Just then, Audrey and Mrs. Dowling heard the commotion and hurriedly came out of the house.Mrs. Newman did not dare confront Audrey head-on, and her darling daughter was suffering the consequences of her own actions, so she simply apologized to Mrs. Dowling and quickly left the venue while trudging both their weights along.When everything calmed down again, Camryn thanked Serenity and Elisa.She did not understand why they helped her.From her mother’s shouting, she learned that one of the people who helped her was Mrs. York, the most talked about person in Wiltspoon recently.She did not expect Mrs. York to be the chivalrous type and saved her.In fact, even without Serenity’s help, she had her ways to get out of the trap.She eked out a living under the thumb of her stepfather and her mother, who was as cruel as a stepmother, and slowly collected evidence... Camryn would not have lived until now if she did not have tricks up her sleeve.Serenity said in concern, “If they tr
“Aren’t you going to ask who I offended?”Zachary looked at her and said, “There’s no need to. No matter who you offend, I’ll always be on your side.”In his eyes, his wife was always right.Serenity muttered, “Zachary, you’ll spoil me rotten if you trust me like this.”“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do. I’ll spoil you so rotten that no one else can stand you. That way, you’ll always be mine. No one will try to steal you away.”Serenity could not help but laugh. “Who would dare steal me away after knowing that I’m your wife?”Shawn had been secretly in love with her for many years and did not give up even after finding out that she was married. He hoped that she could still marry him after she divorced her husband. However, when his mother told him that Serenity’s husband was Zachary York, the heir of the York family, Shawn finally gave up.Last time, Shawn took advantage of a long weekend to hastily return to Wiltspoon. Rachel invited Jasmine and her family for dinner, and
“Aunt Audrey will glare at you if she heard you say that.”Zachary laughed. “Your aunt has always been a stern person. She mellowed out considerably after retiring, but it’ll still be hard on you because you asked her to teach you. However, she’s still your aunt and is doing it for your own good. If you can bear the hardships, the lessons you learn from her will serve you for the rest of your life.”Serenity walked to the sofa and sat down.Zachary followed and propped her feet up, then started to massage them.Serenity tried to stop him and said, “You’re the high and mighty Mr. York, the CEO of York Corporation.”“In front of you, I’m just your husband. My wife tortured her feet with her much-hated stilettos for an entire night for me. Who can stop me from pampering her a little when she gets back?”After hearing his domineering yet sweet words, Serenity did not stop him from massaging her feet.“I met Camryn Newman tonight.”Serenity took the initiative to tell him when he di
After a moment of silence, Zachary replied, “Yes, but I trust my eyes and feelings more. That was why I concealed my identity to examine your character.”“Given your character, you wouldn’t agree to marry me either if you didn’t get a background check on me. Why did you still suspect me of going after you for your money?”“I was afraid that the investigation was wrong.”Serenity was speechless.“Marriage is a life-long event. Women are afraid of marrying the wrong man, but the same goes for men. I have to get along with you personally before knowing what you’re really like. A background check is just a few lines of summary.”“Yes, marriage is a life-long event. It seems we were both too hasty.”Serenity sighed, but said gratefully, “Fortunately, we fell in love with each other.”If she could do it all over again, she would probably make a different choice.“Keep going, Seren. I’ll listen to the story.” Zachary did not want to talk about the time when their marriage was hidden b
“Waters run deep in wealthy families. They can do anything for the sake of their interests, but don’t worry, Seren. Our family isn’t like that. Even if I paid someone in our family to take my spot as the head, they wouldn’t want to.”Serenity believed in Zachary’s words.She met her in-laws several times. Whether it was her elders or peers, they were all good people. The only person who was a little prejudiced against her and was not satisfied with her was her mother-in-law, but the latter still did not do anything to harm her.When she was angry at Zachary, her mother-in-law accompanied Grandma May to apologize to her instead of taking the opportunity to tell Zachary to divorce her.Perhaps to Tania, although she cared about what her daughter-in-law’s background was, her son’s feelings and happiness were more important than that.“Mrs. Newman was glaring at me like she was trying to kill me. I wonder if she’ll badmouth me to her husband when she goes home. Zachary, is the Newman
