Going to Liberty was useless. The source of the problem was her son. Mrs. Lewis also did a series of extreme actions against her son. After that…What was left was only regret. Liberty said magnanimously, “I don’t remember the words you’ve said to me before, Mrs. Lewis. I understand you.“It’s better to have a marriage between people of equal social standing. I’m also a mother. If my son were to like a girl whose standards differ from his too much, I might find it hard to accept too.”She would consider herself an open-minded mother before it happened. However, if it were to happen, not many people could truly be open-minded in allowing their children to get married to whomever they wanted.The parents in the York family stood out because only a handful of people could do that. Liberty often told Serenity to cherish everything both of them had. Putting Zachary’s attitude aside, how many people could be as open-minded as the York family’s parents?Therefore, she was not a
Liberty passed the phone to her son. She looked at her store. The employees were done packing, so she told them to leave first. Afterward, she thanked Jim. “Jim, thank you for picking Sonny up again.”“Stop saying thank you, Liberty. This is the task assigned to me by Mr. and Mrs. York. It’s my responsibility.”Jim chuckled warmly. “I’m happy to be of help to you. Sonny is so cute too. I’ll start missing him if I don’t see him for a day.”Upon hearing Jim’s words, Sonny raised his chin and said confidently, “Jim, am I the most lovable and adorable child ever?”Jim smiled and said, “You’re right. You’re lovable, adorable, and the cutest child I’ve ever seen.”Liberty walked out with Sonny’s hand in hers. She laughed and said, “Stop praising him, Jim. His imaginary tail will point upward to the sky if you keep doing that.”“I’m telling the truth. Sonny is the cutest child I’ve ever seen.”Jim insisted he was speaking the truth. Of course, after many years, he would say the sam
Serenity asked concernedly, “Liberty, what is it?”“It’s nothing serious. I just found a highly-paid job.”After rinsing the quinoa, Liberty added water and turned on the right heat setting before turning to face her sister. “Liberty, your diner is doing great. Why do you still have to look for a job? Are you stressed because Sonny is going to a learning center? It’s okay. I can help to pay for his school fees. I can’t even finish spending the allowance Zachary gives me every month. Everyone in his family receives an allowance each month too. The last thing I’m lacking is money.”Serenity thought her sister had looked for a job because she was too stressed.“No. Sonny’s school fees aren’t a problem. The money Hank gave me back then is enough for Sonny’s education. I have an income every day as well. It’s not because I lack money.”Liberty looked outside and saw Jasmine playing with Sonny. She said, “Mrs. Lewis came to look for me just now.”Upon hearing that, Serenity frowned.
“I’ll make stew. I can bring Mr. Lewis some when I head to the hospital in a bit.” Liberty turned around and got the ingredients out of the bags for prepping to make the stew. “I should respond to Mrs. Lewis.” Having recalled that she would give Mrs. Lewis a reply, Liberty paused in motion and whipped out her phone to call Mrs. Lewis. She let Mrs. Lewis know of her decision. Mrs. Lewis was grateful and insisted on giving Liberty some sort of payment. It was not like Mrs. Lewis could do anything if Liberty refused to take payment. With that in mind, Liberty went on to make lunch. The food was ready when it was close to lunch break. “Seren, I’m delivering some stew to Mr. Lewis. Sonny will stay here with you.” Liberty carried a food container out of the kitchen. “Lunch is ready and in the pot. Help yourselves when you and Jasmine are done with work.” “Have you eaten, Liberty?” Serenity asked with concern. It had not been busy at the bookshop lately. However, with th
“Don’t yell at Duncan, Charmaine. He doesn’t mean it.” Mrs. Lewis pulled Charmine outside the room. “Don’t criticize him. Duncan has it hard enough.” Charmaine answered, “I know Duncan is in low spirits, but so are we. We are concerned about him and his health. He gave up on himself before the doctor did.“You can’t continue to enable him, Corey. We must get him back on his feet.” Corey had been beating herself up and stayed by Duncan’s side to nurse him since his accident. Charmaine could understand where Corey was coming from. All they could do was visit and deliver food to the hospital every day. Sometimes, Duncan would refuse to see them when they came around. Since Charmaine’s husband assumed the leadership role of the Lewises family business, he was swamped with work every day while fretting over Duncan’s injury. However, Duncan was too caught up in his sorrow to care about his family’s feelings. Mrs. Lewis’s eyes welled up. She choked with sobs. “I want him to
Mrs. Lewis, who was in the living room outside the ward, answered the door. The door was open, and there was a bodyguard. “Ms. Liberty is here again, ma’am.” The bodyguard reported to Mrs. Lewis. Mrs. Lewis did not have a chance to answer as Duncan’s keen ear picked up on the announcement from inside the ward. No longer keeping a straight face, he shouted, “Tell her to leave. I don’t want to see her! Tell her never to come back to the hospital! She can get lost for all I care!” Following Mr. Duncan’s resounding yell, the bodyguard sighed to himself.Mr. Duncan had behaved as such every time Ms. Liberty came by. Only Ms. Liberty was capable of invoking such emotions from Mr. Duncan.Any dummy could tell that Ms. Liberty could influence Mr. Duncan emotionally. “Let Liberty enter.” Mrs. Lewis went against her son’s wishes. It put the bodyguard in a difficult spot. Inside the ward, Duncan anxiously tried to turn over and get out of bed. Nevertheless, his legs were
“Duncan,” said Mrs. Lewis. She asked Liberty to come and take care of her son. Mrs. Lewis felt bad now that Liberty was left standing outside. Duncan closed his eyes, refusing to talk. There was nothing Mrs. Lewis could do about it. The cold sweat dripping from her son’s forehead gave Mrs. Lewis great distress. She grabbed a tissue and dabbed the sweat off her son. “I know that you still have feelings for Liberty, Duncan. Why do this to yourself?” Duncan kept his eyes closed and his mouth shut. He was more upset than anyone else to leave Liberty out in the cold, and the heartache was hard to bear. Still, Duncan did not want Liberty to see him like this. Liberty did not fall in love with him when he was in the best health. There were lesser chances of Liberty ever falling for him now that he was crippled. The only feelings he would get from her were pity. Seeing that her son was not in the mood to talk, Mrs. Lewis did not pursue the subject further. After a brief
With a deadpan face, Duncan threw a fit about refusing to see Liberty. Now that he saw her in person, his greedy eyes locked onto Liberty’s face as if he was trying to etch her looks on his mind. Duncan opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came through his parted lips. Duncan was at a loss for words. He must be dreaming. Duncan said he did not want to see Liberty, so his parents would not let her in.He had to be dreaming. Duncan closed his eyes once more. The soft tissue brushing against his skin prompted Duncan to open his eyes. He was not dreaming. It really was Liberty.He could not believe that Liberty was here. Who let her in? With a chilling gaze and an aloof expression, Duncan raised his hand and roughly slapped Liberty’s hand away. He sternly questioned, “Who said you could come in? I don’t want to see you! Get out! Aren’t you happy enough that you got me in this sorry state? Go! Go now! The last person I want to see is you!” Liberty calmly retr
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