After the meal, Grandma May and Mrs. Stone had a chat before the former left the Stones’ residence with River. Everyone saw the grandmother and grandchild out. After River drove away with Grandma May, Mrs. Stone turned to look around. When she saw Remy, she pressed her lips together. Ultimately, she did not say anything and went back into the house. Alice had to take a nap after having a meal. Mr. Stone went to accompany his wife. Elisa and Remy were the only ones left in the garden “Do you want to go for a walk?” Elisa asked. He smiled gently. “It’s said that taking a walk after meals promotes longevity.”Elisa looked toward his smiling face. He gave off a gentle and elegant aura. Whenever he talked to her, he would have a gentle smile. That smile felt like the spring breeze, soft and warm. They walked out of the Stones’ manor. In one of the rooms on the second floor, Mrs. Stone stood by the window. She watched her lovely daughter walk outside with Remy. She said to
Elisa had no clue that her family was worried about her being taken away by Remy. After she and Remy left the villa, they walked slowly along the concrete road. Usually, Elisa would enter and exit the villa in a car. She had never admired the scenery around the villa properly before. “After living here for so many years, I just found out that the scenery here is quite pretty. The greenery is great, and there are many benches by the road for people to sit and rest if they’re tired. There are also gazebos built within certain distances of each other.”There was a garden upon entering the vast area of the villas. It was filled with lush green trees. It also had fitness equipment and a children’s playground.The Stones had bought a few smaller villas and connected them to build a bigger villa. They had a complete range of sports and entertainment facilities. Therefore, Elisa rarely walked around the garden in the estate area. In her own words, she simply glanced at the passing sc
Elisa sat on the bench. “That’s great. I can’t stand the provocation from seeing you people being lovey-dovey now. I feel jealous every time I see Serenity and Jasmine.”“Elisa, you don’t have to be envious of them. You’ll be as happy as they are in the future.”“Who can be certain about the future? However, if I were to be unhappy, I wouldn’t compromise. If my future husband doesn’t treat me well, I’ll divorce him and return to my family. My two brothers can support me for the rest of my life.”The confidence of a married woman came from her family’s support. Elisa felt that her family was very supportive. “That won’t happen. Your in-laws will be great people.”Remy felt the elders in his family were nice. No one would make things difficult for their daughter-in-law.“Let’s stop talking about me. Tell me. Who’s the lady on your mind? It must be someone from Wiltspoon, right? Did you buy a house here because of her?”Remy nodded and admitted it honestly. “Yes. I did it for
“Remy, allow me to consider this.”Neither did Elisa reject nor accept him immediately—she wanted to think about it. Remy said understandingly, “I know. You can take your time. I’m not in a rush. Even if you reject me, I’m willing to wait for the day you can accept me.”Elisa smiled. “I just find it too sudden.”“I was abrupt,” Remy said apologetically. He thought that since everyone could already sense his feelings for Elisa, it would not be suitable to keep delaying his confession. Since Elisa asked about it, he immediately confessed. He loved her, so he had to let her know his feelings for her. Not everyone could feel others’ love for them. Silence fell between them. After sitting for a while, Elisa stood up and said, “Let’s go back.”“Okay.”When they headed out, they chatted and laughed. However, both of them did not talk much on the way back. It was Elisa who did not wish to speak. After returning to the Stones’ house, Remy did not linger too long and retur
Elisa laughed. She said, “I’m only a nice girl to you guys. Others say I’m the wild daughter of a rich family. Those madames never considered having me as their daughter-in-law. They think they can’t control a daughter-in-law like me.”She would not be suppressed. Her family was strong. The usual wealthy families truly did not consider having Elisa as a daughter-in-law. Men of equal social standing to her were married or younger than her. She would never consider dating a younger man. “That’s because they have bad eyes and blindly follow other people’s opinions. They believed the rumors without trying to understand you. When Serenity and I first met you, we thought you were an honest, straightforward person.”Jasmine returned to the kitchen to prepare the juice. “Elisa, you’re really great. We’re not deceiving you with sweet words just because we’re friends.”Elisa entered the kitchen.She watched as Jasmine blended the juice. “Can you tell me who confessed to you? Is it
Elisa said with a grin, “Speak of the devil.“Jasmine made pear juice. She said she’ll make you a cup because she thinks you’ll be back soon. You came in just after she spoke. Luckily, we were not talking about you behind your back.”Serenity laughed. “Jasmine must’ve heard my footsteps.”Jasmine passed the blended juice to the girls. Serenity held the juice and went to the cashier counter. After putting the juice down, she moved the small dining table she and Jasmine usually used for meals over. The three of them sat around the table with their glass of juice. “Seren, did you go to Spring Blossoms to look for Ms. Newman?”Elisa asked, “How’s she now? She’s amazing. She managed to sue her stepfather and mother even though she’s blind.”“I went to get flowers for Zachary. I didn’t see Camryn. She was gone for the entire day. The store employee said she would tell Camryn to call me after she returned. Camryn hasn’t been contacting me, and she switched phone numbers.”After ta
As long as Elisa did not get married, Serenity would always feel that she had stolen Elisa’s happiness. Elisa liked Zachary so much, yet it was Serenity who got married to him. Therefore, Serenity sincerely hoped Elisa could quickly find her significant other. She would only feel better if Elisa found her happiness. Elisa had never blamed Serenity. She did not think Serenity had snatched Zachary away from her. Elisa said she and Zachary were destined to meet but not fated to be together. It had nothing to do with Serenity. It was a fact that Zachary did not love her. Even without Serenity, other women would still appear. Elisa would rather Serenity than other people. She had said smugly before that Zachary even had to acknowledge her as his cousin after being with Serenity. She was secretly happy that she could make that arrogant cold man bow down and call her his cousin. “Seren.”Elisa held Serenity’s hand. “Don’t feel guilty for me. You didn’t do me any wrong.”
