“What’s on your mind?” Josh nosily asked Zachary. Snapping out of his thoughts, Zachary replied faintly, “Not you, for sure.” Josh chuckled. “I’d have to quit if you’re thinking about me. I want to get married and have children.” Zachary glared at him. “I should get back to work. You’ve been overly efficient at work lately. I’m tired trying to keep up with you.” Josh finished his glass of water and got up. “I’m glad that’s finally over.” The employees had had it rough at work because Zachary was jealous, thinking something was going on between Serenity and Shawn. It would only be worse for them if the couple had an even bigger argument one day. With that in mind, Josh prayed that the couple would always remain lovey-dovey. Well, they might not be in love now, but it was only a matter of time. Zachary had developed feelings for Serenity, but he was stubborn and refused to admit to it. As his feelings for her grew deeper, he would lay bare his heart to Serenity without
Several cars drove along and quickly pulled up in front of Serenity’s bookshop. Serenity and Jasmine, who had just entered the shop, looked at the fleet of cars. Serenity’s face fell when her keen eye caught the cars belonging to her cousins. These people were relentless. With Mike leading the younger pack, they walked into the shop. They came bearing two baskets of fruits each. “Serenity.” With a smile on his face, Mike put his baskets of fruits on the cash register and said to Serenity, “I bought you and your sister some fresh fruits.” Spotting Sonny, he asked, “Is this your sister’s son? He looks like your sister.” He then reached out to stroke Sonny’s head, but Sonny shied away, refusing to let the man touch him. Mike responded with a grin, “Don’t be scared, little guy. I’m your uncle.” The rest wanted to place the other fruit baskets on the cash register but since there was no more room on the counter, they placed them on the floor instead. Serenity asked faint
John paused before asking Serenity, “What do you want us to do, Serenity?” As the oldest of the bunch, Mike lectured Serenity, “Regardless of our spats in the past, we’re all one big family. Although your dad isn’t around anymore, he’s still my uncle.“Sure, it was our fault, but we have learned from our mistakes. You’re the bigger person. Please find it in you to forgive us. We promise we won’t ever do that to you and your sister again.” Thanks to the power of the internet, it was easy and speedy to get a handle on certain matters. However, it was also easy for the tables to turn and caused a backfire. Today, Mike could use the internet to intimidate his cousins, but tomorrow, it would be his turn to face a public backlash.People would find it hard to understand the humiliation of being a victim of cyberbullying, hate comments from netizens, and public criticism without experiencing it themselves. Since Serenity tweeted a refute, the Hunts had the whole thing blow up in t
“Do you think you’ll be better off if we all go down together when it comes down to it? You’ll lose your shop and your online business. We’ll team up to give you a poor rating until you’re forced to close your online business.”“Serenity, who’s threatening to close your online business? Who’s threatening to give you bad ratings?” Here to look for Serenity, Elisa got out of her car and caught John’s arrogant threats before she even entered the shop. Elisa was not one with a good temper, so she lost it. Did they not know that Serenity was her love guru? Anyone who had the guts to threaten her love guru was crossing her as well. She would make these cocky and shameless people regret they were alive. Carrying the boxes of desserts from Beans and Cream, Elisa dangled her car keys and lifted her chin high as she walked into the shop. Others may not know Elisa, but John held a senior position at one of Stone Group’s branches. He had seen Elisa a few times from afar during the compa
On the other end of the line, Clive was left overwhelmed by his dear sister. He asked helplessly, “What did John do to you?” “Serenity is my friend and love guru. He’s out to get my love guru, threatening to bring down Serenity’s business and closing her online business by giving her bad ratings. That’s having it in for me. “Don’t you think what his family has done is inhumane? People will criticize us if Stone Group retains such a person at a managerial level. You might think you know some people, but you’ll never know their true nature. Looks can be deceiving.” Clive had no words. He was rendered speechless by his sister’s unruliness. The managing director of Aron PCB had reported to headquarters, verifying John’s talent. John started off with a minor role at Aron PCB and climbed his way up to deputy managing director. The managing director did not want to lose his right-hand man over a family dispute. Hence, he suspended John at the height of the scandal instead of f
John even picked up the scattered basket and fruits that were tossed out by Elisa. A fruit basket cost a couple of hundred bucks. The Hunts would rather eat the fruits than give them to Serenity. As if Serenity cared. It was not like she never ate fruits before. John took a ride in Mike’s car to get to Serenity’s shop. He got into the car and called his boss, Mr. Ziegel, right away. John wanted to explain to Mr. Ziegel about the earlier incident.Unfortunately, Mr. Ziegel had already received notice from the headquarters. Before John could finish talking, Mr. Ziegel expressed his regret. “John, the dispute between you and your cousins is simple and easily resolvable. You could’ve apologized with earnestness and issued a public apology online. Not only will your cousins forgive you, but the online community will also let the thing go since you’re willing to admit fault and change for the better. “But what did you do? You’ve been on suspension for a while, but you couldn’t eve
John was without a word. As mentioned by Serenity, the Hunts would never have yielded unless the matter was so bad that it hurt their financial interest. They had not given in completely either. The Hunt often got on Serenity’s nerves every time they went to her shop. It was like Mr. Ziegel said; they complicated a simple thing and were nowhere near resolving the issue. “How did Serenity come to know Ms. Stone? What love guru was she talking about?” John pursed his lips and replied, “Ms. Stone is crazy for Mr. York. I guess Serenity is teaching her how to woo Mr. York. Serenity will get it once Mr. York finds out she had been giving ideas to Ms. Stone.” “I mean how did they know each other? By right, Serenity wouldn’t cross paths with an heiress like Ms. Stone.” Mike was envious that Serenity rubbed shoulders with Ms. Stone and got Ms. Stone to have her back. Elisa might not be working at Stone Group, but she was still the heiress of the Stones. This title carried weight.
“Ms. Stone, Serenity, carry on with your talk. I’m taking Sonny to the supermarket to get some vegetables.” There was still a lot of seafood given by Elisa in the fridge. They could enjoy a seafood menu today, but some greens were needed to complement the seafood galore. Jasmine carried Sonny and took off. While being carried away, Sonny would turn back and stare back at Elisa. Elisa remarked with a smile, “Serenity, you have an adorable nephew.” “He’s a cheeky monkey.” “Kids nowadays can be rascals. I’m getting your nephew a toy when I drop by next time.” “It’s fine, Ms. Stone. Sonny has a lot of toys. My husband bought loads for him.” Elisa said, “You get yours, and I’ll get mine. I adore the little man. I want to buy him lots and lots of toys. If he was my nephew, I would buy him the moon assuming that I can.” Serenity could testify that Elisa would spoil a child rotten. With Jasmine and Sonny away, Serenity went into the kitchen to prepare the seafood. She asked
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