“Carrie Newman!”Camryn, who was manning the store inside, heard the argument at the entrance and slowly walked out with her white cane.Serenity looked at her and saw that she was the same as that night. She wore large black sunglasses so that her eyes were hidden, and her stunning face was still as expressionless as that night.“What are you screaming at?”Camryn was totally familiar with her own territory. When she heard the sound of two people quarreling, she determined their positions and walked up to Serenity, asking warmly, “Are you Mrs. York?”“What Mrs. York? That’s just a hillbilly. Don’t bother flattering her, mole rat. Just you wait. A country bumpkin like her will be chased out of the York family soon. I don’t believe that Mr. York actually likes a country bumpkin like her.Carrie hated it when others called Serenity Mrs. York. She did not dare go after Zachary because of his cold nature, but she was ambitious and wanted to marry into the York family too.There were
While Carrie was young and insolent, it was not like she did not know better. Her mind flew back to her plan being foiled by Serenity at the Dowlings’ party. She was manhandled by Serenity and forced to drink the drugged alcohol by Elisa. The drug overtook her sanity and drove her to take her clothes off at the Dowlings’ residence. Carrie’s mother jumped into action and brought her home in haste. Carried had to bathe in ice-cold water to regain her consciousness. However, the same cold bath spiked her fever. Her parents were heartbroken for her. Nevertheless, they did nothing to demand justice for her. This was because the country bumpkin had Mr. York by her side. Her father explained to Carrie that although the Newmans did not operate their business in Wiltspoon, they were not to cross Mr. York. York Corporation had business dealings across major cities, and the bad blood may provoke York Corporation to steal the Newmans’ business. Newman Enterprise would suffer as a conse
Camryn uttered with a smile, “I’ll arrange something for you since you trust me.” Putting her cane aside, Camryn began to design a floral bouquet for Serenity. Serenity watched Carmyn handle the task with ease and asked, “Ms. Newman, do you memorize the placing of each type of flower here?” While pairing flowers together, Camryn replied, “I have to since I can’t see. I hired some employees to separate the flowers every time the stock comes in. They’ll tell me where each type of flower is placed. “My flower shop has been around for a few years now, so I had a lot of time to memorize everything. I think I’m on top of it.” Looking into Camryn’s eyes, Serenity probed, “Is there any way you can see again, Ms. Newman?” With her smile fading, Camryn answered, “I lost my sight from an illness. I was lucky to even survive. I’m fine without my sight. I’m just grateful to be alive.” Due to the sudden blindness, she nearly lost her life to depression and insanity. Nevertheless, she
Serenity would not take no for an answer as she put the two hundred bucks in Camryn’s palm. Camryn felt the money with her fingers before pulling one bill and giving it back to Serenity. She said, “If you insist, I’ll take half the money.” Since the girls were not close yet, Serenity relented and took back a hundred-dollar bill from Camryn before replying with a grin, “Thank you, Ms. Newman. Your flowers here are beautiful. I’ll be sure to come back for more.” Camryn beamed. “You’re always welcome. You can call me in advance if you need anything. Just let me know who it is for, and I’ll have the flowers picked out and wrapped up. You can come and collect without waiting.” Turning on her heel, she went to the cash register. Camryn held onto the table as she got behind the cash register and pulled the drawer to get a box of business cards. She retrieved a business card before making her way back to Serenity. “This is my business card, Mrs. York.” Serenity drew close and took th
Callum responded, “I only ran into Serenity on my way out after a discussion with Zachary. She’s my cousin-in-law. I mean, I should at least get to sample when family comes over with food.” Mr. Chaplin laughed in delight. “That was why Mr. Zachary pushed you out of there.” Only Callum would be so bold to pull such a move. Well, he was family with Zachary and Serenity after all, and family would not have a falling out over a tiny matter. Callum pursed her lips. “What’s the big deal? So he has a wife. He acts like none of us can get a wife.” “You can get yourself a wife who delivers food to you every day too. All the other single men like me will be jealous of you.” Callum choked. His nana’s chosen wife for him was someone blind. There was no way she could cook for him. It was more like the other way round. “Mr. Bucham has a glow to him lately with a spring in his step. Love must be beautiful, I guess.” Callum drew close to Mr. Chaplin and tugged on his tie. “Tell me tha
Serenity took the fancy-looking bags from Zachary and asked in glee, “What are these?” Taking his seat on the sofa, Zachary replied with a smile, “Well, why don’t you take a look inside?” He removed the lid of the food container and dug into his wife’s specially-made dinner. Serenity took a look and responded with a grin, “Skincare products. You’re giving me a lot more than Elisa has bought me.” The guy had been jealous. He did not like her using the skincare products given by Elisa and insisted that she should only use the ones he would give her. However, Zachary had not given her any. Taking it as a passing remark, Serenity continued using Elisa’s skincare products. They worked well for her skin and were better than the products she used before anyway. Serenity must admit that women should not skimp in terms of skincare. “I’ll buy all the skincare products for you.” Zachary had no idea about the brands used by women as skincare products were not something he had ever bo
“They are bound to come and beg us for help,” Zachary predicted. Serenity chuckled sarcastically. Zachary was like a brick wall. What could he do if his cousins came to him for help? Zachary was probably only good for taunts and horrible ideas. “You don’t believe me, babe.” “Not at all.” Zachary stared into her eyes and said, “We’ll just have to wait and see. They’ll come to me as the senior male figure in the family when they’re in trouble. Even if I can’t do anything to help, I can lend an ear.” Since Zachary’s cousins had the utmost respect and trust in Zachary, Serenity had confidence in Zachary’s prediction. “Did Ms. Carrie get into a disagreement with you?” Serenity mentioned running into Carrie and the feud between the sisters, but there was nothing further about what happened between Serenity and Carrie. Sure, Carrie was cocky, but Serenity would always put Carrie in her place. Since he asked, Serenity came clean to Zachary about Carrie’s arrogant behavior.
