“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
Although Mr. Charles was the primary breadwinner, Mrs. Charles was the one wearing the pants in the family. She managed their finances, and Mr. Charles was more than willing to be bossed around. Jasmine said, “She rarely scolds you anymore. I haven’t heard her angry voice for some time already.”Mr. Charles immediately placed a finger against his lips and whispered, “Don’t be so loud. My wife has sharp ears. She can give me an earful right away if she hears you. You’ll be able to hear her angry voice again.”Serenity and Jasmine laughed with their hands over their mouths. “I’ll take my leave now.”Mr. Charles walked away happily. As Serenity watched him leave, she told Jasmine, “I’m actually envious of Mr. Charles. He’s always in a good mood.”Life would get better when one had a positive mindset.“Mr. and Mrs. Charles have a good relationship and a harmonious family. Although their business is small, they’re still doing great.”Jasmine put her bag down and sat behind the c
Serenity smiled. “It’s normal for you to feel fetal movements. Even though I can feel them sometimes, it doesn’t feel real. It’s easy to be mistaken.”Although she said so, she still asked to touch Jasmine’s belly.Taking advantage of the fact that nobody else was in the shop, Jasmine sat behind the cashier, generously letting Serenity touch her stomach. However, the baby was asleep. Serenity lightly caressed Jasmine’s belly but did not get a response. “Baby might be sleeping. When I woke up, I said I could feel it moving, so Josh also touched my bump. He was amazed when he felt it and interacted with the baby for quite some time. He might have tired the little one out, so the baby’s sleeping now.”Serenity chuckled and withdrew her hand. She would soon be able to feel fetal movements herself, so there was no need to be jealous of her friend. The sound of heels came from outside the door.Soon, they saw a young woman entering the shop. It was the same woman from yesterday, who
Jasmine said, “Yeah. I’ve said it was good when I took the first bite.”“Let’s split the rest.”Serenity walked into the kitchen and took a ziplock, putting in half of the gingersnaps Mr. Charles gave.Jasmine did not stand on courtesy and accepted it. Carrie hid behind a shelf and observed them, feeling a bit dumbfounded. Have these two women never had cookies before? What was so good about that small and brittle cookie? They even shared it evenly.Carrie was curious and wanted to try it. How good was the cookie to make these two like it? However, she was now disguised as Mrs. Longbottom. She was not close to Serenity yet, so she felt embarrassed to ask her for a piece.“Serenity, Jasmine, are you there?”A familiar voice came from the outside. Hiding behind the shelf, Carrie turned pale, feeling a little nervous. It was Camryn. Camryn walked in while holding an umbrella. Behind her were two bodyguards Callum had assigned to protect her. As long as she was not with Callum,
“It’s not busy in the store now, so I came over to chat with you.”Camryn came because she wanted to chat with Jasmine and Serenity. Serenity instructed the bodyguards to carry the existing plants away, then replace them with the new ones Camryn brought. Jasmine went to pour a cup of hot tea for Camryn and said, “Drink some to warm yourself. It’s cold today.”She asked the bodyguards to help themselves since they were familiar with this place. They knew the three missus were down to earth and not unapproachable. Camryn drank a sip and saw the cookies at the cashier, but she did not ask about it.Serenity still offered her some, and Camryn did not hesitate to take one.Carrie was speechless. That cookie must be delicious.Camryn did not comment on how the cookie tasted. She ate while chatting with her two friends. When the topic came to her attending a banquet with her mother-in-law, she said to Serenity, “Seren, if you weren’t pregnant, we could have gone together. I was c
Unexpectedly, her niece had better luck than her, eventually dating and marrying Josh. The Bucham family was much more well-off than the Sox family. After Jasmine married into the Bucham family, she did not have to endure scrutiny from Josh’s mother, Rebecca. Josh’s family welcomed Jasmine with kindness.When Rachel was young and just married into the Lowe family, she had a hard time as her mother-in-law disliked her. She was only freed from the torment after her mother-in-law passed away.Camryn laughed along. “Since you guys said so, I have nothing to be afraid of.”“Yeah. You used to suffer so much without fear. Now that your life has improved, and with people backing you up, you have no reason to be scared. Camryn, remember that many of us from the York family will have your back.”Serenity boosted Camryn’s confidence. Camryn nodded firmly. She would cross the bridge when she got to it. There was nothing to fear.“Seren, don’t tell Callum about this. I just got nervous for
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