Duncan heard his mother’s words and thought that she was complaining about Liberty.Then, he heard Lily say, “Feelings can’t be forced. Duncan doesn’t like me, so we’re just not meant to be. You also said that it’s fate. Even if we got together, there’s no guarantee that he wouldn’t have gotten into an accident.“Now, Duncan came around and learned to accept reality, so you can’t say such things in front of him. He’ll think that you’re blaming Liberty. Liberty has remained passive from the beginning till now. She also often encouraged Duncan when she was taking care of him for a while. However, she doesn’t look at him in that way.”Corey sighed again. “Yes, we can all see that she hasn’t fallen in love with Duncan. It’s not that she disdains his inability to walk, but that she has never thought about remarriage in the first place. Her last marriage did her too much harm.“I’m not blaming Liberty. I know that she’s innocent. I was just lamenting what happened. Don’t worry, I won’t l
“Okay.”Corey personally sent Lily out of the house.She stood at the door and watched Lily leave. Lily was such a great girl, but she was not meant to be with Duncan.The fate between people was really strange.Liberty was definitely not as good as Lily, but Duncan did not like Lily. He only liked Liberty.A few moments later, Corey went back into the house.She saw her son slowly stand up and move a step to sit on the sofa without the bodyguard holding him.Corey was very excited. Her son was able to stand by himself and take a step forward!The bodyguard pushed the wheelchair away and parked it to the side, then silently went out.“Duncan.”Corey walked over quickly and sat next to her son. Her concerned faze fell on his legs. When she saw his legs shaking, her heart broke again, and she reached out to gently touch his calf.“Does it still hurt a lot?”Duncan hummed. “It’s not as painful as the first time I stood up on my own. Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll get better slowly.”
Corey responded, “It’s good that he woke up. That way, Sonny will still have a father. It’d be a pity if he lost his father at such a young age.”Duncan said, “Sonny isn’t close to his father. Hank used to toss him to Liberty and Serenity to raise. He did nothing himself and only teased the child when he felt like it. He even often made Sonny cry.“His parents are the same. Their relationship with Sonny is superficial, and they’re not that sincere about him. Children are closer to their caretakers. Sonny is as close to Serenity as he is to his own mother, whereas he’s not close to his grandparents and his paternal aunt.“Fortunately, Liberty won custody of Sonny. Sonny following her is the best outcome.”Corey hummed.“Now, the Brown family is desperately trying to get closer to Sonny. Although it’s not too late, watching them makes me want to ridicule them a little.”In fact, Duncan quite disliked the Brown family.He did not like the Browns very much.In particular, he found
Serenity waited at the entrance of the manor since she knew her sister was arriving.Zachary naturally accompanied her.However, she yawned incessantly.Zachary said, “It was a long distance from downtown to here. I told you to take a nap since your sister would arrive just as you woke up from the nap, but you refused to listen. Now, you can’t stop yawning.”Serenity yawned again and said, “I’m afraid I won’t want to get up if I lie down. When the AC is on during weather like this, I’ll feel lazier and want to sleep more. The more I sleep, the more I want to stay in bed.”She could sleep the entire afternoon away if no one came to wake her up.“It’s probably because the season is changing. People often feel lazy during such times.”Zachary held her hand, pulled it up, and kissed the back of her palm. He looked up at her with eyes full of tenderness and asked, “Seren, it’ll be our wedding anniversary soon. What gift did you prepare for me?”Serenity withdrew her hand and pinched
Liberty stopped her car at the entrance of the manor.“Sonny, wake up. We’re at Aunt Seren’s house.”Liberty turned her head to call her son.The little boy went with the sandman after getting in the car and slept the entire journey.He slept so soundly that not even his mother’s calls could wake him up.Liberty got out of the car first.“Liberty.”Serenity’s smile was as bright as the sun. Zachary also came over to greet Liberty.“It’s so hot out. Why are you two standing here waiting for me? Hurry inside. I’ll drive the car in.”Zachary smiled and said, “Your sister started counting down the time when she heard that you were coming. She thought you were almost here, so she insisted on coming out to wait.”Liberty admonished her sister, “If you wanted to wait outside, why didn’t you at least bring an umbrella for shade?”“It’s fine. We sat at the security booth for a while. There’s air conditioning inside. When we saw that it was almost time, we came out just in time to see
Liberty hummed.She drove straight to the main building.Soon after she arrived, she saw Tania coming out from inside the house just as she parked the car.Tania walked down the steps to the front of the car and asked Liberty, “Is Sonny here?”Liberty said with a laugh, “How would I dare not bring Sonny after how much you urged me on the phone? He’s in the back, but he fell asleep.”“It’s fine if he’s asleep. It’s just in time for an afternoon nap. I also just woke up from my nap.”When Tania heard that Sonny was in the backseat, she was just about to open the door when she saw her son coming out of the car. She quickly reached out when she saw Zachary carrying Sonny. “Let me carry him. Be careful not to bump him into anything.”Zachary said in a low voice, “Aren’t you worried about me bumping into anything?”“You have thick skin, so it doesn’t matter if you bump into something. You’ll get a scrape at most.”Tania gently took Sonny from her son.Then, she walked into the hous
