However, Charmine did not drive far before her phone rang. Adam called to say, “Charmine, something happened in the company. About a hundred staff members wanted to resign today, and they’re not telling why. They’re holding the more important positions in the company, and our Divine Bird Project has to be put on hold due to this.” Charmine frowned. “Resign suddenly? With no prior warning?” “Yeah. I’ve investigated for one whole day and found no clue why they’re doing this, so I had no choice but to phone you. Furthermore, I noticed that all the workers on site looked as if they’re occupied by something, and they looked restless,” explained Adam. Charmine’s eyes darkened. Seemed as though someone was up to something, again. She had to fix this earlier this time in order for the same thing to happen again. “You get ready to monitor and prepare the resigning documents. I’ll come back to the company.” Giving her order, she hung up and phoned Kay. “Something’s up at the site.
“Of course, Max’s people,” answered Kay. Adam eyed Kay warily. Who was he? He spent so much effort with no result, but how could this man discover the perpetrator so quickly? Charmine’s red lips curled up dangerously. Max, again? It seemed as though they just wanted to get into the action as fast as they could. Of course, if they planned on attacking, she would not sit idly! “You two go get some rest,” said Charmine to both men, “I’ll handle everything else from here.” Adam wanted to ask how she would do so, but before he could, she had turned and left. Her back was cold and arrogant, yet she exuded an air of calmness. Nodding at Adam politely, Kay quickly left. Adam had a quizzical expression as they both left. Since when did Charmine have such a powerful man by her side? She was so powerful that others could be repressed and made inferior… After Charmine had left the company, she drove back to Violet Villa. It was quite a journey. By the time she arrived
From outside the gym, she saw that Anthony was in his black training clothes, seemingly shrouded with dark clouds. With a dart at hand, he fiercely flicked his wrist and threw it. The dart knocked out the other darts from before, almost hitting the bullseye. The bullseye was shot thoroughly, consecutively. Such strength… Charmine gulped. “Anthony, are you alright?” “I’m fine,” answered Anthony coldly, not once bothering to look at her. The first thing she did when she came home was to look for Chris instead of him. Hmph! With that in mind, he ignored her entirely and continued to throw the darts. Charmine frowned. What was wrong with him? He seemed strange… She asked again, “What happened?” “Nothing.” Anthony kept his cold face on as he threw the darts. He had no intention of caring for her. Charmine frowned. Really, nothing? Why did his tone sound as if he was angry? However, a person like Anthony had seen all things. Why would he get angry because of a f
Charmine frowned. This man said he was fine when he was, in fact, obviously jealous! He was very jealous! She quickly explained, “You misunderstood. I was only collaborating with William in making a medication. Uncle Pop was there all along. We were properly inventing a medication!” “What, unless you thought of doing things that aren’t proper?” replied Anthony. Charmine was speechless. When the man got jealous, what else could the woman do? She reached out to wrap her arm around Anthony’s arm. She lowered her voice and tried her best to speak gentler, “Hey, I’m telling you the truth. Uncle Pop was my witness. Furthermore, we have our marriage certificate. What’s there for you to be worried about?” Anthony’s face remained cold. “Last year, there were nine thousand, four hundred and seventy-one thousand couples, but four thousand, one hundred and fifty-four thousand divorce cases. The rate of divorce is as high as forty-three percent. Even if couples got married, half of them
Anthony was punishing Charmine with an arrogant kiss. “I warned you the other time that if you get close with another man, I won’t let you off easy. It seems that you really want that punishment!” With that said, he kissed her briskly like a whirlwind as he pulled at her camisole. Charmine did not know where she got the strength from, but she pushed him and took charge instead. She glared at him from above. “Snap out of it, Anthony. I can give it to you, but not under such conditions! You misunderstood me, and that means you don’t have enough trust in me!” Angered, she stood up and was ready to leave. She pulled a long bed robe and wrapped it around her body before going out of the door. The moment she shut the door, a large hand suddenly came out, ready to hold the door open. With a loud ‘thump’, the door closed onto his four fingers. Charmine clearly felt it. When she looked back, Anthony’s face had turned green. His four knuckles were bruised. Her chest tig
“Between now and then, I’ll keep my distance from him.” Anthony frowned. Selective amnesia drug?Well, it would be ideal if Julian and Alexander could forget about her body. However… “How long is this project going to take?” “Well...” Thinking it through, Charmine hooked her hands around his neck. “The duration isn’t certain, but what happened today was an accident. I’ll only spend a maximum of four hours there every day. If you really do mind, I could bring you along?” Bring him along? Anthony’s face eased. He carried her to the bed. “No need. Four hours? I’ll check on you anytime,” he spoke, placing her on the bed as he did and gazed at her. “If I realize you two have any intimate action, I’ll punish you.” Before Charmine could assess what Anthony meant by ‘punishment’, he kissed her again, but he managed to hold himself back before he got too heated. Charmine could feel his restraint. It stung her heart, knowing he was holding it back.“Actually, you don’t ha
She saw Anthony and Charmine by the door. The two still had pajamas on—one was in black and the other in burgundy. The silk material made them look lavish. However, Charmine’s collar was lower. Just a look, one could clearly see a lot of hickies on her neck. That left very few discrepancies as to what they did last night. Seeing that Waverly was sizing her up, Charmine’s red lips parted as she spoke, “Apologies. I wonder who complained to my man and told him that I had flings with another man. He was so angry that he punished me to his liking.” She emphasized the word ‘punish’ as she spoke. Waverly’s face turned green. She clenched her fists and tried to repress her anger. “What do you want this early in the morning for?” “We want you to accompany Anthony for a press conference,” spoke Charmine as she handed her a document. When Waverly accepted the document and read the content, it was all about the Jordan Group! Waverly was asked to announce with Anthony that the
“Your verified daughter-in-law caused problems. Are you not going to save her?” replied Charmine calmly. Susan halted. Waverly? What did she do this time? Charmine said, “Waverly asked people to spread the rumors of how the man in black was instructed by someone else, that whoever it is won’t let go of the Jordan Group and will harm more lives. Now that I can’t keep the staff in my company, don’t you think I have to fix it?” Susan’s face sank. Waverly actually did such a thing? She spread that the person behind was evil, that whoever it was would harm many more? Was she not referring to her? To save herself, after the man in black was caught, they only said it was some personal grudges. When they announced it to the public, the man in black did not show his face. With what Waverly had done, the man in black would have to explain to the public, and it might backfire for Susan! Charmine toyed with her dainty nails as she warned, “Mrs. Bailey, if you don’t come, I’ll have
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