Ch. 2106..2110

Chapter 2106

“Of course, we wouldn't know about Mr. Roland's private affairs."

"Who is this celebrity Mr. Roland has been dating?”

They were quite curious about who the revered Roland's girlfriend could be.

Decker was more than happy to quell their curiosity, "She's one of the most famous actresses right now, and I’m sure you all have heard of her."

"Who is it?"

"President Rockwell, quit teasing us. Out with it already!" They urged him on.

Decker announced her name at last, "Isabel Ross." "Oh... Isabel!"

"She's certainly very famous. | wasn't expecting someone like Mr. Roland to end up with a celebrity though. | assumed he would have a different taste."

"Well, men love beautiful women, don't they? Isabel Ross sure is a knockout. | would date her too if given the chance, but then again | have a wife now, so she's off-limits to me."

Everyone continued to joke and gossip about the tantalizing subject.

None of them noticed Odell whose expression had turned ominously dark, as well as the two senior executives who were fidgeting in their seats and casting looks at Odell.

The two senior executives were the only ones who were aware that the famous Isabel Ross was Odell's daughter, and more importantly, the future successor of Carter Corporation.

They knew that the reason Roland was standing in as president in the first place was that Isabel was hesitant to take up the mantle just yet and decided to get someone to take over for her.

Odell's mood only seemed to grow darker as time went on. One of the executives wisely interrupted the merry conversation going on at the table to swerve them to another topic, "Anyway, we shouldn't be talking about Mr. Roland's private life especially when he's not around. Let's talk about something else."

The part he wisely omitted was that they should stop gossiping about Isabel who was Odell's daughter. Things would not end well for any of them should they upset Odell.

Everyone at the table was quick-witted enough to sense that they should steer away from this subject. They exchanged several quick banter after that and moved on to another subject.

Decker sensed the tension in the air and hurriedly remarked, "Please don't get the wrong idea. | didn't mean to gossip about Mr. Roland's personal affairs. | was just making some small talk."

"Oh, no worries. We understand, we understand." With that, everyone moved on from this.

At one point, during a brief gap in the middle of their conversation, someone raised an unexpected question, ‘How did you find out about Roland and Isabel?"

It was none other than Odell who spoke. Everyone suddenly fell silent.

Decker was just as taken aback by this. His surprise was followed by delight. He was more than glad to respond, "| also came to find out about it by sheer coincidence. | came to Westchester initially to invest in several TV shows and happened to stumble into Mr. Roland on one of his dates with Isabel. Speaking of which, | heard some rumors as well.”

"What kind of rumors?"

“Rumors concerning Isabel. | heard she ran into some trouble with one of her rivals in the entertainment circle. There’s been some trending controversy online as a result of that. They say it was Roland who stepped in and helped her resolve things. There was also another time when Isabel's major contracts were suddenly terminated without warning, that was until Roland made some calls for her and took care of things for her."

Decker was just stressing over how he could bring up these rumors in a natural conversation when Odell himself miraculously broached the subject for him.

Upon hearing his answer, Odell's expression along with those of his accompanying executives darkened significantly.

Decker could not make sense of why this would prompt such drastic reactions from the executives, but he was primarily focused on Odell's reaction. He could tell that Odell was less than pleased to hear about this.

Surely, he must be furious that Roland had been taking advantage of his position at Carter Corporation to seduce a celebrity.

Furthermore, Carter Corporation was a rather traditional organization that cared a great deal about its reputation. It would be rather scandalous if people found out about their current president dating a celebrity.

The mood suddenly became heavy and oppressive.

Upon noticing Odell’s ominous expression, everyone at the table held their tongues because they knew that they had to tread lightly from this point on.

Decker had grown apprehensive as well, but he was secretly celebrating. The more he riled up Odell, the more likely that he would decide to give Roland the boot.

That way, the path would be open again for him to swoop in and take Isabel back since he would not have to worry about Roland standing in his way. The only reason he was a formidable opponent was due to his leveraging the influence of his position in Carter Corporation.

Just as the mood around the table dropped to the lowest point of the night, Odell rose suddenly. “Enjoy your dinner, everyone. | have something to attend to."

With that, he walked towards the elevator.

One of the executives hurried after him.

The other executive took up the task of smoothing things out. He implored everyone to go on with the dinner, "Don't worry about it. President Carter just has something urgent he needs to attend to. Go on, enjoy the food."

Chapter 2107

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief after Odell left, save for Decker who put on an innocent look and pretended to be surprised. “Was it something | said?"

The remaining executive assured him, "Don't worry about it. President Carter has something important he needs to attend to urgently."

