Zachary could not pull a longer face. “Don’t you wish to have grandchildren too?” Tania said, “Yes, we do, but we never want to rush Serenity, so don’t put the blame on us. We never pressure Serenity to give us a grandchild.” “Seren puts the burden on herself.” Zachary knew Serenity was feeling it when she talked about getting a physical.He believed Serenity was stressed from trying to get pregnant. “You should be telling Seren that the child will come when the time comes if she’s feeling the pressure. It’ll be harder for her to get pregnant while sitting under a lot of pressure. Tell her not to think too much about it. You have not been together for long. I think the medical examination is necessary after two to three years of trying without hearing any good news.” “That’s what I’m saying. I don’t think we need a check-up since we’re both fine and healthy. She’s just under a lot of stress. I told her that I’ll take her on a trip after Josh and Jasmine’s engagement party.”
The Soxes had just had their dinner. Since Serenity was not in the best of moods, Jasmine had a walk with her nearby after dinner. “Seren, I remember you saying that your in-laws didn’t pressure you to have children. Why are you taking in all the stress?” The pair were best friends who could pass as sisters. Jasmine had been there throughout Serenity and Zachary’s journey together. She had never heard about the York family rushing Serenity to have a baby. “They did not pressure me, but I’m worried I might be the problem that I’m not expecting yet.” Serenity sighed and added, “No one is giving me pressure, but I can’t help putting the strain on myself. Even if my in-laws are from an ordinary family, I would be worried about not getting pregnant despite being married for a while. I won’t feel much of it if we have been using protection.” Jasmine’s mind flew to the families she knew. The women usually got pregnant soon after the wedding, but most of them had a shotgun wedding no
Ring, ring, ring…Jasmine’s phone rang. She looked at the caller on the display screen before telling her best friend, “It’s Josh. I think your man might have sought help from Josh. Josh must be calling to ask where you are.” Serenity faintly uttered, “Just ignore him. Does he think he’s the only one with a temper? I have a temper too.” Always having Serenity’s back, Jasmine believed her best friend was not in the wrong. Serenity was a confident and cheerful person, but for her to be worried about not being pregnant, the pressure had to somehow come from her man, Zachary. Jasmine felt sorry for her best friend. She wanted to help her best friend give Zachary a taste of his own medicine. Ring, ring, ring…With the phone ringing endlessly, Jasmine had to pick up the call. “What are you busy with, Jasmine? Don’t you miss me? It took you a long time to pick up. I miss you so much. I thought about driving to your place to check on you if you take any longer to take my call
“Oh, you didn’t dig into it?” Josh immediately said, “I didn’t because you didn’t like that everything was in my control while you know nothing. I won’t use my connections to investigate if it has anything to do with you. I’m just guessing that Serenity is with you. You guys are bosom buddies. She tells you anything that’s going on in her life.” “Seren is with me. Tell Mr. York that Seren is staying with me for the night. She’s not going home for the time being.” Josh answered, “Okay, I’ll let him know later. Is there anything you want to say to me, my dearest wife?” “Your boss should serve as a cautionary tale. Don’t learn from him.” Josh uttered with a smile, “Don’t worry. I do the opposite of what he does. I won’t copy the things that he angered his wife with.” “You gave me no reason to worry. I love you, Josh. I love you to death!” “Me too.” Jasmine said, “You better reply to Mr. York before he freaks out. He loves Seren so much, but the little things he does… I’m g
Serenity turned over and gave Jasmine a light pinch. “Alright, I’ll sleep. I’m not flipping pancakes.” Jasmine hugged her and offered comforting words. “You’re basically an elderly couple now. Mr. York loves you a lot. It’s just a miscommunication. It’ll be over before you know it. Relax and go to bed. You’re able to face another day once you get a good night’s sleep.” “I’m so lucky to have you, Jasmine. At least I have someone to talk to when I don’t feel good.” “Duh, we go way back. I come to you when I’m feeling down too. Come on. Let’s sleep. Don’t torture yourself with all those thoughts.” “Okay,” Serenity answered. Her best friend’s assurance soothed Serenity to dreamland. It was dark and quiet all around by the time Zachary arrived at the Soxes’ residence. Everybody was deep in slumberland. He pulled up at the gate of Jasmine’s family home. Zachary parked the car and gave Serenity another call. Since Serenity was asleep, and her phone was on silent mode, she di
Zachary believed that Serenity would go home with him so long as he made it inside without bothering the Soxes from their rest. With that in mind, a certain somebody got into action. He had no idea that the Soxes’ hounds were spying on him in a corner. Zachary climbed up the gate, ready to jump off when he turned and saw two wolfhounds fixating on him. Zachary nearly lost his wits. He knew that the nearby neighbors had dogs. These dogs were barking as he drove past their houses to get to the Soxes’ residence. However, he had no clue that the Soxes kept dogs. The dogs belonging to the neighbors stopped barking when he pulled up in front of the Soxes’ residence and the Soxes’ dogs did not make a sound either. It never occurred to him that these hounds were not barkers. The saying was all bark and no bite, but if it were the other way round… These dogs would have ripped him apart if he jumped without turning over to look. Woof! Woof—Seeing that Zachary had no int
Zachary watched as Mrs. Sox returned to the house and closed the door behind her. He stood in front of the gate for a while before waltzing back to his car. He sat in silence for a few minutes before starting the engine and driving off. Zachary arrived at the Soxes’ residence first thing in the morning. The gate to the Sox family’s home was wide open, and the two hounds were tied to a leash. Zachary had a bad feeling that he arrived too late. He pulled up and before he could even get out of the car, Mrs. Sox, who was sweeping the yard, approached him with a broom. “Mr. York, Jasmine and Serenity are out. They went to Liberty’s diner.” Zachary asked, “How long have they been gone?” “Around twenty minutes. Serenity woke up and said she needed to pick Sonny up from her sister’s, so they left early.” Zachary thanked Mrs. Sox and uttered, “I’ll head to my sister-in-law’s breakfast place then.” “Okay,” Mrs. Sox answered. Zachary quickly drove away from the Soxes’ reside
Facing Zachary, Camryn probingly said hello, “Is that Mr. York?” There was a glimmer in Zachary’s dark eyes. The girl could determine the person by their footsteps. “Ms. Camryn.” Zachary greeted back in a low voice, “Are you here to deliver flowers to Callum, Ms. Camryn?” Camryn nodded with a smile. “Mr. Callum ordered a bouquet from my shop. He asked me to make the delivery right now.” Zachary asked, “Did you come here on your own?” “Yes.” Zachary believed Callum was on his way to his own undoing. He knew Camryn could not see, and yet he expected Camryn to deliver the flowers all by herself. Nevertheless, Zachary said nothing. This was Callum’s business. Zachary could stay out of it and observe from the sidelines. “Do you need help to get upstairs?” “Thank you, Mr. Zachary. That won’t be necessary.” She remembered the route as she had been here twice. Camryn could get to Callum’s office without guidance. Without another word, Zachary went ahead into the offic
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