Jasmine’s baby bump was showing.Serenity and Imogen laughed. After a moment of confusion, Jasmine finally realized what was going on. She hit her friend lightly and said, “How dare you tease me, Seren.”“Look at 'em thicc thighs. All the better for Imogen to cling to them to ask for your help.”Serenity took a piece of fruit and fed it to Jasmine. Jasmine looked at Imogen and said, “I don’t think Imogen needs my help. Yours is more than enough.”Imogen was Dylan’s future wife and the York family would be her strongest supporters. She would not need to rely on anyone else. Serenity winked at Jasmine. Jasmine noticed it and knew there must have been some development between Imogen and Dylan. She quickly changed the topic. Any questions for Serenity would have to wait until Imogen left. At ten minutes to four, Serenity left to pick Sonny up from preschool. Imogen chose to stay at the bookstore and chatted with Jasmine. Since Jasmine loved reading, Imogen asked her to re
Once Serenity fetched Sonny from school, they did not go to York Corporation to look for Zachary. He was busy that day and did not even have time to have a meal with her. She did not want to distract him. Duncan was busy too, so Serenity brought Sonny back to the bookstore. Imogen was still around. When she saw Serenity entering with Sonny, she smiled and waved at him. “Come here, Sonny. Let me carry you.”Sonny remembered Imogen. When Serenity let him go, he jogged toward Imogen and greeted her before she carried him. Sonny greeted Jasmine as well. Jasmine patted his head and told Serenity, “Has Sonny grown taller? I think he has.”“Yes. He gained some weight too. Zachary said he would not be able to win a fight against Laurence when they meet up during winter break if he did not start eating more.”Jasmine laughed. “He’s right. You should eat more, Sonny. Once you get taller and heavier, you can crush your opponent even if you can’t beat him.”Sonny said, “Laurence is s
Imogen could not relate to the topic of children. She had not even gotten married yet. Although she had a target, the marriage probably would not happen. After they chatted for a while, the school bell rang and the students were off.Sonny played behind the cashier counter while the three adults got busy. When the sky turned dark, and the students had left, Serenity told Jasmine and Imogen, “Let’s go have dinner together.”“I want to have Italian food,” Jasmine suggested. Serenity said, “Italian again? Have you been craving that lately?”“I’ve always liked to eat Italian in this weather.”Serenity looked toward Imogen. Imogen said, “I’m fine with anything.”“I guess the pregnant woman gets priority. Let’s go have Italian.”Jasmine laughed. “You’re speaking as if you aren’t pregnant yourself. Your baby is just a month younger than mine.”“A month still counts. My baby will still be in my stomach when you give birth.”Serenity took Sonny’s bag and called out, “Let’s go, S
On the way to the Italian restaurant, Serenity got a call from Jane. She heard Connor's voice the moment she picked up the call. “What’s Connor doing, Jane?” Serenity asked amid laughter. Jane was holding her son with one arm and her phone in the other hand. “He wants to snatch my phone when he sees me making a call. If I don’t give it to him, he’ll start screaming, demanding that I give him the phone.”Serenity smiled. “You can get a toy phone that can emit sounds for him.”“He has one, and he likes it a lot. He’s just playful and wants to snatch mine the moment he sees it. He probably mistook my phone for his.“Have you eaten, Seren?”After speaking, Jane spoke to someone else, “Take Connor out for a walk. He’s too noisy.”Connor was always crying or screaming. He was truly a crybaby like Tim’s son.A nanny carried Connor away. One of the elders had taken the obedient Chloe away early on. Everyone loved well-behaved babies. More importantly, the Johnson family did not
The legendary doctor missed Oliver a lot. Before he returned, he would get on a video call with his disciple, Dr. Carden, multiple times a day to look at Oliver. Dr. Carden was annoyed and said she could let him raise Oliver in the mountains. He was experienced in raising children anyway. After all, Dr. Carden was brought up by the legendary doctor himself. However, Tim refused to let him take Oliver away. Although Oliver was a crybaby and often caused Tim headaches from his crying, Tim still loved Oliver deeply. He said the place where Laurence and the legendary doctor lived was too cold and that the young Oliver could not stand such harsh weather. Tim was right. The legendary doctor’s home was far from civilization. It was cold in spring, fall, and winter. The weather would only turn slightly warm during summer. Now that it was still snowing, Laurence was forced to clear the snow in the garden every day after waking up. He would train while clearing the snow. Indeed, Oliv
Jane said, “Okay. We can get the present when we go shopping for clothes tomorrow.”She did not offer to pay for the present. She would let Laurence use his money. He had some savings and did not lack money. He managed his finances. Since he wanted to give Sonny a present, he would have to pay for it himself. “What present should I get for Sonny?”Laurence sounded as if he was asking Jane and muttering to himself simultaneously. Jane said gently, “Since it’s a gift for Sonny, you should get something he likes.”Laurence was in a dilemma. “Sonny loves food. He already has a lot of toys.”“You can get him some food then.”“Sonny isn’t picky. He eats everything as long as it doesn’t kill him. If so, won’t I have to prepare many presents?”Laurence was a little concerned about his money. He looked toward Jane, looking as if he wished Jane could sponsor him but was embarrassed to ask. He was the one who said he would pay for Sonny’s present himself. Sonny was his friend. H
Laurence would turn four years old soon, yet his learning progress was faster than others. As expected, a child taught by the masters was special. If one did not have natural talent and wit, he or she could never keep up with the masters’ teaching. Of course, the masters would refuse to teach someone who did not have talent. Laurence answered seriously, “The books in my bag are gifts from the grandpas and grandmas for the new year. I like them a lot.”He put a lot of emphasis on the last sentence. Jane dared bet that Laurence would have the urge to throw his bag away once he opened it and saw it filled with books. She knew he was under a lot of pressure. Keeping up with a group of masters was difficult. However, it was an opportunity that others could only dream of. “Since I’m Sonny’s age, he’ll definitely like whatever I do. That’s why I want to give Sonny some books as well. He likes too many types of food. I can’t buy that much food for him.”Jane said, “Are you su
Jane patted Laurence’s head. She said, “Admitting and correcting your mistakes is good.”He nodded vigorously. He would reflect on his mistake. As long as the adults pointed out his mistake, he would correct all of them. Jane stood and said gently, “You can go and play now.”“Where’s Chloe, Mommy Jane?”Laurence added, “I want to play with her.”He only had one younger sister. He preferred her over his younger brothers but they were also adorable. “Her nana might’ve brought her out to play. Connor is still with the nanny. Do you want to play with Connor?”After thinking about it, Laurence said, “I’ll look for Chloe. Since Connor has the nanny to play with, he doesn’t need me.”Connor was a crybaby like Oliver. Uncle Ethan’s sons were older than Connor by a few months and were more difficult to handle. Laurence only found his little brothers cute when they were asleep. On the other hand, Chloe was adorable regardless of whether she was awake or asleep. Laurence thought
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