Deep down, he was muttering curses at Decker. 'Keep your mouth shut, you fool!"

Decker snuck another glance at the elevator where Odell had vanished and grinned smugly. At Isabel's hotel in Glanchester, things calmed down in the bedroom at last.

Isabel lay like a plank on the bed and was too tired to move.

Roland pulled her into his arms and let her rest against his shoulder.

Upon noting the content expression on the man's face, Isabel shot him a playful glare.

Roland grinned before reaching lapping his arms around her neck and gently massaging her neck. He applied just the right amount of pressure, so it did not hurt. It was even quite comfortable.

Isabel lay silently and peacefully in his arms, then she began to feel a wave of drowsiness set in.

That was when her phone began blaring and interrupted her sleep.

She reached for the phone tucked under the pillow and saw the name pop up on the display that read 'Dad’. Why was he calling at this hour?

She coughed to clear her throat, then promptly answered the call, "Hey, Dad, did you need something?" Odell's voice was sharp. "Where are you now?"

Isabel could immediately sense the displeasure in his voice, so she answered with hidden suspicion, "rm filming in Glanchester. What's wrong? n

"Where is the film set?”

"It’s at the city center, the main base of our film company." She asked out of curiosity, "What’s wrong? Why are you asking me this?"

Why did he sound so upset?

“Nothing.” With that, he promptly hung up.

Isabel frowned and stared at the phone.

Roland turned to her. ’ What's wrong?"

“My dad is being weird.”

“What happened to President Carter?"

"He called to ask me where | was. | can tell by his tone that he’s upset about something."

She wondered what she had done to upset her father. She had not been home in a while, so it could not possibly be something she had said or done.

Old people could be weird at times.

“Never mind, forget about him." She discarded the thought to the corner of her mind. She closed her eyes and lay in Roland’s arms again. She was

very tired and fell asleep in no time.

Roland examined her, and the look in his eyes turned grave.

Ding!

This time, it was his phone that rang.

He reached for the phone and read a text sent to him by one of his colleagues, "Mr. Roland, President Carter found out about you and Miss Carter."

Roland replied, "Got it." He thought about it for a moment before sending another text, "How did he find out?"

The colleague replied shortly after, "A certain Decker Rockwell from Southboro joined us at the company dinner. He mentioned that you were his nephew and asked why you did not attend the dinner. When we mentioned that you usually spend your weekends in private, he went on to ask if you went to see your celebrity girlfriend. That's when everyone got curious and began asking for more information. He told everyone that you were dating Isabel Ross. President Carter was right there, so he heard everything.”

Roland grimaced.

It was promptly followed by another message, "Isabel is President Carter's only precious daughter, and he seemed quite upset when he found out about it. You should brace yourself for whatever happens next."

Roland replied, "Understood. Thanks for the heads-up."

Chapter 2108

It was a weekday the following day, which meant Roland had to head back to Westchester.

After waking up in the morning, the two went at it in bed until it was nearing noon before they finally emerged from the bedroom. Knowing that it would be another week before they could meet again, Isabel was quite reluctant to part with him.

They arrived at the hotel entrance.

Roland let go of her hand and gently stroked her hair. "I'm going off now.’

Isabel only grunted in response.

Roland looked at her with a thoughtful expression. It looked like he wanted to say something to her but ultimately decided against it.

With that, he turned around and walked toward the parking lot. He stepped into the sunlight, the trace of light outlined his striking figure. And yet, there was a certain gloominess about him.

Isabel suddenly felt a stuffy feeling in her chest. She cried out, ‘Roland!’ Roland stopped immediately and looked back at her.

She ran over to him and threw himself into his arms. She hugged him tightly and said tenderly, "Remember to come to see me again this weekend.”

Roland smiled warmly. "Of course." With that, Isabel let go of him with a reluctant but affectionate smile. Roland gently patted her head before heading to the parking lot.

After seeing him off, Isabel turned and went back to the hotel. She had a scene to shoot at noon later, so she had to start getting ready now.

While she was strolling back to the hotel, Roland arrived at the parking lot. He immediately noticed a certain expensive black car with its engine still running.

It was parked right next to his car. Anyone who worked at Carter Corporation could recognize this car by sight. It was Odell Carter's car.

Something shifted in his eyes, and he promptly stepped forward and approached the car. The driver and the bodyguard stepped out of the car.

"Sir, President Carter wants to speak to you," the bodyguard informed him. Roland opened the door and burrowed inside.

Odell sat by himself in the backseat. He wore a deep frown and his expression overall was dark. From this angle, he had a clear view of the hotel entrance and must have witnessed Roland’s interaction with Isabel just now.

