“Let Dylan be your guide and take you around Wiltspoon. There are a few scenic spots on the outskirts you can visit,” Serenity suggested.Imogen huffed. “He doesn’t even want to talk to me. It’s most important to have fun when I’m traveling and I’m not going to cling to his moody ass when he doesn’t even want me around. It’ll just bring me down. Are you free? Can you go shopping with me? I want to buy something. Tomorrow, I intend to visit Old Mrs. York at Wildridge Manor.”She was not going there to ask her why she had chosen her but to see the revered personage for herself.Serenity smiled. “Sure. I have to take an afternoon nap first, though. It’s a habit of mine. If I don’t, I won’t feel energetic in the afternoon and will be prone to headaches and eye pain.”“Sure, we’ll go after your nap.”“I’ll take you to my bookstore later. Jasmine is there, she’s my other best friend apart from Elisa.” Whenever Serenity met a new sister-in-law and got along well with her, she would intro
Imogen looked at Dylan’s message for a beat before replying. [I’m not sure yet. Why? Do you want to treat me to a meal? Or is it that you can’t bear to see me go?]Dylan replied, [I want to treat you to a meal and talk to you again.]Imogen asked, [About? Our future? Or have you decided to choose her? If you really have a girlfriend, let me meet her. I promise I won’t ever appear in your life again after that.”She did want to fight for it, but if there was no hope, she would just give up. It was rare to find a good family like the Yorks, but Dylan had to like her and be willing to marry her in the first place for her to be a part of the family.A few minutes passed before Dylan replied again. [I do have someone I really like, but we’re not in a relationship yet, so I can’t let you disturb her. We can talk about the issues slowly when we meet. Are you free tonight?][No.][Let me know when you’re free, then. I’ll treat you to a meal.]After a moment of thought, Imogen replied, [
Especially Serenity. Carrie hated Serenity more than she did Camryn.When the Newmans ran into trouble, it was all due to Serenity’s meddling that so much changed and Camryn took power.Carrie dearly wished she had some sort of superpower she could take revenge with.Serenity was currently pregnant and coddled by the Yorks so that her baby could grow healthily, whereas Carrie’s first pregnancy was with a man she did not love. Regardless, she was not allowed to keep the baby because Mr. Longbottom did not allow it.They were both women, but had drastically different lives.The heating in the room made Carrie feel stuffy and she got out of bed to open the window. When the nurse Mrs. Douglas opened the door and saw this, she hurriedly stopped her. “Madam, don’t open the window. You’re still weak and you’ll catch a cold if you let the cold breeze in.”“It’s so sunny outside, it won’t be cold. Wiltspoon winters aren’t cold and snowy like where you’re from. At least let me turn off the
Mrs. Douglas smiled warmly. “You’re so young, so you’ll recover quickly. You won’t go out of shape. I’ve taken care of many rich women after their pregnancies and they all managed to regain their slim figures and lose their pregnancy weight quickly by working out.”She refrained from pointing out that Carrie had only miscarried and could not possibly go out of shape in just two weeks. Even if Carrie ate well every day, she did not eat a huge amount and usually only tried once of whatever additional soups and superfoods Mrs. Douglas brought before asking them to be taken away. Sometimes, she would ask Mrs. Douglas to eat them without trying them herself.Carrie stopped worrying. She said, “I’ll cut down on my food. I don’t want to become a fat whale at the end of my recovery. How long does it usually take? It’s so boring just lying in bed every day.”If she did not appear, would Serenity forget who she was? Would she have to spend even more time trying to form a connection with her t
“I couldn’t sleep and was bored, so I strolled around the block. There are quite a lot of shops nearby. It’s really convenient to buy whatever you need.” Imogen was about to help Serenity sit down, but Serenity smiled and waved her off. “It’s fine. I can sit on my own. I’m not yet at the stage where it’s difficult to move around.”They both sat down. Imogen pulled the bags over to her and said, “I bought some fruits and a few types of snacks. I’ve tried all of them and made sure they tasted fine before buying them.”“I’m not picky.” Serenity put her glass down and scooted closer to see what Imogen had bought.Imogen laughed. “I’m not picky either, but I still prefer eating good food.”“Everyone’s the same. If there’s something good to eat, of course we’ll have that, but otherwise, anything edible will do.” Serenity had lived a hard life. Even if she was filthy rich now that she was the eldest Mrs. York in her generation, she still maintained some habits.She picked up one of the
“Since we’re going to the bookstore, let’s not eat these yet. We’ll bring them to share with Jasmine. She likes the same things as I do and can eat more than I can at the moment. She’s already showing. It’s exactly the time she needs more nutrients and has to eat more than three meals a day.”Imogen asked, “Has she put on a lot of weight? The pregnant ladies at my company gained weight super fast after they got pregnant. They said that if you get morning sickness, you won’t be able to eat much, if at all, but once it’s gone, their appetites increase tremendously and they gain weight because they can’t control themselves. They said many ladies end up with big babies.”Serenity hurriedly asked her, “Do I look fat?” She had quite the appetite too.“You’re not obviously showing right now. You look a bit round, but not fat.”Serenity sighed in relief and said, “Luckily, I still work. If I stayed home all day, I’d definitely be as round as a watermelon right now.”She insisted on workin
While Serenity worked in her office, her bodyguards would stay nearby the building, constantly keeping an eye out so they could immediately follow after her when she left to protect her.On the way to the bookstore, Serenity texted Jasmine. When they arrived, Jasmine came out to greet them with a smile.The moment Serenity got out of the car, Jasmine went up to her to affectionately take her arm as she said, “I thought you weren’t coming today, you busy, busy girl.”“I don’t think I’m that busy. Elisa is, though.”Jasmine said a little apologetically, “The work should have been divided among us three, but now a lot of things have ended up on Elisa’s plate.”Imogen got out of the car, carrying the two bags of fruits and snacks as Jasmine happened to ask Serenity, “Didn’t you say you were going to introduce me to a pretty girl?”“There—she just got out of the car.”Jasmine looked at Imogen.Imogen walked up to her and introduced herself confidently. “Hello, Mrs. Bucham. My name’s
Serenity brought the fruits into the kitchen to wash them. After offering a seat to Imogen, Jasmine asked, “Do you prefer coffee or tea, Imogen?”Since Imogen had called her Jas, Jasmine decided to call her by her name as well. “Just water will do. Thank you, Jas. I drank a cup of coffee at Seren’s place. I can’t take more caffeine. If I do, I might not be able to sleep tonight.”Jasmine said, “I haven’t drunk coffee in months. I miss the days when I had a cup per day. I’m also the type who can’t fall asleep after drinking too much coffee. I usually have one cup when I arrive at the bookstore, and it’s enough to keep me awake till evening and not affect my sleep at night.”She brought Imogen a glass of water. “How many days are you intending to stay in Wiltspoon?”Jasmine bookmarked her unfinished read with a dog ear and kept it away. She would continue reading it in her free time. “I’m leaving in two days. Things are busy at the company.”“Everyone’s busy at the end of th
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