Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Resentment Deepens

Isabella quickly noticed the Maybach tailing her, a spectacle hard to miss

amidst the bustling traffic. Such a luxury car was bound to draw

attention anywhere.

“The nerve of that creep to follow me!” she thought.

Eager not to drag the orphanage into her troubles, Isabella instructed her driver to turn around and head back to Sterling Manor.

Mr. Windsor, do we keep following?” Sebastian asked cautiously, catching a glimpse of Alexander’s ominously dark expression in the rearview mirror.

“Stop,” he commanded coldly, his voice cutting through the air as sharply as the car’s brakes did on the roadside.

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Chapter 16: The Resentment Deepens

His gaze drifted towards the distant skyline, a forest of towering buildings under which the bustling traffic and pedestrians seemed no more significant than ants.

This world was a battleground where only the strong survived, and Riverdale was no exception.

The Ascot Group’s stature today owed as much to Alexander’s exceptional business acumen as it did to his cold, almost ruthless demeanor.

And then there was Isabella, a woman who, for some inexplicable reason, he felt compelled to understand, to

uncover…

The next day, at the bank.

WDER

Isabella took the receipt handed to her by the teller, noting it indicated a transfer of $500 to the Harborlight Sanctuary’s account. She glanced at it briefly before crumpling it up and

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Chapter 16: The Resentment Deepens

tossing it into the trash.

With no school today, she seized the opportunity to visit the little ones. Catching a cab, she arrived half an

hour later at a small courtyard on the

outskirts of town.

In the middle of the courtyard stood a two–story building where several children were playing tag.

A middle–aged woman sat on a stone bench, surrounded by a heap of peeled potatoes. It seemed potatoes were on the menu for today’s lunch.

“Isabella, you’re here!” The woman boked up, a smile spreading across her face as she saw Isabella at the fence.

Isabella’s eyes momentarily reddened, and she quickly wiped them with her sleeve, managing a faint smile.

“Ms. Greenwood, let me help you,” she offered, squatting down and picking up a potato to peel.

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“Put that down; let me do it. You

shouldn’t be doing such work, you’ll dirty your clothes.”

Isabella didn’t let go, instead looking up at Ms. Greenwood. This seemingly ordinary woman managed to

single–handedly keep the orphanage

afloat.

“Ms. Greenwood, what will happen to the children once this place is demolished?”

Ms. Greenwood laughed softly, “What can we do but take one step at a time?” Her face bore no sign of worry, a testament to the resilience that had

sustained her so far.

Isabella clenched her teeth, her

resentment towards Alexander

deepening.

Harborlight Sanctuary was the last

private orphanage in Riverdale, originally managed by Ms. Greenwood

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and her husband.

After his death, she struggled to keep it going on her own. When the city council planned a new road that would pass right through, the orphanage was inevitably marked for demolition.

Ms. Greenwood had humbly

petitioned the city council thousands of times over two years to find a new location for the children.

Finally relenting to her persistence, they allocated a new site for

Harborlight Sanctuary.

To her dismay, Alexander had purchased that very piece of land,

leaving the children without a refuge once their current home was demolished.

“By the way, a kind soul donated $500

just now, enough to cover the

children’s meals for half a month. If I

ever meet her, I must thank her

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properly,” Ms. Greenwood said with a warm smile, unaware of Isabella’s troubled thoughts.

“Mr. Windsor, if people find out we’re following Ms. Sterling again today, wouldn’t it look bad?” Sebastian, hands on the steering wheel, voiced his concern, not keen on being labeled a peeping Tom.

Alexander’s gaze pierced through the fence, resting on Isabella. He asked slowly, “What do you think?”

“Mr. Windsor, to be honest, I think we’re being a bit… creepy.”

Alexander’s brow furrowed slightly. “I meant, what do you think of Isabella?”

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