy backlash for it. She merely left it at that. What could the netizens do anyway? She eyed her grandfather, the arrogance in her rather palpable at that. “Grandpa, why care about what keyboard warriors think? They’re all poor and class-less. Why should I care?”
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