“Go back to the room and change out of your dress.”Zachary wanted to pick Serenity up as he spoke, but she stopped him.“I can walk.”Serenity stood up. Her legs felt much better after Zachary’s massage.“Seren, you won’t even give me the chance to perform. I want to train my arm strength. Carrying you around is a good way of training.”Serenity pinched his face lightly. “What do you mean you want to train your arm strength? You work out every day. Let’s go to sleep already.”“I’ll draw the bath for you.”Zachary did not carry her back to the room and went ahead to draw the bath for her. Then, he brought her pajamas so she could sleep comfortably after soaking in a hot bath.After coming out of the bath, Serenity climbed into bed and lay beside Zachary. She suddenly remembered something, propped her head up, and kissed him twice on the cheek. “Good night, Babe.”Zachary kissed her back. “Good night. Sweet dreams.”“I rarely have nightmares.”Serenity lay down and habitually
“Mr. Newman is protective and dotes on his children the most, but your daughter-in-law caused his beloved daughter to make a fool out of herself in public. Mr. and Mrs. Newman probably hate your daughter-in-law now. Isn’t she causing trouble for the York family?“Mrs. York, you should discipline your daughter-in-law. She represents the York family now. She has a bad background, and her parents are dead, so she had no one to educate her. Shouldn’t you correct that wild nature of hers? How can someone like her be the missus of the York family?”The other party went on a tirade about Serenity.Tania’s expression darkened on the spot.Liam saw the drastic change in his wife’s face and asked with concern, “Who’s calling? What did they say?”Tania did not immediately answer her husband’s question, but coldly refuted the other party and said, “Mrs. Walker, what does this matter have to do with you? You went on and on about my daughter-in-law not minding her own business, but aren’t you d
“Ms. Carrie drugged her own sister?” It came as a shock to Liam. “I know, right? Serenity did a good thing by saving Ms. Camryn’s life, but the busybodies said Serenity should mind her own business. “They had the nerve to say that Serenity’s meddling rubbed Mrs. Newman and her younger daughter off the wrong way. Apparently, Mr. Newman can be very protective of his family. So what? I’m protective too! My daughter-in-law fears no one! I have Serenity’s back even if she upset all Wiltspoonians. Of course, on the condition that she’s in the right. “That really riled me up. I can’t believe they tried to stir the pot with me. Are they trying to make me the first person ever to break apart the peace of the Yorks?”Liam uttered with a smile, “My wife is too smart to be fooled.” “I’m fuming here, and yet you’re smiling there. Serenity is your daughter-in-law too, you know. Let me put this out there. You better criticize anyone who calls Serenity an insensible and meddling country bum
Zachary, afraid that his wife might refuse to spend time with him at his office in the future, emphasized that he was not busy today.He had already cleared his morning schedule because he needed to accompany his beloved wife for her prenatal checkup.His secretary was well aware of Serenity’s checkup dates. Whenever he saw Serenity turn up at the office with his boss, his secretary would quietly adjust his schedule.Sometimes, on the day of the Serenity’s checkup, his secretary would not schedule any appointments for Zachary at all.Even if appointments were scheduled, Zachary would request they be canceled or rescheduled.Now, in Zachary’s eyes, his wife’s matters were the most important.With Alex now able to share the workload, Zachary felt that he, as the eldest of his generation who had shouldered the bulk of the burden for so many years, deserved a break.Plus, there was the elite team the company had trained; if not now, then when would they be put to use?Everyone was
Tony turned around and left.Only after hearing the door close did Carrie dare to open her eyes.She had woken up while Tony and his son were on the phone, but she did not dare move, fearing that Tony might suspect her of eavesdropping.Just now, when that old lecher stood by the bed looking at her, there was definitely a murderous glint in his eyes. She could feel it.Sooner or later, he would kill her.Carrie was filled with panic. She wanted to escape but was afraid she would not succeed. No one was there to help her.For a moment, Carrie even considered running to Camryn to confess everything, but she quickly dismissed the thought. The reason she ended up in this situation was entirely due to Camryn.She and Camryn were sworn enemies. Their conflict would not end until one of them was dead. However, even if she died, she would drag Camryn down with her.-Meanwhile, in the CEO's office at York Corporation, Zachary, seated at his desk, kept glancing up at his pregnant wife.
