Paige forbade Carrie from smoking too. While she usually let Carrie do whatever she wanted, smoking was strictly banned because she hated the smell of it. If Cain smoked, Paige would make him spend the night in the study. Paige also told Carrie that she was to become the York family’s missus in the future. If she liked to smoke, it could be disadvantageous to her plan to marry into the family as the Yorks might not like it. In the end, Carrie neither smoked nor married into the York family. She had become a middle-aged man’s mistress instead. It was all because of Camryn and Serenity. Carrie would grit her teeth in anger whenever she was reminded of her situation. “You can learn how to smoke. It can help when you’re in a bad mood or feeling depressed.”Mr. Longbottom passed her a cigarette and lit it for her. Carrie took two drags before she started coughing heavily. Mr. Longbottom laughed and said, “You’ll get used to it. Learning how to smoke is easy, but quitting is
Seeing Carrie’s pale face looking at him in horror, Mr. Longbottom laughed. He asked, “Were you scared?”Carrie nodded. She was frightened. Mr. Longbottom extended his hand again. Carrie looked at it, startled, but she dared not avoid it. However, he was not going to strangle her again. He simply caressed her face with a heartbroken expression, “Look at your face. It’s as pale as a sheet. My bad. I didn’t mean to scare you like that.“You just have to do my bidding, babe. I won’t kill you. I’ve taken a liking to you. You’re young, vibrant, and beautiful.”Carrie’s expression still looked terrible. Although Mr. Longbottom’s tone was gentle, she remained afraid of him. She knew he was a demon who would not even bat an eyelid when he committed murder. “Mr. Longbottom.”Carrie stuttered. “I’ll do my best and complete the mission you gave me. Serenity didn’t recognize me when I appeared before her with my new face. It gave me a lot of confidence.“I’ll try to overcome my fear o
Aware of his brutality, his lovers became more tactful. They were fine with him giving them money. They never dreamed of replacing his wife or having his child to get a portion of his inheritance. They would probably end up dead if that happened. However, Mr. Longbottom still had illegitimate children. Aside from the three sons and a daughter he had with his wife, he still had a son and a daughter—children he shared with two especially obedient lovers of his. He liked them a lot. Aside from being obedient, the ladies had done a lot for him and played a role in an important incident that occurred several years ago. Therefore, he allowed them to carry his child. Having a child meant they would have someone to rely on in the future. His wife was not capable of preventing all of his lovers from having children. It was all up to his will. If he wished to give his lovers a child, the child would be born without a hitch. Otherwise, Mrs. Longbottom would order her people to beat up his
The night passed peacefully. The next morning, Camryn snuggled up to Callum as she felt the cold before she was fully awake. Mornings at the manor were colder than those in the city. In addition, they did not close the windows but simply had the thick curtains down. That was why Camryn found it cold once the chilly morning air drifted into the room. It was also raining outside. The rain had lowered the temperature and announced the arrival of winter. After a week of chilly days, the temperature had increased. It had been hot days with the sun shining brightly as it did in summer. Wiltspoonians only had to add another layer of clothing during early mornings and late nights. However, the rain turned the weather cold again. Callum brought Camryn closer to him and tugged on the blanket without opening his eyes. He only woke up a few minutes later due to the sound of the rain. No wonder he felt the cold. Callum pecked Camryn’s cheek before getting up stealthily. He wen
Camryn was rendered speechless for a moment. Then, she said, “Maybe I didn’t want you to get involved because it was a fight between sisters. I didn’t see you taking any action against Carrie in my dream.”Callum turned Camryn toward himself and bit her lips lightly. “Am I not the most important person to you? You always turn to Dal instead of me whenever you have a problem, right?”“There you go again. Being all jealous of Dal again. He’s already married. You shouldn’t say such things. Melissa might misunderstand, and it’ll affect their relationship.”Camryn was speechless about Callum's jealousy of Dalton. Despite her countless explanations, Callum still viewed Dalton as a love rival. However, he was closer to Dalton than anyone else whenever Dalton came over to visit. “I’m used to solving problems myself because of the environment I grew up in. That was why even when Carrie and I were fighting in my dream, I never thought of having anyone help me teach her a lesson.“Dal i
“Okay,” Callum replied. The couple went to the dining area. After breakfast, the rain had let up considerably. However, the weather had only gotten colder. Callum was worried about Camryn freezing. He went upstairs to get her a coat and insisted she wear it. Only then did they depart for work. “Take me to the flower shop, darling. I’ll return home in the afternoon.”Callum hummed in acknowledgment and said, “It’s cold and raining. There won’t be many customers buying flowers today. Why don’t you rest for the day?”Camryn usually worked from home if she was not managing the store. She would only leave Wiltspoon and go to the office if there were important meetings or business negotiations that required her presence. She did not have to do so most of the time. With Dalton managing the company, everything was going well. Camryn trusted Dalton. He was also loyal to her and never thought of betraying her. Callum was not worried about Dalton’s loyalty. If he dared betray
As Jasmine mentioned, men had to be coaxed occasionally by giving them gifts or flowers. They would be in a good mood and more motivated to work when they receive presents. Ultimately, they would earn more money for their wives to stay pretty. Camryn felt Jasmine was skilled at persuading her husband. She and Serenity had to learn a thing or two from Jasmine. Serenity said Jasmine was simply applying what she learned from romance novels in reality. Camryn used to love reading, but she rarely read novels and preferred classics instead. When she lost her sight, she had not even graduated from school, let alone read books. While there were schools catered for the blind, her mom refused to send her to those schools. On the other hand, her stepfather, who was also her uncle, seemed to treat her decently. In truth, however, he could not be bothered about her life. In the end, Camryn was unable to go to university. When she regained her sight, Camryn wanted to start learning again
“Giving birth to a daughter is a remarkable feat in the York family. Our ancestors might even die from laughing.”After a brief silence, Josh reminded, “Need I remind you that your ancestors are already dead?”Callum replied, “It was just a metaphor.”He was affected by Josh's showing off. He had been looking forward to having a child of his own after getting married. The gender of the baby did not matter. He simply wanted to experience fatherhood. However, that would not happen for another two to three years. Camryn had not been nursed to full health yet. Even if he put in the effort, she was unable to get pregnant. Callum could not express his love for children in front of her because he did not want her to feel pressured. Well, they could spend more time together without a child. He was satisfied with their happy life. Josh and Callum took the elevator up as their offices were located on the same floor. They walked out of the elevator together. Callum had a huge s
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
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