“Duncan asked us out for lunch tomorrow at our usual spot. That guy always goes back to the same place with us every time! I know the food at Grace’s Diner is delicious, but I wouldn’t bother to go if it wasn’t for Grandma May’s Beans and Cream next door. At least we can hang out at the cafe.”“We used to go there often. Duncan is such a nostalgic guy,” Zachary chimed in.Before they got to their current positions in the company, Zachary was not yet a manager and was still in training. Even then, he also did not like to reveal his identity, so he would often eat at regular diners with his friends.Beans and Cream was the largest and fanciest cafe in Wiltspoon. The clothing stores and restaurants nearby were not exactly low-end either.That was because low-end stores would not be able to receive the flow of customers coming from Beans and Cream.The patrons of Beans and Cream were mostly working professionals who liked to treat themselves. They would often try out other restaurants
After some thought, Zachary finally sat down at the dining table. He opened the lid of the disposable box and silently ate the breakfast burrito that he was not a fan of.Zachary had to admit that living with Serenity made him more like an ordinary person.He ate a lot of street food that he had never tried before.After breakfast, Zachary went to the balcony. He sat down on the swing and admired Serenity’s flowers and plants.He sat there until eleven o’clock when he received a phone call from Josh reminding him of their lunch appointment. Zachary then went back to his room, got dressed, and went out.Knowing that Serenity was at her sister’s house, Zachary thought they would not cross paths, so instead of driving the national MPV, he sat in his luxurious Rolls-Royce. As usual, he was ostentatiously escorted to Grace’s Diner by a convoy of bodyguards.The convoy parked in front of Grandma May’s cafe, and Zachary walked to the diner so it would not cause much of a commotion.Whe
Zachary went back to his table with a calm face. After the dishes were served, he ate quietly without joining in on his friends’ conversation.All he kept thinking about was Serenity smiling and putting food on Shawn’s plate.“Zachary, you’re acting a little weird today.”Duncan picked up a vegetable with a fork and ate it. He looked at Zachary, who was sitting across from him, and said, “Why are you so quiet today? You just kept shoving food into your mouth.”Josh nodded in agreement.Zachary said blankly, “I’m hungry.”He only ate a breakfast burrito that he did not like in the morning. It was not filling, and he was famished.Of course, Zachary was also in a bad mood.When he was in a bad mood, he would just eat non-stop.Zachary thought, ‘So what if she serves Shawn food? I don’t care. Did she think I’ll get jealous?’As he said before, he did not know what jealousy was and would never experience it!They were just husband and wife in name and had signed an agreement tha
Duncan would not be happy even if it was just a nominal marriage that was kept hidden.Zachary listened to his two friends joking around and kept silent while continuing to eat his meal.Soon, he was full.“I’m going to my nana’s cafe. You two can take your time eating here.”Zachary put down his cutlery and wiped the oil stains around his mouth with a tissue before getting up to leave.“We’re done eating. We’ll go with you!”Duncan and Josh also put down their cutlery and went to Beans and Cream next door with Zachary.The bodyguards had gotten their fill too. Seeing that their boss was leaving, they silently got up and walked out quietly to protect their boss.They were afraid of disturbing the boss’s wife.Serenity was eating with Shawn, who had seen Zachary before, so the bodyguards could not alert Serenity. Otherwise, Zachary’s identity would be compromised.Duncan went to pay the bill.Josh waited for Duncan to settle the bill and walked out with him. He whispered, “Du
Serenity did not know that Zachary was having lunch at Grace’s Diner with his friends.Serenity, Jasmine, and Shawn chatted while they ate and spent quite some time there.Shawn received a call and had to excuse himself by leaving early, so Serenity said, “Jas and I are done eating. I’ll get the bill soon. Shawn, you can go ahead and deal with whatever you need to. Jas and I will go to the cafe next door.”Serenity fell in love with Beans and Cream’s tranquility the last time she accompanied Jasmine on a blind date there.This street was busy, so surrounding businesses were booming. The owner of the cafe was willing to spend money on sound insulation, so when customers walked into the cafe, the noise outside would be filtered out.Shawn thought that his cousin drove, so she could take Serenity home later. He said, “Jas, Serenity, I’ll get going then.”“Go ahead! Drive carefully on the road,” Jasmine urged her cousin.“Jas, please send Serenity home later.”Serenity had a car, b
Josh was a little dumbfounded when he saw this.Was Zachary merely acting all this while when he showed off about his wife?However, Grandma May no longer cared about the company affairs and rarely went to the office, so there was no need for Zachary to act in front of Josh.Josh was confused.Forget it. That was Zachary’s private affairs, so Zachary could manage it himself. They were just Zachary’s friends and would just wait to watch the drama unfold with some popcorn in hand.If there was no drama to watch, Josh would just go home and sleep.Two hours later, Serenity looked at the time and saw that it was already three o’clock in the afternoon. She said to her friend, “Jas, let’s go back. I have to go to my sister’s house.”“Alright.”Jasmine also looked at the time and did not object to Serenity wanting to go home. “Let’s drop by the supermarket later to buy some fruit and toys for your sister and Sonny. I want to visit your sister’s house with you. I don’t want to go home
Jasmine asked in surprise, “Really? Brynfield is a high-end neighborhood, but I didn’t expect someone who drives a Rolls-Royce would live there. If they’re so rich, why not live in a villa?”“Mr. York said that perhaps some rich kid went to a nearby school, so the parents bought an apartment for the kid in Brynfield. That way, it’s more convenient for the kid to travel to school. That family might have countless villas.”Jasmine smiled. “True. Let’s go to the supermarket. By the way, didn’t Grandma May say that she’s coming over?”“Not anymore.”“Why now?”“The owner of the house disagreed.”Jasmine was speechless.The owner of the house was Zachary, Grandma May’s grandson. Grandma May wanted to come over for the weekend, but her grandson did not allow it. What an unfilial child!The two got into Jasmine’s car and left Beans and Cream.Shortly after, Jasmine parked the car in a large shopping mall.After strolling around the mall, the two of them came out with many bags of go
Jasmine and Serenity went to Liberty’s apartment.Serenity got out of Jasmine’s car. Her face stiffened when she saw a familiar car parked there.“What’s wrong?”“That car belongs to Liberty’s sister-in-law. She must’ve come to trouble my sister again. Liberty’s sister-in-law is definitely one of the worst people I know. She’s comparable to the relatives from my hometown.”Jasmine said, “Let’s hurry up, then. If she bullies Liberty, we’ll kick her out together!”Serenity had already grabbed her things to head inside.Jasmine quickly followed.The Browns visited again. As usual, it was just Chelsea and Mrs. Brown.They came to persuade Liberty to take Hank back from their house.Hank went to live at his parents’ house but ate his meals at his sister’s house because his parents took care of Chelsea’s children and cooked at her place.Fortunately, both his parents’ and sister’s houses were close by. They were in the same neighborhood but opposite blocks.Chelsea watched as her
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