Grandma May freed a hand to pass a freshly grilled fish to Dylan. She said, âSmall fish tastes best when you eat them fresh from the grill. It wonât taste as good when itâs cold. You should eat it while itâs hot.ââThank you, Nana.âDylan took the fish his nana handed to him and dug in. While he ate, he even took a picture and sent it to Austin. Dylan and Austin were of similar age. He liked playing with Austin the most back when they were young. Even after they grew up, they remained close. He loved showing off to Austin. When Austin received the picture from Dylan, he immediately sent a voice message to the family chat, âDid you go fishing, Nana? You even grilled the fish. Are there a lot of them? I want some. Iâll head back right now.âDylan said on purpose, âTheyâre all gone. Nana kept it for me. Thereâs nothing left for you, Besides, are you really coming back just for the fish? Youâll be losing a lot of money.ââMoney can be earned anytime, but Nanaâs grilled fish is
Dylan barely ate during breakfast as he slept poorly last night. He put all the food in a resealable bag before following Grandma May out. âHave a drumstick, Nana.âDylan passed a drumstick to her. He turned toward Dolly, who sat before the table and had a greasy mouth from eating, and said, âWhoâs that girl, Nana? Sheâs definitely enjoying her food.ââSheâs Dolly. Her parents take care of the garden. I like her a lot.âDylan ate the fish Grandma May cooked. He said, âYou like every little girl you meet. You even tried to steal Chloe back the last time you visited the Johnsons.âGrandma May regretfully said, âOur family is just as good as the Johnsons. Even if Clo-clo were to live with us, itâd be a similar environment. Unfortunately, the Johnsons werenât willing to let her go. I guess Ben was scared that Iâd kidnap his daughter. He was at home every day when I visited and kept staring at me.ââOf course, they wouldnât be willing. Chloe is their only great-granddaughter. If I
Dylan still wiped the chair for Grandma May. As for his own, he could not be bothered. âYouâre a genius. You know everything without even stepping out of the house.âGrandma May side-eyed Dylan and said, âStop flattering me. Tell me. What donât you like about Imogen?ââSheâs great. I never said she had a problem. I tried falling in love with her. Even now Iâm trying to develop some feelings for her, but sheâs the one who ended up falling in love with me. She even traveled here just to demand an explanation from me.âShe said Iâm toying with her. I feel wronged. I did try my best to love her, but I couldnât,â said Dylan innocently. Even when he was speaking, he did not stop chewing his barbecue.âYou chose Imogen. I admit that sheâs outstanding and suits me in various aspects. I donât hate her, but I think there isnât enough excitement whenever Iâm with her. It has been like that for some time. I can tell you for sure that I can never fall in love with her.âHowever, if I can
âYouâre more important to me than Mom and Dad, Nana. You can definitely live a long life. Donât you want a great-granddaughter? With the nine of us, youâll have nine granddaughters-in-law in the future. Surely, thereâll be one from us nine.âYou have to hold your great-granddaughter, raise her, and choose good in-laws for her.âGrandma May laughed. âI want to ask for an extra five hundred years of life as well, but letâs be realistic.âIâll be content with seeing my great-granddaughter born. How can I possibly wish to live until the day she gets married?âNo matter how healthy, she was already eighty years old. Meanwhile, her great-granddaughter was still nowhere in sight. She probably would not even be alive to see Rowan get married.Grandma May said, âI was just teasing you. Didnât I say that Iâd accept another girl aside from the one I chose as long as she had good character and values? The problem is whether you know her identity.âItâs been some time, yet you donât even
Grandma May stared at Dylan in silence. Since the truth was out, he simply spoke his mind and revealed everything. The reason he returned to the manor was to tell her everything. He could not marry the woman she picked for him like his brothers did. He had someone else he wanted to pursue. After Dylan spoke, Grandma May sighed. She said, âYou have a point. Itâs better to end things earlier. Ms. Doyleâs feelings for you shouldnât be that deep yet. You should talk to her and make her give up. Itâs better that way. âDonât hold her back.âAfter a pause, she continued, âAre you really not going to consider Ms. Doyle anymore? You donât believe in my choice?âDylan said, âI trust your eye for people, Nana. Ms. Doyle is great, but I donât have romantic feelings for her. Even if I do marry her, weâll only be husband and wife who respect one another without any love between us.âShe's smart. She definitely doesnât want a future like that either.âLove canât be forced, Nana. Thereâs
Imogen would not even know that Dylan was the one who bought the souvenirs. After thinking about it, Dylan decided to go with Grandma Mayâs suggestion. If he were to tell Imogen that he bought the gifts, she probably would think that he had some lingering feelings for her and feel hopeful. It would be troublesome if she refused to give up. âArenât you heading home to eat, Nana?âDylan looked at his watch. It was almost mealtime. Grandma May said, âIâm full from eating so much barbecue. Iâll have a simple lunch at their quarters later. She would go for a light lunch after having too much chicken and fish. âYou should dine with your parents back home.ââOkay.âSince Grandma May did not want to go home yet, Dylan did not insist. The old lady enjoyed spending time with the ladies. She would not go hungry anyway. He did not have to worry about her not having anything to eat. âIâll call the ladies over to admire the flowers here.âGrandma May took out her phone. Dylan o