Roland made sure to keep a respectable distance between himself and Odell. He greeted him briefly, "President Carter." Odell regarded him icily. "Well? Are you going to start or do you want me to invite you to start?” Roland confessed calmly, "I'm dating Isabel."

Odell observed how Roland was so blunt and fearless about it, and this immediately set off a fire within him. "Who gave you permission to date her?"

He looked past Roland's patchy history with the Rockwells because he knew that Roland was a very efficient worker. It was out of acknowledgment of his abilities that he installed Roland as a stand-in president. How dare he take advantage of his kindness and get together with his daughter behind his back?!

What was worse was that he was unaware of this until now! He was Isabel's father!

Roland seemed avoidant and lowered his head, but his voice was firm. "I care for her.’

Odell hissed, "Do you care for her, or do you care for her status because she's my daughter?"

He was aware of Roland's grandfather and his uncle Decker's history of taking advantage of unsuspecting women to elevate their social positions. Going by that rhetoric, it was easy to understand why he would suspect Roland's intentions behind dating Isabel.

Roland met his scrutinizing gaze head-on and insisted again, "I truly care for her." The two men exchanged an intense stare-down for a moment.

After a while, Odell said with a vicious sneer, "Roland, Isabel is my only daughter. | don’t care if you truly care for her or if you have other intentions. The bottom line is that if you wish to continue working in Carter Corporation, you’d do well to break up with

her.

Roland was a disgraced man who was banished by his family, a weak man who could not even contend with a b*stard child. A man of his sort who had no right to be with his daughter! i

If it was one thing Glanchester was known for, it was its rainy weather. The sunny weather barely lasted two days when the rain began pouring again.

Over the week, Isabel had to shoot several scenes while bracing the rain.

 

Chapter 2109

The film crew took advantage of the rain to finish up most of the rainy scenes.

It was a rather busy week, and Friday came before Isabel knew it.

On Friday, the crew managed to wrap up everything around three in the afternoon, and Isabel returned to the hotel after that.

The first thing she did was take a hot bath. Then, she made sure to apply lotion and doused herself in her favorite perfume. She picked out a dress that hugged her slender waist and accentuated her figure before sitting by the window to wait for Roland to visit.

The thought of the though slightly juvenile, yet sweet and innocent surprise that Roland prepared for her last week made her smile. She wondered if he would prepare something similar for her again this week.

Time slowly trickled past while she waited. It was already getting dark outside, and even the rain was gradually stopping.

She watched as some of the film crew went out together to hang out for the weekend, then she watched as they returned to the hotel. She waited endlessly, but there was no sight of Roland's car pulling up at the junction.

What was with delay? Where was he? She reached out her phone and tapped on her messages with Roland.

The last time they had spoken was two days ago. Since both of them were always busy with work during the weekdays, they very rarely talked to each other.

She sent him a message, "Are you on the way?" One minute, two minutes... Ten minutes passed, yet there was no response from him. Perhaps he was driving.

She started to get concerned, and that was when Flint's name popped up on the display. He had sent her a short text, "Hey, sis, | heard Roland is the son of the Rockwells in Southboro this entire time. Did you know about this?"

Isabel frowned.

She figured that the only ones in Westchester who knew about Roland's true identity were her, Decker, and Clarice. How did Flint know about this?

She asked him directly, "How did you find out?"

Flint replied, "| was just leaving the lab today when a friend of mine who worked in Dad's office told me. Everyone in Carter Corporation has found out about it."

The entire Carter Corporation knew?

Then, Flint sent her another text, "By the way, they say it was

Roland's uncle who broke the news to everyone when he was invited to a company dinner our corporation hosted."

Isabel's eyes gleamed with ice, and she asked frantically, " Was Decker intentionally badmouthing Roland during the dinner?" Flint replied, "Well, | wouldn't call it badmouthing, but..."

Isabel was very anxious by this point. "But what? Out with it already.”

Flint sent her a long paragraph after that. "Decker said something about Roland dating a celebrity, which he revealed was you. | don’t think Decker knows that you're a Carter. He only talked about how much Roland had been helping you and hinted that he has been using Carter Corporation's influence to pull it off. If | had to guess, he's trying to drive a wedge between Roland and Carter Corporation. He’s trying to force Dad's hand to give Roland the boot."

Isabel scowled. Flint asked for confirmation, "Are you dating Roland?"

Isabel saw no point in hiding it any longer. "Yes."

They had been dating for a while.

Flint asked hesitantly, "Then... do you know that Roland has quit Carter Corporation?"

