Now that Serenity and Liberty were capable enough to come back to reclaim their parents’ property, Mrs. Deli fully supported them. “Yeah, it was you who said that they don’t need you to support you while you’re alive or handle your funerals when you pass. You didn’t raise them in the first place, so how could you be so shameless as to ask them for money? Your sons and grandsons benefitted so much. Why don’t you ask them for money instead?“Your whole family made a fortune from taking advantage of their misfortune, yet you’re bullying the orphaned girls. Your family has gone too far, so you should be struck by lightning instead. You’re old now. How many more years can you live? You’re not even afraid of going to the depths of hell after death, never to be reborn.” Even though the people in town opined that married daughters should not return home to fight for their family property, they felt that Old Mrs. Hunt and her people were too much. They could not help but intervene. “They
Mrs. Stone continued, “I came here today not to quarrel with you. I’m just here to accompany my nieces, and I also want to see the place my sister used to live. By the way, there’ll be less trouble if you move out voluntarily. If you don’t, we’ll sue you for the forced occupation of someone’s property. “We’ll get the house back even if we have to go to court. When the time comes, we’ll let the court rule how the property is going to be split! Don’t you dream about occupying what belongs to my nieces. Similarly, they won’t take what doesn’t belong to them.” The people from the Hunts’ hometown exchanged looks. It turned out that Lisa’s sister had found Serenity and Liberty. The Hunts knew that Mrs. Stone was Serenity’s aunt, but of course, they would not spread this news in town. For the Hunts, it was bad for them that Lisa’s sister recognized Serenity and her sister. Was John not a senior executive of a subsidiary of Stone Group? It was said that John had lost his job because
It was last year. Old Mrs. Hunt’s little grandson brought a group of people to stop Serenity’s car because she refused to pay for the medical bill. They wanted to teach her a lesson but ended up being badly beaten by her. The little grandson was even sent to the police station to be detained for fifteen days. On the other hand, nothing happened to Serenity. It was Serenity who had beaten them up. However, the people at the police station said that it was justifiable self-defense. Old Mrs. Hunt was heartbroken when she learned that her little grandson was beaten up by Serenity and detained. She hated Serenity terribly. “Mom, let’s wait for Dad to come back.” “Grandmom, stay calm, stay calm.” The others also persuaded Old Mrs. Hunt. They were unreasonable, to begin with. Old Mrs. Hunt was rude and unreasonable, but it was useless against Mr. Zachary, Mrs. Stone, and the rest who had power and status. Mrs. Stone had said that she would go to court for this. Perhaps
Old Mrs. Hunt saw that her daughters-in-law and grandchildren were inviting Serenity to their houses. Plus, she had been making a scene for so long, but instead of gaining anything, she became a joke to the people in her hometown. She decided to ease her expression and said, “Liberty, Serenity, your aunt is right. At the end of the day, we’re a family. If anything, let’s sit down and talk. “I don’t want to argue with you anymore. We’ll wait for your granddad and the others to come back so they can talk to you. No matter what, this house is mine.” Serenity sneered, “I don’t want to argue or fight with you as well, Grandmom. Let’s meet in court.” Going to court was to determine their shares of the inheritance. In Audrey’s words, this house was a joint property of her parents after their marriage—half belonged to her mother while the other half to her father. This house covered an area of 1,100 square feet. Half of it belonged to their mother whereas the other half belonged to t
“We won’t be able to win the lawsuit?” Old Mrs. Hunt continued, “This house was built by your Uncle Scott, and I’m his mother, but I still can’t inherit it?” “You can, but you can’t inherit it completely. Just like what I just told you, you can only inherit a quarter of Uncle Scott’s share. It’s the same for Granddad.” Noah was only patiently explaining everything to his grandmom because he was afraid she would clash with Serenity again. “I don’t care. In any case, your granddad and I live in this house. It belongs to us, and we can give it to whomever we want. Am I going to be arrested if we lose the lawsuit?” Noah scared his grandmom, “If the law is enforced, you and Granddad will be evicted from the house. If you cause trouble, you’ll be arrested and given free meals like how I was detained last time. Grandmom, it’s scary to be detained. It’s better not to break the law.” He was traumatized after being detained for fifteen days. He did not have the guts to do anything ha
Thinking about the past, it was hard for not only Serenity and her sister, but also Mrs. Stone and Elisa. Mrs. Stones’ eyes had long been teary. Perhaps everything could have changed if she had found her sister earlier. Even if she could not change her sister’s death, she could at least protect her two nieces. Her nieces would not have to suffer from the heartlessness of their relatives after the sudden loss of their parents. They would not have to experience the fickleness and darkness of human nature. “Seren.” Zachary felt sorry for Serenity and embraced her. “It’s all in the past, it’s all in the past.” He had experienced and gone through the trending topic on Twitter last year together with Serenity. Serenity posted her sister’s diary on Twitter to refute what the Hunts claimed, and then the public opinion was reversed. Zachary read his sister-in-law’s diary, but he only dared read it once and not a second time. Reading it once was enough to make him feel incredibly