Rosella also came from wealth. She had never lacked jewelry her entire life. When she married into the York family, the amount of jewelry she had received from her family was enough to stock up a jewelry store. They were kept in her safe. After Callum married Camryn, Rosella had given quite a few of her prized jewelry to her daughter-in-law. Dylan answered, âI donât have a wife yet anyway. I just bought them for you because I saw some new designs.ââDid you buy any for your nana?âDylan handed the velvet box to his mom and replied, âNana doesnât want jewelry from us, so I bought her a bouquet. Even so, she said I was wasting my money and that thereâs plenty of flowers in the garden.âRosella accepted the box. She smiled. âShe may look like she doesnât like it, but sheâll be secretly happy. If she didnât tell you to bring the flowers back, it meant she liked them a lot. She wonât come home before showing off the flowers to everyone there.âRosella knew Grandma May well enough
Rosella put the velvet box down. âI didnât know he was coming back by himself. Mom told me he would be back for lunch. Since Ms. Doyle is in Wiltspoon, I thought heâd let us meet her after eating and drinking with her last night.âShe no longer felt happy about the jewelry Dylan gave her.She preferred having a daughter-in-law. Dylan said, âIâll just go back to work now.âAfter speaking, he got up and was about to leave. Martin said, âYour mom told the kitchen to prepare extra food. We canât finish it even if we feed it to the dogs. You should eat before leaving.âDylan was rendered speechless. His father just implied that they would not have asked him to stay for lunch if their dog could finish the extra food. Just because he did not bring his girlfriend home, he now stood lower than the family dog.âOkay. Letâs go and eat,â Rosella said.Dylan stood and followed his mother. He said, âI thought you really wouldnât let me eat. I guess Iâm less important than our dog now.â
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 Serenityâs 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 Serenityâs 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 Zacharyâs eyes, his wifeâs 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.
âYou should have gotten rid of them all back then and cultivated a network of people loyal only to you.â Manny felt that his father should not have spared those people in the first place.Tony said, âThere were too many of them, all relatives and friends with the same goal as us. We couldnât eliminate them all at once.âBack 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 familyâs 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 Tonyâs call as he walked toward his car.âHey, Pops.ââHowâs it going, Manny? Has there been any progress?âTony was still in Carrieâs 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 mistressâa 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. Longbottomâs place and becoming the real missus
Tati also finished her plate of pastries.She followed Isabella out.âIsa, youâre always so busy and exhausted. If youâre 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. Itâs the same either way.âTati wanted Isabella to take the day off so Isabella could spend some time with Austin and nurture their relationship.However, Isabella still declined Tatiâs kind offer.She said, âNot today. Thereâs an important meeting today, and I have two important clients to meet. Iâm fine, really. Donât worry. From now on, I wonât touch alcohol.âGiven 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 someoneâs 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, âItâs all thanks to Ms. Isabellaâs guidance.âHe 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.âAfter eating the sweets, I feel much better.â 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.âJust ignore him. Are you really going to skip work because of him?âIsabella added calmly to Tati, âIf you let him provoke you, heâll only cling to you even more. If you act like he doesnât exist and donât respond no matter what he does, heâll naturally give up once he sees that youâre completely unresponsive.âTati said, âIâm afraid that heâll go and bother Edith and Eleanor if he doesnât get anywhere with me. They donât have the same resolve as we do.âShe, therefore, decided to bear the brunt of it.âEvery time I see hi
Austin replied, âBoth Mr. Louis and Mr. Phillip woke up very early, especially Mr. Phillip. He gets up earlier than Mr. Louis every morning. Itâs really hard on him, getting up so early in such cold weather.âSometimes, 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, âPhillip is just afraid heâll get here too late and that youâll assume heâs not coming over for breakfast, then not prepare any for him. He's such a little foodie.âThe 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 Isabellaâs 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, âAre you up yet, Ms. Isabella? Itâs time to have breakfast.âIsabella w