It took less than two minutes for Zachary to take a more active role rather than being passive. He carried his wife to the bed and demanded more. No words were needed for the rest of the night. The following day was when Jasmine would drop by her family home for a visit as Mrs. Bucham. Serenity and her sister were having lunch at the Soxes’ residence. Zachary would, of course, be with his wife. After the visit, Jasmine and Josh would travel for their honeymoon the next day. It would also mark the end of the brief public holidays. Then came the time to get back to work, back to school, and back to business as usual. For the mass public, they were to resume the normal routine. Apart from watching the shop, Serenity would find the time to return to her hometown with Elisa to check on agriculture progress. The seasonal vegetables had been planted as planned. Looking at the greens all around, Elisa told Serenity, “The administrator said that the vegetables will be read
Sam was snickering to himself.Zachary had completely become a slave to his wife.Serenity laughed on the other side of the line. “I’ll be home soon. Are you home?”“Yeah, I just got home. Where are you now? Let me pick you up.”“It’s okay, don’t trouble yourself. I can drive myself home. Besides, it’s too much of a hassle for you to come all the way from home just to bring me home. I’ll be back in ten minutes. Just wait for me at home, babe.”“Sure. Drive safe. Remember that you’re driving a car, not flying a jet.”Serenity chuckled. “I don’t even know how to fly a plane.”During late nights when there was less traffic, Serenity would sometimes speed on the way home and would soon be dissuaded by her two bodyguards.When Zachary knew of it, he gave her an ear-lashing. He then told Liberty about it too, which resulted in Serenity being reprimanded by Liberty.Serenity realized Zachary loved complaining to her sister.He would turn to Liberty whenever his advice for Serenity f
“Babe, I’m home!”Serenity yelled as she entered the room with some snacks.Zachary walked over to meet her.He saw that she was carrying a bag containing several disposable boxes.“I thought you said that you don’t eat at this hour. Why did you still pack supper home? Are you disgusted by my poor cooking skills? Is that why you rejected the idea of me making supper for you?”Zachary was petty and would magnify a small matter to the point where he thought Serenity loathed him.“No way! Babe, your cooking skills have surpassed mine. When I was passing by the night market, I just felt nostalgic and couldn’t help but stop by and buy some of the few snacks I used to eat.”Zachary did not know how to make these local delicacies. He only ate what the common folk ate for breakfast because he was pretending to be poor. Serenity was in the dark back then, so she always packed a local breakfast for him, and he ate it because he did not want his secret to get exposed.He still remembered
“Babe, I love you.”Serenity said the words that Zachary liked to hear the most.“From now on, I’ll buy you flowers every day, okay?”Buying flowers was easy.Serenity just had to tell Camryn to prepare a bouquet of flowers for her every day, then she would just give it to Zachary.“I only have one vase in my office. Alternate days will be good enough.” Zachary’s expression finally eased.Serenity said, “Why don’t I buy a few more vases for your office?”“I don’t want people to see me as a vase.”Serenity laughed and said, “You’re a man. Who would regard you as a vase? Alright, so instead of buying you more vases, I’ll just send you a bouquet of flowers every other day. It’s Friday tomorrow. Shall we go shopping on Saturday? I’ll buy you new clothes.”Zachary had plenty of new clothes in his closet. Every once in a while, a fashion designer would tailor new clothes for him.However, a certain someone still liked to receive clothes from his wife.Since Serenity learned of Zac
“You should get enough sleep. Health is more important than anything,” Liberty said in distress.“Liberty, I’m fine.”Serenity did not sleep enough last night because of her attention-seeking husband, and Serenity did not want to share what happened in their bedroom last night.“Has Jessica been released?” Serenity suddenly asked.Liberty was silent for a moment before she said, “She’s pregnant.“She had just conceived before she was arrested. After she was in jail, she was in a bad mood and didn’t find out until now. It’s been three months now, and Hank is helping her to apply for bail.”However, Jessica would still have to be sentenced after giving birth.Serenity said, “Her child came just in time.”Hank still had feelings for Jessica.He was pressured by his parents and sister to divorce Jessica, but he refused.He also wanted Liberty to issue a letter of understanding so that Jessica could have a lighter sentence.Hank was cognizant that even if he divorced Jessica, Lib
Duncan walked in but turned around and left before he said hello to the Hunt sisters.Serenity was puzzled and thought, ‘What does this mean?‘Is he retreating?‘Or did he leave because he saw me here?’Just as Serenity was guessing what Duncan meant by leaving so quickly, Duncan came in again.This time, he had a bouquet of flowers in his hand.It turned out that he forgot to take the bouquet from his car.Serenity was stunned.She looked at her sister, but she saw that Liberty’s face was stoic.Since it was still early, there were no other customers in the diner except Serenity. The two shop assistants were sitting beside them eating their breakfast.Seeing that there was a customer, the two of them wanted to get up and tend to the customer, but when they saw that it was Duncan, the two of them sat down again and continued to eat their breakfast.Duncan’s pursuit of Liberty was so obvious that they could not even pretend not to know.“Liberty.”Duncan came over holding t
Duncan smiled and said, “Oh.”Serenity looked at her sister’s back, lowered her voice, and asked Duncan, “The florists aren’t even open at this hour. Did you bring this bouquet from home?”Duncan replied, “Yeah, I cut all the flowers that I could in the yard and made them into a bouquet myself.”“No wonder.”Serenity glanced at the bouquet of flowers.There were all kinds of flowers in the bouquet, not just roses.Duncan was a rough man. Although there were flowers and trees in his villa, he never once admired them. The butler had arranged for someone to buy them so as to add a bit of color to the landscape.Thus, not all of them were roses.Duncan cut all the flowers that bloomed in the villa to make this bouquet.The butler felt distressed when he found out that Duncan had cut off all the blooming flowers in the villa. However, he supported Duncan in pursuing his crush. Thus, the butler decided to go to the flower field at Wildridge Manor to buy a full load of roses to put i
Liberty was busy until after nine o’clock in the morning. As the number of people eating breakfast reduced, she was able to relax.Lily chose to enter the diner when Liberty was free.Seeing her come in, Liberty froze for a moment before she showed a polite smile. “Ms. Harmon.”“Ms. Hunt, you’re not busy anymore, right?”“I’m not busy now, but I’m ready to pack up and close the store. Ms. Harmon, what can I do for you?”Liberty and Lily did not interact much.Seeing Lily, Liberty thought that it must be because of Duncan.“Nothing much. I went to Lewis & Co. to sign a contract with Duncan and happened to pass by, so I came in to have a look. How’s your business going?”Liberty smiled. “It’s alright. I can still earn some after paying off the rent and workers’ wages.”“You make a really good breakfast. Duncan said that he likes to come over for breakfast. Take your time. You’ll get better and start earning more in the future.”Making breakfast was hard work because one had to
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