Elisa laughed and said, “Alice, please don’t laugh at me. I’m just so nervous. I bet Clive is panicking right now.”“Okay, I’ll stop laughing at you. Though laughing lessens the pain.”Elisa said, “Then go ahead and laugh! If your stomach doesn’t hurt from laughing, you should laugh more. I really don’t mind since I’m quite thick-skinned.”Alice hugged her belly and laughed, but then she soon frowned and said, “Now it hurts. The pain is getting more intense.”Hearing this, Audrey immediately instructed her daughter, “Bring Alice to the hospital now!”Most women would experience contractions for at least a day or two before giving birth for the first time. Some women would even have to endure the pain for three days. However, some women only had contractions for a few hours before delivery.Maybe Alice would not have to struggle for long.Thus, the Stones rushed Alice to the hospital.On the way to the hospital, Alice called Clive. When he answered the phone, she said, “Clive, m
“I’ll call your mother!” Audrey offered.Alice did not get to call her mother. Audrey felt that Alice’s family should be present when Alice was giving birth, so she took the initiative to call Alice’s family, telling them to meet up at the hospital.Soon after, the Stones and Lafayettes gathered outside the delivery room, waiting anxiously for Alice to give birth.Just as Audrey had guessed, Alice did an examination and was sent to the delivery room immediately upon arrival.Elisa posted a message on Facebook, notifying the Hunt sisters of Alice’s labor.Zachary immediately accompanied Serenity and Grandma May to the hospital while Liberty arrived before Serenity.Seeing the large group of people waiting outside, Liberty walked to Audrey and called out softly.“Liberty, why are you here?”“I saw Elisa’s post that Alice was about to give birth, so I came to see how everything was going. How long has she been in there?”Audrey said, “It felt like she went in a long time ago. But
The door to the delivery room opened and everyone waiting gathered around.A nurse held the baby and asked Clive with a smile, “Are you Alice Lafayette’s family member?”“I am her husband. Has she given birth? How is my wife? Can I go in and see her? When can she come out?”Clive asked multiple questions regarding his wife.Liberty was standing behind the crowd. Seeing how much Clive cared about Alice, she sighed in relief, knowing that Alice had married the right person.The nurse answered Clive. “Your wife is in good condition. She gave birth to a boy. Both mother and child are safe. The baby is 7.3 pounds. Your wife will be out shortly. Here’s the baby.”Clive was relieved to hear that Alice and the baby were safe.Everyone had smiles on their faces when they heard what the nurse said. They were also excited to see the little one.Clive took his son from the nurse’s arms. He looked at his newborn son and handed the baby to his mother-in-law, Felicity. He said, “Mom, you can
Fortunately, Alice did not keep her husband waiting for too long as the nurse soon pushed her out of the delivery room.“Babe!”Clive ran to Alice.Alice’s hair was messy, and her lips were cracked.Even so, Alice was in good spirits when she saw that everyone was waiting for her. She said to her husband, “Clive, we have a son! They said the baby looks like me.”Felicity said, “Yeah, your son resembles you. The baby is very healthy.”Clive leaned down and kissed his beloved wife on the forehead. He said in distress, “Thanks for your hard work, babe. Let’s not have any more children. One is enough.”Alice’s family hoped that she would give birth to a boy.The Stones had a big business empire, and Clive said that they would only have one child. Alice’s family felt that their daughter’s position in the Stone family was secure because she had given birth to an heir.After giving birth, Alice was also glad that she had a son. That way, her son would not have to endure the pain of c
Alice held her son and kissed him several times, smiling. “Of course, he looks like me. I gave birth to him! His mouth looks like Clive’s.”Alice glanced at her husband and said, “He has both our features, but he looks more like me.”Clive said dotingly, “It’s better that way since I’m not as good-looking as you.”Everyone laughed.Alice and Clive were a good-looking couple. The baby was still so small, so it was hard to tell whose looks he would take after. Yet, everyone was sure he would be a handsome little boy in the future.Alice needed more rest after giving birth, so everyone left after a while.Clive and Audrey stayed in the hospital to take care of Alice and the baby.After coming out of the hospital, Serenity and Zachary went to the Stones’ residence.The Stones were beaming with joy because they just welcomed a new baby.The Hunt sisters bought a lot of nutritional supplements for Alice.Audrey said to her nieces, “We don’t lack anything at home. Why did you buy so
Zachary had been reading up on pregnancy and knew that pregnant women should get enough exercise. It was not healthy to stay in bed or sit still all day.“Don’t worry, Aunt Audrey.”Audrey was happy with her niece’s husband and sighed when she looked at Liberty. Serenity was lucky to have met Zachary, who pampered her after they were married.On the other hand, Audrey felt sorry for Liberty.Liberty had a failed marriage with a vile man. After the divorce, Liberty led a better life and even had a sincere admirer—Duncan. However, Duncan got into a car accident and was undergoing rehab for his broken legs. No one knew when Duncan would fully recover.If Duncan could not recover fully, Audrey would not approve of Liberty and Duncan being together because Liberty had suffered enough in her previous marriage. She was hoping Liberty could be as happy as Serenity for the remainder of her life with her soulmate, rather than get dragged down by a disabled person.Audrey was just a pragmat
Liberty read between the lines of Audrey’s suggestion and nodded with a smile. “I hope my food will be served all over the country one day.”“Liberty, that day will come,” Serenity cheered.She had complete faith in Liberty’s ability to pull it off.Audrey laughed and said, “All women of Fishers are capable.”Especially the eldest daughter.If it had not been for their family’s demise decades ago, Liberty would have been the matriarch of the Fisher family.The women in the Fisher family were all capable.Caroline Fisher was a good example. She pretended to be weak and deceived the entire family.Perhaps the only person who could see through Caroline’s act was her biological mother, Belinda.Serenity hesitated to speak and she kept mum till the end.She was fully aware that her sister was capable but becoming the matriarch of the Fisher family might be very intense. After all, it involved grudges across two generations.The current matriarch was so cruel as to kill her elder
Audrey did not notice Serenity’s hesitance, but Liberty did and guessed that her sister wanted to talk to her about the Fisher family from Jensburg.After the Hunt sisters went out, the only ones left in the living room were Darrell, Zachary, and Remy.Grandma May did not follow Zachary and Serenity to the Stones’ residence after the hospital visit, so Zachary arranged for someone to take his nana back to the villa. Zachary did not know and could not care less whether Grandma May made a detour before going home. She was an active elderly woman who just would not stay at home.The three grown men drank tea and chatted about business matters.The Hunt sisters walked out of the house. Liberty wanted to help her sister down the steps, but Serenity smiled and said, “Liberty, I’m less than three months in, and my body hasn’t changed much yet. Aside from the morning sickness a while back that reminded me of the pregnancy, I’m not any different than before. You don’t need to help me down t
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