After a moment of silence, Camryn said, “It’ll trouble Mr. Callum.”“You don’t have to call him Mr. Callum. That sounds so distant. Just call him Callum. We’re friends, and he’s my brother-in-law. You two have known each other for a while now, so you’re considered friends too.”Callum cast a grateful look at his sister-in-law.Camryn just smiled and did not answer.Liberty still needed to rest, so Camryn could not stay too long.After Audrey and Elisa arrived, Camryn and Callum left together.“Seren, you take Sonny and Zachary back for lunch and rest at home in the afternoon. Elisa and I will stay here to watch over your sister, then you two can come back at night to take over.”Audrey wanted to watch over Liberty at night too, but she could not win against Serenity.She understood where Serenity was coming from.Her children were also worried that she could not hold on in her old age.Serenity looked at her sister.“Listen to Aunt Audrey, Seren.”Liberty said gently, “My h
Serenity felt that it was her fault for not being by her sister’s side because of the argument she had with him. How would she feel if she found out that her fertility was being talked about online too?“Okay, let’s go back to the manor. Nana said that Sonny was frightened too badly and should be looked at by a psychic. My mom said I was often looked at by psychics when I was a kid too.”After getting in the car, Zachary said, “I don’t know when Nana started being so superstitious. That psychic also looked into our fate and said that we were destined to be husband and wife. That’s why Nana tried her best to get us together.”Serenity was speechless. “That was the reason? I thought it was because Nana liked my character, but it turns out I was wrong—it was a psychic who brought us together.”Zachary held Sonny’s hand in one hand and grabbed hers with the other. “This psychic is pretty good.”He was right to say that Zachary and Serenity were destined to be husband and wife.They w
In the meantime, after leaving the hospital, Callum did not send Camryn back to Spring Blossoms but went to Wiltspoon Hotel instead. He said, “I accompanied you to the hospital, so lunch is your treat.”Camryn, who was thinking about something else, was instantly speechless.He always made her buy him meals!She looked at Callum and asked calmly, “Where do you want to eat?”“I think...”His cell phone rang before he could finish, interrupting what he was about to say.There was no caller ID saved to the number, but he recognized it. It was from Mr. Newman.“Your uncle is calling,” Callum said to Camryn.Camryn frowned and then said calmly, “I think he’s anxious and wants you to help.”Mr. Newman was indeed feeling uneasy. He was also fearful.His wife and he were tied to the same boat. Although most of it was obviously his wife’s doing, he could not escape being scrutinized and investigated. He would not be able to get away if the police investigated deeper.His wife and he
Callum spoke to Camryn. He swiped the answer icon before Camryn could respond and shoved the phone to her.“Hurry up and take the phone unless you want us to die together in an accident.”Camryn had no choice but to take the phone from him.Mr. Newman called out pleasingly from the phone, “Mr. Callum, are you free? I’d like to treat you to lunch.”Camryn brought the phone to her ear. When she heard her stepfather’s question, she said softly, “Mr. Callum is driving now, Uncle. He can’t answer the phone.”“Camryn? You’re with Mr. Callum? Okay, tell him that I’d like to invite him to lunch and ask if he’s available. You can come with him too.” Mr. Newman’s tone was gentle when he heard his niece’s voice and realized that she was with Callum.“Mr. Callum, my uncle said he wants to invite you to lunch. He asked if you’re available.”“Sure, I am. We’re going to lunch right now, aren’t we? Tell Mr. Newman that we’ll wait for him at Wiltspoon Hotel. Tell him to come quickly.”He could
Camryn held back her anger and said, “I don’t know what you look like, Mr. Callum. How could I dislike you for being ugly?“Marriage is an important event, Mr. Callum. We’re not playing house. We’re just friends at best and not even a couple. How can you talk about marriage?”Callum did not answer immediately. Just when Camryn thought that she persuaded him, he said gently, “You don’t have to be a couple to get married. Zachary saw Serenity for the first time when they got their marriage license, and they’re doing great now. They’re so sweet to each other that I’m envious.”Camryn was speechless.Zachary got married to Serenity all of a sudden, but were all the men of the York family going to follow in his footsteps?Or did they want to learn from Zachary because they were too busy and could not be bothered to date?Callum said, “If you want to be a couple first, that’s easy. I’ll be your boyfriend. We’re a couple now.”Camryn was speechless. “Don’t you have to ask for my permis
When they arrived at Wiltspoon Hotel, Callum parked the car, got out, and quickly went around to reach the passenger seat. He waited for Camryn to get out of the car before standing in front of her.“Mr. Callum?”Camryn raised her head to face him.He was close enough that she could easily smell the familiar scent of his body.Callum suddenly took her hand.Then, he raised it high and pressed her hand against his face.“Touch my face, Camryn. Although you can’t see what I look like now, you can feel it with your hands. I know you can imagine what I look like. You’re a very smart girl.”Camryn quietly faced him.After a long time, her hand moved.Callum let go of her hand.He let her hands roam his face gently with a hint of tenderness.Her long and soft fingers felt rough as they brushed all over his features.That was because her palms were full of thick calluses.Her hands were actually very soft and beautiful.Camryn imagined Callum’s appearance in her mind by feeling
