“Mom, are you going to take these to Serenity now?” Jasmine asked while biting an apple.“Of course. Are you staying for dinner? I’ll come back to prepare dinner after sending these to Serenity,” Camila asked while she opened the car door to get in.“Carlson, come with me. You can help me carry the stuff upstairs when we arrive.”Camila called for her husband.Carlson smiled and said, “I would go with you even if you didn’t ask me to.”He opened the door to the passenger seat and got into the car. After leaving some instructions to Josh and Jasmine, the old couple drove off.Josh stood on the steps of the porch, watching his parents-in-law prepare so many things for Serenity and hurriedly deliver them to her. When his wife came back after closing the gates, he said to her, “They’re giving Serenity as many things as they gave us when you got pregnant.”“Seren and I have been friends for over a decade. My parents watched her grow up and think of her as their daughter. Now that Ser
“Ms. Stone.”Julian’s familiar voice sounded ahead.Elisa and Remy, who were in a good mood, suddenly wanted to teleport home so they did not have to see Julian’s smug and smiling face.Julian really was smug.He saw Remy beside Elisa and how their fingers were tightly interlocked intimately.However, he still acted like a glaring third wheel.Remy’s handsome face instantly darkened.He was glad he followed Elisa back to Wiltspoon early instead of listening to his mother when she tried to make him stay longer. If he had let Elisa return to Wiltspoon by herself, then she would definitely have been picked up by Julian.Julian clearly did not have any feelings for Elisa, but he still clung to her tightly. Not only did he send her gifts every day, but as long as she had to leave Wiltspoon, he would be her personal airport transfer. He was even more diligent than Remy.“Ms. Stone, I’ve been waiting for half an hour. You’re finally here. I thought you had already left.”Julian wore
“Mr. Johnson, it doesn’t matter if you don’t want to sit in my car. I’ll understand. I came here to pick up Ms. Stone. You’re just an add-on. If the add-on doesn’t want to be an add-on, then you can find your way back.”Julian spoke with a smile, but to Remy, every word sounded like thorns, pricking at his heart.Julian asked Elisa, “The suitcase in Mr. Johnson’s hand is yours, right? It’s pink so it should be yours. Girls like pink.”Then, he stepped forward and took the suitcase from Remy, brought it to the back of the car, and easily placed it in the trunk. After closing the trunk, he smiled at Elisa and said, “I reserved a table at Wiltspoon Hotel and ordered your favorite dishes. We can go eat right away.“You can go home after the meal, or if you want to go on a stroll, I can arrange for someone to accompany you.”In other words, he would not accompany Elisa himself.Julian came to pick Elisa up, but he planned to leave once he sent her back.His father found out that Zach
After thinking about it, Julian added with a smile, “But I can understand. Serenity has been married to Zachary for a year, and many outsiders say that she’s infertile. Now that she’s expecting, they must be relieved. It’s natural for everyone to be happy for her.”Remy chimed in, “Many people will be happy for you too if you can become a father in the future, Mr. Bucham.”Julian had hypoactive sexual desire disorder. If he did not meet a woman who could evoke a response from him, he could never become a real man in his life. He would be like an eunuch, let alone become a father.Remy’s words struck Julian, but fortunately, Julian was an open-minded person.Although he had this disorder, he did not care. It was not life-threatening, so the worst-case scenario was for him to remain single for the rest of his life. Being single was quite nice for him.He smiled and said, “If I have the opportunity to become a father, I don’t know if it’ll make others happy, but my old man will defin
“That’s because they’re blind and can’t see a treasure that is right in front of them.”Remy pulled her into the Stone family villa and spoke as he walked, “I’m glad they’re blind though, otherwise I’d get jealous if I had a whole bunch of love rivals.”Elisa giggled.She felt relaxed and at ease with Remy as it was her true personality that he fell for.After sending the young couple home, Julian left the Stones’ residence and headed straight to his home. He coincidentally ran into Jasmine, who had been called back by her mother-in-law.When Jasmine’s bodyguard saw Julian’s car, he quickly pulled over to the side and let Julian’s car pass first.Julian and Jasmine rolled down their car windows at the same time.“Julian,” Jasmine greeted.Julian hummed gently and asked, “Why are you coming home at this time?”When Jasmine resumed watching over the bookstore, she had always returned home at night.“Mom called me back. There’s something she wants me to do, so I’m here.”Juli
The nutritionist did not interfere with everyone’s freedom to eat out. She was invited by her aunt to take care of the family’s diet, so she only had a say over those who ate at home. Her reach did not extend to those who ate outside.Now, her main focus was Jasmine.Josh was the first in their generation to get married, and the baby in Jasmine’s womb would be the firstborn of the next generation. The whole Bucham family attached great importance to this, not just Rebecca.To ensure that Jasmine would give birth to a healthy and intelligent baby, the recipes for pregnant women that she formulated were rich in nutrition. The dishes themselves were naturally of high quality and varied every day. The recipes would not change regardless of Jasmine liking them or not.Fortunately, Jasmine was a foodie and was not picky about food.They always got along well.When Rebecca and the nutritionist heard footsteps, they both turned to look at the door.“Jasmine.”Seeing that her daughter-i
Theresa glanced at Rebecca and the other did not say anything, so she stopped talking as well.After all, Jasmine was her aunt’s daughter-in-law.The baby in her belly was also the next generation of the Bucham family. Theresa was only here to give nutritional advice.In fact, there was not much that Rebecca could say either. The food was made by her in-laws, and Jasmine did not go back to her home to eat every day either. There was no problem eating it once in a while.“I’ll go to the washroom,” Jasmine said and hurried there.After she left, Theresa said softly, “Aunt Rebecca, will Jasmine blame me for saying too much and being controlling? Pickled products should be consumed less, even for normal people. Pickled food never appears on our families’ dining tables, but Jasmine fancies them so much.“She even ran back to her home to eat it. Are the meals I planned for her aren’t to her liking? It was you who called me here, and I only came because of you and Josh.”Rebecca said s
However, Jasmine did not expect Theresa to have so many opinions about her.Fortunately, Theresa was just Josh’s cousin. Although she was the Bucham family’s nutritionist, she did not usually stay in the Bucham residence. She only came often after Jasmine got pregnant. Even if she had a problem with Jasmine, it would not affect Jasmine.Rebecca mentioned Serenity, thinking that the York family would also hire a nutritionist to make a meal plan for her daily diet.Maybe they would, but the York family would not control Serenity.A few minutes after Rebecca and Theresa stopped talking, Jasmine finally came out of the washroom.“Jasmine, did you have a stomachache?” Rebecca asked with concern.“No.”Jasmine said with embarrassment, “I always bring my phone when I go to the washroom.”She did not continue, but everyone understood what she meant.People nowadays liked to take their phones when they went to do their business.“Jasmine, you should spend less time on your phone. Ther
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