Charmine knew Waverly had come out, but instead of getting off of Anthony’s lap, she continued to lean against him. “No need. If my husband said so, I trust you. Furthermore, she’s merely a decoy, and we don’t have to mind her.” With that, Charmine suddenly frowned. “Husband, I’m quite hungry.” “I’ll ask Mozart to come over,” offered Anthony and took out his phone, only to be held back by Charmine. “No way, I want to eat the breakfast made by my husband. That’ll be more romantic.” Anthony was speechless. This woman was that addicted to this game? Regardless, he would always satisfy her request. “Alright, I’ll go and make it.” He placed her on the sofa and stood up, about to walk toward the kitchen. Waverly, who was in the corridor, clenched her fists tightly. Damn Charmine… She was rubbing it in her face! How could she make the high-above Anthony her personal chef? All of a sudden, Charmine suddenly grabbed Anthony’s large hand. “I suddenly thought of something. W
It only took Waverly three minutes, but there were sandwiches, prawns, and fried hams on the tray. Every dish was exquisitely presented, looking delicious. How was Waverly able to make these within such a short time? Seeing the shock in Charmine’s eyes, Waverly’s red lips curled. So Charmine wanted to embarrass her, was she? Hah! She might as well dream about it. She thought of ways to please Anthony, so she brought over the breakfast machine invented in Kansas. One only had to put the ingredients into the breakfast machine for the machine to automatically prepare the dishes and start heating them up. Since it was an electronic device, it prepared the dishes quickly with the right texture. The preparation was accurately timed, almost like a five-star chef! Bringing out the dishes, Waverly said to Anthony confidently and elegantly, “Mr. Bailey should think it through. You’re marrying someone to spend the rest of your life with, not someone who you hug like a vase.” She
That noon, about four to five international moguls were in the private room, all of them with golden hair. They were outstanding figures in the country, and they were present in the room for an international collaboration. Once the deal was made, the Bailey family would gain up to ten billion bucks every year. However, they were only willing to give a 50-percent ratio to the Baileys while Anthony wanted 70 percent. The deal was difficult to achieve. Anthony walked down the golden corridor while Luke followed behind him, running through the details. Right after that, he eyed Anthony warily. “President, do we have to bring Ms. D’Cruz along? Will she be able to help?” “Don’t worry, I’ve taken part in many negotiations on the D’Cruz family’s behalf. I’ll be able to provide some help,” answered Waverly. She had to follow them. She must help Anthony to secure this tedious deal so he would think fondly of her. Anthony did not reject it as he walked toward the room, and the door wa
He was caressing Waverly’s face in front of Anthony! Waverly instantly turned away and looked at Anthony for help. “Anthony…” Anthony had been sitting by the side ever since they came into the room, and never once did he show any emotion for her. Seeing that Waverly was pleading for help, he parted his thin lips, “They are my brothers—they’re merely joking with you.” “Yeah. Why is Ms. D’Cruz so nervous? We’re all joking. Touching you won’t make you lose a chunk of flesh, right?” said one man as his large hand touched Waverly’s face, feeling her skin. Another man placed his hand on her thigh. “Yeah. If we want to secure the deal, we must first be happy.” “It seems that Ms. D’Cruz is good at drinking. Let’s have another glass!” A man pushed his own wine glass to Waverly’s lips. Three men surrounded Waverly: one touching her face, another touching her thigh, and one making her drink. She felt like a hostess, nothing like the wealthy heiress she should look like. Wav
They had the heart to make such a despicable move to make her surrender! Anger accumulated in her chest. “You men are treating me like this! I’ll make you all regret it!” she lashed out with pain and anger before picking up her bag and turned to leave. Right after, a man instantly wiped his hand clean as he eyed Anthony, puzzled. “Why did you ask us to do such things? Wasn’t it too much?” Anthony’s eyes remained devoid of any emotion. Too much? How laughable. Charmine had already told him everything last night. Waverly had pulled many tricks to be his fiancée. She tried to force Charmine out of the picture; she bullied his woman. What happened to her was just a light lesson for her! Also, this was the way it had always been in the industry. Excluding some powerful families, many businessmen would ask their wives to drink with the other men before securing big projects worth millions. Should he truly marry Waverly, he would carry the same outlook if there was a simil
Worried, Charmine looked at Anthony and said, “Why don’t you go back and sort it out?” “Are you sure you want me to go now?” Sitting on the sofa, Anthony raised an eyebrow at her. Even though it was a simple sentence, his tone sounded displeased. Charmine only then realized that asking him to go back was equivalent to pushing him into a pot of boiling water. Perhaps everyone would interrogate him, scold him, or even force him to apologize to Waverly. Still, if he did not go, would these people have to keep waiting? Suddenly, Chris’ eyes looked around and his eyes sparkled. “I have an idea!” He ran back quickly and picked up Anthony’s phone. He phoned Luke, “Uncle Luke, hurry and go tell great-grandmother and grandmother that that nobody is crying and trying to commit suicide.” Luke, on the other end of the line, was delighted at the idea. “Perfect! I’ll do this right away!” This was a great solution! Once everyone thought Waverly was trying to commit suicide, they wou
Waverly did not want the world to know of Charmine’s existence. She did not want to lose her ‘fiancée’ title. With that, all she could do was make up things for two full hours with the two women… Not managing to find out anything even as the skies darkened, Susan and Grandma Bailey had no choice but to leave. They both decided to confront Anthony. They had to make sure Anthony secured this marriage! Waverly was all tucked out as she sent the two women out, but despite her tiredness, she still remembered to take out her phone and texted Charmine: [Charmine, do you know how much Anthony’s mother and grandmother care about me? They accompanied me for two whole hours, comforting me for a long while, and they even said they’d speak up for me!] Meanwhile, inside Violet Villa... Chris was fast asleep while Charmine was sitting on the sofa, reading medical books as she tried to discover why the needles could be rejected by the body. Her phone rang suddenly. With just a look, sh
On the next day when Anthony went to work, he was interrogated by Susan and Grandma Bailey in his office. “Anthony, tell your grandma, what’s the matter?” pestered Grandma Bailey. “Why did you and Waverly live separately? She’s your fiancée! You should be spoiling her lovingly!” “I know what I’m doing,” quipped Anthony as he walked toward his working desk emotionlessly. Grandma Bailey was so angry that her eyelids flew wide open. “You better know what you’re doing. Don’t make things too complicated! Waverly is so kind to you, never once soiling your name until now. She had been holding things back all to herself. How could you treat her this way?” “Anthony, you two had been engaged not too long ago. No matter if it was for the company’s reputation or your personal reputation, you should apologize to her right away and bring her back to Violet Residence!” asserted Susan. Anthony remained calm. “I’ll sort out my matters. If you all keep speaking, I’ll only reconsider whether
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