Josh said, “Don’t you have a business dinner tonight?”He changed the topic. It was to prevent Zachary from talking about the flowers again. Zachary made it look as if Josh had never received flowers. “I’m going to pick my wife up. She’s accompanying me tonight.”Josh hummed in acknowledgment. “I’m going to take a break after working for another week.”It would be his and Jasmine’s wedding soon. Zachary said, “Isn’t there still half a month until the wedding day?”As Josh walked outside with Zachary, he said, “Half a month is only two weeks. Can’t I take a break a week in advance?” He could not possibly work up till the day of his wedding, right?Zachary had nothing to say about that. “Mr. York, Mr, Bucham.”Everyone greeted them respectfully as they walked out. “Shall we leave together?”Josh was walking toward Zachary’s car. Zachary asked him that question with raised eyebrows. “I have to bring my wife home to have dinner and then visit the house we’ll live i
Lilian often messed with the medicinal herbs her master cultivated, which led to her being chased and scolded by him.It seemed her son had inherited her restless nature.“How’s Sonny been lately?”Liberty had been on edge these past few days because Caroline had been preparing to lure her three brothers into a trap and had not had time to call her son.“Same as usual, but it seems like things have soured again with the Browns.”Serenity added, “Sonny still answers when Hank calls him, but he doesn’t seem happy when his grandparents visit. He doesn’t like going to the Browns’ place, and he doesn’t want to take their calls either.“Hank’s mother and sister are truly incorrigible. They must have been badmouthing you and Duncan in front of Sonny again, which is why he’s upset with them.”During the holidays, Sonny had stayed with the Browns for a few days and started to warm up to them.However, who would have thought that the mother and daughter would start spouting nonsense in f
Once the baby was born, he would apply the knowledge he had learned over the past few months to care for the baby. He was determined to be a competent and responsible father.Serenity released her arms from around him and shifted to her side.Zachary let go, too, allowing her to turn.Then, she planted countless gentle kisses on his face.“Babe, with you here, the baby and I will be just fine. Don’t worry too much,” Serenity comforted softly after kissing him.“You are my rock. If even you are nervous, I’ll start feeling anxious too, and that won’t be good.”Hearing this, Zachary immediately said, “Seren, don’t worry. I’ll protect both of you. Alright, I won’t be so nervous anymore.”He gently touched her rounded belly again. “Lil’ Bun should be a calm kid. He’s not that mischievous.”He felt that the baby’s movements were not too intense.Serenity wanted to tell him that there were times when the baby kicked more vigorously, but she decided against it, knowing it would only m
“Just hit the gym a few more times. Lately, you’ve been spending less time there.”Every day after work, he would come home and orbit around her. As a result, he had less time to work out.It was normal to gain a few pounds eating well and exercising less. Did he really think he could eat anything without gaining weight?The reason he could maintain a model-like physique before was that he exercised daily.“Ow.” Serenity suddenly cried out in pain.This startled Zachary so much that he nearly jumped up, asking anxiously, “Is it stomach pain? Are you going into labor? Let’s go to the hospital right away.”He was about to pick her up, but Serenity stopped him by pressing his hand.“Don’t be so nervous, Zachary. It's not time yet. It’s not happening so soon. It’s just the baby kicking again. His kicks are getting stronger.”As she entered the later stages of pregnancy, the little one inside her was growing stronger. Sometimes, a couple of kicks from the baby could actually hurt.
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