Kevin entered the pantry. “I want water instead, Kevin.”Hayden was thirsty. “Okay.”Soon, he brought her a cup of water with a smile. Hayden found it funny. “Why are you looking at me like that? Do I look like a stranger?”“I think you were super cool just now, Hay. It’s true.”Hayden glared at him speechlessly. She sat and took a sip of water. After hydrating herself, she turned on her computer and said, “My gender is my problem. I don’t think I owe them any explanation. The questions will only keep coming if I entertain them.”“You’re right. But you said they’d have their answer a year later. Is it what I think it is?” Kevin asked with a smile. He was thinking about them being officially husband and wife a year later. If he worked hard, there would be a mini him or her growing in her womb. When that time came, the answer to whether Hayden was a man or a woman would be obvious.Hayden did not reply to him. She said calmly, “You can think whatever you want.”“I’m defini
“Kevin is good, but I don’t know why my dislike for him is growing.”Hayden had never worn a dress for Hugh to see, yet she did it for Kevin. She even announced that she was a woman to the world for him. Hugh was jealous. Although he hoped Hayden could live as a woman and get married, he could not bear the thought of her leaving when that time came.“Why don’t you ask Kevin if he’s willing to marry into our family? I really don’t want you to leave. I only have one sister. You’re our parents’ only daughter. Can you bear leaving us behind and moving to Wiltspoon? If Kevin isn’t willing to become a live-in son-in-law, you should dump him.“With your conditions, you can have any man you want.“What happened to your eyes? Why do you keep winking? Did something get into your eyes?” Hugh asked out of concern when he saw Hayden winking at him non-stop. She glared at him. Hugh was usually clever, but he was especially dense that day. Hayden stood up to walk around her table. She pat
Hugh looked toward Hayden. She returned to her seat and savored her coffee elegantly. “You didn’t tell me Kevin was in your office,” Hugh scolded Hayden softly. She said innocently, “You kept talking after you came in. Kevin appeared before I had the chance to interrupt you. I winked at you, but you didn’t catch the hint. You even said something had gotten into my eyes. Who can you blame when a hint was already given to you?“I don’t regret what I said about Kevin. I’m just afraid he would take it to heart and tell you to leave me by myself. He seems gentlemanly and friendly, but he’s a cunning man. I don’t even dare to go home whenever he complains to Dad and Mom about me.”Hugh regretted rambling to Hayden as soon as he entered the office. “I suggest you go on a business trip for a while. Kevin even recorded the conversation on his phone. He’ll definitely let Mom and Dad hear the recording. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You have too much time on your hands. I dare bet my las
“Let me know if you need my help, Hugh. Don’t hold back. Whatever other people can do for you, I can do the same.”Hugh desperately wished to bury himself in a hole. Kevin’s words felt like bullets hitting his body. Nevertheless, he had to continue smiling. “You two can continue at that side of the room. Don’t disturb me working,” Hayden said after downing half a cup of coffee. She wanted nothing to do with this.“I’ll leave right now. I won’t disturb you any longer.”Hugh quickly sat on the sofa in the lounge area, and Kevin followed suit.They continued flattering each other, which made Hugh utterly awkward. After some time, Hugh hugged Kevin’s shoulders and said with a smile, “I admire you a lot, Kevin. I think you’re great and the only one who’s good enough for my sister. Everything I said just now was out of jealousy.“Hayden and I have been siblings for almost three decades, but she has always been more of a brother to me. She had never worn women’s clothing for me, bu
“However, Hayden is human. She’ll get tired too. Don’t you think it’s time for you to take up heavier responsibilities after having fun for so many years?”Hugh replied, “Do you want Hayden to resign, Kevin?”“No. I just want her to take a holiday and rest. Although we’re a couple, we rarely have time to date, let alone go on a trip together. If we don’t do more things together as a couple, we might regret it whenever we try to recall our dating days after getting married. Don’t you think so?”Hugh understood. Kevin wanted him to manage the company so Hayden could rest well. That was… actually reasonable. Hugh was not incompetent. As Kevin said, he was used to hiding behind Hayden and living a comfortable life. “How long do you need, Kevin?”“At least half a month. A month or two would be better. Your sister might disagree if it’s any longer than that. She’s a workaholic. She’ll get restless if she doesn’t go to work for a long time.”Kevin wanted Hayden to rest, but it
