The guard then threw a heavy punch toward Charmine. Charmine could not move as her heel was stuck in the gap. His fist was merely five centimeters from her face just as she was about to take out her foot from her shoe. Just as his fist nearly grazed Charmine’s face, a large hand intercepted Max’s punch. “A big man like Mr. D’Cruz dares to hit a woman? Aren’t you just shaming every other man like this?” Such words were uttered with disgust and mockery. Charmine turned to look who was talking. It was Alexander Walker… He just would not get off her back! Alexander stood by her side, his cat-like eyes boring into hers. “Sweetie, why are you even talking to a tasteless man like him? Even if your man is having a baby with another woman, there’s still a long line of men waiting to marry you. A violent man like Mr. D’Cruz will probably end up domestically abusing his wife! Haha!” Alexander glanced at Max before he, right in front of everyone, got down on one knee and helped Cha
Charmine could not find Adam’s car, even though she had gone back and forth for a while. Suddenly, Kay appeared beside her. “Boss Jordan, you don’t have to be so hostile to Alexander. We’ve investigated Alexander and found that—” “I’ve nothing to do with him,” snapped Charmine, “and you don’t have to tell me anything! If you ever make a decision for me again and let someone like him get close to me, I’ll tell your manager to take you away!” That terrified Kay so badly that he clasped a hand over his mouth. “I won’t speak, I won’t speak! But...I do want to say something. Boss Jordan, you also feel that Anthony and Annabel should be together, right? Meanwhile, you and Alexander also did it five years ago. Now that Alexander is genuinely nice to you, maybe you should—” Before he could finish, Charmine abruptly stopped walking, her figure seemingly ominous… Murderous. Kay’s back felt cold at that instance. His toes pointed as he jumped a few meters away, hiding from Charmine.
Charmine merely replied, “I don’t have time now. I’ll go to the ward to visit Robert and Grandpa.” With that, she walked into the hospital. Adam could only watch as Charmine went into the building, his eyes glossed with helplessness. He deserved to be treated coldly, considering he was the one who treated her badly from a young age, and that was probably why Charmine was swapped at birth. Charmine went through so much pain due to Adam wronging this ‘adopted daughter’ of his. All he could do was use the rest of his life and atone for his mistakes, proving how he had changed for the better to Charmine…...Charmine first went to the VIP ward for Robert. Senior Jordan kept his watchful gaze on Robert, and he was elated to see Charmine walking into the ward. “Oh, you’re here, Charmine. Have a seat!” “No need, Grandpa. I have other things to attend to, and I’ll have to fetch Momo from school. I came here to pay you two a visit. How’s Robert?” asked Charmine. “Don’t worry abo
Charmine looked into the ward through the window and saw how Anthony handed Annabel the bowl of soup. Noticing there were no tissues around Annabel, Anthony took some tissues for her. It was as though a responsible husband was taking care of his pregnant wife. Charmine, who stood outside the window, looked like an extra. Noticing Charmine’s distant gaze, Waverly comforted, “Mr. Bailey really loves you; you don’t have to be too concerned. He’s just a special friend of Annabel’s, that’s all.” Waverly’s out-of-the-blue comment brought her out of her thoughts. She looked at Waverly who was beside her, and that strong sense of familiarity was awakened again, along with an obvious feeling of despise. It felt as if standing next to Waverly disconcerted her every cell. “Have we met before, Ms. D’Cruz?” blurted Charmine. Right after she asked, Waverly’s eyes showed a glint of panic. However, it merely lasted for 0.01 second, so quick that it was almost unnoticeable. The panic q
“Are you overthinking things again, Charmine?” Anthony’s husky, magnetic voice was evidently displeased. As they were just a breath away, Charmine could clearly feel his crisp and cold breath fanning her face, and her heart skipped a beat. She scooted away, attempting to pull away from him, but Anthony’s arm hooked around her waist tightly and gave her no chance to escape. She then reasoned, “I’m not overthinking; I’m just looking at the fact. “If we’re both more rational in this situation, we really have no need to be together. Even if we’re together, we should at least keep it low, especially in the hospital where Annabel is around. We should avoid this. “After all, Chris’ life depends on Annabel’s pregnancy, and Annabel did have it real bad. If she’s affected and is unable to conceive, Momo will be done for…!” Anthony could detect Charmine’s worry, and he kept his hand around her waist as he lowly spoke, “Letting Annabel become a surrogate mother is merely letting her
The man had glasses on and donned a white shirt. He looked gentle. The woman, meanwhile, had a luxurious jacket on, and it gave her the image of a lavish person. It was Derek and Yvette. She knew about these two; they fought for power over the Bailey family against Anthony. If they found out about her and Anthony, Senior and Madam Bailey might find out. As her situation with Anthony was already difficult, things would get messier if the Baileys were involved. Charmine moved further back into the car and put on her sunglasses. Outside the car, a teacher brought down Chris and Coco. When Chris saw Anthony standing by the gate, he walked toward him unwillingly without even smiling. Coco, meanwhile, launched toward her parents. “Daddy! Mommy!” “My sweet Coco, let Mommy give you a hug.” Yvette hoisted Coco into her arms as she lovingly pinched her chubby and pouty cheeks. Coco pecked Yvette’s face. “I love Mommy! I really love my Mommy! Thank you Mommy for coming to
However, Anthony acted as if he did not understand her signal. He placed his hand on the window button and looked up at Charmine. “Anything wrong, my lady?” “Stop joking around at such a time! You know what to do!” hissed Charmine, half-yelling and half-whispering to Anthony. Anthony’s lips curled into a half-smile. “I don’t understand what my lady means! The air is stuffy, and I want to open the window for some fresh air.” “Anthony Bailey!” Charmine almost yelled at him through gritted teeth. This man was doing this on purpose! Chris reminded her, “Mommy, Daddy finds it hard to breathe from time to time. Sometimes, all he needs is CPR!” CPR? This child…! However, Anthony’s eyes landed on her as if he was waiting. Charmine was speechless. They were joining forces to threaten her! They were cheating! Meanwhile, Derek who was outside the car knocked again. “Brother, I just need to speak to you about something. Do you have to do this?” His tone was sounding impati
That night, Chris made Charmine sleep with Anthony. Anthony had always thought Chris was a nuisance in his progressing relationship with Charmine… Who would have thought the boy would turn out to be a stellar middle-man? He put his hand around Charmine’s waist and fell into a deep slumber. Anthony woke up later that same midnight as he saw Charmine asleep by her laptop, seemingly to have worked on something before she dozed off. There was a design diagram displayed on the still-on laptop. Frowning, he got out of bed and walked over to carry Charmine back to bed. Too tired with everything that happened that day, Charmine was out like a light. Anthony gently covered her up with a blanket. Thinking of how much Charmine had worked and struggled, he then walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. Late at night, he dialed Nial’s number. Nial was sleeping soundly when he heard his phone ringing urgently. Dazed and baffled, he answered the call to hear Anthony’
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