Ch. 1756..1760
Chapter 1756
Caprice was sleeping soundly in her arms.
She slung Caprice over her shoulders, leaving both of her hands free. She turned toward the trash cans and fumbled around in the dark.
After a while, she was done. She stepped away and walked toward the lobby, making sure that Caprice was asleep the entire time.
She stepped into the lobby that was illuminated with ceiling lights.
John, who had been standing by his car the entire time, noticed that when Sherry approached the trash cans, her wrist was still filled with bracelets. However, her wrist was empty now.
He took a deep breath and furrowed his brows.
After Sherry had gone out of sight, he approached the trash cans.
He opened them and inspected what was inside.
There was scarcely any light, so he could see nothing but stinky piles of domestic waste.
He furrowed his brows and stretched his hand out. With an exasperated sigh, he dug his hands into the garbage and began shoveling around.
Soon, he tossed the contents of the trash can onto the floor.
He got on his knees and began rummaging around.
Soon, two of his bodyguards who had been patrolling the area approached him.
They were shocked and puzzled by the sight of John rummaging through the trash.
One of them asked cautiously, “Master Stockton, what are you looking for? Can we help?”
John immediately showed them his left wrist that was covered with bracelets. “Help me look for bracelets that look like this. There are ten of them, don’t miss a single one!”
“Got it.” They quickly squatted next to him and rummaged through the trash with him. They rummaged through the pile of garbage as much as three times to no avail. They could not even find a single bracelet.
One of them was about to throw up from the smell of garbage. He probed cautiously. “Master Stockton, are you sure those bracelets are here?”
His colleague immediately added, “We've searched so many times already, we would have found at least one by now if they were here.”
Chances were high that the bracelets were never here to begin with. John grimaced. Did Sherry not throw them?
He recalled seeing her standing by the trash can for some time and when she left, he saw how the bracelets had disappeared from her wrist.
After a while, he ordered, “Keep searching.” Neither of the two bodyguards dared to oppose. They took a deep breath and began yet another effortless search.
They searched as carefully as they could and were so focused that they barely noticed that people were passing by. The sight of three men rummaging through a pile of trash in the middle of the night was certainly something to behold.
Most of the passers—by were young people living in the apartment complex. Many of the young ladies expressed the same sentiment when they noticed John among the group of dumpster divers.
“That man is so handsome, why is he digging through the trash?”
“They've been doing it for so long, how can they withstand the stink?”
“Oh my, he’s so good-looking too.”
Some of them went as far as to film the three men from around the corner. Meanwhile, inside Sherry’s place.
Caprice was already fast asleep on the bed, tucked in a fresh set of pajamas. Sherry had just come out of the shower.
She approached the bed and gently kissed Caprice’s chubby cheeks. Then, she picked up her phone and began scrolling social media as usual to see if there was any interesting news she missed out on. She was planning to retire to bed soon.
That was when she saw nearly a hundred notifications popping up from the group of the apartment complex she resided in. This was a very rare occasion. She assumed that an important announcement had been made. She promptly clicked inside. Several messages caught her eye immediately.
“This is hilarious, do handsome people tend to be so eccentric? | can’t believe he’s going
dumpster diving in the middle of the night.”
“He’s even making the security guards join him! Look at those two, they’re doing everything they can to not throw up on the spot.”
“My god, it’s been an hour, how are they still doing this?”
Chapter 1757
Chapter 1757 Sherry was confused by these discussions. She scrolled up several pages before she saw the video at last.
She tapped into the video to play it. The first person she recognized immediately was John. He was squatting in front of a pile of garbage and rummaging through it.
She felt her fingers stiffening as she could not fathom what she was seeing.
He was with two of his bodyguards, all three of them were digging through the garbage as if searching for treasure. She watched completely aghast as the trio turned over piles of rotten garbage with their naked hands without gloves.
Despite it all, John still looked refined and handsome. His shirt was completely unstained the entire time. Still, Sherry could only wonder how much he must have stunk.
She had only stood by the trash can for a while but she could still smell the nasty stench after she headed upstairs with Caprice. To think that John had been rummaging through the trash for an hour...
What was he up to?
Did he do it because he noticed her standing with Caprice by the trash can?