Despite Zachary’s yearning for Serenity to stay, Serenity still left the office in the end and went back to watch her shop. By the time of her return, the shop was still bustling with students. Since Josh had not arrived, Serenity and Jasmine dove right into work. The crowd of students was slowly dispersing when Josh made it to the shop. By then, Serenity could handle the work all on her own. Josh would always drop in with flowers for Jasmine. Jasmine would also prepare little gifts for him. The couple looked out for one another and always had each other’s best interests at heart. They were a pair made in heaven. “Seren, we’re leaving for our date now.” Jasmine held her purse and bouquet given by Josh before announcing her leave to Serenity with a smile. Once Serenity acknowledged her, Jasmine took off with Josh. Serenity was kept occupied for a while until the last swarm of students left. She then went into the kitchen to heat her food up and enjoyed her dinner behind
Lilian often messed with the medicinal herbs her master cultivated, which led to her being chased and scolded by him.It seemed her son had inherited her restless nature.“How’s Sonny been lately?”Liberty had been on edge these past few days because Caroline had been preparing to lure her three brothers into a trap and had not had time to call her son.“Same as usual, but it seems like things have soured again with the Browns.”Serenity added, “Sonny still answers when Hank calls him, but he doesn’t seem happy when his grandparents visit. He doesn’t like going to the Browns’ place, and he doesn’t want to take their calls either.“Hank’s mother and sister are truly incorrigible. They must have been badmouthing you and Duncan in front of Sonny again, which is why he’s upset with them.”During the holidays, Sonny had stayed with the Browns for a few days and started to warm up to them.However, who would have thought that the mother and daughter would start spouting nonsense in f
Once the baby was born, he would apply the knowledge he had learned over the past few months to care for the baby. He was determined to be a competent and responsible father.Serenity released her arms from around him and shifted to her side.Zachary let go, too, allowing her to turn.Then, she planted countless gentle kisses on his face.“Babe, with you here, the baby and I will be just fine. Don’t worry too much,” Serenity comforted softly after kissing him.“You are my rock. If even you are nervous, I’ll start feeling anxious too, and that won’t be good.”Hearing this, Zachary immediately said, “Seren, don’t worry. I’ll protect both of you. Alright, I won’t be so nervous anymore.”He gently touched her rounded belly again. “Lil’ Bun should be a calm kid. He’s not that mischievous.”He felt that the baby’s movements were not too intense.Serenity wanted to tell him that there were times when the baby kicked more vigorously, but she decided against it, knowing it would only m
“Just hit the gym a few more times. Lately, you’ve been spending less time there.”Every day after work, he would come home and orbit around her. As a result, he had less time to work out.It was normal to gain a few pounds eating well and exercising less. Did he really think he could eat anything without gaining weight?The reason he could maintain a model-like physique before was that he exercised daily.“Ow.” Serenity suddenly cried out in pain.This startled Zachary so much that he nearly jumped up, asking anxiously, “Is it stomach pain? Are you going into labor? Let’s go to the hospital right away.”He was about to pick her up, but Serenity stopped him by pressing his hand.“Don’t be so nervous, Zachary. It's not time yet. It’s not happening so soon. It’s just the baby kicking again. His kicks are getting stronger.”As she entered the later stages of pregnancy, the little one inside her was growing stronger. Sometimes, a couple of kicks from the baby could actually hurt.
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