Hayden had feelings for Kevin, but it was not deep enough for her to marry him. Therefore, Kevin’s priority was to continue courting her. He could also supervise Fortress Hotel and the few factories York Corporation owned in Jensburg. Camryn recalled Hayden’s aloofness. “Hayden Queen looks manlier than a man. Her aura and working style are similar to a man’s, but her voice sounds clear and isn’t as husky.”Hayden would intentionally lower her pitch when speaking to others, but it was still distinguishable from a man’s. Nevertheless, there were men with slightly higher pitches, which created a public assumption that Hayden was one of those men. No one suspected that Hayden was a woman. Callum smiled. “With over twenty years of experience in disguising as a man, naturally she could pull it off excellently. Her attitude is as cold as Zachary’s past personality, stern and aloof.“I guess you have no idea how strict and cold Zachary used to be. He had already evolved into a doti
Before Callum could speak, Camryn continued, “But I can tolerate it because it’ll heal my eyes.”It was a prescription by Dr. Carden, something sought after by many but only few had the opportunity to receive. Camryn was fortunate to have been treated by Dr. Carden, all thanks to Callum. “It’ll get better, Camryn. Everything will get better. You won’t have to take those bitter medicines anymore in the future.”Callum was well aware her medicines tasted bitter. The strong smell would fill the room whenever he prepared it for her, so he could only imagine how it would taste.Every dose, though, would come with a candy for Camryn to neutralize the bitterness.“It’s always darkest before dawn.”Camryn’s words made Callum laugh. His precious girl exuded self-confidence and self-love. He could not love her more than he already had.“You’re here, Callum, Camryn. Why have you come bearing so many gifts again? We have everything. Don’t buy anything next time.”Sasha walked over with
Sasha laughed heartily. She was cheery and less rigid as compared to Tania with no hard and fast rule of appearing overly dignified all the time; that was the luxury of not being the head missus of the Yorks.Tania had to be mature and composed. Though in private settings, Tania was just like Sasha. Most importantly, both of them and Rosella got along well because their personalities were similar.“Were you satisfied with Callum when you first saw him, Camryn?”Camryn blushed. She smiled and said, “I touched his face countless times when I was blind and imagined what he would look like, but I was still surprised when I saw him. He looks different from what I envisioned by touch.“So, of course I’m satisfied. Aunt Evelyn kept telling me to treat Callum well. She said he must’ve been a blessing from my dad in heaven. “Nowadays Callum gets treated better than me by her when I used to be her favorite.”Despite complaining about Aunt Evelyn’s preferential treatment, Camryn was smilin
Callum helped himself and served everyone refreshments. He studied the chessboard and said, “I think this was a deliberate move by Aunt Sasha. With your current skills, you won’t figure out where to place that chess piece even after another day.”Simon was terrible at chess. His face fell. He glared at Callum. No matter how much he sucked at chess, it was no fun to be teased by his nephew as he had some dignity to preserve.Callum chuckled. He looked toward Sasha for help to escape Simon’s deadly stares. He was merely stating facts. Upon receiving Callum’s S.O.S., Sasha told her husband, “Keep it away. We can wrap this game up another day.”“I’d rather not play against you. Callum can do it in your stead. And Callum, stay at the manor this weekend and don’t make other plans. Let’s play a few games together. Otherwise, I’ll nag you to kingdom come.”Callum quickly begged, “Sorry, Uncle Simon. I was wrong. You’re exceptionally good at chess. You’re a chess maestro, the best
“I can’t believe Milky is letting you hold it. It’s an arrogant cat. It doesn’t like me holding it and will even scratch me,” Callum said in surprise when he saw Camryn holding the cat. Sasha said, “You kicked Milky before, so for sure it would hold a grudge against you. But it’s indeed a picky cat. It prefers people who are gentle.”“Am I fierce?”Callum did not find himself so. “Which one of you brothers is gentle? Milky is clever. It can sense if someone is pretending to be nice.”Callum was speechless. “Is the cat called Milky, Aunt Sasha? That’s adorable.”“I named it Milky because it has white fur. Cats are cute. You can ask Callum to get a cat if you like them. They’re very clingy. They’ll either sleep beside you or jump into your arms.”Camryn said happily, “Never mind. I don’t have the time to care for them now.“Zachary once gave Serenity a dog and two cats, but she didn’t have time to take care of them and handed them over to Mrs. Lane. So, they aren’t close to S
Camryn was not afraid of Carrie but the person hiding behind her. They still could not identify the person with the last name Gordon. “Let me know if you need any help.”“There’s no need to trouble all of you to deal with Carrie. I can handle this myself. I just can’t find out the identity of the person she contacted right after coming out of prison.“Callum said he’d ask Zachary to request Mr. Julian’s assistance to investigate that person. We’re just worried about being blindsided if they launch an ambush because we don’t know who they are.”Serenity said, “I’ll let Jasmine know, and she’ll relay the message to Josh. You don’t have to worry about this.”“Thank you.”“Small matter. I hope we all can live in peace.”Camryn smiled. She said, “No one’s life can always be smooth sailing. There are always bound to be challenges.”“You’re right.”Serenity stared at the sky and said softly, “I feel like a change is beckoning.”“Well, it’s late fall now. The seasons are changing.
“Let’s stop talking about her. We should go on with our lives.”“That’s right. The law has already punished them for what they did. By the way, since Carrie is out, she’ll probably look for Trenton. You should call him to inform him of this.”After a short silence, Camryn said, “She and Trenton are siblings by blood. Of course she’ll look for him. Trenton can make his own decisions now that he has come of age. I’ve always told him that I’ll respect all his choices.”Serenity said, “We’ll just let them be then.”Not all siblings had a close relationship like the York brothers or the Hunt sisters. Although Carrie and Camryn had different fathers, they shared the same mother. Moreover, their fathers were brothers. Despite the same Newman blood flowing in them, Carrie and Camryn were like enemies. Grandma May and Lilian returned to Wildridge Manor before the sky turned dark. Remy brought Elisa over too. The York brothers who were in Wiltspoon, save for Rowan still in school, came
At that time, Belinda had no idea that Celine was not her biological child. She simply felt that Celine was still not up to her expectations despite years of nurturing, so there was no hurry to arrange an assistant for Celine.Fortunately, she waited it out.Otherwise, new personnel selection and training would be required for Caroline’s assistant, which could take a long time to train such a specialized assistant.Once a successor was confirmed in the Fisher family, the process of grooming a special assistant for them began. It often took ten to twenty years for the successor to take over. Additionally, it was also challenging to find suitable assistant candidates. To meet the criteria, they had to be exceptionally talented and loyal.“I understand.”Mr. Gordon promptly left the room.He did not stay long and was meeting a man; one would assume he was just going to meet a friend.He did not draw any attention to himself.Once Mr. Gordon had left Wiltspoon Hotel, Belinda’s bod
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