Sherry lowered her head in thought. She looked at her wrist and thought about the bundle of bracelets she had tossed inside the cabinet.
She took off the bracelets when she was standing by the trash can.
She had wanted to throw them away, but was reluctant to do so because Caprice was the one who picked them out for her. In the end, she decided to keep them and stuffed them into her pocket, then she placed them in the cabinet once she got home.
Could it be that John thought she had thrown them away and was rummaging through the trash with his bodyguards because he wanted to recover them?
That was simply outrageous! Sherry scowled, her mood was black.
After a while, she rolled out of bed and prepared to get her coat so she could head outside. That was when someone sent an update to the group chat. “They’re gone, | don’t think they live in our complex.”
It was accompanied with a short video.
All of the garbage had been cleaned up and returned to the trash can where it belonged. The trash can was neatly pushed against the wall in its original position as well.
Someone said, “Well, at least they’re civilized, I'll give them that. Still, it's strange to dig through the trash can in the first place.” Sherry looked at the pictures of the trash that had been cleaned up and felt a sinking feeling in her chest.
After a while, she put away her phone. She turned off the lights, wrapped her arms around Caprice, and made herself close her eyes.
However, she could not fall asleep.
Everything that had happened between them over the last decade flashed past her mind.
What left the deepest impression were the times where he had hurt her, mentally scarred her, and even nearly had her killed. This was how the scumbag had treated her. No amount of vain affection was going to salvage their relationship!
She cursed John again and again, and it made her feel better that way.
Despite that, she had trouble falling asleep.
The next morning.
The sun had barely risen across the horizon when the man opened his eyes and got out of bed
After a quick shower, he changed into a set of casual clothing and stepped out of the hotel. He walked across the road, familiar with the route by this point and entered the apartment building.
He went to Sherry’s floor. The bodyguards posted here to keep an eye on Sherry greeted him and retreated to a quiet corner to give him some privacy.
Like every morning, he stood by the front door and waited. While waiting, he scrolled on his phone absentmindedly.
After a while, he heard footsteps inside the house.
He tucked the phone back in his pocket. Creak.
The door was slowly pried open.
He greeted Sherry warmly, “Morning.”
His voice dropped when he noticed how terrible Sherry looked. She had deep dark circles underneath her eyes. He asked ina concerned tone, “What’s wrong? Did you not sleep well last night?”
Sherry shot a look at him, then she turned around, and walked into the house without a word. John entered the house.
Caprice immediately bolted toward him.
“Daddy!”
John smiled at her and took her into his arms.
He slowly approached Sherry with Caprice in his arms. He wanted to ask why she had trouble sleeping last night.
That was when he noticed a bundle of bracelets stacked on the living room table.
He was surprised to see them, and a smile quickly formed on his lips.
Chapter 1758
“You have really heavy bags under your eyes. Did you not sleep well last night?” John repeated the question. Caprice grew wide-eyed and stared at her mother upon hearing the question.
Sherry avoided John’s gaze and answered curtly, “| had some urgent work to deal with last night so | ended up sleeping late.” “What kind of urgent work?” he asked.
This got him a sharp look from Sherry. “Why are you so talkative today?”
John pursed his lips and changed the topic. “What do you want for breakfast?”
Sherry pretended she did not hear him and ignored him.
Caprice answered for her, “I want pancakes!”
John looked at Sherry to see if she had other opinions. She did not provide any feedback at all.
The next few days were relatively uneventful.
One afternoon, Sherry finally saw Carl. This was her first time meeting him since their last encounter at Ron’s. He was wearing a black suit and his hair was neatly combed.
Although he still had a little air of playfulness about him, his entire demeanor was far more serious compared to the way he was in the past.
Sherry met him during a last-minute meeting arranged by Lisa.
Lisa was seated at the head of the table, with Sherry and Carl on both sides.
The ones seated in Sherry’s row were the department leaders in Sager Corporation.
On the other edge of the table was Carl and a row of major shareholders of the corporation. Neither Ron, Aiden, nor Caden was anywhere to be seen.
Chances were they were not ever coming to sit at this table ever again.
Lisa kicked off the meeting. “First of all, | want to start with an important announcement. | and the major shareholders of the corporation had come to a unanimous decision that Ron will no longer act as the president of the Sager Corporation. Car! will take over the position effective immediately.”