Isabel was stunned to hear this. She immediately gave Flint a call since it was easier to communicate that way. The moment the call was connected, she heard Flint asking cautiously, "Sis, you haven’t heard about it, have you?" Isabel asked urgently, "When did Roland quit? Why did he quit?"

When they were chatting two days ago, he mentioned something about needing to deal with overtime work.

Why did he quit out of nowhere?

Besides, even if the general public did not know that she was a Carter, the higher-ups at the corporation were aware of it. There was nothing wrong with Roland exercising Carter Corporation's influence to help her since her father would have done the same anyway!

There was no way that Decker’s plan to stir controversy by pointing out that Roland had been dating her would work to this effect.

Flint tried to calm her down. "Look, chill out. | just left the lab when | found out about everything. That's why | sent you a text to ask about it. | might be missing some key details. Could you try talking to Roland?"

“Enough, stop beating around the bush and tell me everything!’

Flint was her brother, and she knew exactly what he was like. He must be intentionally leaving out some crucial details for fear of upsetting her. He had to be hiding something!

 

Chapter 2110

Flint said reluctantly, ‘TH tell you, but don't get angry at me.

Isabel snapped at him, "Out with it!"

Flint sighed. "I think Dad does not approve of the two of you being together, so he made him quit." Isabel was flabbergasted.

Her father did not approve of them being together?

Roland quit because of this?

Her mind went blank as she had trouble processing this. ” Where is he now?"

Flint muttered, "I heard he left Westchester after the ongoing projects at work yesterday." It was his turn to ask Isabel, "You're his girlfriend. Hasn't he said anything to you?"

Isabel stammered.

Flint realized that he had misspoken and quickly tried to rectify his mistake. "Sorry, sis, you know that's not what | meant. Just calm down and don't be mad at me. | don't think Roland would break up with you without at least talking to you about it. There must be some reason he hasn't spoken to you yet."

Isabel ignored him and promptly hung up on him.

Then, she called Roland.

At the Carters’ villa in Westchester, after Flint put away his phone, he turned to cast a look at his mother Sylvia. Sylvia asked worriedly, "What did Isabel say? How is she feeling?"

Flint took a deep sigh. "Not very good | think."

“Let me try calling her." Sylvia was very worried and promptly reached for her phone.

Flint wisely stopped her. "Not yet. She's probably trying to contact Roland to see what he has to say."

Sylvia nodded. "That's true. Knowing her, she’s definitely trying to get to the bottom of it.”

She put down her phone and expressed her displeasure, "It’s all your father's fault. Why did he have to escalate things right off the bat and tell Roland to break up with your sister? Is it so hard to talk over these things rationally?"

She had only just found out that Roland and Isabel were dating, then it was swiftly followed by the news that Roland had quit Carter Corporation.

Rumors were that he had left Westchester too.

Since he did not even bother to tell Isabel he was leaving, what else could this be interpreted as other than him calling their relationship off?

The more Sylvia thought about it, the more upset she became. "Let's wait for your father to come back. I'll give him a stern talking to, that man!"

Flint smiled weakly. "Mom, you can't put all the blame on Dad for this. If Roland wanted to be with Sis, he wouldn't have just up and left just because Dad told him to. At the end of the day, he was the one who made that choice."

Sylvia made a face upon hearing this, and she seemed bothered.

Flint made a good point. If Roland wanted to be with Isabel, there was no chance Odell could get him to leave her even if he tried.

As things stood...

Sylvia frowned and expressed her concern, "Flint, won't Isabel be heartbroken?"

Flint took a deep breath. "Breakups are more or less a part of a relationship, aren't they? I'm sure she feels sad, but | don't think she would do something as rash as hurting herself."

Inside Isabel's hotel room in Glanchester, she stood next to the window, gripping her phone tightly in her palms.

She had already called Roland three times, and all three times, it rang till the end but nobody picked up.

Was he busy?

Or was he intentionally not answering her calls?

She called him again, but nobody picked up.

She was not an unruly person. If it was truly Roland's wish to break up with her, she would willingly accept his decision as well, but she could not accept him ending things on such ambiguous terms!

Even if it was her father who wanted them to break up, Roland could have told her that, at the very least!

She stopped spamming him with calls, but she clicked on her messages and selected Roland's contact, then she pressed the voice recording button.

Her eyes were flared with red by this point as she said in a slightly quivering voice filled with emotions, "You have ten minutes. If you still refuse to reply, then it's completely over between us."

After sending the voice messages, she set her phone aside and slumped onto the floor.

As soon as she sat down, her phone rang.