“Waverly, don’t be dragged down to Charmine’s level. Maintain your beauty at all times. Don’t forget that these aren’t the best of you—your background and family are!” The words ‘background’ and ‘family’ helped Waverly to regain her composure. She was reassured. She regained her elegant smile once more. Of course. She was the wealthy heiress of the D’Cruz family. What did Charmine have to compete with her? She signaled at Max. Soon, they arrived at the gifting ceremony. Just like a royalty princess, Waverly sat before the exquisite stage. The guests went forward to offer their gifts while the emcee read out, “Patriarch of the D’Cruz family, Fredrick D’Cruz offered 20% shares!” “The Prince of Kansas gifted nine ceramic vases as a tribute from the royal family to the D’Cruz family!” “The Princess of Kansas gifted ten royal golden silk brocades!” “Kansas Car Manufacturer offering a customized luxurious car!” Each gift was extremely expensive and rare. The live s
Moonlight Shore. A few reporters surrounded Waverly to interview her. “We heard that sixteen of the most powerful Tech Giants arrived at Burlington earlier today, claiming they came for a friend’s birthday. May we ask how you met these moguls? Are you close with them?” Waverly had a hint of unnatural panic in her eyes. In truth, however impressive the D’Cruz family was, they did not manage to get close with these Tech Giants. She usually would not be able to get these people. She did not expect these moguls to have come, and never did she expect them to attend her banquet. However, so many reporters were asking her about them, and she could not tell the truth… Since these people have come to Burlington, they must have come to her banquet. There was no need to tell the truth. She maintained her elegant smile as she replied to the reporters, “We’re close friends. I’m so thankful that they’ve made time from their busy schedules to attend my banquet.” Just as she finish
“Checkers Association giving a full set of natural crystal checkers!” “E-Sports Association gifting ten franchises of internet cafes all over the country!” … A long list was read out, and every gift mentioned was grand and pricey! That was not the end of it all, however... “No.1 Antique Collector, Mr. Young bestowing a thousand pieces of antiques!” “No.1 Ceramics Developer, Master Hahn gifting a full set of customized furniture!” As Joey spoke, someone moved a few pieces of furniture inside: from the vases on the table to the human-sized vase; from porch decorations to indoor decorations, and everything else. The ceramics were all in red, made with the greatest level of craftsmanship in the market as of late. They were the rarest red ceramics! Red ceramics would only be made at 1300 degrees Celsius with 10 degrees amplitude. If the number was too low, it would turn black; if the number was too high, it would get burnt. Furthermore, only one piece could be made at a t
While the Baileys were anxious, the attendees at Skyview Tower fell into a chaotic excitement. This was because another group of moguls had arrived! Four highly acclaimed celebrities, world-renowned singers, international violin masters, directors, and European’s Top 10 artists had entered the hall. Each of them was a world-renowned mogul. They gradually went on stage and started performing uplifting repertoire that entertained the audience. With so many influential attendees, the number of viewers on Charmine’s live stream had gone up to almost a hundred million! Charmine was dumbfounded. She did not invite these people… At that moment, her phone rang, and she took it out to see Anthony texting her, [I want you to have the best in the world. Happy birthday.] Her heart felt warm with surprise and delight. Not only did Anthony prepare so many Black Roses and a gown for her, but he even invited so many people to help her out. He had indeed prepared so many surprise
Fredrick scoffed, his tone ruthless as he spoke. Still keeping his rationality, Darryl went forward and said, “Please, everyone. Don’t be so agitated. Let’s sit down and talk it out.” “What's there to speak about? Cancel it if you want, be an enemy if you’re sure! Do you think the Bailey family will be scared? I’ve lived so long, yet this is the first time someone tried to threaten me!” Grandma Bailey was livid as she glared at Fredrick. “From the beginning of their engagement, Waverly agreed to only be Anthony and Charmine’s decoy, but she then decided to make it real after agreeing to that. Furthermore, she’s nothing but a heiress who likes to tell lies! We don’t need someone like her! We, the Baileys, will live just fine without your D’Cruz family. We’ll be better off!” After all, Grandma Bailey could only think of the Hahn family and the Cherny family. These two families were her favorite families. Since Charmine was related to them, how would she not be pleased? “Alri
Noticing that all eyes and attention were on her, Waverly’s lips curled up even more elegantly. “The reason Anthony and his family can’t attend my birthday banquet isn’t due to our relationship problem. It is because Anthony got hurt yesterday.” Murmurs filled the hall as words were exchanged. Anthony was hurt? How could a big figure like Anthony get hurt at all? Was it all Waverly made up to conceal the truth? Fredrick and Max looked at Waverly strangely. She still wanted to hold the relationship and present herself as such on stage? She wanted to hold it up all by herself? Waverly continued, “Regardless of whether everyone believes me or not, this is the truth. I’m not angry at them for not attending my birthday banquet. After all, this is just a birthday. What’s more important than Anthony’s health? Furthermore, as for what happened earlier, I owe you all an apology, it’s all a misunderstanding. It was so noisy that I mistook the moguls as scientists from Kansas, and that’
Grandma Bailey replied to Waverly, “I can promise that I’ll keep the truth from the public for the time being, but I also hope that you can keep your end of the bargain. If they become official, you and Anthony will cancel the engagement in peace.” “Okay. Thank you, Grandma Bailey.” Waverly hung up the phone all while a scheming expression adorned her face. ‘If they became official’? Ha! How would that ever happen so long as she was around? She then said to Fredrick, “Dad, I’ll need a favor from you after this…” On that day, the two birthday banquets ended in glory. Charmine won! The media picked the highlights from the event and made them into a shorter clip for easier playbacks. Sure enough, the clip became famous. However, the most-heated search turned out to be #Charmine’s-Background. Many people were in awe of the topic. [Charmine’s the granddaughter of the Hahn family?!] [I heard the Hahn family doesn’t have any heir. Will the Hahn family end up giving their we
Chris nodded. “Yeah. Ever since I learned how to read, whenever I read the same thing three times, I’ll be able to remember it clearly. I can even recite it backward.” Charmine was even more shocked. He was just like her in this sense! Was this something that could be passed on by genetics? With this possibility in mind, she quickly denied it. How could that be? She bore Alexander’s child, not Chris. After giving birth five years ago, and though she was half-unconscious, she saw the baby taken and packed up. The baby was already dead… Seeing that she zoned out, Anthony frowned, feeling displeased. “Momo, go back to your room and study.” “I’ve already studied during the day,” Chris protested. “Study again,” snapped Anthony. “No way, I want to accompany Mommy—” Before he could finish, Anthony asserted once more, “Study three times. I’ll test you!” “No! Mommy, help me…” Chris tugged at Charmine with his puffy hands. Charmine quickly looked at Anthony. “You can’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