Serenity’s second aunt asked Old Mrs. Hunt, “Is the land use permit with you? You should’ve gone to transfer the house to your names back then.” If the house was under the elders’ names, even if it was built by Scott and Lisa, it could be said to be a display of filial respect for the elders. That way, Serenity and her sister would not be able to get the house back. Old Mrs. Hunt said, “Back then, your dad and I couldn’t find their household registration permit and land use permit. We didn’t know these as well, so we thought it wouldn’t matter if we don’t have the permits. We’re living in the house, so who would dare evict us? “Those two girls must’ve taken away the household registration permit and land use permit.” “Grandmom, Serenity is out again.” Noah saw Zachary coming out with Serenity. His scalp could not help but tighten. He was afraid of his cousin. “Noah, come here,” Serenity called out. ‘She’s calling for me?’ Noah was startled for a while before he ran
Liberty felt that her sister’s suggestion was not bad, and she replied, “Alright, we’ll do as you say.”Zachary looked at the time and said gently, “Liberty, Seren, once we reach town, let’s go eat first. We adults won’t be hungry, but Sonny is still a kid—he won’t be able to hold out and will probably get hungry soon.”Serenity looked at the time. Without realizing it, it was already almost noon.She said in agreement, “Then let’s go eat first. I haven’t eaten my hometown’s specialty for a long time now too.”“When we get back, we’ll go ahead and immediately prepare to file a lawsuit,” Serenity said, directed at Liberty.Liberty did not have anything to add.Considering Liberty’s shop was about to open for its first day of business soon and she would be very busy, Serenity said thoughtfully, “Liberty, I’ll handle this. Your shop will have its grand opening the day after tomorrow and you’ll definitely be swarmed. I work with Jasmine, so Jasmine can watch the shop while I go handl
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
Austin was extremely patient with the boys. Although they occasionally caused trouble, most of them were minor issues. They would never do something they were not allowed to do.After breakfast, Austin brought them their bags. With a boy in each hand, he left the house. It was to prevent the boys from saying he was playing favorites. Dominic was used to that scene. Initially, Austin was simply Ms. Isabella’s private chef. However, he gradually took on more responsibilities.He would take the two young masters to school. If he had time in the evening, he would also fetch them from school. Austin also made sure Louis and Phillip did their homework, supervised their hobby classes, and played with them. Sometimes, he would even teach them martial arts and train with them. Dominic felt Austin was an all-rounder. It seemed like there was nothing Austin could not do. No wonder Ms. Isabella thought highly of Austin. However, Austin was a young master of a wealthy family. He w
Louis and Phillip were downstairs having the breakfast Austin had prepared for them. The food was different every morning, and everything was delicious.Having gotten used to Austin’s cooking, Louis and Phillip could no longer stand the food provided in the school. They thought the food there was terrible. Louis was enrolled in an elementary school not far from home. As he was a first grader, he did not need to stay in the dormitories and could have his lunch and dinner at home. Phillip, who was a year younger than him, was still in preschool. He would have breakfast and dinner at home. Actually, the preschool did provide breakfast, but Phillip refused to eat in school and insisted on having breakfast at home. In order to eat the breakfast Austin made, he would get up early in the morning without the adults waking him. After putting on his clothes and washing up, he would head to Louis’s place with his bag. “Austin.”Louis suddenly asked, “Did my sister come back last n
Isabella had always thought Tati was teasing her. Therefore, she did not take her words seriously. She thought it was completely normal for Austin to treat her well as she was his boss. From Austin’s perspective, she was his source of income. Now that Isabella pondered about it deeper, she realized perhaps Austin did come to Satbury for her. It was not just to be her chef. He always said Grandma May only gave the York lads a year to pursue their fiancées. However, Austin had never left since he started working for Isabella. Even if he did, it was to accompany her on business trips. He was busy feeding and taking care of her every day and had never gone to pursue his so-called fiancée. He did not even try to gather information on her. Was he not anxious?A year would go by pretty quickly. Although it felt like it had not been long since Austin started working for Isabella, three months had passed. Time really flew. Three months had gone by in the blink of an eye. Neve