In the evening, Kevin’s usual Maybach drove to Queen Enterprise on time. He parked at the building’s entrance. Kevin got out of the car with a bouquet. He looked as handsome as ever in a suit. “Mr. York.”Everyone greeted him with a smile as he walked through. However, their smiles immediately dropped once he passed by them. Kevin was aware that many of Queen Enterprise’s employees hated him. If it were not for his status, those people would not even spare him a fake smile. Ah, he must have not put in enough effort in wooing Hayden. She did not even have the thought of revealing herself as a woman yet. Therefore, he had no choice but to be labeled as gay and receive the hatred of Jensburg’s young ladies. Nevertheless, Kevin adjusted his mindset quickly enough. He had been mentally prepared for it from the day he started courting Hayden. Regardless of what others said, he would continue to win over her heart. Actually, there was also a benefit to it. Since no on
Kevin smiled. “No. You’d say it was a waste of money every time I gave you flowers. You told me not to give you bouquets, and that hasn’t changed even though I’ve done it for half a year. Your sudden change in attitude surprised me, but I’m happy. You finally like a bouquet from me.”Hayden stared at him for some time. Without saying anything, she stood up and put the bouquet in a vase. She took a few steps back to observe the vase and said, “This vase fits the bouquet nicely.”“Everything I give you is always perfect.”Hayden agreed. She returned to her desk and started packing up. She always ensured that her desk was organized before and after work. “Come on. Let’s not make Liberty and Mr. Lewis wait.”Kevin walked by her side and said, “I called Duncan on my way here. He said he and Liberty were heading to the hotel. They’re further away and will probably arrive later than us.“It’s peak hour now as well. The roads will be congested.”Kevin and Hayden exited the office.
“Mom.”Hayden answered her mom’s call. “Has your work ended, Hay?”“Mm. I’m about to leave. What’s the matter?”Sophia asked, “Should I buy some casual clothes for you aside from the dress?”Hayden rejected her offer without thinking twice. “No.”She was only wearing a dress to the banquet tomorrow night to announce that she was a woman. It was also to clear any doubts about her love for Kevin and his sexual preferences. No one would ever look at him differently again. They always thought Kevin had ruined her. That was why those people harbored prejudice against him but not her. “Why not? Aren’t you going to live your life as a woman from now on?”Sophia was puzzled. She asked again, “So you’re only planning to wear a dress tomorrow night and continue wearing men’s clothing afterward?”“I’m not changing my usual style.”Hayden just needed not put on fake pecs anymore. However, she was flat-chested. Even if she wore a suit without fake pecs, she would still look like a m
Kevin did not ask more. They took the elevator to the first floor. Kevin could not even kiss her while they were in the elevator. He still did not dare to act as he wished in Queen Enterprise. Hayden needed to maintain her image, and he wanted to protect her dignity. After all, she was the CEO. Kevin drove Hayden out of Queen Enterprise with her driver and bodyguards following behind. She still had a meeting with Mr. Williams after the meal. Liberty and Duncan were not there when they reached Fortress Hotel. After waiting for about half an hour, Liberty and Duncan arrived. Liberty was in a bad mood. She pushed Duncan into the hotel and barely responded even though he kept turning his head to talk to her. Duncan knew why she was in a bad mood. Knowing that comforting words would not be able to improve her mood, he stopped consoling her. Liberty had to adjust her emotions herself. She felt slightly better when they went to the private room Kevin had booked upstairs.
Everyone laughed. Kevin had arranged for the food to be served upon Duncan and Liberty’s arrival. It was a pleasant meal. After that, Hayden left first as she had to go to Jensburg Hotel for her meeting with Mr. Williams. Luckily, the two hotels were nearby. They were just diagonally opposite each other. However, Kevin insisted on escorting Hayden over. Meanwhile, Liberty pushed Duncan out of the hotel. They took a stroll on the nearby streets while admiring Jensburg’s night attractions and scenes. “Are you feeling better?” Duncan asked Liberty. After a brief silence, she said, “I’ve calmed down. The things that I’ll experience will only be worse in the future. If I can’t even face this, I don’t have to stay here any longer. I should just return to Wiltspoon and manage my restaurants.”If she did so, she would be failing Audrey’s expectations of her.“It’s great that you can overcome this. We’ve been strolling for some time. Has anything caught your eye?”Duncan turn
Liberty asked, “What do I have that Serenity doesn’t?“You must persist in going for rehab. When I’m not in Wiltspoon, you have to take care of yourself. If you have time, you can visit Sonny. He’ll probably visit you too. He’s treating you better than how he treats his own father.”Duncan said smugly, “That’s because I love him with my heart and soul. His father only badmouths me in front of him. Sonny is clever. He knows how to differentiate between the bad guys and the good guys.“The more Hank badmouths me, the lesser Sonny wants to be with him.”After speaking, Duncan turned to look at Liberty. Her expression was calm. Her emotions remained stable even when Hank was mentioned. “What are you looking at? Do you think I still care for that man? He’s just Sonny’s dad now.”Liberty said, “Do you think I still love him and that I’ll feel down when we talk about him? A long time has passed. How can I still love and be affected by him? I wouldn’t have divorced him if my love for hi
“Hank probably still has feelings for you,” said Duncan. He did not mind Hank bad-mouthing him in front of Sonny. The more Hank did that, the more Sonny disliked him. That only further strengthened Duncan and Sonny’s relationship. Duncan finally understood why Sonny would always treat him extra well after returning from visiting the Brown family. The kid probably felt sorry for him because of Hank’s mean words. “He has fallen out of love with me long ago. If he loved me, he wouldn’t have hurt or betrayed me or even allowed his family to bully me during our marriage. A man will never let the woman he loves be bullied.“Even if his wife has conflicts with his parents, he’ll think of ways to solve the problem instead of letting his family accuse her.“Hank just finds it unfair. It’s just as I said previously—if he and Jessica had a happy life and never lost their jobs while awaiting the baby’s birth, they wouldn’t even care if I was dead or alive.“His love for Sonny will onl
“Yeah. I’ll be heading back tomorrow. Liberty is busy. I don’t want to take up too much of her time. I’ll take care of Sonny well when I’m back. Liberty won’t have to worry about a thing and just focus on winning the battle for Sonny and me.”Duncan laughed after speaking. Liberty heard Duncan and said, “I’m afraid I might end up in a heavy debt instead.”Duncan replied boldly, “What’s there to be scared of? You have me. As long as the debt isn’t in hundreds of billions, I can pay it off for you. You can explore as much as you want. I’ll support you no matter what. You don’t have to worry about suffering a loss or being in debt.”Liberty was speechless. A debt amounting to hundreds of billions?She would never think of it. With the assets she had, having such a debt would only make her hair gray from stress. Zachary sent another voice message, “With you backing her up, Liberty can surely carve a path to success in Jensburg.”Duncan played the message for Liberty. He said,
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