In Mrs. Brown’s words, her son would not be hers if she returned to her old home. Her son would be under Jessica’s complete control. Besides, Hank and Jessica had not held their wedding yet. Jessica said only to hold the wedding after their house renovation was done. She would appear more presentable that way. They were living in a rented house. Jessica’s family would not even have a place to stay if they were to have a wedding before that. If Mr. and Mrs. Brown could take care of Sonny, they would not be as bored as they were now and could nurture their relationship with Sonny. After all, Sonny was the Brown family’s only hope of continuing the family line. Jessica was not getting pregnant. They did not even know whether she was fertile or not. Liberty had vegetarian food. She finished her meal in no time. Seeing her former in-laws whispering to each other, she walked over and took the four bags of fruits her sister and brother-in-law brought to the kitchen. A few minutes
After Serenity and Zachary were done eating, he said to his wife, “Seren, bring Sonny and sit over there. I’ll collect the dishes.”Zachary would do chores at home, so Serenity was used to it. Since Zachary told her to bring Sonny to sit on the sofa, she carried Sonny over and sat beside her sister. After she was seated, three people looked at her. Her sister and her sister’s former in-laws were staring at her. Serenity was puzzled. “Liberty, why are you guys looking at me like that? Is there food stuck on my face?”She touched her face, but there was nothing on it. “Serenity, how can you let Mr. York clean up the dishes and do household chores?” Mrs. Brown scolded Serenity. “When a man returns home after working outside for the entire day, you should take care of him properly as his wife. Men will like returning home if you let them feel the warmth of family.”Serenity understood why the three of them stared at her. She said, “My sister took good care of your son in the
Sonny was Mr. and Mrs. Brown’s true grandson. When they returned to their rented house, they saw their son and daughter-in-law watching TV. Their expressions did not look good. “Dad, Mom, didn’t you pick Sonny up?”Hank stood up and turned toward his parents. He asked that question when he did not see his son. Jessica walked over too. She said, “I organized the smaller room and decorated it into a kid’s room. I bought a lot of toys for Sonny too. Why didn’t you pick him up?”Jessica had received a lock of hair and a note from an unknown woman. On it was written that the hair belonged to her mother. It also asked her to carry out the plan as soon as possible and bring Sonny to crowded places like the zoo or a children’s park. If she did not follow that woman’s instructions, the next item sent to her would be two of her mother’s fingers. Jessica was terrified. She counted on her in-laws to bring Sonny back, but they failed. How could she put her plan into action?Mr. and
Jessica pouted and did not say anything else. She turned around, went back to her room, and slammed the door hard. “Darling, darling.”Hank called her twice. Mrs. Brown said to her son, “Leave her alone. She just doesn’t want you going on an outing with Liberty. It’s not like you’re going out with Liberty alone. We’re all coming along, but she still chooses to be jealous.“Did she forget that she snatched you from Liberty?”Mrs. Brown disliked Jessica a lot. She used to think that her son was capable. At this moment, she disdained Jessica for being a homewrecker. The Brown family decided to pick up Sonny and Liberty to go to the zoo tomorrow afternoon. The weather was neither too cold nor hot—just lovely for an outing. On the other hand, Serenity and her husband returned home after lingering in her sister’s house for a while. On the way back, she told Zachary, “In the past, the Brown family said they loved Sonny, but those were just empty words. They never lent a hand. M
“Ask him what he wants.”Did Duncan have nothing better to do than drive a car and block his way in the middle of the night?Jim lowered the window and asked Duncan, who was walking over, “Why are you here, Mr. Lewis?”“Zachary’s in the car, right? Zachary, I want to stay at your place for some time. I’ve already brought my luggage. However, Sam said he could not make the decisions and didn’t let me enter. I had no choice but to wait for you here.”Zachary was speechless. If Duncan were not an old friend, he would have asked the driver to step on the gas and hit the car blocking the way. Serenity was surprised. Seeing her husband’s dark expression, she asked Duncan, “You want to move here, Mr. Lewis? Why?”“That woman keeps staying in my house and refuses to leave. She knows the address of the other houses I own too. She’ll be able to find me no matter where I stay. It’s annoying. I have no choice but to bring my luggage and trouble you two.”The woman Duncan spoke of was Lil
Zachary owned many properties. He and Serenity usually lived in the villa on the hilltop and their house in Brynfield. These two houses were near their workplaces, which made it convenient to commute. Duncan did not want to travel far for work, so he had no choice but to brazenly stay with Zachary for some time. “Zachary, did you plan all these?” Duncan asked his friend, who had a dark expression. “It’s decorated so nicely, like a proposal or a wedding setup. You can have the same design as this when you and Serenity hold your wedding. It’ll surely impress many women.”Zachary snapped, “Who else could it be if not me? You?”“I don’t have such a high EQ to think of these ideas to make women happy.”Zachary glared at him. “Of course you don’t. The only thing you know is to collect money.”Duncan asked, “What money did I collect?”Zachary did not explain further. Duncan was puzzled. Serenity poured a glass of warm water each for the two guys. She was about to go and prepa
Duncan said embarrassedly, “I’m sorry, Zachary.”“Go to a hotel if you’re ashamed.”“I’m not. It’s not my first time having a short stay in your house. Josh and I often stayed over in the past. We would always do so when we drank too much or it was too late.”Zachary was speechless. He pulled his wife to stand up with him and said coldly, “You can stay in the guest room that’s furthest from the master bedroom. Rest early.”After that, he went upstairs with Serenity. Zachary complained when they returned to their room, “When have I become Duncan’s shield? Has my place turned into a shelter for him?”Serenity laughed and said, “Mr. Lewis only came to stay for a few days because he had no other choice. You two have been friends for so many years.”“He didn’t run out of choices. He’s just using me as a shield. He doesn’t have a low EQ because he was aware of Lily’s feelings for him. But he doesn’t have a high EQ either. He bought Sonny a few sets of clothes and collected money fr
Zachary consoled his wife, “Don’t read too much into it. I believe things will only get better for your sister.” After much thought, Serenity uttered, “That’s true. I don’t see sparks going on between my sister and Mr. Lewis. I guess whatever happens, happens. As you said, Mr. Lewis is his own person. He takes control of his own life. I trust he’ll make my sister happy if he sees her that way.” “Yeah, whatever happens, happens. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.” Zachary grabbed her a fresh set of clothes. “Go and take a bath.” Serenity took the clothes and kissed him on the face before going into the bathroom. Half an hour later, the couple lay in bed, chatting about their day. “Honey, when are you coming with me to social events?” Zachary asked. “When do you need a plus-one for social engagements?” Serenity believed the trial runs with her aunt at social parties had built up her confidence. Well, she also had Zachary to thank as he had given her a lot of support
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