“You should have gotten rid of them all back then and cultivated a network of people loyal only to you.” Manny felt that his father should not have spared those people in the first place.Tony said, “There were too many of them, all relatives and friends with the same goal as us. We couldn’t eliminate them all at once.”Back then, he had incited everyone to join him in wiping out the entire main family, sparing neither the elderly nor the children.It was because they were all from the collateral branches, jealous of the main family’s long-standing control, and shared a common goal that his conspiracy succeeded.He had also spent over a decade waiting for the right opportunity.Who would have thought that even after wiping out the main family, he still could not obtain the family seal, token, or totem? Without these, he could not become the true head of the family and could only act as a proxy. Many of the connections loyal to the head remained inaccessible.Moreover, much of the
It was his father. Manny composed himself and picked up Tony’s call as he walked toward his car.“Hey, Pops.”“How’s it going, Manny? Has there been any progress?”Tony was still in Carrie’s room at the moment, but had gotten up and walked to the balcony to call his son.Carrie was still fast asleep, though her face was set in a frown. She was obviously discomfited.Tony had pestered her for the majority of last night, so it would be weird if she did not feel any discomfort.Despite her begging, Tony would not let her go. He even forcefully drugged her to make her mess around with him while out of it. He was simply an old pervert.Before she passed out, she cursed him in her heart. However, she knew that Tony only treated her so roughly because she was just his mistress—a tool for him to vent his frustrations on.If she really was his wife, he definitely would not treat her like this.In the past, she had ambitions of taking Mrs. Longbottom’s place and becoming the real missus
Tati also finished her plate of pastries.She followed Isabella out.“Isa, you’re always so busy and exhausted. If you’re feeling even a little unwell, you should have a good rest. Stay home for the day. I can handle the work you have on hand. It’s the same either way.”Tati wanted Isabella to take the day off so Isabella could spend some time with Austin and nurture their relationship.However, Isabella still declined Tati’s kind offer.She said, “Not today. There’s an important meeting today, and I have two important clients to meet. I’m fine, really. Don’t worry. From now on, I won’t touch alcohol.”Given her current status and position, no one would dare to force her to drink during social engagements.Many people also knew that Isabella would not drink outside her home, fearing that she might fall victim to someone’s schemes.However, Isabella would occasionally make an exception. When she was in a good mood, she would have a couple of drinks.Hearing this, Tati stopped t
Austin still smiled gently and said, “It’s all thanks to Ms. Isabella’s guidance.”He felt that he had indeed improved a lot.Grandma May really understood him well. The wife she picked for him could actually help improve his culinary skills.“After eating the sweets, I feel much better.” Tati picked up another piece of pastry and ate it.Austin quietly retreated, not wanting to disturb their conversation and also to avoid overhearing their private matters.“Just ignore him. Are you really going to skip work because of him?”Isabella added calmly to Tati, “If you let him provoke you, he’ll only cling to you even more. If you act like he doesn’t exist and don’t respond no matter what he does, he’ll naturally give up once he sees that you’re completely unresponsive.”Tati said, “I’m afraid that he’ll go and bother Edith and Eleanor if he doesn’t get anywhere with me. They don’t have the same resolve as we do.”She, therefore, decided to bear the brunt of it.“Every time I see hi
Austin replied, “Both Mr. Louis and Mr. Phillip woke up very early, especially Mr. Phillip. He gets up earlier than Mr. Louis every morning. It’s really hard on him, getting up so early in such cold weather.”Sometimes, he himself felt like staying in bed a little longer, reluctant to leave the warm comfort of his blankets.Even after the New Year, Satbury remained quite cold. In contrast, over in Wiltspoon, the temperatures had begun to reach a high of over seventy degrees Fahrenheit in the daytime, with nighttime lows around fifty degrees.The two provinces and cities were simply incomparable. The temperatures in Wiltspoon were just so very comfortable for Satbury locals.Isabella smiled and said, “Phillip is just afraid he’ll get here too late and that you’ll assume he’s not coming over for breakfast, then not prepare any for him. He's such a little foodie.”The house was never short of snacks for the little ones. In fact, any goodies were always reserved for them first.Yet,
Even when she attended banquets, she would show up in formal clothing. Isabella did not remember the last time she wore a dress. Perhaps it was when she was in third grade. In fact, she liked wearing pretty princessy dresses when she was young. Her mother had told her that.As Isabella was the first child and extremely adorable, Delphine had dolled her up like a princess. Her pretty dresses filled the closet. Her parents, aunts, uncles, and relatives would always gift her many beautiful dresses. As she grew up, perhaps when she was in fourth grade, she stopped wearing dresses. Regardless of who gave her new pieces, she would refuse to wear them and give them to her cousins instead. After everyone realized she disliked dresses, they gradually stopped giving her them. Delphine had asked Isabella why she disliked wearing dresses. Isabella reasoned that she could not walk quickly enough while wearing one. She valued speed and efficiency. Delphine said she had alway
While the private chefs Ms. Isabella had hired in the past were respectful, they were leaning toward flattery instead of sincere dedication, like how Austin was toward Ms. Isabella.Dominic was experienced. He could sense that Ms. Isabella treated Austin differently. She was also a special existence to Austin. It was normal for young people to be attracted to each other. Initially, Dominic wanted to advise Austin not to even think about dating Ms. Isabella. However, upon discovering that Austin was a young master of a wealthy family, he decided not to interfere. Dominic was glad that he did nothing.Austin returned to the house. Instead of heading straight to the kitchen, he went upstairs. He stopped outside of Isabella’s room and knocked on the door lightly. No response came from within the room. Perhaps Austin was too soft when he knocked. He knocked on the door again with more force and asked, “Are you up yet, Ms. Isabella? It’s time to have breakfast.”Isabella w