“Camryn, why were you with Mr. Callum?” Mr. Newman asked.Camryn said faintly, “I went to the hospital to visit Liberty and bumped into Mr. Callum, who was kind enough to send me home. He received your call while we were on the way.”Mr. Newman was silent before asking with concern, “How is Ms. Hunt?”“Her life is no longer in danger.”Camryn said, “I went to apologize to her on Mom’s behalf.”“Camryn, it might not be your mother who was behind it. Don’t say that your mother did it until she’s convicted,” Mr. Newman said crossly.“The police wouldn’t take Mom away unless they had evidence. No one involved that day managed to run away. Even if you just came back, you should have heard about it too. I believe the police wouldn’t falsely accuse Mom.”In fact, Camryn did not know why the police arrested her mother.They took her away swiftly.Well, the truth would come to light sooner or later.Her mother always thought she was powerful with her underworld forces, but she did not
Mr. Newman looked at his niece and said, “Mr. Callum, my niece is different from others. She can’t see. If you don’t take responsibility for seeing her exposed, she’ll never be able to get married.”“Uncle!”Camryn said solemnly, “I won’t marry, and I don’t need Mr. Callum to be responsible for me. I didn’t suffer any losses. I wasn’t taken advantage of by that man that night, so there’s no need for Mr. Callum to take responsibility.”Mr. Newman was not her real father, but he was her elder.He was also her stepfather.Mr. Newman making such a request to Callum made Camryn feel so humiliated that she wanted to bury herself in the ground.“Camryn, I promised your dad that I would raise you into an adult and find a good husband for you. I didn’t take care of you and caused you to lose your sight. I’m already feeling guilty about it. If I don’t help you find a suitable husband, I won’t have the face to see your father when I die.”Mr. Newman was actually doing this to ruin Camryn’s
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
Austin was extremely patient with the boys. Although they occasionally caused trouble, most of them were minor issues. They would never do something they were not allowed to do.After breakfast, Austin brought them their bags. With a boy in each hand, he left the house. It was to prevent the boys from saying he was playing favorites. Dominic was used to that scene. Initially, Austin was simply Ms. Isabella’s private chef. However, he gradually took on more responsibilities.He would take the two young masters to school. If he had time in the evening, he would also fetch them from school. Austin also made sure Louis and Phillip did their homework, supervised their hobby classes, and played with them. Sometimes, he would even teach them martial arts and train with them. Dominic felt Austin was an all-rounder. It seemed like there was nothing Austin could not do. No wonder Ms. Isabella thought highly of Austin. However, Austin was a young master of a wealthy family. He w
Louis and Phillip were downstairs having the breakfast Austin had prepared for them. The food was different every morning, and everything was delicious.Having gotten used to Austin’s cooking, Louis and Phillip could no longer stand the food provided in the school. They thought the food there was terrible. Louis was enrolled in an elementary school not far from home. As he was a first grader, he did not need to stay in the dormitories and could have his lunch and dinner at home. Phillip, who was a year younger than him, was still in preschool. He would have breakfast and dinner at home. Actually, the preschool did provide breakfast, but Phillip refused to eat in school and insisted on having breakfast at home. In order to eat the breakfast Austin made, he would get up early in the morning without the adults waking him. After putting on his clothes and washing up, he would head to Louis’s place with his bag. “Austin.”Louis suddenly asked, “Did my sister come back last n
Isabella had always thought Tati was teasing her. Therefore, she did not take her words seriously. She thought it was completely normal for Austin to treat her well as she was his boss. From Austin’s perspective, she was his source of income. Now that Isabella pondered about it deeper, she realized perhaps Austin did come to Satbury for her. It was not just to be her chef. He always said Grandma May only gave the York lads a year to pursue their fiancées. However, Austin had never left since he started working for Isabella. Even if he did, it was to accompany her on business trips. He was busy feeding and taking care of her every day and had never gone to pursue his so-called fiancée. He did not even try to gather information on her. Was he not anxious?A year would go by pretty quickly. Although it felt like it had not been long since Austin started working for Isabella, three months had passed. Time really flew. Three months had gone by in the blink of an eye. Neve