After a pause, Austin chuckled. “Well, Nana’s given me a mission. I have to act on it sooner or later.“I can’t be like Kevin who did nothing for six whole months and still isn’t married yet as a result.”Austin thought that it was not bad being one of the younger kids. They could at least learn from their older brothers’ mistakes and avoid making them themselves.“Nana usually picks the right person to suit your temperament.”Zachary then asked, “When are you leaving?”“Next Monday. I’ll use these two days to make the necessary arrangements for matters on hand. Please help me take care of those I don’t manage to cover in time.”“So soon?”Zachary frowned.Austin was a little embarrassed as he said, “The O’Connors are one of the most prestigious families in Satbury. They usually offer their employees a very attractive salary and excellent benefits, but the main thing is that Ms. O’Connor is a foodie. Many people would like to apply for the challenge.“It was rumored that if a
Zachary’s mother came over before his father followed suit.Then, Austin, thinking that he had caused trouble, followed after them.Zachary figured it out without asking.Austin was silent for a moment before he said, “Mom disagreed at first. She said I already have my own business and I’m running it well. And this year, I started to help out with the family business. She said that no matter how much I liked cooking, I could just tinker around at home or the hotel and that there was no need for me to become a private chef.“Dad was supportive though. He said that as long as I liked it, I could do whatever I wanted. Mom tried to argue her side with Dad but couldn’t get through to him, and in her anger, she went back to her room and locked herself in it, not allowing Dad to go in.“Dad knocked for a long time, but still wasn’t allowed entry, so, thinking that he should let Mom calm down first, he left. We didn’t expect Mom to take advantage of Dad’s departure to sneak out and come h
“Zack, it’s late and you’ve been working the whole day too. You should head to bed. I’ll head home too.”Austin prepared to leave after talking it out with Zachary.Zachary said, “It’s already so late. Why don’t you just stay the night? It’s not like I don’t have a room for you.”Austin politely declined. “It’s not far for me and you might have a room here, but I don’t have clothes to change into.“Plus, it’s hard for me to fall asleep anywhere other than on my own bed.”He needed time to adapt to new places whenever he moved.People who were used to their beds would toss and turn constantly when they were in an unfamiliar place.Zachary recalled that Austin’s private villa was not far away. Since Austin mentioned having sleeping difficulty on foreign beds and no fresh clothes, Zachary did not insist on him staying. Instead, he only reminded Austin to not drive too fast and to text him once he got home.“Good night, Zack.”Zachary did not get up to walk him out.Once Austin l
“The alcohol smell isn’t that strong and even thunder can’t wake me when I’m asleep. You don’t have to resort to spending the night in the study,” Serenity said as she took Zachary’s hand that was on her stomach.“I’ve showered and drank two glasses of water as well as chewed two pieces of gum to get rid of some of the alcohol smell.”After a pause, he added, “And Austin said that I was reeking of alcohol.”Serenity grumbled a little about her brother-in-law.If Austin could hear her, he would swear that he was telling the truth.The moment Zachary opened his mouth, he could smell the alcohol. It indeed was strong and besides, Zachary himself had said that he was worried the smell would affect Serenity.“He was waiting for you. Did he manage to catch you?” Serenity asked.Zachary hummed in confirmation. “He said he wants to go to Satbury. The O’Connors are looking for a private chef and he wants to apply for it. “Nana has chosen Isabella O’Connor, their eldest daughter, for Au
“Good night,” Serenity said before closing the door. Zachary stood by the door outside. Although he was the one who suggested himself sleeping in the study, being pushed out by Serenity and watching her close the door made him feel like he was being chased out. After scratching his nose, he had no choice but to head toward the study. The night went by peacefully. When Zachary woke up the next day, Serenity was already awake and had prepared a glass of water with honey added for him. “Good morning, babe.”Serenity had already fed Sonny breakfast. She was leading Sonny out of the dining area while holding his bag when she spotted Zachary, who had come downstairs. After greeting him, she said, “I prepared some honey water for you. Remember to drink it.”Although Zachary was not drunk last night, he mentioned downing strong alcohol. Serenity had been worried that he would get a headache when he woke up, so she prepared honey water for him. ‘Zachary is really fortunate
Serenity’s usual car was already parked outside. A bodyguard opened the door and helped Sonny to get into the car. He fastened his seatbelt as well. Once Serenity was inside the car, she changed her high heels for flats. “Have you fastened your seatbelt, Sonny?”Serenity turned her head and asked. “The mister did it for me. You can start driving, Aunt Ser.”Serenity smiled and soon started the car. Twenty minutes later, two cars stopped at the preschool’s parking lot. Serenity got out of the car. Sonny had already unfastened his seat belt and carried his bag. When she opened his door, he got down and said, “Aunt Ser, remember to tell Dunc to bring my luggage along when he picks me up this evening.”“Aren’t you coming back home first?” Serenity teased him. “Why don’t you have dinner before leaving?”After some thought, Sonny said, “Dunc won’t let me go hungry. I don’t have to worry about anything when I’m with him.”Duncan had already become a father figure to Sonny
