Julian suddenly understood why Zachary fell in love with Serenity after their marriage. He must have experienced a simple life that he never did before, and the fresh excitement soon turned into addiction. That was probably why he kept his identity a secret from Serenity. Julian pondered on when he should tell Quinn the truth. He could not possibly follow Zachary’s footsteps. Even Serenity, who was mild-tempered, got so furious that she wanted to get a divorce after discovering Zachary’s lie. He had a nasty shock. Quinn always had a clear stand on her likes and dislikes. Although she looked easygoing, she could be destructive if someone offended her. Deception was definitely not an option. Zachary’s brothers and cousins dared not hide their identities like he did when pursuing their future brides. They were honest from the get-go out of fear of ending up like Zachary. “Mr. Bucham?” Quinn called Julian, puzzled, as he was staring straight at her without even blinking.
As Quinn mentioned, it was best to keep up a lie forever once it started. Otherwise, one must come clean as early as possible and ask for forgiveness to prevent the lie from snowballing. Julian could never deceive her for his entire life. After all, he had to manage the Buchams’ business. Quinn would also have to meet his family after getting married to him. There was no way the lie could last forever. Quinn asked curiously, “Did that friend of yours lie to the person he likes or a friend?”“He lied to the woman he fell in love with at first sight. He opened up to me because he didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to tell him. He lied to her, fearing she might leave him after finding out that he would constantly be in danger or targeted.”“My advice is not to lie about feelings. Although I’ve never dated someone, I think I’ll beat my boyfriend up and never contact each other again if he deceives me.”Julian was shocked. Quinn was more ruthless than Serenity. After swal
Upon giving it some thought, Julian agreed with Quinn. He said, “Being honest with the person you love is crucial. Thank you, Ms. Crawford. I’ll talk to my friend and tell him not to keep a secret anymore.”Quinn smiled. “You don’t have to thank me. I was just sharing my thoughts. Everyone has differing opinions. There may be people who think lying is acceptable. Some of them are used to living in a lie.“You can talk to your friend. If he doesn’t accept your suggestion, you don’t have to continue persuading him. You can't wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.”Julian felt awkward. What would Quinn think of him if he were to tell her the truth?He needed her to discover his true identity in the most natural way possible. He could explain everything to her afterward. Upon finishing his breakfast, Julian felt much better. Quinn asked, “Do you need more rest, Mr. Bucham?”“It’s almost noon. I think I’ll head out for a stroll instead, and only take a nap afterward. My he
Quinn cocked her head to the side. The sharp blade narrowly missed her face. The robber’s wrist trembled, and the blade was turned toward her neck. Suddenly, a hand appeared to grab the robber’s wrist. The robber exclaimed in pain when a strong grip caught his wrist. The knife fell from his hand, and he received a painful kick. However, there was no escaping for him because his wrist was still locked in a grasp. Julian went to the robber’s back and kicked behind his knees. The robber knelt from the pain, and his wrists were confined to his back. Julian pressed his weight onto the robber to make him stay down. The robber’s face rubbed against the floor and bled. He shouted, “Call 911. Help. Call the police.”Julian chuckled. “Right. We should call the police.”He said to Quinn, “Please call the police, Ms. Crawford.”Quinn was stunned by Julian’s moves. Before the police came, Julian held the robber down and restricted him. Despite the many questions in her head, Quinn di
“It was best if I was trained to protect myself, so my parents sent me to martial arts classes when I was only a few years old. I was talented and became highly skilled in it after about ten years.“Of course, I’ll still be at a disadvantage when many people come at me all at once. If it weren’t for you rescuing me the night I ran into the motorcycle gang, I would’ve been in trouble.“No matter what, you saved my life. Although you have a noble character and refused my offer to return the favor, I don’t want to stay indebted to you. I was only trying to repay you by registering as a member at your gym and paying you via fees.“Sorry for lying to you, Ms. Crawford.”Quinn stared at Julian and he grew nervous from her stare. He was scared she would be furious at his deceptions. Besides, his explanation was still a lie. The only truth was that he was skilled in martial arts. “Were you using your friend’s lying story to test my limits about being lied to?”Quinn was a straightforw
“We gather intel for people. My family is huge, and we’re good at collecting information. Since we often help others to gather information, some people get offended.”Quinn blinked and smiled. “So you’re a private investigator?”“Something similar.”“Is it profitable?”Julian said, “Pretty much.”He found her question funny, and his affection for her deepened. Well, he did fall in love with her at first sight, but his love grew deeper with every look at her. She was the only person who could make his heart beat fast. Julian had to hold himself back every time he saw her to prevent himself from making any weird moves. Only the heavens knew how much he wished to hug and kiss her. He had never experienced hugging or kissing a woman despite being over thirty years old. No matter how beautiful or sexy other women looked, his body had never reacted to them. It was only Quinn whom he desired. “You have a huge family… By the way, is Mr. York’s right-hand man, the one I saw dur
Meanwhile at Wildridge Manor, Serenity returned to her room. The wedding decorations were still up. Although it felt as if a long time had passed, returning to the room reminded her that it had only been half a day since her wedding.While chatting with the manor’s employees with Grandma May, she had the opportunity to listen to some gossip. She suddenly knew why Grandma May enjoyed interacting with the employees. The old lady simply wanted to listen to the exciting stories. Grandma May could hang out with the employees every day only due to her retired lifestyle and advanced age, whereas Serenity had to continue working hard as she was still young. Otherwise, she could have found joy in such life too.When she got older, she would retire alongside Zachary and travel the world while they could still walk around. After that, she could learn from Grandma May and initiate conversations with their employees from time to time, as well as get some juicy gossip. Those days would be in
Serenity sat up and hugged Zachary. “It must’ve been tough on you, babe.”“Anything for you. I hope you can leave all the hard work to me. I want you to have a happy life without worries.”“Do you think I’m Sonny, who has nothing to worry about? Alright, go wash up. We’ll be having lunch soon. Everyone’s up already. Aren’t you hungry after sleeping for the entire morning?”Serenity nudged and urged him to get ready. Zachary got off the bed reluctantly and walked toward the bathroom. He said, “You’ve become less clingy, Seren. In the past, you’ve always wanted to spend an hour in the room with me. Now you’re urging me to leave just after a few minutes.”Serenity was speechless and embarrassed. Whenever she woke him up in the past, they would spend up to an hour in the room before heading out because he would convince her to make babies with him. Despite his serious appearance, he was passionate in bed. She was unable to resist him and would end up begging him to let her go.“
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