After much silence, Liberty said, “They won’t now, but they might do it in the future. We can raise Sonny well, so Sonny can make his own decisions. His father paid for child support after all. I won’t stop the boy from having a relationship with the Browns.” “Yeah. Let’s end this conversation here, Liberty. Today is the opening of your new restaurant. We should keep the mood uplifted for a booming business.” Liberty smiled. “I appreciate it. My restaurant will thrive.” She was confident with her business management and cooking. “Ms. Hunt.” A server entered the restaurant with a strange man. “Ms. Hunt, this mister insists on meeting you. He said he came all the way from Jensburg.” Jensburg? The sisters turned to look at the strange man. The man politely extended his right hand to Liberty. After the handshake, he turned to Serenity, who was next to Liberty, and asked with a smile, “You must be Ms. Serenity Hunt, the wife of Zachary York. I heard a lot about you in Jens
Liberty said, “Please thank your miss for me.” In the end, she reached out to accept the card. Liberty intended to return the bank card to Caroline on her next trip to Jensburg. “I will relay your kind words to the miss. Ms. Hunt, now that my task is complete, I should get going. Once again, I wish you all the success in your business.” “Aren’t you staying for the food, Mr. Fletcher?” Mr. Fletcher smiled and replied, “Considering the precarious situation the miss is in, we must tread carefully in our endeavors, Ms. Hunt. It will be wise not to stay too long. I hope you can understand, Ms. Hunt.” He gave Serenity a nod and waved the sisters goodbye before turning on his heel and taking off. By the looks of his straight back and steady footsteps, the sisters could tell that Caroline cared a lot about Mr. Fletcher. In fact, Caroline trusted him enough to send him to Wiltspoon. “He must be Caroline’s right-hand man,” Serenity murmured. “I believe he’s more than her right-
Liberty drew close and stared at Duncan and Sonny, who could be mistaken for father and son. She did not wake them both up. Instead, Liberty looked around the room. The servers had completed a round of cleanup before their shift ended, leaving the restaurant in tip-top shape. It was the restaurant’s opening day. In addition to the invited friends and family, the restaurant opened its doors to many customers. Liberty offered a discount and a small souvenir to all patrons. Liberty had just balanced the book for today, and the profits were a lot more than her breakfast diner’s. Nevertheless, the restaurant was only packed on its first day of business, thanks to the VIP guests. Only time would tell if her business would continue to thrive. Liberty was confident that her restaurant would surpass the success of her breakfast diner. She would then move on to the next goal once she achieved the one at hand. Liberty gently pulled a chair and sat down, quietly watching the man
Duncan tightened his hold around the boy, then abruptly opened his eyes. Seeing that it was Liberty, Duncan let out a big smile and asked, “Are you finished with work, Liberty? Can we go home? Sonny is tired. I held him so he could sleep for a while, but I fell asleep too.”Liberty pulled her arm away from her son’s face. Duncan lamented his slow reflexes. He could have snatched her hand and pulled it to his face when she was withdrawing her arm. He beat himself up for being a light sleeper too. If he slept like a log, Liberty would have probably snuck a kiss on him. Duncan wondered if it was too late to fall back asleep. “I’m finished for the day. I appreciate you looking after Sonny till this late, Mr. Lewis.” Duncan said, “Always happy to help, especially since Sonny’s warming up to me.” Back then, Sonny would not even let Duncan hold him because of the scar on his face. To this day, Duncan had not gone under the knife to remove the scar. Liberty knew the story be
“I believe you have better prospects in expanding your restaurant chain since you love cooking and want to make delicious and affordable food for people. However, you must be stricter with management and develop your own management style because a good leader is like a glue that holds the team together. Liberty, I believe you will succeed, but don’t be in a hurry. Take things slow. Rome wasn’t built overnight. We will gain more experience as we move forward.” Liberty nodded. “You have a point, Mr. Lewis. I will pace myself. The last thing I want is a costly mistake of losing everything.” Age was still on her side. She could work her way in the industry for another decade before considering diversifying into a five-star hotel. Liberty wheeled Duncan out of the restaurant and stopped to shut and lock the glass door before pulling down the security shutters. “I’ll do it, Ms. Hunt.” The Lewises’ bodyguard came forth and pulled down the shutters for Liberty. Liberty performed the
The other bodyguard had taken personal leave, leaving Duncan with only one bodyguard today. Liberty was concerned that a single bodyguard would have trouble getting Duncan into the car. The bodyguard did not refuse. He and Liberty helped Duncan into the car. Once Duncan was inside, Liberty considerately secured his seat belt while the bodyguard fit the wheelchair into the trunk. Duncan kept his eyes on Liberty as she buckled him up. Since the pair was in such close proximity, he nearly gave in to his urge to hold her tight. In the end, he managed to stop himself. Liberty was becoming more like a family to him. His one-time reckless behavior might cost him all he had worked for. “Mr. Lewis, you don’t have to take us home. The journey isn’t far.” Duncan looked deeply into her eyes. “I can’t rest until I see you and Sonny safely inside the house.” It was difficult for Duncan to let the mother and son out of his sight, let alone a ten-minute driving journey. Liberty locke
Zachary and Serenity gifted Liberty a villa, but she refused the generous gift. The property had yet to be transferred to her name, and she had not moved in either. Liberty was without a word. Faced with Liberty’s silence, the Lewises’ bodyguard knew better than to offer more unsolicited advice. As Liberty opened the door to her home, he said, “Ms. Hunt, don’t forget to lock the door. I got to go.” “Sure, thank you. Drive safely,” Liberty urged. She laid her son down on the sofa before checking the front door. By then, the bodyguard had already left. She quickly locked the door and returned to the sofa to pick her son up and take him to the bedroom. “You’re out like a light. You haven’t even showered.” Liberty gave her son a gentle squeeze on the cheek. She let him sleep instead of waking him up. Sonny could have a nice, hot shower when he wakes up in the morning. “Sonny.” Liberty leaned forward to kiss her son on the cheek. “It must have been hard for you to leave
Serenity was only ten when her parents passed away and since then, Liberty had practically raised her. The bond between the sisters went deep beyond that. Liberty was like a mother to Serenity.Since Serenity became Mrs. York, Liberty was glad to accept help from her sister and Zachary on major matters. However, she firmly refused any handouts when it concerned her everyday life. Zachary and Serenity were at their wit’s end when it came to Liberty’s stubbornness. No one, not even Audrey, could shake her attitude and talk her out of it. “Mr. Lewis, I’ve been living here for a long time. It’s a safe area, and nothing ever happened. I ran into a drunk man tonight, but that’s all. I’ll be careful not to come home late like this again. Today’s incident was an exception. “It’s bad enough I can’t be a safety net my sister can fall back on, but you can’t expect me to mooch off her. A property in The Oasis cost tens of millions, and Zachary bought the biggest villa in the area. I belie
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