Ch. 2206..2210: [Finale]

Chapter 2206

Chapter 2206 Isabel held onto Roland's hand firmly during the entire drive home after leaving the hospital. It was because Roland's hands were cold and rigid.

Isabel sat with him and tirelessly rubbed his hand to keep them warm. After one hand was warm, she would shift her attention to the other.

By the time she managed to warm the other hand, the original hand would turn cold again.

She decided it was easier to take both of his hands and caress them with the warmth of her palms. Roland looked at her with a gentle glow deep within his eyes.

‘Thank you, Isabel,” he said softly.

Thank you for loving him, and for sticking by his side all this time despite circumstances.

Isabel smiled. Tm just warming your hands, it's no big deal. Still, you’re welcome."

Roland smiled faintly and left it at that.

Soon, his hands began to warm up off of the heat of Isabel’s palms.

When Isabel felt that his hands were no longer freezing, she prepared to pull her hand away. That was when he suddenly seized her hand.

"Isabel, do you think I'm just naturally unlikeable like my father?" he asked suddenly.

Isabel frowned, her temper flaring slightly. ’ What do you mean by that? Can't you sense my feelings for you?" Roland frantically explained, "No, that’s not what | meant."

Isabel could not figure out what was on his mind.

She took a deep breath and said, "You’re so handsome, and you're also a competent and loyal man. | don't think there are too many men in the world who can compare to you.”

Roland’s eyes seemed to sparkle when he heard this. He fixed a look on Isabel as if expecting her to continue to list his positive traits.

Isabel gently cupped him by his defined jaw. "And | know that it's not just me. Your mother and everyone in my family is very fond of you and as you know, my family has extremely high standards. If you ask me, the only people who don't like you are the ones who are jealous of you or have poor taste in people.”

Roland felt giddy and flashed that faint yet beautiful smile of his.

"Besides, your mother is just as wonderful. Even after her husband has passed for so long, she never bothered to find some other men, which goes to show how much she's in love with your father. | think that says something about your father’s fine character as well."

He was only unlucky to have someone as ruthless and cruel as Master Rockwell for a father, i

Isabel gently pinched at both of his cheeks and tugged at them teasingly, then she spoke in a faintly serious tone, "So, don't you ever go having ideas like that. I'll get mad for real next time, got it?"

Roland smiled. "Got it."

Isabel made a face and kissed him gently on the lips. " Good.”

Roland threw his arms around her waist just as she was about to pull away. He held her tightly and kissed her deeply.

Upon returning to their home, Roland immediately carried Isabel into the bedroom.

They spent quite the night together. The next morning, Roland went off to work.

His schedule suddenly became rather hectic.

He would wake up at the crack of dawn and would return home from work as late as eleven at night. There were even two nights when he slept over at his office.

Martha was beginning to grow concerned and Isabel was beginning to feel the same. Then again, she considered how much he had to deal with and decided it was better to not bother him at his workplace.

It was better to let him be and let him finish whatever he

had to deal with.

Aweek passed in the blink of an eye.

Around afternoon, when Isabel was watching a movie with Martha, she received an expected call from Roland.

She promptly answered the call.

Roland's voice on the phone was unexpectedly shriveled, he said soberly, "Isabel, he's dead."

Isabel was taken by surprise. "Master Rockwell?"

"Yeah."

Isabel thought for a while and asked, ' Are you busy now? Can | see you?"

Roland answered, "I'm not busy right now but you don't need to come over. I'll go home right now. Do you need me to get anything for you to eat on the way home?”

Isabel glanced at Martha who was still focused on the movie and proposed, "Hey, | want to eat barbecue. Let's get some seafood barbecue to eat with some beer on the side at home tonight, how does that sound?"

Roland was delighted. "Sure."

Chapter 2207

They ended the call shortly after that.

Isabel glanced at Martha and was hesitating if she should break the news right away.

Martha seemed to have sensed her staring and suddenly turned to her with a flash of concern. "Isabel, what's wrong?" Isabel took a deep breath and broke the news. "Auntie, Master Rockwell just passed away."

Martha's eyes widened. After a lengthy silence that lasted more than ten seconds, she started to break out in tears.

She covered her face with her hands and expressed amid bouts of tears mixed with laughter, "Wonderful! About time! | hope he enjoys life in the underworld. God knows that someone like him will never deserve a spot in heaven!"