“She’s tired enough from shouldering Queen Enterprise. Why does she have to worry about your marriage? Even if you don’t care about her, I do.“I want Hayden to be happy and carefree.”If she could not be worry-free, Kevin wanted her to be happy at least.Hugh said, “This can’t be rushed, Kevin. I haven’t met someone I like? How can I think of marriage? I can’t just settle for anyone, right?”His parents and sister were already worried about his marriage, and now Kevin was joining the party.Hugh’s head was aching.He was not even thirty years old yet.“You are friends with many girls. There must be one of them who suits your taste. You can choose one among them. If you don’t want to do that, I can keep an eye out and introduce you to anyone I find suitable.”Hugh replied, “Seeing that you need your nana to choose your wife, you probably know, dare I say, less than ten women.”Kevin’s suggestion to introduce someone to him was absurd.It also showed that Kevin had a nice gran
The secretary was stunned.It never crossed her mind that her boss was actually a woman.All the other employees were shocked, but no one dared to ask Hayden about it.Those ladies who had had a crush on Hayden were in despair that they had been in love with a woman all along.No wonder Hayden never accepted a woman’s confession or flirted with them. It turned out that he was a she.They also understood why Kevin had managed to win Hayden’s heart.Kevin did not care about what others thought. It was just great that Hayden admitted to being a woman.After seeing Hugh out, Kevin sat before Hayden’s desk and stared at her charming features.“Why are you looking at me like that? It seems like you’ve successfully kept Hugh under your control.”“I love you so much, Hay. Hugh presented himself to me on a silver platter. Who asked him to say such things to you? If he wasn’t your brother, I would’ve ripped his mouth out for trying to convince you to leave me. Did he think wooing you wa
To be honest, Hayden was too busy and rarely went on vacations.Their honeymoon would be a perfect opportunity for Hayden to visit places she had always wanted to go and relax while enjoying the scenery. “I’ve managed to secure a two-week break for you. During this time, don’t get involved in any business matters. Let Hugh handle everything. I’ll take you around, we haven’t had a proper date yet.”Normally, Hayden was rather cautious about others labeling her as a homosexual, so they often snuck out in the evenings without bodyguards, almost like having a secret affair.They had never dated publicly.They could talk about marriage, but they had not had a proper date yet. It was something they regretted.After some thought, Hayden said, “My schedule for this week is packed with important matters. I probably won’t be able to take a break until next week. I’ll instruct my secretary to cancel all my appointments for next week and leave everything to Hugh.“Hugh is not useless. He’s
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
Austin was extremely patient with the boys. Although they occasionally caused trouble, most of them were minor issues. They would never do something they were not allowed to do.After breakfast, Austin brought them their bags. With a boy in each hand, he left the house. It was to prevent the boys from saying he was playing favorites. Dominic was used to that scene. Initially, Austin was simply Ms. Isabella’s private chef. However, he gradually took on more responsibilities.He would take the two young masters to school. If he had time in the evening, he would also fetch them from school. Austin also made sure Louis and Phillip did their homework, supervised their hobby classes, and played with them. Sometimes, he would even teach them martial arts and train with them. Dominic felt Austin was an all-rounder. It seemed like there was nothing Austin could not do. No wonder Ms. Isabella thought highly of Austin. However, Austin was a young master of a wealthy family. He w