However, Serenity was still suspicious because she had not seen Mrs. Longbottom and Carrie appear at the same time. Her suspicions of Carrie pretending to be Mrs. Longbottom would not be cleared unless she saw the two women together. Carrie did not wait for Serenity to return. Since they met by coincidence, it would look intentional if she were to wait for Serenity. It would be suspicious as well. Mr. Longbottom had told Carrie that Serenity was investigating her. Of course, nothing useful was found. Serenity suspected that she was Carrie. Carrie thought of Camryn, whom she hated the most. Camryn was familiar with her voice. Serenity most likely only investigated her because Camryn had told Serenity something. Luckily, Mr. Longbottom was capable. Serenity could not discover anything. Everything she found was fake information that Mr. Longbottom had created for Carrie. They knew that Serenity and Jasmine were best friends; Jasmine being the missus of the Buchams,
Therefore, Sonny wanted to pass his luggage to Duncan beforehand. Serenity replied with a smile, “Okay.”She only walked toward her car once Sonny and the teacher were out of sight. When she arrived at the parking lot, she saw Mrs. Longbottom, who had just gotten into her car. As usual, there were two bodyguards with her. One of them closed her door with a solemn expression. Mrs. Longbottom spotted Serenity when she turned to look outside the window. She waved at her with a grin. Serenity waved back out of courtesy. Soon, Carrie’s luxury car left. Serenity quickly sent a message to Camryn: [I saw Mrs. Longbottom again, Camryn. Did Carrie look for you?]Camryn had not left her home yet. She would not be going to the flower store as she had an online meeting in the morning. Some company matters still required her attention. Anyway, she was busy. Later in the evening, she would be returning to Wildridge Manor with Callum. It was the weekend again. She usually did
Remy gave it some thought. If he were to become a father, he would also be extremely happy, to the point that he would forget about posting on social media.They were usually busy people and did not have the habit of posting regularly anyway. Josh only started sharing a lot on Facebook after he got married. He simply wanted to show off his life after marriage and irritate his friends who were still single. Even Zachary would post about his love life on Facebook occasionally. Remy suddenly felt he had to keep up with the trend and post something on Facebook during his free time. Remy and Elisa went to buy some supplements before heading to the hospital. There were still many people in Jasmine’s ward. Most of the men were sitting in the small living area while the women were chatting with Jasmine or looking at the baby in the room. The baby boy was already fed and in fresh diapers. He was sleeping soundly. “Jasmine.”Elisa walked over with the supplements she had brought.
The secretary wished she could skip work and visit Jasmine at the hospital with Elisa. However, that could never happen. She was simply an employee, while Elisa was her boss. The only alternative was if Elisa invited her along. Nevertheless, the employees could meet Jasmine during their break or visit her at her house. Elisa left excitedly. A Maybach was parked at the entrance of the company. When Remy spotted Elisa exiting, he stuck his head out and waved at her. Upon seeing him, she was no longer in a hurry to get to her car. She quickly walked over. “Why are you here? Why didn’t you go inside?”Elisa was beaming. As she had received good news, she had a smiling face regardless of who she met.“I just arrived. I didn’t drive inside when I saw you coming out. Where are you going?”Remy got out of the car.“Jasmine gave birth. I want to go to the hospital to visit her and her baby. You came at the right time. We can head over together, but let’s get some supplemen
“Yes. Health is the most important thing. Everything else is secondary. With the York family’s wealth and numbers, they won’t have to worry about not having a successor even if your child is slightly more ordinary.”Of course, Elisa personally hoped the next successor of the York family would be her nephew.The Stones and the Yorks could be considered relatives because Elisa and Serenity were cousins.The successor of the Stone family was most likely Clive’s son. If the York family’s heir was not Serenity’s child, would the two families’ relationship that was finally mended become strained again?After all, the head of the York family would no longer be a relative of the Stones if that were the case. However, Elisa did not voice her thoughts. She did not want Serenity to feel pressured. As an aunt, she also thought her nephew’s health was more important than anything else.“You must be busy, Elisa. You should go on with your work. I shall not disturb you. I appreciate your