Isabel did not know whether she should celebrate with Martha or console her. Soon, Martha began to collect herself.

She briefly wiped away her tears and joyfully took Isabel's hand. "Isabel, let's go shopping! I’m in such a good mood today, I’m going to go on a shopping spree!"

“Okay. But Roland will be home and | told him that we’re eating barbecue and having some beer to drink tonight. How about we go shopping together after dinner?"

“Alright, whatever you say, let’s go shopping after dinner!" Soon, Roland returned home.

Unfortunately, there would be no shopping done tonight. This was because they all had far too much to drink during their barbecue session, especially Martha who drank so much that she could barely support herself on her two feet after.

While they were helping her back to her room, she was endlessly mumbling Roland's father’s name.

Isabel sat on the edge of the bed with Roland and watched over her.

They did not leave her room until she finished a glass of hot tea and eventually dozed off into a peaceful sleep. Then, the two walked down the corridor and returned to Isabel's room.

Roland followed her into the room and looked at her with longing eyes. "Isabel, can | sleep in your room tonight?" Isabel would not have the heart to refuse him, especially since the two had barely spent time together for a week.

She scratched at his chin with the tips of her finger and smiled flirtatiously. "| suppose you can, since we haven't been together for a week."

Roland smiled smugly before pushing her onto the bed.

In the middle of the night, after they had time to catch their breath.

Isabel lay in Roland's arms with her eyes shut, she was about to pass out from exhaustion. Roland gently tapped her forehead.

"What?" she asked grouchily.

Roland tapped her forehead again and said softly, "Isabel, there’s something | want to tell you." "What is it?”

"Come with me to the company tomorrow, there’s an agreement | need you to sign."

Isabel was so tired that she hardly had the energy left to process what was said, she asked sleepily, "What kind of agreement?"

"You'll see tomorrow."

"Okay." She grunted and promptly fell asleep.

Roland smiled and kissed her forehead.

The next morning, Roland woke up Isabel who was still groggy from sleep.

Still filled with sleep, she ate breakfast begrudgingly and was taken to Rockwell Corporation.

It was only when she stepped into the conference room and saw the host of shareholders as well as Decker himself seated on one edge of the table when she jolted to her senses and found herself fully awakened.

What was going on?

She looked at Roland suspiciously.

Roland smiled faintly and gestured. "Have a seat."

He led her by the hand and sat down directly across from Decker.

Decker was wearing a gray common t-shirt. His complexion was poor, and strands of greasy hair draped across his forehead.

Still, he looked slightly more vitalized than when Isabel saw him at the hospital a week ago, albeit slightly frailer.

Chapter 2208

Chapter 2208 Decker was smiling quite earnestly at Isabel.

Isabel threw a deeply suspicious look at him, then she glanced at the stack of documents laid out on top of the table in front of her.

‘Transferal of Shares."

She was dumbfounded.

"I’ve gone through the contract, it's safe to sign so go ahead." Roland picked up a pen and handed it to her. "Roland, I..."

"Sign it first, I'll explain when we get home.”

Isabel frowned and tried to protest. "I-"

"Don’t make me have to beg."

Isabel did not know how to respond.

Fine.

She briefly scanned through the contract.

The contract stated Decker’s agreement to transfer the remaining forty percent of his shares in Rockwell Corporation to her.

Roland must have talked to the shareholders of Rockwell Corporation about this as well. They all regarded Isabel with polite smiles.

Isabel had flipped through the final page of the document. She signed her name on one of the marked-out sections.

She proceeded to sign all three copies of the contract.

The assistant promptly handed the contract to Decker.

Decker kept his eyes downcast on the table the entire time and swiftly provided his signature on all the marked-out sections. After he was finished, he put down his pen and looked at Isabel with a smile.

His smile was gentle and sincere. There even seemed to be a hint of relief from the way he carried himself.

Isabel glanced at him, then looked away.

“Roland, could | have a few words with Isabel alone?" he suddenly asked Roland.

Roland's answer came in the form of a decisive no.

Decker made a look and turned to Isabel again, his eyes oozing with sentimentality and tenderness. "Isabel, could | have a word with you please?"

Isabel grunted.

She turned to Roland.

Roland looked back at her with a subtle frown and a disapproving look in his eyes.

Alright then.

Isabel crossed her arms across her chest and turned to Decker. "Just say whatever you want to say here."

Decker chuckled dryly. "It's nothing much, | just wanted to wish you a good life from here on."

