“Don’t mention it anymore, I truly have never disliked you. Just like when I was as fat as a pig, you never disliked me for that. “Duncan hurriedly said, “You are not ugly, not ugly at all. You weren’t ugly, you looked very cute back then.”“I was ugly, I hated my chubby self when I looked in the mirror.”It was forgivable to be foolish once, but she would not be foolish for the second time. She had to take good care of herself in the future, and never eat recklessly again.Before she lost weight, not only did she have fatty liver, but she also had high uric acid.After losing weight, the uric acid was normal, and the fatty liver was also reversed.“Liberty, you bought some toys for Sonny and new clothes for yourself, but you did not buy me anything,” Duncan changed the topic and became jealous of Sonny.“You have everything you need. Sonny is a child, he grows up fast, and he has to buy new clothes almost every year. Your height is set, and last year’s clothes can still be wor
Duncan listened to his mother.“I will, I will continue to do rehabilitation, and when you come back, I may be able to walk two or three yards away. By the way, how long will you be there?”After being silent for a moment, Liberty said, “I might have to stay until New Year’s, and I will go back for the festive season.”“That's quite long, what if Sonny misses you?”“He’s in Serenity’s hands, I’m not that worried when he’s with her. If he really misses me, I will go back to accompany him when I am free on the weekends. If I don't have time, I can only let Zachary send him over to reunite with me for two days."She was only going to get busier.In this short period of time, there would be very little time to spend with her son.“Since Sonny was born, Serenity helped take care of him. He can adapt to this, and New Year’s around the corner so it will be over in a blink of an eye.”“Actually, I miss you!”Duncan happened to just blurt it out.Sonny was just a decoy. The truth was,
The night went by. It was Sunday. Sonny, who did not have to go to preschool, woke up early. He knocked on Serenity’s door and Zachary opened the door for him. “Is Aunt Ser awake, Uncle Zak? I want to play with her.”Zachary took a few deep breaths. He told himself not to get angry at a child. He said gently, “It’s still early, Sonny. Why don’t you sleep a little longer? You usually insist on sleeping in even though you need to go to school, yet you’re up early on days you don’t have to.”Sonny pouted. “I couldn’t fall back asleep after waking up, Uncle Zak. There’s no one I can play with, so I came to look for Aunt Ser.”He was living in Zachary’s private villa in the city, not Wildridge Manor where he could have fun with other children without disturbing Serenity. Zachary lifted Sonny and said, “Serenity’s still asleep. I’ll play with you. What do you want to do?”“I want to play outside.”“Isn’t it better to play with toys indoors?”Sonny shook his head. “Playing w
“That’s great. I’m outside your house now. I see your butler coming to open the gate. Let’s talk when we meet.”After speaking, Ben hung up. Zachary was puzzled. He lowered his head to look at Sonny, who was looking at him too. “What’s wrong, Uncle Zak? Did something happen?” Sonny asked. Zachary patted his head and said, “Someone woke up early like you and came to visit.”He did not know what was going on either. Had something gone wrong with Remy and Elisa’s relationship? Did Ben come over to get him to persuade the couple?He could not do that. Serenity was more suited for the job. Soon, Ben drove Remy’s car into the villa and stopped at the courtyard. Before Ben got out of the car, the backseat door opened first. A flash of a small figure darting out of the car toward Zachary. “Sonny, Sonny. I’m here.”The small figure was none other than Laurence. “Laurence!”When Sonny registered it, he immediately flung Zachary’s hand away and jogged toward Laurence. The
Zachary found it hilarious. “No wonder they’re best friends. I was forced to take Sonny out because he knocked on my door.“Ben, why don’t you join us?”Zachary invited Ben and Laurence to go for a walk with them. Ben smiled. “Okay. I probably can’t fall back asleep anyway.”He told Laurence, “You can take Sonny to play ahead of us, but don’t go too far.”“It should be Sonny bringing Laurence around. You two are our guests. We should be proper hosts.”The children had already run off hand in hand. Ben said, “Laurence has a good memory. He memorized the route here after only one visit and could even remember the plants along the roads. He recognizes more plant species than me now.”Zachary said, “Look at who his mentor is. Dr. Carden is an expert in both medicines and poisons. Although Lilian did not spend much time teaching Laurence one-on-one, he had the miracle healer. He learned about many herbs during the time he spent with the miracle healer. They knew Laurence had a
Zachary ran ahead and Ben jogged after him. “Luckily, our families are close. Otherwise, I would’ve felt bad for disturbing you early in the morning.”The neighborhood was quiet. Only a few residents were having their morning runs. “Laurence is rarely here. I understand that he doesn’t waste a single second he can play with his friend.“He’s improved a lot. It’s obvious from the speed he ran after jumping out of the car. I think Sonny can never catch up to him.”Ben said, “Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Laurence’s downside is that he loves eating. He’s a total glutton. Whenever he’s home, he likes following Lee around and asking him to make all sorts of food for him. He still wants to eat even after his stomach is bloated.“Jane was worried that he’d overeat. It’s great that he’s training daily to burn off the calories.”“Kids are all like that. It’ll get better after they grow up. My nana said I was a glutton too when I was young. However, I think I changed afte
Since Laurence rarely visited, and his only friend in Wiltspoon was Sonny, Serenity could allow her nephew to take a day off school. Sonny nodded and guaranteed that it would only be this once. Laurence said, “I’ll come again during the summer or winter holidays, Aunt Seren. That way, no one will need to take a day off.”“Can you please tell Mom now, Aunt Ser?”Sonny wanted to confirm that he could get the day off as soon as possible, then he would be able to play to his heart’s content. Serenity looked toward Zachary, who looked away sheepishly. She scolded him mentally for pushing the responsibility to her. “Okay.”Serenity called her sister. When Liberty picked up, she said, “Liberty, Sonny has something to tell you.”After speaking, she handed the phone to Sonny, “You tell her.”He took the phone and told Liberty why he wanted to take a day off school. After repeating Serenity's words, Liberty agreed to let Sonny skip school for a day to accompany his friend. Sonny
Besides, Sonny had his strengths. He was better at reading and writing than Laurence. Although Laurence could read, he could not write well whereas Sonny was a good writer. He was one of the best among children his age. Uncle Zak told him that when he showered him with compliments. Uncle Zak would not lie to him; he was a husband and a CEO, so he would always speak the truth. With those thoughts, Sonny stopped pouting and pulled Laurence. “Let’s go and get something to eat. I’m hungry.”“I’m hungry too.”The boys happily hopped back into the house. …At the Newmans, Carrie stood far away from the villa’s gate and dialed Trenton’s number continuously. After some time, Trenton came out. When Carrie saw him, she walked over with a dark expression and slapped him across his face. It was resounding. Trenton did not expect his sister to slap him the moment he went to her. He thought she had specially come to see him because she knew he was returning to his university. Th
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