“A baby’s face changes almost every day. We’ll only know who he takes after when he’s a little older.”Serenity agreed. “I should call Elisa and share this news with her.”Jasmine probably did not have time to tell her friends about her newborn. Serenity also forgot to inform Elisa because she was too worried about Jasmine. Zachary told her to call Elisa only after they were inside the car. There were too many people in the hospital. Serenity held back her excitement and immediately called Elisa when she got in the car. Elisa was extremely busy at the company. She was the only one who could manage their joint company at that moment because Serenity and Jasmine were pregnant. Even if they wanted to return to the company to work, Elisa would not allow them. Rest was of utmost importance for pregnant women. Elisa was unmarried and not pregnant. She did not mind being busier. She only picked up Serenity’s call after some time.“Seren.”Elisa held the phone in her left h
“All that matters is that you’re okay, honey. Let’s not have more children. We’ll just have this one son.”Josh spoke while holding Jasmine’s hand.Women had to experience immense pain when giving birth. It came with many risks as well. Josh had heard other people saying that a woman usually had one foot in the grave during childbirth.He was genuinely shocked after accompanying Jasmine through her labor. He had been terrified and worried that something would happen to Jasmine.Luckily, everything ended well. Jasmine and their son were safe. However, Josh did not want to experience something like that again. Having one child was enough. There was no need for a second or third child. The Buchams were a big family anyway. He did not have to bear the responsibility of expanding the family alone.“Okay. We shall not have another baby.”Although Jasmine was brimming with motherly love and recovery from a vaginal delivery was quicker, she still thought childbirth was too
It was not just Camila. The rest of the people there also had the same thought. Josh and Jasmine had a great relationship. If something happened to Jasmine, Josh would be devastated and lose all hope of living.“Congratulations. The mother has given birth to a boy safely. The baby boy is six pounds and three ounces.”The people who brought Josh out were the anesthetist and nurse.The nurse instinctively reported the good news when she saw the crowd.Then, she explained, “The father probably fainted from shock after the baby was born. Come over and help bring him to the side to rest. The mother won’t be out that quickly.”Upon hearing her words, everyone’s mood brightened up.Camila, whose legs felt weak just now, was immediately filled with strength and stood up. Without Drake's help, she went to the nurse and asked, “Does the baby need to be in the incubator since he was born prematurely?”The nurse replied, “We’ll put the baby in the incubator and observe him for a while. If
Zachary was also worried that Serenity would go into premature labor out of shock. He also persuaded her to go for her checkup in a gentle voice. They could not do anything but wait anyway.Serenity finally decided to conduct her prenatal checkup first. Zachary accompanied her. Just moments after they left, the door to the delivery suite opened. A nurse stood there and shouted, “Is Jasmine Sox’s husband here?”“Yes. I’m her husband,” replied Josh quickly. He dashed to the nurse. “You must save Jas, doctor. Save the mother no matter what.”His family members behind him also echoed, “That’s right. No matter what happens, you have to save Jasmine.”The nurse said, “The mother is fine. It’s just that she wants her husband to accompany her as she’s in a lot of pain.”Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.Josh was about to rush inside but was stopped by the nurse.She asked him to change his clothes before taking him inside the delivery suite.Jasmine was wailing in pain. When
With advanced medical technology, a premature baby could still be healthy if taken good care of in the incubator. Serenity said, “Jasmine should be at thirty-five weeks. I just don’t understand why she would suddenly go into labor. Did she fall at home?“Or did she eat something that made her go into labor?”Zachary said, “That’s most likely not the case. Josh’s cousin is Jasmine’s dietician and keeps an eye on her food every day. There’s no way Jasmine would’ve eaten something bad unless she ate it secretly.”Serenity and Zachary suddenly went silent. Pregnant women had weird appetites. Once they had a craving, they could not go unsatisfied. Sometimes, they would even crave fruits that were not in season. Serenity herself was one of them. Once, she woke up in the middle of the night craving mac and cheese. Of course, Zachary, the ever-doting husband, had to satisfy her request. However, where could he find mac and cheese at that hour?Ultimately, he had to drive to the
People would reap what they had sown. They would have to bear the consequences of their actions. Sometimes, interfering in another person’s fate would backfire. After chatting for some time, Serenity said, “I have to go for my checkup now, Liberty. Let’s talk again when you’re free another day.“By the way, I’ll get someone to bring Sonny to you this weekend. He misses you.”“Okay,” said Liberty. After the call ended, Serenity put her phone into her bag and stood up. She told the man behind the office desk, “It’s almost time, babe. Let’s go.”“Okay. I’m almost done.”Zachary quickly signed and stamped a document before closing it. He walked over with the document in hand. Serenity and Zachary left the office together. He handed the document to his secretary. The secretary did not expect him to pass the document to him personally. He had thought of entering Zachary’s office to request it later. The secretary watched Zachary and Serenity leave. He could not believe