“Alright, | understand."

Decker’s expression dropped. He seemed like he did not have much else to say and only stared at her blankly. It did not look like he was looking at Isabel, but at a past version of her from years ago.

With that, Isabel turned to Roland again. "Is this all?”

"Yeah, let's go."

"Sure."

Isabel took his hand and walked out of the conference room with him.

The assistant followed after them with the signed copies of the contract.

The other shareholders exited as well.

Decker was the only one left in the conference room.

A gust of wind swept in from the open window, sending his hair fluttering in its gentle breeze. Despite that, the gentle gust was unable to bring any relief to his sullen state.

Memories from the distant past came rushing at him. They were now visions of ecstasy from a different life.

Chapter 2209

He remembered his first meeting with Isabel. She was sitting all by herself on the floor, in the middle of nowhere. Her vulnerable expression only made her more endearing. So, he managed to get her to go to his place and installed her in his home.

He fell for her and paid careful attention to all her needs. It did not take long before Isabel caught feelings for him as well. The two of them got together in no time.

Their days were plain and ordinary, but also very fulfilling, that was until he met Clarice.

With the help of his father, his power struggle with Roland had reached a tipping point. It was at that opportune moment when Clarice’s father saw something in Roland and planned to wed his daughter Clarice to him to join up their families, which was a cause for alarm for Decker. He stressed over it for an entire night before approaching Clarice himself the very next day.

Clarice quickly caught feelings for him as well. Furthermore, Roland had been foolish enough to reject the Houston's proposal, which made it easy for Decker to swoop in and take her hand.

The only hiccup in his plans was Isabel's sudden intrusion during the day of the engagement ceremony. When she caused a scene and got herself thrown out, Decker had to admit that it made his heart ache, but he still toughed

through it and resisted the urge to help her then. It was only after the ceremony had come to a close and all the guests had dispersed that he found the time to head home.

He wanted to impose his authority on her so she would not rebel against him again in the future. Without sparing the time to clarify the situation, he struck her across the face to establish his position of power. He thought this would make her more cautious going forward.

His plans ended up backfiring on him. The next time he went home, she was already gone. There was no trace of her in all of Southboro...

He initially assumed that Isabel was just lashing out and would return eventually. To his surprise, Isabel had completely abandoned her last trace of affection for him that very fateful night.

Naturally, he had never expected that she had been the daughter of the richest family in the region back then. If he knew, he never would have chosen Clarice over her.

Ultimately, it was his greed and foolishness that caused everything to happen. He supposed this was karma coming back at him.

Still, it was no big deal. Before he was brought into Rockwell Corporation, he was just a b*stard child who had nothing to his name, so it was back to square one.

In a way, he considered this a new beginning to life as he knew it.

With a deep and solemn sigh, he stood up and walked out of the conference room.

"Is he not going to jail?"

Inside Roland's office, Isabel was sharing an intimate hug with Roland. She asked while still in the middle of their tight embrace.

Roland remarked, "I figured there's no point putting him in jail since he's going to be out in three years at most. We might as well get something substantial for it."

Isabel agreed when she thought about it. "That's true.”

Now that Decker had no more shares in Rockwell Corporation, he no longer had any foothold and was essentially done. “Also, he promised me that we'd never see him in Southboro or Westchester again.”

Isabel was taken aback by this.

Roland looked at her with a warm, proud smile underneath his eyes.

Isabel chuckled and playfully pinched his cheeks. "I didn’t expect this from you."

He sure was cautious and calculating.

There was no cause for him to be concerned, however.

Isabel had not been in contact with Decker in the five years since their break up. Besides, even if she were to fall for another man, it would not be her ex.

Roland grinned and let her pinch his cheeks all she wanted. Then, he put his arms around her and kissed her for what seemed like forever.

Still holding her tightly in his arms, he propped his chin on her shoulder and said in a low voice, "Isabel, | want to marry you.”

Isabel perked up and asked smilingly, "Are you proposing to me?"

"No."

Isabel was speechless.

She playfully shoved him away.

Roland held on to her so she could not manage to shove him away.

He explained thoughtfully, "| wouldn't propose like this. I'm just telling you that | plan to marry you." Isabel felt something stir in her chest, she grinned happily.

Meanwhile, a time-piece drama that Isabel had been signed on a while ago finally began its first shoot.