After the announcement, she turned to Carl with a congratulatory smile. “Carl, why don’t you give us a speech?” Carl rose and gave a perfectly standard speech. His message was clear and concise, without any unnecessary fluff. It was as if he had matured by years in the short period since his last meeting with Sherry.
Admittedly, the shareholders had only agreed to let Carl take over following the scandal between Anne and Ron since they had no other options. However, Carl’s commanding tone had left a strong impression on them. They were impressed by how ready he was to step up to the task.
After he finished his speech, everyone applauded him. Carl suddenly turned to Sherry and smiled sincerely. There were no playful undertones in his smile, only genuine appreciation.
Sherry returned his smile and mouthed a silent congratulation.
The meeting went on for quite some time after that. Now that Carl was appointed as the new president, he had plenty of work to do.
Although the divorce between Anne and Ron was set in stone, the aftermath was rather chaotic and so there were plenty of loose ends for them to tie up. Lisa barely had time to chat with Sherry after the meeting before she excused herself.
News of Carl taking over as the new president of the corporation quickly spread around.
As soon as Sherry returned to her department, she saw the members of her department discussing the news with fervent excitement.
She did not spoil their moment and let them celebrate as they wished. She returned to her office with a bright smile and picked up where she left off.
She worked non-stop and finally had time for herself come evening when she managed to wrap up her tasks for the day. It was only then that she noticed Carl who came to her office at some point.
He was wearing the same black suit.
He had unbuttoned his coat.
He was leaning against the doorframe with his hands across his chest. He smiled playfully as he greeted her, “Sherry, how is it that you're busier than the newly appointed president?”
He had been here for quite a while and Sherry had only just noticed his presence.
Chapter 1759
Sherry congratulated Carl with a smile. "Congratulations."
He made a show of stretching his back, then he walked up to her and sat on her desk.
Sherry adjusted herself on the chair and tried to nudge herself a little farther from the table.
He immediately grabbed the handle of her chair and leaned closer toward her.
He smiled charmingly with an alluring glow in his eyes. "Sherry, even though I'm the president now, you're still a close friend of mine. I'm going to be sad if you start keeping your distance from me.*
Sherry rolled her eyes.
When had she ever tried to wall him off anyway? She was only trying to keep some respectable distance between the two of them since this was a workplace!
She was a fool to think that Carl had matured. Deep down, he was still a playful child.
She responded dismissively, "Alright, I got it."
Carl let go of her chair and sat up straight.
Sherry shot a look at him and asked, "Did you come here just to tell me this?"
"Of course not."
"What were you going to tell me?"
"There's nothing I wanted to tell you. I was just starting to miss you since it's been a while since I last saw you," Carl answered with a gentle glow in his eyes.
Sherry dismissed him without hesitation. "I need to finish up here, you should leave if you don't have anything important to say."
Carl snickered. "You're so cruel."
He swiftly hopped off the desk and mentioned, "There's a dinner later. My mom invited all the department leaders to join us, are you coming?"
"I'm not going." She was not an outsider, there was no need for her to join the dinner to prove her standing in the corporation to others.
Carl was visibly dejected to hear this, he muttered weakly, "Okay."
He prepared to leave.
Sherry turned to the computer display and dropped the conversation entirely.
Just when she thought that Carl was going to leave, he suddenly stopped by the door.
He turned around swiftly and propped an arm against the door frame. Something gleamed in his eyes. "One more thing."
Sherry turned to him. "What is it?"
"When you go back and see Master Stockton, please thank him for me."
Sherry was puzzled by this. 'Thank him for what?"
Carl unveiled the truth to her. "He was the one who told me about Ron's mistress and the illegitimate children he was hiding."
Sherry was baffled upon hearing this.
Carl noticed her reaction and grinned. "Hasn't he told you about it?"
Sherry stammered stiffly, "N-no."
"Oh, I thought he'd take credit for everything that's been going on."
Sherry frowned. "How did he find out about Ron's secrets?"
"He didn't tell me." After a pause, Carl suddenly mentioned, "You could just ask him yourself when you get home."
Sherry was silent for a while, then she asked again, "Why did he give you the information?"
