Grandma May had mentioned that even though Elisa had a similar social status to Zachary, she was not suitable to be the wife of the York family’s head. “Let’s eat at a hotel. You still have a business engagement. We don’t have to travel a long distance back home.”“It’s up to you.”Serenity smiled. Although her relationship with Zachary was not dramatic, he started respecting her and prioritizing her wishes more. Their days were ordinary yet fulfilling and sweet. Zachary often said he still wanted to be with her in another life. Serenity got greedy too. She also thought of marrying him and being husband and wife again in their next lifetime. …While in the Lewis family’s house, Mrs. Lewis put down her phone with a grim expression. Although Mr. Lewis sat opposite her and was holding a newspaper, he had been paying attention to his wife’s expression. He heard the conversation between his wife and their youngest son too. “What happened again? You look awful. You’ve been
Derek said, “I disagree too, but what can I do? That’s Duncan’s decision. He has always disobeyed us.”“Well, do you think Liberty will let Serenity know that I talked to her?” Mrs. Lewis suddenly asked. “Why did you go and meet Liberty? Didn’t you say Liberty isn’t interested in our son at all? The problem lies with our son.”After a moment of silence, Mrs. Lewis replied, “I know the problem doesn’t lie with Liberty, but Duncan refused to listen to us. He’s very stubborn. I had no choice but to deal with it by approaching Liberty. I wanted to advise Liberty to cancel her tenancy agreement and move her breakfast place somewhere else so she can stay away from Duncan.“In the future, if Duncan visits the Yorks, tell Liberty not to visit the Yorks to prevent the two of them from meeting each other.“That said, it’ll be great if Liberty is willing to leave Wiltspoon and live in a place that Duncan is unaware of. I’m ready to pay her a hefty sum as long as she doesn’t meet Duncan.”M
Worried that his wife would screw things up, Derek had no choice but to meet Liberty with his wife since he could not stop her.In order to continue talking his wife out of meeting Liberty, Derek asked his chauffeur to drive.The couple was seated in the back. Along the journey, Derek kept advising his wife. He said, “If Duncan finds out that you go and meet Liberty, he’ll surely have a row with you. This will affect your relationship with him.“If Serenity finds out, it means Zachary will too. You know full well how much he protects and pampers his wife. Liberty is his sister-in-law. Forcing Liberty to leave Wiltspoon will stir up a hornet’s nest and greatly damage the relationship between the Lewises and the Yorks.” Mrs. Lewis tilted her head and glared at her husband before she said, “I’m just going to have a talk with Liberty. I’m not forcing her to leave Wiltspoon either. Why are you nagging at me non-stop? You’re annoying.“The Lewises and the Yorks are family friends. S
After moving closer, Liberty got a better sight of Jessica.Jessica had thinned down a lot. She had a dull complexion and was dressed in loose clothes. Only those who were sharp-eyed could tell that she was pregnant.“Let’s go, Hank,” Jessica said to her husband.Currently, she disliked seeing Hank being close to Sonny. She was afraid that if they got very close, Hank would not take care of her child wholeheartedly.Regardless of whether she gave birth to a son or daughter, the Browns would surely be biased toward Sonny.Jessica had to continue serving her sentence in the future, so she would not be able to watch her child grow. If her child turned out to be a girl who failed to please the family, who would know how much the child would suffer when Jessica was not by her side? Therefore, Hank was the child’s support.Sonny was a lot more fortunate than Jessica’s child.With so many people loving and supporting Sonny, there was no need to worry that he would suffer. “Sonny, w
“Dunc.”Sonny’s mannerism toward Duncan and his father, Hank, was the same.Once Sonny saw Duncan, he shook off Liberty’s hand and scurried toward Duncan.Hank’s expression became graver.His parents and elder sister had always nagged him, telling him that Liberty had a pursuer. If he was not going to divorce Jessica and go after Liberty again, Sonny’s father would be someone else.Duncan would most likely become Sonny’s new father.Hank knew full well that Liberty would not accept him anymore. As for Jessica, he still had feelings for her. He also felt sorry for her.He hurt two women because of his unfaithfulness. Liberty was already divorced from Hank and had started her life anew. She was leading a wonderful life. He did not want to hurt Jessica again, especially by divorcing her when she was in jail. If he did that, she would be homeless after she was released.Ever since Jessica was arrested, her brother and sister-in-law had established boundaries with her.Although h
“Sonny.“Sonny.”Something seemed to be wrong with Hank. He kept shouting his son’s name as he strode toward his son.“Sonny, I’ll play with you.”Hank hurriedly caught up with Duncan and blocked him.He stretched out his hand to snatch Sonny over.Sonny was Hank’s son!He shared the same surname as Hank, namely Brown!He had nothing to do with Duncan at all. There was no need for Duncan to play with Sonny.Sonny’s biological father was here!“Sonny, let Dad play with you, okay?”As Hank asked Sonny, his eyes were fixed on Duncan. He purposely stressed the word “Dad”.Hank would forever be Sonny’s father!If Duncan wanted to be Sonny’s father, he could dream on!Hank failed to stop Duncan from going after his ex-wife. After all, he was still married to Jessica. What was more, Jessica was pregnant with his child, which meant he could not divorce her at this point.If Liberty wanted to remarry, she had the freedom to do so.Besides feeling annoyed, there was really nothin
Liberty watched the situation indifferently.Jessica was faking it, yet Hank could not see through it?Perhaps it was because Hank was concerned about Jessica and her baby.Soon, Hank left with Jessica by car.He did not even bid goodbye to Liberty and the rest.Liberty and Duncan wished Hank could quickly leave.However, Sonny was dejected.Hank said he would play with Sonny. However, once Jess said she was unwell, Hank instantly ignored him and left with Jess.“Mom.”Sonny walked toward Liberty. He extended his hands to ask for a hug from Liberty.Liberty carried him. Seeing his dejected look, she fell quiet for a moment before explaining on Hank’s behalf.“Sonny, Jess isn’t feeling well, and your dad is worried about her. He had to send her to the hospital for a check-up, and that’s why he can’t play with you. It’s not because he doesn’t want to play with you or he doesn’t love you.”Duncan’s lips twitched. He felt that Hank did not love Sonny dearly.Hank loved Jessica
“It’s on the third floor, huh? There’s a lot of food on the first floor. Do you want to buy something to eat?”Sonny shook his head.Currently, he was not keen on eating or playing.With Aunt Ser around, he had all kinds of good food.Upon noticing that Sonny was not interested in buying things, Duncan took him straight to the third floor of the mall.On the third floor, the kids’ playground occupied one side whereas the other was a fashion store. When some parents came here to buy shoes, they would drop their children off at the playground and leave them to play there. There was an entrance fee with staff members keeping an eye on the kids. The kids would not run out unless they wanted to stop playing.Even if they wanted to run out, the staff members would not allow the kids to do so without the presence of their parents.Therefore, the parents would feel at ease. By placing their children at the playground, they could shop around the mall freely without being annoyed by the
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