There were a couple of shooting locations, some of which included a faraway mountainous region boasting wonderful and otherworldly views. They also went to the plains as well as a desert.

Isabel was aware that Roland now had a lot of things on his plate at Rockwell Corporation so she did not trouble Roland with sending her off to work.

They spent two days practically glued to each other. After that, she took her luggage and went to the filming outposts with the film crew.

Everyone in the crew, including the director known for having a strict personality was abnormally polite to her. It must have something to do with them knowing about her true identity now. Despite that, Isabel was someone who prided herself on being self-aware, so she would notice when her performance was off or if she was unable to bring out the essence of the characters she was playing. Without needing anyone to ask, she would propose reshooting the scenes that she felt were lackluster.

Chapter 2210

She was her usual self in every aspect. She put her heart into her job and never started trouble so long as nobody tried to start trouble with her.

The crew cycled through their locations during their shoot. The constant travel made her skin break out slightly, but there were no other concerns otherwise. The shoot progressed very smoothly and within three months, they managed to wrap up everything at the mountainous region previously mentioned.

It was nearly evening when they wrapped up the shoot.

Holding a bouquet in hand, she took a group picture with the crew and celebrated with everyone. After that, she planned to hitch a ride with another crew member and leave for home.

To their demise, some men in uniform who claimed to be the road maintenance technicians showed up to break the bad news to them. They mentioned that they had to repair some of the roads urgently and so the way home was temporarily obstructed.

The director took his phone and called the city hotline for verification.

After a brief conversation on the phone with the relevant department, he turned to everyone and announced, "They're telling me there's a minor obstacle blocking the road but it's

not a big problem. It should be taken care of within half an hour. Why doesn't everyone get some rest for now?" As he said this, he threw a glance at Isabel.

Isabel did not notice this as she was already leading Carla away to sit down somewhere.

She was getting a little peckish and took a piece of bread from Carla's bag.

It was getting dark by this point. She had barely nibbled off a bite from the bread when a shadow cast over the entire mountain region. Soon, even gusts of chilly wind began sweeping down on them. It was rather eerie.

Several actresses huddled together to shield themselves from the cold.

It was ominously quiet.

While Isabel was starting to feel a little bit of nerve set in, the foot of the mountain was suddenly showered with blinding lights. The sudden brightness stung her eyes.

When she managed to open her eyes again, she heard awed cries everywhere around her.

She was just as amused by what she was seeing.

Every tree in the vicinity had tiny bulbs of lights wrapped around them and were all flickering with beautiful amber lights. Even the patches of grass had bulbs scattered everywhere.

It was not so bright as to the point of giving the impression of a miniature sun, but it was certainly still very bright. It was beautiful!

More importantly, what caused everyone to screech was not the beautiful display, nor was it the music of the piano that began to reverberate across the area.

Isabel followed the direction where she heard the strum of the piano and saw a clearing covered with fresh flower petals.

There was a pearl white piano installed in the center of the open plains. A young man dressed in a white shirt was seated in front of the piano, his fingers rhythmically and adeptly dancing across the black and white keys.

"Wow! He's so handsome!" one of the actresses cried out. Isabel had to do a double take at the sight of the handsome piano player. It was none other than Roland!

Even the wind in the forest seemed to be at his beck and call. Gusts of wind poured at him following the highs and lows of the music, sending the hems of his shirt and flower petals scattering everywhere.

At one point, he looked up for the piano and instantly directed his gaze at Isabel who stood in the center of the crowd.

He smiled charmingly.

His smile had a magical effect of dimming out all the colors in the world until he was the only one that remained. Isabel grinned when she saw him.

At one point, everyone around her had silently backed away.

It was only she and Roland left in the vicinity.

After Roland finished playing his proposal piece, he picked up a bouquet of red roses and a box of diamond rings that he had set on top of the piano. With that, he strode suavely toward Isabel.

"Isabel, marry me." He got down on one knee and proposed. He presented the wonderful bouquet of roses, his eyes flashed with earnestness.

He was a pure-hearted man.

Meanwhile, the entire film crew and Carla began to chant," Marry him! Marry him..."

They barely managed to get into a rhythm when Isabel took the bouquet and gave Roland her hand. Roland promptly opened the box with the diamond ring inside and gently fitted it onto Isabel's fingers. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss...” everyone began chanting again.

Roland rose on his feet. His ears blossomed with red as he pulled Isabel into her as he cupped her face and locked lips with her.