“Mom!”“I’ll be frank here. If you can break all ties with me, I won’t bother with who you like or pursue anymore.”After speaking, Mrs. Lewis turned and left angrily. Duncan was exasperated by his mother too. He did not understand. His mother did not hate Liberty. Why was she being stubborn and refused to let him be with Liberty?He had not even succeeded in wooing Liberty. With his mother making such a big fuss, it would do nothing but hinder him. Liberty, who did not love him from the start, would be scared of his mother and dared not like him or accept his feelings. Duncan raised his head and took a look around. He did not return to Liberty’s apartment but walked toward his car. After getting in, he called Zachary and Josh to invite them out for a drink. He hung up after speaking, disregarding whether they agreed to it, and started the car. Meanwhile, in the Buchams’ residence, Josh looked at the ended call on the phone. After a moment, he scolded, “I’m still on my m
Zachary remained silent too.Josh meant they knew Duncan well after having known him for so many years.Duncan appeared rough and carefree, seeming as if he did not care about anything.However, he was actually stubborn when it came to relationships.If Liberty chose not to remarry for the rest of her life, he would also not marry anyone for her sake.He was the kind of person who would rather be single forever if he could not marry the woman he wanted.“If you’re busy, I’ll go and drink with him.” Zachary was considerate of Josh, who was still on his marriage leave. With Jasmine pregnant, Josh would surely not be in the mood to do anything else too. Josh said, “Jasmine’s in the bookstore. I assigned bodyguards to protect her. I don’t have much to do anyway. Let’s go together.”Zachary hummed in agreement. After ending the call, Zachary looked toward his beloved wife, who was sitting on the sofa and reading magazines. Serenity did not pay attention to Zachary and Josh’s ca
Duncan had always gone to All You Can Eat for breakfast before eight o’clock. If she avoided that timing, she could avoid meeting him. Liberty asked Serenity for help. After reading her sister’s message, Serenity sighed. Her sister was finally forced to run away. If not for Serenity marrying Zachary and living in Wiltspoon because the York family was here, Liberty might have really left Wiltspoon with Sonny secretly and distanced herself from Duncan as Mrs. Lewis wished. Even if Duncan could find Liberty no matter what it took, he would still require time to do so. Serenity replied to her sister that she would respect and aid in every decision she made. “Is it a message from your sister?”Zachary guessed it was his sister-in-law. Serenity replied in the affirmative. “What did she say? Your expression looks serious.”“My sister is moving now. She found a new house to rent in a hurry and would be relocating to East Hill neighborhood. It’s a high-end area with excell
Liberty thanked Zachary. Zachary said, “We’re family, Liberty. You don’t have to be so courteous.”He even feared that she would not accept his help. Luckily, she was rushing to move places and took up his offer. With her brother-in-law’s assistance, Liberty moved out of her apartment quickly while Zachary left work to accompany Duncan for drinks. Aside from Zachary and Serenity, no one knew Liberty’s new address. She did not inform Aunt Audrey either. Meanwhile, in a hotel’s private room, a table was filled with dishes Duncan ordered along with many bottles of strong liquor. At that moment, Zachary and Josh were by his side, watching him down one glass of alcohol after another. “Eat something, Duncan.”Zachary took some salad for him. Maybe he felt guilty toward his best friend because he had taken his sister-in-law’s side. He wished he could help Duncan, but his sister-in-law did not love Duncan at all. Moreover, Mrs. Lewis was stubborn in opposing the relationship.
Serenity did not say a word. Among the people around her, only Jasmine’s relationship was smooth sailing without a hitch. Josh and Jasmine tied the knot very quickly. Elisa’s love and her sister’s second chance at love had many obstacles. Serenity was considered lucky. Although she and Zachary had conflicts, silent treatments, and even almost got divorced, they understood, respected, and trusted each other in the end. They had been living a blissful life since then. Serenity cherished everything she had at the moment. Zachary regulated his emotions quickly. He said softly, “Sleep, honey. Don’t overthink. Let’s go with the flow.”Serenity hummed in agreement. They slept in each other’s embrace soundly throughout the night. Duncan woke up the next afternoon. He slept long enough that he did not have a bad headache but just hunger after waking up. When he realized it was already noon, he got up immediately and showered. After changing into clean clothes, he went downsta
It was not Mrs. Lewis who had rear-ended the car in front of hers, but Duncan who hit a lorry from behind. Although the vehicle behind Duncan slammed on the brakes, it still rear-ended Duncan’s car. Mrs. Lewis was not involved in the collision as she stepped on the brakes in time. After parking her car, Mrs. Lewis immediately unfastened her seat belt and opened the door to get out. Mr. Lewis had not registered what transpired. He had been trying to persuade his wife to stop chasing after their son. “Honey.”“Duncan’s car rear-ended another vehicle.”Mrs. Lewis dropped the bomb on her husband and ran forward. She passed the sedan in front of her. That car collided with Duncan’s car, and its bumper was damaged. The person in the car was motionless, probably due to shock. The condition of Duncan’s car was far worse. Almost the entire hood of his car was buried under the lorry due to the collision, and only the trunk was left visible from the outside. Duncan was hurt and unco
Duncan would go looking for Liberty every day at her apartment. Zachary calculated the time and thought Duncan would wake up at noon, look for Liberty, and realize she had moved. In the end, the news Zachary received was that Duncan had gotten into a car accident. “Where did the accident happen? Was he the one who crashed into someone or the other way round? How’s his condition?”When Zachary received Josh’s call, he was on his way to Wiltspoon School to have lunch with his beloved wife.Jasmine could not be at the bookstore that day. Josh was afraid that she was worn out because she had been operating the bookshop all evening yesterday. To be honest, she was not tired at all. However, since the doting husband insisted she was exhausted, then exhausted she was.He did not let Jasmine head out that day. Jasmine, who was already treated like a national treasure at the Buchams’ house, had no choice but to listen and stay home. She would occasionally be on video calls with her fri
After some hesitation, Zachary told Serenity the truth.“Seren, I’m not going over anymore. If the food has been delivered, you can dig in first. I… I’m at the hospital. Duncan met with an accident.”Upon hearing the news, Serenity’s expression changed. She quickly asked, “How did it happen? Did it occur when you two were together? Did you both drink and drive again?”Zachary explained, “No. We didn’t drink today. That was yesterday. All of us didn’t drive. I still don’t know what happened. I came to the hospital right after Josh informed me. Duncan’s still in the emergency room. They say his legs were injured the worst, and it’s uncertain whether they can be saved.”Toward the end, his tone turned heavy, and his speech slowed. He sounded sad. “I’m done with my work now. I’ll head to the hospital after closing the store.”Zachary did not stop his wife from coming over. He reminded her, “Drive slowly.”“I’ll have a bodyguard drive. Don’t worry. Mr. Lewis is a good person. He’ll
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