Serenity and Sonny whispered to each other their complaints about Liberty being too scary as they walked. Liberty, who overheard them from behind, was speechless. She was like a mother figure to Serenity. She wanted to marry Serenity off extravagantly. “Missus.”The makeup artist Zachary hired stood and greeted Serenity with a smile when she saw her walking down the stairs. Serenity returned a smile. “Good morning, Ms. Gardner. Sorry to have made you wait. I woke up late this morning as I had gone to bed late last night.”“I didn’t wait long. Go ahead and have your breakfast. Then, we can start after you have a short rest.”Most people were not yet aware of Serenity being pregnant. As Ms. Gardner was the makeup artist, Zachary had disclosed Serenity’s pregnancy to her. He also reminded her to use skincare that was harmless for pregnant women. “Let’s eat together, Ms. Gardner.”Ms. Gardner refused politely, “I’ve eaten before coming over.”As she was a seasoned bridal mak
Noah continued, “But Serenity doesn’t need our support.”They thought time had dissipated Serenity’s anger since their last conflict was long ago. They wanted to mend their relationship with the sisters through the wedding. By doing so, they would be able to gain some benefits just by being related to the Yorks. The Hunts wanted to restore their family to its former glory. Everyone looked toward Old Mr. Hunt, awaiting his decision. If not for Serenity and Liberty having some respect left for him, they would have gone to the wedding without his approval. Word of Zachary and Serenity’s wedding had been made known to everyone in Wiltspoon through the entertainment news. It was definitely going to be the wedding of the century. The Hunts wished to witness such a grand event. Serenity’s aunts and uncles wanted to attend the wedding for the delicacies. They even thought of packing up the leftovers to bring home. Since Serenity and Liberty could not care less about them, they
Who knew how their children would treat them when they could no longer care for themselves?Old Mr. Hunt was cautious whether to attend Serenity’s wedding or not. Since she did not invite them, they should not attend and should refrain from causing any trouble on someone else’s big day. “We won’t do anything there, Granddad. Can’t we just show up and have a few drinks? It can mislead others into thinking that our relationship with Serenity has eased. You must be aware of how difficult our situation is now,” Mike asked unhappily. He and his family wanted to attend the wedding. “I believe though it may be difficult, it’s still manageable. Mr. York may have initially targeted you, but he has stopped, right? I see that you guys have been doing well lately. You don’t even give me any living expenses when you're faring well. When things aren’t going smoothly, you’d ask me how much pension I have left to spare for you.”After glaring at Mike, Old Mr. Hunt added, “Anyway, your grandm
“They’re also trying to get our remaining pension. The house we’re living in now belonged to Scott and his wife. We were only able to secure this place to stay because we’re Scott’s parents.“Although our children have been providing us with some living expenses every month, that’s actually the rent that Serenity requested them to pay. Without Serenity’s enforcement, they wouldn’t even give us a single penny. Ultimately, we’re just relying on Serenity and Liberty.“We’re old. We have to accept our fate and be realistic. Let’s stop making pointless struggles.”Old Mrs. Hunt wanted to refute him, yet she could not find any words. What Old Mr. Hunt said was true.“Don’t blame Liberty and Serenity for being cruel. What we did to them ten years ago was worse. Why were we so ruthless back then? They’re our granddaughters after all. Scott and Lisa passed away, leaving their daughters behind. How did we bring ourselves to chase them out and seize their inheritance?”As Old Mr. Hunt spoke,
Did her uncles ever think about the blood relation they had with her before hurting her?Serenity always had a clear line drawn between acts of kindness and cruelty she received. There was no way she would repay evil deeds with gratitude. She was not a saint who could smile and say everything was fine after being bullied. Back in the villa, Serenity sat before the dressing table and allowed Ms. Gardner to put makeup on her. She was sleepy. “Aunt Ser.”Sonny had been watching Ms. Gardner apply makeup on Serenity. He called Serenity loudly when he saw her dozing off. Liberty had told him to keep an eye on his aunt. Serenity opened her eyes. Sonny said, “Uncle Zak is on his way here, Aunt Ser. You can’t fall asleep.”Ms. Gardner said, “I’ve done makeup for many brides, but you’re the first bride who dozed off.”Serenity said embarrassedly, “I get sleepy easily. Sorry, Ms. Gardner.”“I understand. You didn’t get a good night’s sleep. Mr. York probably didn’t sleep well eit
Sonny said smugly, “I knew chili was useful. You’re not dozing off anymore.”Serenity patted Sonny’s head and told him, “You can go out to play and check if Zachary is here.”“Okay,” Sonny agreed happily before exiting the room and going downstairs. Everyone on the floor below was busy. Duncan was the only one sitting because he could not be of help. He would have joined Zachary’s groomsmen entourage to fetch Serenity from the villa if he were mobile. Although he could not yet walk, he wished to help Liberty, and so he came to Liberty’s villa and would follow the rest to Wildridge Manor after Zachary arrived. When Duncan saw Sonny running down, he suddenly thought of something he could do. He called Sonny and the little guy hopped to Duncan and greeted sweetly, “Dunc.”“Why did you come down? Didn’t your mom tell you to accompany Serenity upstairs?”“Aunt Ser told me to come out and play. I also have to check if Uncle Zak’s here.”Duncan looked at the time and said, “He
Duncan’s warm voice rang. Sonny turned his head. When he saw Duncan, he asked concernedly, “Why did you come out alone, Dunc? I’ll look for someone to push your wheelchair.”Duncan had a personal bodyguard, but he had assigned the bodyguard to help with the preparations as things were hectic in the house. He did not need to be looked after anyway.Although he could not walk normally, he could manage to stand and walk several steps. “You don’t have to do that. I can take care of myself.”Sonny immediately said, “I’ll take care of you then. Mom told me to watch Aunt Ser and stop her from sleeping. I saw Aunt Ser dozing off and took some chili flakes out. Aunt Ser did not dare to fall asleep again after that.”He looked like he was asking for a compliment because he had accomplished the task assigned by his mother. Duncan pulled Sonny over and lifted him. He praised, “Smart boy. Where did you get the chili flakes? How did you know it could wake someone up?”“I saw it in the kit
The convoy of bridal cars that Zachary sent to Serenity was approaching. A hundred-car bridal convoy set out from Wildridge Manor to The Oasis. The grand fleet of cars attracted a lot of attention, and many people took pictures.Zachary, who was not usually keen to be in the media, graciously invited the press to take pictures of the journey and satisfy everyone's curiosity.He wanted to give Serenity the wedding of the century. Zachary was determined to have a bigger and better wedding than Josh and Jasmine’s. Duncan saw the bridal convoy and let go of Sonny. He told Sonny, “Sonny, tell your mom that the bridal cars have arrived.” Sonny turned his head to look in the direction Duncan was staring. He saw the long line of cars approaching. “Dunc, are those the cars sent by Uncle Zak to pick Aunt Ser up?” It was too far away to tell what kind of cars they were. Sonny could only make out a multitude of cars.“Those are bridal cars, alright. Zachary owns plenty of cars, so t
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