Louis and Phillip were downstairs having the breakfast Austin had prepared for them. The food was different every morning, and everything was delicious.Having gotten used to Austin’s cooking, Louis and Phillip could no longer stand the food provided in the school. They thought the food there was terrible. Louis was enrolled in an elementary school not far from home. As he was a first grader, he did not need to stay in the dormitories and could have his lunch and dinner at home. Phillip, who was a year younger than him, was still in preschool. He would have breakfast and dinner at home. Actually, the preschool did provide breakfast, but Phillip refused to eat in school and insisted on having breakfast at home. In order to eat the breakfast Austin made, he would get up early in the morning without the adults waking him. After putting on his clothes and washing up, he would head to Louis’s place with his bag. “Austin.”Louis suddenly asked, “Did my sister come back last n
Isabella had always thought Tati was teasing her. Therefore, she did not take her words seriously. She thought it was completely normal for Austin to treat her well as she was his boss. From Austin’s perspective, she was his source of income. Now that Isabella pondered about it deeper, she realized perhaps Austin did come to Satbury for her. It was not just to be her chef. He always said Grandma May only gave the York lads a year to pursue their fiancées. However, Austin had never left since he started working for Isabella. Even if he did, it was to accompany her on business trips. He was busy feeding and taking care of her every day and had never gone to pursue his so-called fiancée. He did not even try to gather information on her. Was he not anxious?A year would go by pretty quickly. Although it felt like it had not been long since Austin started working for Isabella, three months had passed. Time really flew. Three months had gone by in the blink of an eye. Neve
When Austin reached the door, he stopped and turned to say, “Ms. Isabella, I only care about my future wife. Other young women are simply strangers to me.“I’m polite to other women when I need to be. If they’re unimportant, I’ll ignore them. Even if that woman is my boss, I won’t cross any lines. If I do, there must be a reason behind it.“Get some rest, Ms. Isabella. You might have a headache when you wake up tomorrow. I’ll prepare a warm honey drink for you in the morning.”After speaking, Austin left. Isabella turned to look at where he last stood. What did his words mean?He said he only cared about his future wife.Aside from this lady, he would not step out of line with any other young woman, even if she were his boss. What did he mean by crossing lines?Was it showing concern? Did he mean that if his boss was a young woman but not his fiancée, he would simply do what was required of him without any personal feelings involved? Was that what he meant?If so, was
Isabella was cold sometimes, but that was not her true personality. She was a reasonable person. Austin was not worried that he would be mistreated as a live-in son-in-law. “Ms. Isabella.”Isabella looked toward him and waited for him to speak. He asked, “This may be abrupt, but may I ask what your ideal type is?”Isabella was stunned. Why did the question come to her? What was the type of man she liked?‘Someone like Austin,’ she thought. After a moment of silence, she said, “I like men who are capable, responsible, and have correct values. Even if his family isn’t as financially well-off as mine, I don’t mind so long as he’s honest, competent, and sincere about his feelings for me.“Of course, it’ll be great if we have the same social status. That way, we’ll have similar perspectives and more common topics. If we get married, we’ll be joining forces instead of it being a one-way financial aid.”“Although you can accept someone who isn’t from a similar family backgrou
After a moment of silence, Isabella said, “It’s okay. I know I was forcing it.”There was no point in asking Austin if he did not want to reveal anything. If he wanted to tell her, he would do so without her asking. However, her curiosity spiked with his silence. She was eager to know who his fiancée was. He was already so protective of his fiancée even though he had not met her before. It made Isabella jealous. It was her first time feeling that kind of emotion throughout her life. Although it was not a strong feeling, she still felt it. “You weren’t forcing me to tell you. You were simply curious. Most people have a curious side. It’s only natural for you to be inquisitive as well.”Austin said gently, “It’s not just you. Those who knew that my nana had chosen fiancées for my brothers and me were also curious about who the ladies were.“To be honest, we didn’t even know Nana had been choosing fiancées for us since a few years ago until she handed their pictures to us