Charmine quickly covered him in a blanket and walked to the wardrobe. She simply picked out a shirt and tossed it at him. “Go and shower…!” She sounded urgent and awkward. Anthony was even more clueless. Everything went so well, yet all of a sudden, he had to go shower? He looked at her, trying to find out what was happening. Charmine only grew antsy under his gaze. Once she found a shirt for herself, she hastily ran out. She had to leave the room as soon as possible; things would be painfully awkward if Anthony found out she stained his shirt. Upon reaching the door and trying to open it, it dawned on Charmine that it would not budge. As if it was locked from the outside, the door would not move! Had Chris locked the door from the outside again? Anthony, meanwhile, studied the frantic Charmine and glanced at the patch of red on her pajama bottoms. He instantly understood. All that strange behavior...for that? The Charmine who feared nothing was, in fact, so eas
Max watched as the Jordown Group building grew smaller as he was driven out. His large hands clenched tightly, showing the green veins on the back of his arms. He purposely named his company ‘Jordown’, to ‘take down’ the Jordan Group, but things turned out far different than what he anticipated. As Charmine treated him cruelly, Max had to make an evil woman like her pay her dearly. Max took out his phone and, working on it, found Derek Bailey’s contact details. He instantly sent Derek a few photos of Anthony with Charmine at Violet Villa and added, [Investigating Anthony’s woman? You’re welcome.] … In another company owned by Bailey Corporation, Derek was having a meeting. He was dressed in his white suit, his disposition gently and genial like the spring breeze. After sorting out everything and dismissed the people, his assistant walked to him. “President, this project must succeed. We must get a deal with Safford to compete with Anthony.” Derek scoffed as he loosene
McKenzie, of all people, was the one who so badly wanted the Baileys to know about Anthony’s relationship with Charmine initially. However, after learning about the background of Charmine’s great-grandfather, she did not dare let the Baileys know about it after all. After all, they were the best at creating ceramic housewares in the country, the only ceramics family that continued to prosper even after a few hundred years. They produced the most refined ceramics, specially made for royals and the wealthiest families. Grandma Bailey was a big fan of the Hahn family’s ceramics. In fact, she was queuing to buy one this year yet had not gotten the number. If Old Senior Bailey found out about Charmine’s background… Old Senior Bailey and the rest were extremely shocked. Anthony had a girlfriend, and the girlfriend was Charmine? Who was Charmine? Where did this nobody come from? Old Senior Bailey scoffed, “Give her information to me.” He wanted to see who the woman Anthony f
“Derek is right,” said Susan, “I should go and meet Charmine. Let’s not argue with Anthony first.” He was her son after all, and she would not want their relationship to worsen. “Alright, you’ll take charge of this,” agreed Old Senior Bailey. “No matter what, you must make them break up. Otherwise, I’ll handle it myself.” With that said, he stood up and left with his walking stick. The atmosphere felt tense, filled with a strong sense of authority. Susan knew Old Senior Bailey was angry and was unable to accept Charmine, so there was no reason to keep her. Susan turned to McKenzie right after. “Don’t fret, McKenzie, Mom will make Charmine leave Anthony so you two can get engaged soon.” “Thank you, Mom,” responded McKenzie elegantly, though the hatred deep in her eyes greatly contradicted her poise. As the Baileys knew only details about Charmine and nothing about her grandparents, there was no need to mention that. McKenzie merely had to wait for everything to unrave
With that in mind, Anthony instantly got up and marched out of the office. His gait was quick that he was almost running. Everyone in the Bailey Corporation eyed him with brimming fear. What happened? Why was the usually calm and steady Boss Bailey so anxious? Was the sky about to collapse? Anthony went to the underground garage and drove toward the Jordan Group, his head reeling on his journey. The best thing to do was to keep the Baileys out of his relationship. Alas, they found out the truth, thus Anthony could only do his best to protect her! Nobody could harm his woman. With that in mind, he stepped on the gas as the speedometer pointed at the furthest right. Unfortunately, his car was caught up in traffic about 200 to 300 meters from the business street that the Jordan Group was located in. An accident happened, and workers needed at least half an hour to unblock the road. Anthony opened the door hastily, ready to walk toward the company building. Aft
At that moment, the saleswoman finally came with the jacket and handed it to Waverly. She wore the jacket and walked up to Anthony. “President Bailey, I can help you, and I don’t need anything in return.” Anthony eyed her as she stood before him, his eyes darkening as he did. She was indeed a suitable candidate. If it was her, even the Houston family would not be able to fight against her. However… “What are you planning?” Anthony did not believe Waverly would help him without anything in mind. “My brother and my family are forcing me as well,” explained Waverly. “If I announce to them that we’re in a relationship, I’ll be able to take a breather as well.” She spoke with such honesty that her elegant face showed no hint of dark intention nor calculation. Anthony thought through it before his lips parted, “Alright. Let me ask for my lady’s permission.” With that said, he walked aside to dial Charmine’s number. Waverly was speechless. He would ask for his lady’s pe
Not believing her eyes, Susan warily paced closer to the two figures in the store. As she stood outside the boutique, she confirmed it was indeed Anthony on the sofa while the woman who walked out of the fitting room… With skin fair like white jade, she seemed to gleam with regality. Her facial features were so beautiful, almost as if she had mixed blood. It was Waverly D’Cruz! Susan could tell right away that it was Waverly from the D’Cruz family. The wealthy heiress who came to light recently, the true heiress of a noble family with links to the royals in Kansas... Even McKenzie was out of her league. Susan was stumped. “Anthony, Ms. D’Cruz, you two…” When Anthony saw her, he frowned unpleasantly. “Why are you here?” he uttered lowly, almost threateningly. Even though he was her son, Susan was almost too afraid to meet his gaze. She simply found an excuse, “I happened to pass by! You… Why don’t you introduce her to me?” Her eyes landed on Waverly. Anthony’s fa
“You believed in what Derek said? If he asks you guys to give him all of the family shares, will you do that too?” Well… Susan frowned. Was Anthony suggesting that Derek made things up? These photos did not seem Photoshopped, however. They genuinely seem to be in love in the photos. The photos showed both Anthony and Charmine walking into the villa, with Anthony closing the door. Anthony took the photos and, eyeing them, scoffed, “So ugly. Why would I keep these?” With that, he instantly tore the photos. It was indeed ugly: the angle was ugly and it was taken without their consent as well. It was blurry and did not capture even one-tenth of his wife’s true beauty! With disgust, he tore the photos into pieces and tossed them into the bin. His elegant face had a hint of disgust. Susan frowned. Anthony was obviously looking down on Charmine for being ugly, that he did not like Charmine and hated her from the bottom of his heart. He hated Charmine that much? If t
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