“Had she… Had she not gotten pregnant and given birth out of wedlock five years ago, we’d be extremely grateful now, unable to pay back to your kindness… “But… Only Annabel knows how much pain she had endured in the past few years!” She paused and sobbed silently, her voice hoarse as she did. “People would ridicule her no matter where she went, scorning her behind her back. They called her dirty, unchaste, cheap, and easy... “We’ve tried to introduce her to people for the past five years, but they’d all look at her disdainfully when they found out that she had given birth before. “The entire Southern Village knew about her ruined reputation, no one wanted to even befriend her. Wherever we went, we couldn’t raise our heads, and every relative had cut us out. The hurt we’ve endured isn’t something money can fix!” “Mom, stop talking. Get up, please,” warned Annabel with eyes reddened. She did not like her mother relaying their story, especially in front of Anthony. Anthony
Anthony turned his gaze to Nial and instructed, “Put up a list of trusted names, and arrange some blind dates for Annabel.” “Arrange some blind dates? Bro? Are you serious…?” Nial’s lips twitched. Why the rush? Would Annabel even agree? Anthony’s lips curled up. “Of course I’m serious. Find someone trustworthy who doesn’t mind her past. You'll be fully in charge of this.” “How do I arrange such a thing? How will I know if they care about her past or not? What if they pretend it doesn’t bother them? Annabel will be the one suffering once they’re married…” Nial reminded him. Meanwhile, Annabel walked toward with her walking stick. “It’s okay, I’m willing to go on blind dates. As long as someone is willing to marry me, it’s okay if they mind about my past. I’m okay to be wronged.” Her voice was determined and serious. Nial frowned, while Chris eyed Annabel strangely. Logically speaking, was she not supposed to hold Anthony accountable for this? Why was she so understand
All of a sudden, Charmine’s bedroom door was pushed open as people rushed in, glaring at her distastefully. “A cheap woman like you want to marry Anthony? In your dreams!” “You have a tarnished reputation and had a stillbirth, yet you want to marry up to a man like him?” Charmine hastily shook her head and tried to explain she was the wronged party, that the person who harmed her was the ‘cheap’ one, not her. That person should have been the one facing the consequences, not her! Before she could even explain herself, however, three figures walked in as they held hands. They were Anthony, Annabel, and Chris, each wearing grins on their faces. The people that barged into her room surrounded Charmine as they threw rubbish, rotten eggs, and vegetables at her. “Anthony…!” Charmine cried out. “Anthony…!” No one heard her nor came to her aid. Anthony held Annabel by the waist, his eyes filled with love. No! “Anthony!” Charmine cried out and shot up on her bed. The sky
Charmine had her breakfast and let Adam drive her to the Jordan Group. En route, they passed by Mile-End Mall. “Do you want to pull over and have a look?” began Adam. Putting a little thought into it, Charmine then nodded after thinking it through, curious as to what Julian was attempting to salvage whatever was left for him. Once Adam pulled over by an empty entrance, Charmine merely opened the door, donned her glasses, and eyed the mall before her as she sat still. Charmine noted how the originally luxurious mall was filled with different colored flags all over. The words printed on the flags included, [Pizza], [Kebab], [Fish and Chips], [Burger], [Nuggets], [Ice-Cream], [Beef Steak], [Seafood Platter], [Sandwich], [Grilled Fish]. They were all well-known street food that one could smell from afar. Charmine squinted. Julian turned the high-end Mile-End Mall into a food court?! These were all street food to boot, yet he hosted them all in Mile-End Mall regardless? It
“The matter between Anthony and I has nothing to do with you!” With that, she rolled up the window as if she was blocking Julian from the outside. That did not deter Julia, however, as he yelled out, “You better think it through, Charmine. I’m the only one who’s willing to marry you officially!” “Go!” ordered Charmine to Adam. Stepping on the gas pedal, Adam drove the car away speedily, leaving Julian with a face full of dust and smoke. Julian glared at the leaving car, his eyes darkened with determination. He took out his phone and sent McKenzie a message. [Countdown: Six more days.] McKenzie was attending an international seminar when she saw her phone screen lit up, and her eyes dulled at the text. Six more days… In six days, Charmine and Anthony would get married… She intentionally arranged for Annabel to get hurt the other day, thinking that it would encourage Annabel and Anthony’s relationship to bloom, but it failed unexpectedly. Her other arrangement di
As Charmine swam in her thoughts, her phone rang. It was a notification for a group message. Since they parted, Chris had pulled them into a group chat named, [Happy Family of 3]. Chris texted, [Good morning, Mommy! A beautiful day starts with a hearty breakfast. Don’t forget to have breakfast, Mommy!] Subsequently, he shared an article that read, [Health Department published that the patients who don’t eat breakfast have a 20% death rate than normal people.] Charmine’s lips curled up unknowingly as she read it. Chris was still so adorable. If only he was her actual son... How good would it be if she could watch him grow up? She thought for a second, thinking of what to reply when another message popped out. Chris: [I’m having breakfast—it’s a sandwich made by Uncle Nial. Waa… It’s so bad!] Chris: [Mommy, help me! I want to come back to Mommy! I want to have breakfast made by Daddy again!] Chris: [Uncle Nial is trying to poison me!] It did not take long for their
However, Annabel was in a similar situation as Charmine. Would she be able to find someone who liked her, who would not mind her past and genuinely cared for her within such a short time? Before Charmine knew it, she stood right before Muse Club absent-mindedly en route to the company building. Tristan was sipping on his cocktail languidly at the lobby with a ukulele in his hands. Him strumming the strings sounded…awful! That did not stop his self-indulgence, however, and the staff dared not say anything. He spotted Charmine passing by at that moment and instantly sped outside. “Sweetie!” Charmine heard this almost familiar tone and did not want to respond to it. However, Tristan already walked up to her. “The children’s entertainment plan you told me yesterday is already set up. Would you like to have a look? We still have time to make some changes if you're unsatisfied.” It was not until then when Charmine stopped walking. She thought of how adorable Chris was earlier in
Charmine frowned. Who would use darts these days? The attacker was proficient with them, too! Throwing ten darts, one after another, was a display of stellar wrist strength. The darts were homing in from different trajectories: from above, below, left, and right. They were coming from almost all directions! Getting to the door was their only safe option. Alas, the door was closed and there was no time to even get to the door! She gave her undivided focus on the darts and parried. Charmine shuffled in her footwork, raising her leg and kicking away the darts as they came. She took up a stuffed toy and swung it nimbly, using it as a shield. Just like that, the darts were flicked away. Before the assassinator could register her movements, almost all the darts were countered. All but one dart, alas, that aimed for Charmine’s ankle. Charmine almost seemed to have missed the one dart flying below. The assassinator chuckled devilishly; it was good enough to hurt her an
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