Carl smiled suggestively. It seemed like he was going to tell Sherry, but then he changed his mind. "You should just ask him directly instead of asking me. All I can say is that he and I are rivals in a way. He wouldn't have done it solely for my sake."
With that, he walked out of Sherry's office.
Sherry frowned sourly. Everything Carl had told her was replaying in her mind.
This entire time, it was John who found out about Ron's dirty secret and slipped the information to Carl! After he told Carl, Carl managed to leverage the piece of valuable information and use it against Ron so Anne would divorce him. In one swift move, Ron was kicked out of the corporation and Carl got to take over.
Sherry did not need to ask John to know what his motivation behind helping Carl was. He must have done it for her.
He knew how much she wanted to help Carl take over the corporation. It was to a point where she even agreed to a false engagement to strengthen his claim.
Chapter 1760
Chapter 1760 Sherry sat motionlessly in her office for some time.
It was only when one of her staff knocked on her door to inform her that it was going to rain outside and wondered why she was not leaving yet that she was finally pulled out of her trance.
She looked outside. It was dark. On any other day, it would still be relatively bright outside at this hour.
She tried to shrug off her thoughts and got up.
It began raining very soon after. It was nowhere near a downpour but it was enough to affect the traffic condition.
Although her place was only several junctions away, she was held up in traffic for almost an hour before finally reaching home. She swerved into her parking space in the parking lot.
She did not have an umbrella in her car. She braced herself for a sprint into the building.
Moments before she threw the door open, she spotted two familiar figures approaching her car. One was a tall figure and the other was a child.
It was John and Caprice. John held Caprice in one arm and an umbrella in the other. Caprice pointed at Sherry and cried out loudly, “Mommy!”
John smiled at her.
Sherry was glad to see Caprice.
Shortly after, they approached her car and offered to walk her into the apartment. John hovered the umbrella over Sherry.
Sherry avoided his gaze the entire time. The first thing she did after she got out of the car was to snatch Caprice away from him. Then, the trio walked into the apartment building, safe from the pouring rain.
Before long, they entered the house.
Sherry reached for her phone and prepared to buy some groceries. That was when she noticed that the kitchen counter already had bags of groceries set on top.
She was taken aback by this.
John noticed her reaction and informed her candidly, “It’s raining outside, | saw the news broadcast talking about the terrible traffic today so | decided to get the groceries ahead of time just in case.”
Sherry merely grumbled dismissively and asked, “How much did it cost?”
“Not much.”
Sherry shot a look at him. “How much?”
John hesitated briefly before he reluctantly handed over the receipt.
Sherry took the receipt and her eyes almost instantaneously grew wide when she read the number. A thousand dollars!
The groceries cost a thousand dollars in total!
She went through the list of items with a skeptical frown.
Every item purchased was of the best quality possible, most of them sourced overseas. The supermarket John bought from was a well-known premium chain in Coastrock known for the ludicrous price tags of its selection. In return, the quality was the best that could be found in the city.
Sherry shot a look at John when she finished reading the receipt that totaled a thousand dollars.
John smiled softly and said, “You don’t have to pay, | got it.”
Sherry would not have it. “Money isn’t a problem.”
With that, she took out her phone and transferred a thousand and a hundred dollars to him.
John received the transfer notification on his phone and promptly informed her, “You sent me an extra hundred.”
“Consider it a tip.”
There was not much John could say to protest.
Sherry went to the couch with Caprice. She picked up the tablet and put on some cartoons for Caprice to watch. John chuckled, unpacked the groceries, and started cooking.
The rain outside became heavier over time. He operated efficiently inside the kitchen as always.
In time, the fragrance of food wafted out of the kitchen.
Caprice quickly became distracted by the sweet scent of food. She ditched the cartoon as her attention drifted toward the kitchen.
Sherry’s stomach began to grumble too.
Fortunately, Caprice did not hear it.
She rubbed her belly, feeling slightly embarrassed. Caprice hopped off the sofa and went into the kitchen. Sherry trailed behind her.
Caprice kept stealing looks at John and the couple of dishes that he had already completed. Eventually, she could not wait anymore and asked, “Daddy, I’m hungry. Can I eat some first?”
John smiled and grabbed two pieces of tortilla for Caprice. He stuffed them with minced meat and vegetables before handing one to Caprice.
Caprice took it gleefully and immediately bit into it.