Jasmine sighed and said, “Some parents can be quite baffling. They disapprove of their grateful children but play favorites with other children who can’t care less about them.” Serenity took a moment in silence before saying, “These parents hurt the kids who care while their favorite children hurt them instead. Some siblings never get close and even cut contact after their parents pass away because of the deferential treatment among siblings.”“I’m lucky my family is not like that. My grandparents treat us all equally. There are no favorites or least liked. My uncles are nice too. We get along well with our cousins,” Jasmine said. Serenity did not add to the conversation after that. She wished she had a family like Jasmine’s. She was not on good terms with her cousins. Ring, ring, ring…Jasmine’s phone rang. Thinking it was Josh, Jasmine pulled out her phone and said to her best friend, “He didn’t call me the whole day today. I think he’s starting to get bored of me.” Se
Drake was not going to say more. “Jas, hand the phone to Serenity. I need to talk to her.” Jasmine mumbled, “I’m your sister, and you’re saying something happened at home. You don’t want to tell me, but you plan to tell Serenity? Do you think you can hide it from me, b*stard?” Despite the nagging, Jasmine passed the phone to Serenity and told her best friend, “Drake is keeping me guessing. I don’t know what’s going on, but he wants to speak to you.” Taking the phone with a smile, Serenity asked Drake who was on the other end of the line, “What’s up, Drake? You can talk to me. I promise to keep it a secret. I won’t let your sister know.” Truth be told, Jasmine had stuck her ear against the phone so she could get the message straight from Drake. Her brother piqued her curiosity. Now, Jasmine was dying to find out what was going on at home. All she was told was that it was good, but it was not enough for her to go by. “Serenity, is my sister eavesdropping next to you? Go outsi
“Jasmine’s back.” Someone spotted Jasmine and shouted out loud. The crowd at the gate of the Soxes’ residence gave way by parting into two rows. Jasmine got a good look at the people at the gate. Most of them were the townspeople and nearby tenants. They looked at her, all smiles. With everybody moving out of the way, Jasmine found out what everybody was looking at from the gate. It was a humongous display of flowers. Josh, who had not called or texted her all day, stood next to the flowers with a bouquet of roses in his hands. He was smiling widely at her. Jasmine stopped her bike. “Go on, Jas.” Drake drew close and dragged his sister to walk ahead. Jasmine was pulled to the floral display. Those were roses. Josh used thousands of roses to spell out something. [Marry me, Jasmine!]Josh was proposing. After giving it a lot of thought, Josh decided to go the cheesy way and form words with flowers. It would be beautiful and romantic. He could then propose to Jasmin
Seeing that Jasmine took her time to respond to Josh, Mrs. Lowe said to Mrs. Sox, “Why isn’t Jasmine saying anything? Josh is such a good man. She won’t find another man like him. I wish I could say yes on her behalf.” Shawn uttered, “She shouldn’t answer too quickly. She needs time to consider. It will seem like Jas is too eager if she gives an answer too soon.” Jasmine was happy to give her hand in marriage. No longer playing it coy, she reached out to take the roses from Josh and loudly responded, “Yes, Josh. I’ll marry you.” Josh was overjoyed. He pulled out the engagement ring and took Jasmine’s hand to put the ring on her finger. Jasmine pulled him up. Josh put his arms around her, lowered his gaze to meet hers, and kissed her lips. A thundering applause broke out. Jasmine closed her eyes and indulged in the brief mingle of hot breaths before opening her eyes. She beamed as Josh held her. “When did you start planning this?” she whispered while resting in his arm
“Let’s go inside. You must have dinner with us tonight,” Mr. Sox said to his future son-in-law. For Josh to propose to his daughter before everybody, Mr. Sox was pleased with his future son-in-law. Unlike Mrs. Sox who took to Josh immediately, Mr. Sox needed some warming up. Despite Mr. Sox’s approval of Josh, the man kept a stoic face and remained courteous to Josh. “I will stick around for dinner even if you don’t invite me,” Josh brazenly commented. He said hello to Mrs. Lowe and nodded with a smile at Shawn. “Call your father, Shawn. Tell your dad to join us for dinner here after work.” Mrs. Lowe happily informed her son to call her husband over. Dinner together would be pleasant. She had always hoped her niece would find a rich husband. To make it happen, Mrs. Lowe had been playing the matchmaker. It was a pity her niece was not too keen about it. Jasmine went so far as to lie prostrate on the floor at a banquet to stop her chances of marrying up. Since then, Mrs. Lowe
Josh’s statement made Jasmine blush. The guy just could not wait. “Alright. We’ll have the engagement party, then the visit to city hall, and finally the wedding.” Josh respected Jasmine’s wishes and only wanted the best for her. Doing things in the right order would make the Soxes happy. The engagement party was bound to be a huge event since Josh was a man of position. The attendees were the movers and shakers of Wiltspoon’s higher society.Josh gave a call to his parents and told them that he proposed to Jasmine. Of course, Jasmine said yes. He asked his parents if they were free to come over and discuss the wedding details with his future parents-in-law. Delighted by the news, Mrs. Bucham replied, “I’m busy right now, but nothing comes before my son’s marriage. Alright, I’ll ask your dad and uncle to prepare the gift and head over to your in-laws’.” “Thank you, Mom.” Mrs. Bucham answered with a smile, “Don’t mention it. I’m happy for you. Josh, be nice to Jasmine.
Jasmine said, “You must introduce to me the girl who wins Julian’s heart. I’m curious as to the type of woman who can tame Julian.” Josh drew close to her ear and kissed her cheek before uttering in a raspy voice, “You’re now part of the Bucham family. We will be the first to know when Julian finds a girl.” Jasmine gave him a nudge. “The elders are around.” Yet, he kissed her. Sure, Jasmine was bold. However, she was shy to engage in any sort of intimacy in the presence of elders. “The closer we are, the happier they get.” Jasmine took a quick look at the oldies. They were going back and forth on the date of the engagement party to pay attention to the couple. “Let’s go for a stroll,” Jasmine suggested. Josh was more than happy to oblige. “Mom, Josh and I are going to take a walk.” Jasmine told her mom before dragging Josh out the door. The floral display at the gate shimmered under the night sky. Josh had installed colorful fairy lights along the roses. Once the
Unable to stand the wait, Serenity gave Zachary a call. The phone was ringing, but Zachary did not pick up. “Is he really jealous?” she mumbled to herself as she gave up calling him.She placed her phone on the cash register and sat in silence for a while before taking out her crafting tools. She might as well pick up on crafting since she had nothing to do. Serenity was only getting to it when a bouquet of flowers appeared before her eyes. Lifting her chin, Serenity met a pair of beady eyes. “You… Why didn’t you pick up your phone? You could’ve at least answered your text message.” Dropping the crafting, Serenity took the bouquet and groaned. Zachary looked deeply into her eyes and replied, “I’m here now, so I didn’t take the call. I was busy during the day so I could get off work early today.” Seeing that she had finished a miniature tree, he picked up the copper wire product for a look. “Didn’t you hire people? Don’t tire yourself out. You need to watch your hands
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