“Even the Queens’ relatives think Hayden’s a man.”Some distant relatives of the Queen family even wanted to play matchmaker and introduce women to Hayden. “Everyone’s used to Hayden being a man. I forgot about it for a moment there too.”Josh did not admit that his intelligence had dropped. “I admire Kevin for pursuing his wife while risking being called a gay.”Zachary said, “Kevin knows what he’s doing. Gay or not, he’s approaching the matter directly. There’s no need to waste so much time and effort to reveal that Hayden is a woman.“Hayden herself is aware of whether she’s a man or a woman. Even though she has been dressing up as a man since she was young and for over twenty years at that, she didn’t undergo any surgery to change her gender. Disguising as a man for the rest of her life won’t change the fact that she’s still a woman.“She’ll return to being a woman if she can’t handle Kevin’s advances. Even if she can, Kevin will have a way to make her admit that she’s a w
After a moment, Josh said, “I wish I could go to Jensburg to get first-hand gossip.”Zachary told him, “You can still get first-hand information even in Wiltspoon. Kevin had only given Hayden the flowers an hour ago, yet you’ve learned about it. Do you even need to go to Jensburg?”Josh smiled and said, “Although I can get intel in Wiltspoon, it’s still quicker if I were in Jensburg.”“There are twenty minutes left until we can get off work,” Zachary suddenly said. “So? I’m going to have a meal with my wife after clocking off. Oh, right. I have to tell her about this big news. She loves gossip the most. I’m not afraid of you laughing at me, Zachary, but I feel like Jasmine only married me to obtain first-hand gossip.”Zachary said, “It seems like you have some self-awareness.”Josh said, “It can’t be. It must’ve been because I was excellent, treated her well, and our personalities complemented each other. We got together because she had fallen in love with me and not to become g
It was almost time to clock off. Many people were going in and out of the company. If they saw Kevin’s bed of flower arrangement, Hayden would not be able to explain herself. She did not expect Kevin to start pursuing her like a possessed man overnight. Did he want to pursue her?Hayden was a man now. Was Kevin announcing to the world that he was gay by publicly pursuing her? “Mr. Queen, Mr. Kevin had called many people over. I think it’ll be difficult to destroy his flowers,” the secretary said in a dilemma. Kevin was no ordinary man. He was a young master of the York family and the person in charge of Fortress Hotel.Although Jensburg was not the Yorks’ territory, they still held quite a bit of influence here. “Many passers-by are taking pictures.”Hayden’s expression darkened. She said coldly, “I don’t care how many people he brought with him. Just destroy the flowers.”The secretary heeded her instructions and informed the security to ruin the flowers. Hayden could
Soon, the head of security of Queen Enterprise brought a team with him to destroy the flowers. Kevin’s men naturally stopped them. The scene started to get rowdy. Kevin was not flustered. He even had the mood to take a picture of the fruit of his labor with his phone. He then spotted Hugh in the crowd and walked toward him. Hugh bent down and took a flower from the bed of roses. When Kevin approached him, he passed the flower to him with a smile on his handsome face. He told Kevin, “If you prefer men, Mr. Kevin, why don’t you pursue me instead?“I think I’m a better match for you. My brother isn’t the right person for you, Mr. Kevin. He’s a straight man. He won’t like you.”Kevin caught the flower between his two fingers and leaned forward to smell the flower. He said, “It smells fresh.”Next, he pinched Hugh’s chin and raised it flirtatiously. He eyed Hugh and said with a smile, “You’re handsome but still slightly lacking compared to your brother.”Hugh chuckled and pull
Hayden was speechless. If she knew Kevin was so difficult to deal with and would create such a mess, she would have accepted his bouquet and thrown it away after he left. Such a mess may not have occurred. “Are you done with work?”Kevin raised his head to look at the sun in the sky. He could not open his eyes because of the sunlight, so he quickly lowered his head. He asked Hayden, “Will you let me treat you to a meal, Mr. Queen?”“I’m sorry. I have a lunch appointment in the afternoon. I’m not free.”Hayden rejected him right away. Kevin said, “It’s okay. You may not be free today, but you’ll have time in the future. I’ll come to invite you for a meal and arrange flowers at your company’s entrance every day until you agree to have a meal with me.”Hayden was exasperated. She did not hit Kevin only because she was well-mannered. She could not be bothered to continue talking to him too. He had already decided to use her. Hayden waved her hand and said to company secur
Hayden did not say a word. She walked to her car. Hugh gestured to the secretary not to follow them anymore and followed his sister to the car. Soon, Hayden got into the car. Hugh squeezed into his sister’s luxury car as well. The driver watched Hugh and silently started the car engine. “Bro, I asked Kevin just now, and he admitted that he’s using you to escape his parents’ nagging about marriage.”Hayden watched her brother coldly. “Do you believe him?”Hugh choked briefly and said, “Based on my investigation and the information we obtained, I do. If I don’t, could he possibly be gay? Even if he is, he won’t publicly pursue you after only meeting you several times.”It was Hayden’s turn to be speechless. She did not believe Kevin was only using her to create a scandal and that he was actually gay. If he liked men, Wiltspoon was filled with young talented men. He already had someone he liked. Why did he have to come to Jensburg to bug her?What was Kevin’s motive if it we
