The Browns were not blessed enough to keep a good daughter-in-law like Liberty. “The doctor said I could be discharged and recuperate at home. Staying in the hospital is expensive.”Hank added, “I almost depleted my family’s assets.”He planned to follow his parents back to their hometown and sell the house they owned in the city. Otherwise, his family would struggle financially. Since he had included Jessica’s name on the title deed, he needed to inform her beforehand that the house would be sold. Jessica had been found guilty in two cases and sentenced to prison for decades.She utterly regretted her wrongdoings. Liberty nodded. She said, “Rest well at home and don’t think about working just yet. You can pay Sonny’s child support for the following year after you resume working.”Chelsea wanted to chime in at that point. She felt Liberty was too cruel for demanding Hank to pay child support despite his weak state. However, Hank said quickly, “Don’t worry. Sonny’s my son.
Chelsea and Hank left. In subsequent days, Hank sold his house after obtaining Jessica’s permission. He initially wanted to split the money with her, but she refused. The house was bought before Hank’s first marriage. Even Liberty could not receive the house as compensation during their divorce, let alone her. Jessica wanted Hank to hand over her share of the sale to Liberty and Sonny. She had wronged them the most. Whether Liberty accepted it or not, Jessica was repenting for her mistakes in her own way. After that, Hank returned to his hometown to recuperate. Aside from visiting Sonny occasionally, he and his family never again appeared before Liberty for any other matters. The Browns eventually faded out of everyone’s lives. …At the Newmans’ villa, Trenton stood outside the gates with a black backpack. However, he did not press the doorbell. It was his home. Well, it was Camryn’s home, to be exact. Trenton’s grandparents had given the villa to Abel, whom his own pa
“I see.”Trenton was deep in thought.After discovering what his parents had done, he had been suspicious whether the doctor in charge of treating Camryn back then had died of natural causes. His parents could have played a part in it. “Why did you return all of a sudden, Mr. Trenton?”The maid found it weird. Was Trenton not supposed to be studying at the university?It would have made sense if he returned during a long break but the break was already over.“I requested a leave of absence because I was worried about Camryn.”Trenton revealed that he had taken some time off his studies to come home. “Camryn’s inside, right? I’ll go meet her.”He was eager to meet Camryn and verify that her eyes were recovering. “Ms. Camryn and Mr. Callum are together.”Trenton seemed to have missed the maid’s last sentence as he had gone inside the house in a hurry. Once he stepped inside, he saw his soon-to-be brother-in-law, Callum, entangled in a steamy kiss with his sister. Trento
Trenton walked over and glared at Callum. Callum smiled. “Why are you back?”Trenton was furious at him for taking advantage of Camryn. Even while blushing, he said angrily, “This is my house. I can come back whenever I want. It’s none of your business.”Callum did not argue with him. He knew Trenton had caught them making out and must have felt Callum was taking advantage of Camryn.“It’s me, Camryn.”Trenton approached Camryn and pushed Callum aside to stand before her in the most ideal position for her to see him clearly.They had been siblings for seventeen years, yet ten years had passed since she last saw her brother’s face. He was merely a second grader when she lost her vision and in a flash, he was now a university student.Instead of being displeased from being pushed aside, Callum smiled. He said, “Trenton, your sister can see in close distances now, albeit slightly blurry. Dr. Carden likened her eyesight to that of a person with severe myopia without their glasses
Camryn hugged Trenton after calming down. Trenton glanced at Callum, worried he would get jealous. He had heard rumors of how overbearing his future brother-in-law was, but Callum could probably tolerate it since he was Camryn’s brother. Trenton recalled that Camryn was cold and often ignored him when he was young. However, when he fell, she would always help him up and soothe him in her arms.Trenton had liked Camryn for as long as he could remember. His aloof sister would only express her concern whenever he fell down. Hence, he liked falling because it was the only way to make Camryn show her concern for him. In his memories, her embrace was frail yet heartwarming. When Trenton was younger, he could never understand why his mother treated Camryn badly or why Camryn always ignored him. As he grew older, he finally discovered that he and Camryn did not share the same father. Although they shared the same mother, Paige never liked Camryn. Whenever Trenton saw Camryn gett
“Okay.”Camryn got Trenton to sit. She asked, “Why did you come back all of a sudden? There are no special occasions. Don’t you have classes?”“I was quite worried after our call last time. I wanted to know how you were doing after the treatment, so I requested a leave of absence to visit you.”“You could’ve done it over a call. You should return to school as soon as possible after a brief stay.” Callum chimed in, “Since Trenton’s home, he can attend Zachary’s wedding before heading back to uni.”Camryn asked how many days of leave Trenton had requested. “A week.”Zachary and Serenity’s wedding would be held in three days. Camryn said, “You can return to school after attending Zachary’s wedding. Next time, don’t skip classes if there’s nothing urgent. You should concentrate on your studies and come home during the winter break. I can arrange an internship for you to train yourself.”She would never monopolize Newman Enterprise. Trenton would always have a share. “I’m not
Brenda and Amy, who were once the young ladies of the Newmans, had lost their arrogance and elegance. They stood at the villa’s entrance in ordinary clothing with not a piece of expensive jewelry in sight. Neither were any Hermès bags. They even took a taxi over because they did not have a car. The two families had sold everything they could to pay off their debts and had no choice but to live in rented houses. Although Amy and Brenda were born into the Newmans when they were not as rich as now, they were still well-off. The sisters had never experienced hardships or financial struggles. They obtained a generous amount of money from their parents when they got married because then the family had become wealthier. Their husbands’ families were equally rich. Now, despite being grandmothers, they were forced to live in poor conditions after losing their wealth. Job finding was difficult due to their old age and pampered attitude. The only job available for them was to be cle
So what if Dr. Carden was the legendary doctor’s best disciple?He was still human and there were bound to be illnesses and complex conditions that he could not cure. “Trenton, Trenton.”Amy and Brenda were delighted to see Trenton behind Camryn. Their nephew was easier to talk to compared to their niece.In the past, they would join Cain and Paige in bullying and abusing Camryn. Despite knowing Camryn was a victim, they remained as bystanders and wished for her death. That said, Camryn’s hatred and desire for revenge was understandable. In contrast, Amy and Brenda loved their one and only nephew. Prior to joining the fight for inheritance, they had hoped the Newman family could become more influential. That way, they could each hold more authority in their husband’s family and no one would have dared to look down on them. “Stop calling Trenton. He has no say in this.”Camryn walked over and talked to her aunts with the gates between them. Callum was not with her becaus
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