“Tiffany!” roared Senior Jordan. “Do you know what you’re doing? You’re ruining yourself, and the family will hate you more!” “So what? None of you like me anyway—you guys hate me now and want to take my shares away! You guys treat me like dirt right when I needed my family the most. What difference would it make if I do this or not?” Tiffany smiled bitterly. “I’m merely trying to get something for my sick body. I can longer do modeling gigs and can’t marry Julian; I can't expect the family to treat me the same again. All I want is the shares, put my all onto the company, and numb myself with work. Only when I gain 60 percent of the Jordans’ shares will no one bully me or put me down anymore. I’ll still be Ms. Jordan, the person in charge of the Jordan family!” Senior Jordan was furious as he heard Tiffany’s extreme yet laughable thinking. “What makes you think I’ll agree to that?” scowled Senior Jordan. “With our resources and Charmine’s help, do you think we won’t be able to find
Senior Jordan remained silent despite his attorney’s question. He picked up a pen and signed his name on the paper, eyeing Tiffany carefully. “I hope you’ll keep your end of the bargain, Tiffany.” “I will, Grandpa.” Tiffany’s lips curled up into a sweet smile, and she left with the contract in her hands. Looking at her back, Senior Jordan’s eyes gradually and heavily closed; Tiffany’s outburst shocked him to the core. He never thought she would have that side of her. Since she held Robert hostage, he had no other choice. Furthermore, she was his actual granddaughter, and she was pushed to her breaking point because of them. Perhaps she might feel better after having the shares. If she did what she had in the proposal, the company could get better. After all, he was his actual granddaughter. What else could he do? Sigh… As if remembering something, he instructed his attorney, “Transfer all of my properties under my name to Charmine.” The attorney was shocked. All his propert
The sky was already dark by the time Charmine woke up. With all the lights turned off, only the moonlight’s soft glow that danced through the window lit the room. Charmine could make out a fresh masculine scent as she blinked away her drowsiness...only to find herself in Anthony’s arms! Not just that, but they were cuddling one another, laying face-to-face in bed! Anthony was fast asleep. Torn and crumpled, his white shirt had many of her lipstick marks. What…? Charmine rubbed her temples and realized that she had a hangover. Was she the one crumpling his shirt when she was drunk? She felt unusually guilty as she carefully tried to get out of the bed, but a strong arm pulled her by the waist and back into Anthony’s embrace. Charmine met his darkened gaze. They were extremely close to one another as her lips could almost graze his chin. With a slight move, her lips would graze his. “Let me go,” insisted Charmine without moving an inch. “You hugged and touched me, Ms. Jorda
Charmine’s heart galloped rapidly as Anthony’s kiss left her powerless. That damned voice of his was no help either; so bewitching that Charmine became weak before him. Unexpectedly, she said, “Okay, since it’s not my first time anyway, I’m not losing anything.” She wanted to give it a try—life should be enjoyable after all. All of a sudden, Anthony’s emotional eyes turned sober and rational. He pushed Charmine away and eyed her sternly. “Never say that again, Charmine.” Charmine was befuddled. She was confused. What did she say? Anthony held her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. He said in a low voice, “Remember: It wasn’t your fault five years ago, and your body and soul are still pure and clean. You’ll always be the most amazing woman I know, so don’t ever look down on yourself. I crossed the line today, but I’ll show you enough respect, and I hope you can respect yourself more.” With that, Anthony pushed Charmine further away and stood up. He stood by the bed and
Anthony sat on the bed. “Just wait.” The room was soundproof; there was no way they could be heard even if they yelled. Furthermore, their phones were left outside, thus they could not call Chris. They would not leave the room until Chris opened the door for them. Charmine frowned. “How long do we have to wait?” “This depends on how long he thinks his father needs,” commented Anthony. Charmine blushed at his words before she eyed their surroundings. Unfortunately, the windows had locks on, so there was no way to get out unless they could remove the door completely. Sadly, there were no tools inside the room that could help them with that. “Just relax for a night,” assured Anthony, “and we’ll think of ways tomorrow.” Charmine thought of Anthony’s promise that he would not touch her, thus she slowly eased herself. Chris would surely open the door for them tomorrow, unless he wanted them to starve. Luckily, there were some checkers scripts and building designs she left in t
“Don’t worry, I’ll behave,” assured Anthony with his low voice as he hugged Charmine by her waist and pulled her into his arms. Charmine wanted to fight back as he pulled her into his embrace but gave up soon after, thinking it was pointless. Anthony did say he would not touch her, and fighting back would make her seem pretentious. Whatever—they were just sleeping anyway. The soft glow of the moon seeped into the room like a layer of silver blanket covering them peacefully. ... Both Anthony and Charmine heard an audible click that came from the door the next morning. No doubt about it, Chris was unlocking the door at last! Charmine instinctively shot up, but Anthony was quick enough to grab her by the waist. “Are you that in a hurry to go out?” “Huh? Of course,” replied the perplexed Charmine. “Momo tried so hard to get us together. If he knew nothing happened, he might be disappointed and have a seizure again,” Anthony reminded her. Charmine was reminded of how the
Chris escorted Charmine to sit in front of the table in the dining room. He spent the whole night cleaning up the table yesterday; he even washed the dishes and cleaned the house. Charmine was impressed at his work, though she still eyed her surroundings for her phone. Spotting her phone on the shelf, Charmine stood up to get it when Chris suddenly said, “Mommy! Stay there! I’ll get it for you!” With that, his little figure ran over and handed the phone to Charmine. Chris seemed rather cautious, anxious that any hurt would befall upon Charmine. Charmine reached out to ruffle his hair. “Oh, Momo, you’re still a child! Let Mommy take care of you, okay?” “But the baby inside Mommy is younger than me, and a brother should take care of his sister. Just sit here, Mommy, and let me bring you breakfast!” With that, Chris ran into the kitchen. His actions stunned Charmine, but she did not want to upset him either. With that, she bit back her tongue and stayed silent. Once Charmi
After all, Robert was his only grandson. That was a warrant of Senior Jordan’s worry, rightfully so. “Yes,” answered Charmine assuringly. “Don’t worry, Grandpa. Don’t let Tiffany know that we had this conversation, though. I’ll do my best to save Robert.” “Okay, Charmine. Be careful. Tiffany… She seems to have changed, so much so that she terrifies me now.” Senior Jordan initially thought that Tiffany would release Robert after he handed her his shares, yet Tiffany extended their deal and said she would only let Robert go after her reputation had improved. In other words, Senior Jordan would still have to obey Tiffany’s will. Charmine’s lips curled upward. “Don’t worry, Grandpa. I’m no longer the same person from five years ago—I can fix things and take good care of myself.” Senior Jordan sighed, finally at ease. Inside the prayer room, he pulled out a drawer and said to a portrait with relief, “Did you hear that? Charmine’s grown into an incredibly capable woman now. She can
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