“No.”Camryn faintly added. “I’m never included in whatever discussion they have.” She picked up her cane. Her cane had been lying in her mother’s bedroom since the latter kicked it away the other night. The following day, the maid returned the cane to Camryn. Camryn was told that the cane was found in front of her mother’s bedroom door. She assumed that her mother had thrown her cane out. Camryn handed the cane to Callum. Thinking Camryn was going to hit him on the head with the cane, Callum reached out to grab the cane. However, Camryn loosened her grip. It then hit Callum. She was trying to pass the cane to him. “The inside of my cane is hollow. A voice recorder is hidden inside,” said Camryn in an unfluctuating tone. Callum’s dark eyes sparkled as his opinion of her began to change. He stopped the teasing. He held the cane high for a look and flicked on the wood. He managed to pry open a hollow spot and shake it to deliver a voice recorder from inside. “The v
Mr. and Mrs. Newman wanted to wipe Camryn off the face of the earth because she was suspicious about her father’s death. Camryn was a nobody in the Newmans’ residence anyway. No one would bother investigating her cause of death even if Camryn had a terminal illness. Camryn would have died in her mother’s hands ten years ago if her aunt did not drop in for a visit and taken Camryn to the hospital. Of course, Callum and Camryn heard about Mr. and Mrs. Newman’s talks about getting Callum to marry Camryn. Callum watched as Camryn sat in silence. Camryn clasped her hands together without a word for a long time. Although she had suspected her father’s death had to do with Mr. and Mrs. Newman, it was all speculation she made in her head as there was no proof. Now that she got it from the horses’ mouths, her mind was blank, and her limbs felt cold. Camryn could not wrap her head around why her father’s wife and brother would want him dead. Had the affair between Mr. and Mrs. Newm
Callum looked into Camryn’s eyes for a while before uttering, “Serenity is right. You should get your eyes fixed first if you want to collect evidence. I’ll keep the voice recorder safe for you here so it doesn’t fall into their hands. It’ll only put you in danger.” “Thank you, Mr. Callum.” Camryn never thought about asking for the voice recorder back. As Callum put it, Camryn might lose her life over the voice recorder. “I’m going to play along if they plan on using me to save that sister of yours. Do you have a problem with that?” Camryn looked confused. “What do you mean by ‘play along’?” “Your stepfather wants me to marry you. They must think I’m not for it and will use it as leverage to get your sister out of jail. Well, they have another thing coming.” Callum was a proud member of the York family. He was not one to be messed with. Mr. and Mrs. Newman must be desperate to try anything. They adored Carrie so much. “What do you think about me marrying you?” “
Hank’s mental state was heading in an unhealthy direction as things got better for Liberty in life. He could not help but make Liberty jump through hoops. For example, Hank could buy a mini suit for their son, but with Jessica egging him on, Hank believed Liberty was deliberately driving a wedge between him and his son. Liberty refused to let him see his son. Hence, Hank insisted on taking Sonny to try out clothes. He made a huge fuss the moment Liberty disagreed with him. “Where’s Sonny? Where did you hide him?” Hank looked around the breakfast diner, but his son was nowhere to be found. “Did you hide Sonny at Serenity’s place?” That was not right. Serenity’s bookshop was closed for two days. He had been to the bookshop. “Sonny is in a class. He’ll be back soon.”Liberty faintly added, “I’m not stopping you from meeting with Sonny, Hank. If you really want to take Sonny along, then fine. I’m almost done anyway. I’ll go with you when Sonny is finished with his clas
“Mom.”Sonny came running in his gym uniform. “Sonny, you’re back.” With a smile, Liberty went up and picked her son up. “How was it? Do you feel tired? Did you cry?” Sonny shook his head. “I didn’t cry, but I do feel tired.” “Oh, you’re tired. Let me kiss your tiredness away. You must stick to the classes.” Liberty was concerned that her son could not keep up with the workout. She gave her son a kiss and reminded him to hang on so as not to disappoint Zachary after all he did for Sonny. Sonny was exhausted and tempted to quit, but his uncle’s words were imprinted in his mind. By taking up the art of self-defense, he no longer had to be afraid of bad guys. He could also protect his mother. He wanted to be the manly man and shield his mom from all harm. Sonny gave a firm nod. “I will stick to the class, Mom.” Jim entered the diner too. “Ms. Hunt.” He said hello to Liberty. “Thank you, Jim.” Jim smiled. “Don’t mention it, Ms. Hunt.” It was his duty to drop of
“It’s up to you whether you want to do it. Don’t be scared to speak your mind if you don’t want to.” Liberty did not want to force her son. She respected his choices. Tilting his head, Sonny looked at his dad and contemplated for a while before asking, “Is my mom going?” “Yes. Didn’t I give your mom an invitation the last time?” “Oh.” Sonny bobbed his head. “Okay, Dad. I’ll do it.” Hank smiled. He knew his son was close to him and would be happy to be his flower boy. “Should we go pick an outfit then?” Sonny turned to his mother once more. Hank had to tell Liberty, “We should hurry if you want to come along.” Paying Hank no mind, Liberty turned off the electricity and checked if the stove was off. With all that confirmed, she let the two workers knock off and said to Jim, “Jim, you can return. I’m going with Sonny to pick out a suit for him.” Sonny had his lesson in the morning. The class in the afternoon was not necessary. He was young, so William did not want t
Hank regretted it. In fact, the regret sank in a long time ago. He realized life was not as good as he thought since he went public about his relationship with Jessica. He was disappointed with his decision. This was especially when his family nitpicked and fought with Jessica endlessly. It was annoying. He was having more than second thoughts. It was all the same, going from a lover to a wife. Had he been nice to Liberty, gotten her on a weight loss program, and given her time to dress up, his wife would not have lost to his lover… “Why are you staring into blank space, babe?” With Hank’s eyes on Liberty, Jessica nudged him and brought him back to earth. “I’m fine.” Hank had no guts to admit he was dwelling in the past and regretted his choices as Jessica would jump down his throat. He had his pride. He did not want a public fallout. It would only let Liberty see him as a complete joke. Hank drew close and carried his son out of the car. Once Liberty got out, h
Sonny cried as he put up a fight to break free from the man’s locked arms. The boy even kicked the man. It was a shame Sonny’s limited strength was merely a scratch to the big man. It was useless. Seeing that his kicking did not work, Sonny suddenly slapped the man’s eyes. Now, he got a reaction. The man in black could not see as Sonny smacked and slapped his eyes. The man staggered in his footsteps and could not keep up the speed. Liberty gave everything she got to pick up her pace. Ten meters, five meters, one meter… Frustrated, the man in black was about to knock Sonny unconscious when Liberty charged up and pounced on him. She got Sonny back, but she tumbled onto the ground. Despite falling down, she kept her son tightly wrapped in her embrace. Sonny remained on top of his mother during the fall. The only thing a mother could think of was protecting her child in a moment of danger. Not wanting his effort to go in vain, the man in black came to snatch Sonny when Libe
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