“I heard that even his parents don’t know.”Hayden said in a low voice, “Mr. Zachary definitely knows. Kevin and his brothers revere him. They prioritize his opinions in every matter and would talk to him about anything. They might not tell their parents, but they’ll surely tell Zachary.”“Zachary’s mouth is sealed. It won’t be easy to get information from him. You can try getting information from Mrs. York. Serenity is Zachary’s beloved. She basically knows everything Zachary does.”Hugh said, “Aren’t Old Mrs. York and Mrs. York on a trip now? It might be difficult to find her.”Hayden went silent again. After some time, she said, “I’m not expecting you to investigate everything in a day. You can just keep this in mind. Of course, the quicker, the better.”“What if I can’t find anything?”Hayden’s expression and gaze darkened. She said icily, “Then we’ll have to adapt accordingly.”No matter what scheme Kevin had, he would definitely reveal his motives one day. “How about you
About ten minutes later…“Mr. Queen.”The driver suddenly turned his head and said, “Mr. Queen, Mr. Kevin is already waiting at the hotel with a bouquet of flowers.”Kevin was not at Fortress Hotel. With a big bouquet of roses, he went opposite instead, to the hotel belonging to Queen Enterprise. He stood at the entrance, awaiting Hayden’s arrival. She said she had a lunch appointment. Whenever she had a meal with clients, the venue would always be her company’s hotel. Kevin had chased her all the way to the hotel and even arrived ahead of time to wait for her. Upon hearing that, Hayden’s expression darkened. Hugh said puzzledly, “He was still at the entrance of our company when we left. How did he arrive earlier than us?”The driver replied, “Mr. Kevin must’ve taken a shortcut.”Hugh scolded him, “Then why didn’t you take the shortcut?”The driver was speechless. He did not know Mr. Kevin would tag along and be quicker than them. Hayden took a deep breath. She told
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
Austin was extremely patient with the boys. Although they occasionally caused trouble, most of them were minor issues. They would never do something they were not allowed to do.After breakfast, Austin brought them their bags. With a boy in each hand, he left the house. It was to prevent the boys from saying he was playing favorites. Dominic was used to that scene. Initially, Austin was simply Ms. Isabella’s private chef. However, he gradually took on more responsibilities.He would take the two young masters to school. If he had time in the evening, he would also fetch them from school. Austin also made sure Louis and Phillip did their homework, supervised their hobby classes, and played with them. Sometimes, he would even teach them martial arts and train with them. Dominic felt Austin was an all-rounder. It seemed like there was nothing Austin could not do. No wonder Ms. Isabella thought highly of Austin. However, Austin was a young master of a wealthy family. He w
Louis and Phillip were downstairs having the breakfast Austin had prepared for them. The food was different every morning, and everything was delicious.Having gotten used to Austin’s cooking, Louis and Phillip could no longer stand the food provided in the school. They thought the food there was terrible. Louis was enrolled in an elementary school not far from home. As he was a first grader, he did not need to stay in the dormitories and could have his lunch and dinner at home. Phillip, who was a year younger than him, was still in preschool. He would have breakfast and dinner at home. Actually, the preschool did provide breakfast, but Phillip refused to eat in school and insisted on having breakfast at home. In order to eat the breakfast Austin made, he would get up early in the morning without the adults waking him. After putting on his clothes and washing up, he would head to Louis’s place with his bag. “Austin.”Louis suddenly asked, “Did my sister come back last n
Isabella had always thought Tati was teasing her. Therefore, she did not take her words seriously. She thought it was completely normal for Austin to treat her well as she was his boss. From Austin’s perspective, she was his source of income. Now that Isabella pondered about it deeper, she realized perhaps Austin did come to Satbury for her. It was not just to be her chef. He always said Grandma May only gave the York lads a year to pursue their fiancées. However, Austin had never left since he started working for Isabella. Even if he did, it was to accompany her on business trips. He was busy feeding and taking care of her every day and had never gone to pursue his so-called fiancée. He did not even try to gather information on her. Was he not anxious?A year would go by pretty quickly. Although it felt like it had not been long since Austin started working for Isabella, three months had passed. Time really flew. Three months had gone by in the blink of an eye. Neve