Josh was able to figure it was Shawn mainly because the latter attended the business event at the hotel tonight. Shawn might only hold a small position at Lowe Enterprise, but he was the predetermined successor of the company. His title as the heir of the Lowes would put him like a duck to water at the center of flattery and snow jobs at social events. Zachary’s silence was all the answer Josh needed. “How about I deliver the file to you now? Are you staying at Brynfield?” Josh knew that his best friend kept the marriage under wraps and bought a furnished place at Brynfield to put Serenity’s character to the test. “No need for that. Just give it to me tomorrow. It’s late. You should rest. I’m going to wash up and head to bed.” Although Josh had front-row seat to the progress of Zachary and Serenity’s relationship, Zachary was not in the mood to go into detail with Josh about it. Zachary quickly hung up the phone. Josh murmured under his breath, “Can you sleep well tonight?
While feasting on her pasta, Serenity sent a text message to her sister, asking if the latter was asleep. Instead of writing back, Liberty immediately rang Serenity. Since typing took a lot of time, Liberty would rather communicate directly on the phone. “Seren, I’m awake. Did you just return home?” Liberty had a clear idea of her sister’s routine. Back when Serenity was living in Liberty’s place, Serenity was the last to sleep but the first to wake up. Liberty was aware that to appease her husband, Serenity would get up first thing in the morning to prepare breakfast and manage some house chores. Her sister had done so much for the family, and yet Hank kicked up a fuss about Serenity mooching off him. Serenity had, in fact, chipped in on the household expenses… Judging by his cold and empty side of the bed, it did not matter to Liberty anymore. All she cared about was her sister. “Yeah. I’m having supper. Liberty, Shawn said he ran into my brother-in-law with a beau
Wiping away her tears, Liberty got a grip on herself and tried to sound normal. “I figured, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.” Despite having an affair, Hank kept it from Liberty and had not brought up a divorce. If her guess was right, it was because of Sonny. Sonny was young and could not deal with separation anxiety. Liberty’s parents-in-law were helping Chelsea to look after her kids and cook while Hank only had eyes for his family. Even Hank put his sister as his priority over her. He did not think there was anything wrong with his parents assisting only his sister. Once they were divorced, the Browns would certainly fight for Sonny’s custody. However, Hank would feel sorry to put the burden of child-raising on his parents unless Sonny was already in kindergarten. Hank was probably waiting for Sonny to start attending kindergarten before asking for a divorce. The only thing he could do now was to go passive-aggressive on her. “Liberty, you might want to keep
Liberty cried for a long time and only put away the tears when Hank came home. She pretended to be asleep, but her ears were pricked up for the noise outside. Ever since the domestic abuse, the couple had slept in separate rooms. Hank must be scared Liberty might cut him up in the middle of his sleep. The bedroom door was pushed open, but Hank did not enter. Instead, he looked in from the door. Seeing that his wife and child were asleep, he closed the door and went to the bedroom next door. With the door shut, he phoned Jessica. “Mr. Brown.” “We’re not in the office. Call me Hank.” Hank spoke in a hushed tone so his wife could not hear him from the next room. “Are you home, Hank? I was so worried about you. You drove home even though you had a lot to drink. I was worried sick. Don’t do that again. It’s dangerous to drink and drive. You’ll be in trouble if the traffic officer catches you driving under the influence.” Jessica expressed her concern for Hank over the phone
“You had a lot to drink. You reek of alcohol. Go and shower.” Disgusted by the stench, Liberty kicked Hank. Now that she had found out that he was cheating on her, Liberty was going to take her sister’s advice and refrain from spooking him. She would carry on with life like nothing ever happened while collecting evidence of his infidelity behind the scenes, so he could not talk his way out of it.As for whether Hank would do something to her, Liberty believed that he was not that cruel. Besides, the police could easily crack a murder case with today’s technology. His misdeed would not go undetected if he ever lay his hands on her. He would not throw away his future in exchange for her life. Amid all his swearing, Hank still went to take a shower. After coming out of the bathroom, Hank lay down next to his son again, but in less than two minutes, he sat up and crawled near his son’s feet to slither his hand onto Liberty’s thigh. He made his intention abundantly clear. Altho
Liberty was not at the market getting groceries. She had been looking for a job during the day and making a detour to the market while on her way home. The produce at the market tended to be cheaper at night, so she could save a bit of money this way. Although Liberty had not gotten a job and could not rely on her husband, she had not maxed out her resources. It was a good thing Liberty took her sister’s advice to save up some money back then. Her sister was against Liberty quitting her job and getting ready for pregnancy after getting married. Her sister said that women should have their own income instead of relying completely on men no matter before or after marriage. All was good if the husband was good to the wife. Once the husband fell out of love and started cheating, the wife, who was without a job or an income, would be in an unfavorable position and be sunk into oblivion. Liberty had been foolish. She trusted her relationship with Hank was solid and that Hank woul
Serenity had just gotten downstairs when she heard her man’s cries. The bodyguards, who were pretending to be strolling nearby, swiftly turned their backs against Serenity as if they did not see her when the missus emerged downstairs. They carried on with their leisure walks. It did not take long before Mr. Zachary was calling out to the missus. Stopping in her tracks, Serenity turned around and looked at Zachary. With the car keys in hand, Zachary said to Serenity, “I’ll come along.” His sister-in-law bravely fought back when Hank abused her. Liberty was a spitfire. She was not the type to back down and endure the suffering. How could Liberty tolerate her husband’s cheating? The couple might engage in another physical altercation. Zachary knew that Hank could not hurt Serenity since his wife practiced self-defense. Nevertheless, she needed a man by her side as Hank or the Browns would not think twice before acting cocky. He was her husband and her supporter. Zach
Serenity was about to say that her sister would never forgive infidelity but hummed a response on second thought. The couple did not exchange another word during the journey. Zachary did not do well at small talks while Serenity was preoccupied with her sister’s marriage to engage in conversation. It was pin-drop silence in the car. Zachary did not even put the music on. Tilting her head, Serenity looked at the scenery outside the window. She waited until they were reaching Bright Boulevard before giving her sister a call. Serenity was relieved that her sister picked up the call. “Liberty, are you and Sonny up? I made quite a lot of sandwiches, so I brought you and Sonny some.” Liberty stopped walking and stared at her son in the stroller. She said, “Sonny isn’t awake yet. Seren, I’m not at home. I took Sonny out for a stroll and somehow ended up near your bookshop. I’ll just head to your shop instead of going home.” “Oh, I see. Where are you now? Can you drop me a pin?
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