Serenity smiled. “Not everyone can be as decisive as you, Ms. Stone. Relationships are difficult to handle.”Even she was not as confident and cool as Elisa was. Back when she found out Zachary had been lying to her, she asked to get a divorce out of anger. However, she was agonized about the decision as well. Although Elisa had been hurt before, she was able to cut off her feelings cleanly. That was admirable. Many women would be unable to do the same. Elisa smiled. “You’re right. I never hesitate. I give up once I know there is no hope for me. It isn’t as if I can’t marry someone else. No need for me to fight someone over a man. There’s surely a man out there for me from all the nice guys in the world.“You should call Zachary and get him to contact Dylan as soon as possible. I want to know all the tea.”Elisa had been influenced by Serenity and Jasmine and became a gossip queen herself. Jasmine was the luckiest because she could get first-hand information. She would alway
“Are you in Wiltspoon now, Dylan?”“Yes. I’m back.”Feeling apologetic, Dylan explained, “I’ve been busy since I returned and haven’t had the time to visit Nana. Does she miss me? I shall spend some time with her this weekend.”Grandma May was a child at heart. She loved having her grandsons entertaining her. Of course, the York brothers were more than willing to accompany her whenever they had time. However, it would always end with them being made fun of. Nothing mattered as long as she was happy. “It’s not about this weekend. Do you have time tonight? Serenity says she wants to treat you to dinner at Wiltspoon Hotel. You should come over tonight.”Dylan was stunned. He asked, “Serenity wants to buy me dinner?”Why would she do that out of the blue?Dylan was flustered. Something felt off to him. Maybe that was why he had been nervous the entire evening. “Yes. Come over at half past five. Serenity and I will be waiting for you at the hotel. If you happen to arrive e
Zachary could not be bothered about what Dylan thought. He relayed the message, and Dylan gave him a reply. Even if Dylan guessed something, he probably dared not break his promise. As long as he still respected Zachary, he would show up for dinner. Zachary called Serenity to report his success. He also asked her why she thought of treating Dylan to a meal. Serenity smiled, “Dylan’s partner came to me. She’s the one Nana chose for him.”“Why did she look for you? Shouldn’t she go to Dylan?”Zachary enquired after being taken aback momentarily. “Ms. Doyle said Dylan didn’t pick up his phone or respond to messages sometimes. Since she didn’t know his address in Wiltspoon either, she had no choice but to come to me.“My employees told me a beauty was waiting for me once I reached the company earlier. I thought you cheated on me and that my love rival was here to chase me away from you.”Zachary got agitated. “That’s impossible. We’ve been husband and wife for so long. Anyone
Zachary agreed with Serenity’s arrangements. They were giving Dylan and Imogen a chance to sort things out without interfering too much. “I’ve informed Dylan. He’ll come.”“I knew I could count on you. Go back to work, babe. I’ll get back to mine too.”“Okay. Don’t tire yourself out or stay seated for too long. Remember to take short walks from time to time.”Although Serenity was still in the early stage of pregnancy, sitting too long was not good for her.“I know. I cherish this baby more than you do.”After the husband and wife exchanged a few more words, Serenity ended the call. Meanwhile, in Satbury, Austin was working in the kitchen alone. Dominic had already bought the ingredients he needed, all crisp and fresh. Since Dominic had no idea of Austin’s menu, he did not offer any help and left Austin alone. Well, Austin did not need help.An evening was more than enough for him. He was not going to cook up a feast anyway. It would be a few simple dishes for Isabell
Tati said, “It’s good enough if you ate it. There are only so many patissiers in Satbury who can make desserts that satisfy you.”Isabella was rendered speechless. She looked toward Tati and asked, “Be honest with me, Tati. Did you fall in love with Austin at first sight? You’ve been paying a lot of attention to him. You’re also very concerned if he can become my chef.“If you like him, you can switch your chef and hire him instead. Not only can you eat the food he makes every day, but you can also date him. However, he’s only a chef. He’s way below your league. I don’t know if your parents can accept a chef as their son-in-law.“Definitely not my parents.”The O’Connors were one of the top families in Satbury. Naturally, their standards for a son-in-law would be pretty high. Isabella was not looking down on anybody. She simply agreed that one should look for a partner on par with themselves. That way, both sides would have minimal disparity in knowledge and perspectives. They
Therefore, Tati’s father never cared about his children. Only their mother did, so they were closer to her. Isabella told Tati, “Stop listening to gossip. You’ll only know if marriage is for you after experiencing it yourself.“With our family, we don’t have to worry about being mistreated. We have enough support.”Isabella said, “We’re more than capable, and our family is powerful. Based on these two points, I don’t think our married lives will be terrible as long as we choose a man of good character.”“You’re right. When are you going to get a boyfriend? I want a brother-in-law.”Isabella scolded Tati, “Don’t overstep. Do I look like I have time to date someone? Men who meet our standards are mostly married, and we won’t even consider those who aren’t suitable for us. Why should we be in a rush?“I believe in fate. If we’re destined to be with someone, we’ll meet them one day, no matter the distance.“Go back to work. We can head back for dinner together at five.”Business
Isabella began to flip through Austin’s information, focused.It was simple. All it said was that he had two brothers and his parents were retired, with the older brother married and had a harmonious family. He had his own business and some achievements. Though he was technically the boss now, he still loved cooking and having loved cooking ever since he was young.Austin’s information did not state that he was one of the Wiltspoon Yorks. Though it was possible Isabella’s secretary was simply unable to find that out, it was also possible that Zachary was helping Austin hide his status so Isabella would not be scared of employing him.However, Zachary had not concealed Austin’s success as a business owner because Austin needed some achievements to show off, lest Isabella eliminate him as a potential romantic interest because he was poor.Zachary was also worried the O’Connor elders would look down on Austin as not all rich families were like the Yorks who only prioritized character
“Uncle Dylan!” Sonny greeted cheerfully. He rarely saw Dylan and was not close to him, so he just greeted him verbally. He did not run over to ask for a hug like he would with Callum and the others.Dylan spread his arms toward Sonny with a smile. “C’mere, Sonny. Let me give you a hug.”Sonny looked at Serenity for approval and only walked over to Dylan once she nodded. Dylan picked him up. “Hi, Uncle Dylan.”“I haven’t seen you in ages. You’ve gotten a little heavier than before. You need to eat more to grow bigger quickly.”Sonny replied, “You just said I got a little heavier. That’s because I ate lots and grew bigger!”Dylan laughed. “That’s right. Did you miss me?”“No, I don’t see you very often so I’m not that close to you, so I haven’t missed you.”Dylan said to Serenity, “Sonny really is honest. He doesn’t even know how to lie.”“It’s good for little kids to be honest.”Sonny also said, “My teacher says we should be honest kids that don’t lie.”“Right, right. Looks li
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