“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
Carrie hung up after a few words with Mr. Longbottom. He always only asked about her whereabouts and when she would go home.She did not want to stay at the store anymore. Turning around, she saw the three missus sitting at the cashier, with several bodyguards sitting or standing at the entrance. She was burning with jealousy.It was only a small bookstore, but six bodyguards were inside. Serenity, Jasmine, and Camryn each had two bodyguards.Carrie also had two bodyguards following her whenever she went out now, but these bodyguards only acted respectfully when there were others around. They were cold and controlling behind the scenes, dictating her every move. They were totally different from Serenity’s bodyguards. She thought about how Serenity could not recognize her after she changed her face. Although Camryn was her sister, she was blind for ten years. Despite regaining her eyesight, it was only partially recovered, and Camryn could only see things up close. Things with
Serenity felt it too.Only Jasmine had not interacted with Carrie before and only knew of her name, so she felt nothing.“Let’s talk about it in the store. It’s cold out here. The rain is merely a drizzle, but it still feels cold.”Serenity held Camryn’s arm and pulled Jasmine along. The three of them returned to the cashier and sat down.“I’ll pour a cup of water for you two. My mouth feels dry after eating the gingersnaps from Mr. Charles. It tastes good, and I crave it more the more I eat,” Jasmine said as she went to get some water.Serenity smiled and helped Camryn to sit. Camryn said, “Seren, I can see.”Back when she was still blind, she could move around freely in familiar surroundings. Callum knew she needed to be in a familiar place to move freely like the others, so he kept ordering from Spring Blossoms and requested her to deliver the flowers to York Corporation.She thought he was deliberately making things difficult for her. Later, Callum explained that he had
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