The house turned lively after Sonny woke up.Serenity, his biological aunt, did not have the chance to get close to Sonny. She took her sister out of the manor to enjoy the scenery.The scenery at Wildridge Manor differed over the four seasons.Spring blossomed with beautiful flowers while summer let one admire the magnificent lotuses.Fall saw red leaves at the foot of the mountain and while there was no snow in Wiltspoon for one to enjoy the white blanket of scenery, that did not affect the lovely surroundings of the manor.“How is Hank?” Serenity asked her sister.“He’s recovering well. His mental state today was much better than when he just woke up, but he still can’t get out of bed and walk around. Jessica was really trying to kill him with every stab. The doctor said it was a miracle he survived.”Serenity said after a moment of silence, “If he’s alive, Sonny will still have a father. He can’t influence you anymore anyway, so you can just take Sonny to visit him occasiona
“After a few peaceful days, I learned about my true identity, and then it was a long road of investigation. Seren, don’t you think that we are ill-fated? Why do pain and suffering always find us?”Serenity comforted her. “Aunt Audrey, don’t say that. No one’s life can be smooth sailing all the time. We will encounter setbacks along the way. I’ve talked to Zachary, asking him to help investigate. With more people, we might be able to find some evidence.”“Okay.”Audrey had spoken those pessimistic words to her niece out of momentary frustration.“Has your sister arrived at your place?”“She just arrived not long ago. Do you have something to say to my sister, Aunt Audrey?”Audrey said, “Pass the phone to your sister. I want to talk to her for a moment.”Serenity handed the phone to her sister.“Aunt Audrey.”Audrey responded and asked Liberty, “Liberty, can you free up some time recently?”“Of course. What would you like me to do? Just let me know.”“In that case, free up a w
Lilian often messed with the medicinal herbs her master cultivated, which led to her being chased and scolded by him.It seemed her son had inherited her restless nature.“How’s Sonny been lately?”Liberty had been on edge these past few days because Caroline had been preparing to lure her three brothers into a trap and had not had time to call her son.“Same as usual, but it seems like things have soured again with the Browns.”Serenity added, “Sonny still answers when Hank calls him, but he doesn’t seem happy when his grandparents visit. He doesn’t like going to the Browns’ place, and he doesn’t want to take their calls either.“Hank’s mother and sister are truly incorrigible. They must have been badmouthing you and Duncan in front of Sonny again, which is why he’s upset with them.”During the holidays, Sonny had stayed with the Browns for a few days and started to warm up to them.However, who would have thought that the mother and daughter would start spouting nonsense in f
Once the baby was born, he would apply the knowledge he had learned over the past few months to care for the baby. He was determined to be a competent and responsible father.Serenity released her arms from around him and shifted to her side.Zachary let go, too, allowing her to turn.Then, she planted countless gentle kisses on his face.“Babe, with you here, the baby and I will be just fine. Don’t worry too much,” Serenity comforted softly after kissing him.“You are my rock. If even you are nervous, I’ll start feeling anxious too, and that won’t be good.”Hearing this, Zachary immediately said, “Seren, don’t worry. I’ll protect both of you. Alright, I won’t be so nervous anymore.”He gently touched her rounded belly again. “Lil’ Bun should be a calm kid. He’s not that mischievous.”He felt that the baby’s movements were not too intense.Serenity wanted to tell him that there were times when the baby kicked more vigorously, but she decided against it, knowing it would only m
“Just hit the gym a few more times. Lately, you’ve been spending less time there.”Every day after work, he would come home and orbit around her. As a result, he had less time to work out.It was normal to gain a few pounds eating well and exercising less. Did he really think he could eat anything without gaining weight?The reason he could maintain a model-like physique before was that he exercised daily.“Ow.” Serenity suddenly cried out in pain.This startled Zachary so much that he nearly jumped up, asking anxiously, “Is it stomach pain? Are you going into labor? Let’s go to the hospital right away.”He was about to pick her up, but Serenity stopped him by pressing his hand.“Don’t be so nervous, Zachary. It's not time yet. It’s not happening so soon. It’s just the baby kicking again. His kicks are getting stronger.”As she entered the later stages of pregnancy, the little one inside her was growing stronger. Sometimes, a couple of kicks from the baby could actually hurt.
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