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
“Was that Chelsea and her family?” Jasmine asked Serenity after they settled down. “It must be. She’s been living a comfortable life. She’s even dressed in expensive clothes and jewelry.”Before Liberty got a divorce, Chelsea and Mrs. Brown would go to the bookstore to complain to Serenity. Jasmine had met Chelsea several times before. Chelsea had left such an impression that Jasmine could not possibly forget her. “It is Chelsea.”Serenity replied, “Lucas called Sonny twice, but Chelsea covered his mouth. She’s scared of us joining her for dinner and making her pay.“In the past, she and her family would go to Liberty’s house to eat for free. They never helped out and even dared to order my sister around and pick on her.”The Browns were like leopards who would never change their spots. Serenity felt Wiltspoon was tiny. She would bump into people she disliked from time to time. Imogen did not know what happened in the past. She kept quiet and simply listened. Jasmine sa
Serenity agreed, “It’s reasonable, yes, but before Dylan makes up his mind, you can still give it a shot.”Imogen smiled and said, “Serenity, Jasmine, let’s eat and stop talking about men. Both your husbands are good men, so you’ll feel happy to talk about them, but the man I’m interested in isn’t interested in me. Talking about him will just ruin my appetite. Like Sonny said, eating is king. Let’s just eat.”Serenity and Jasmine stopped there. They had no way of influencing Dylan when it came to his feelings.“Well, it’s not like I didn’t get anything out of this visit—I got two new friends. Whether or not Dylan and I end up together, the three of us will still be friends. You guys mustn’t renounce me. Either way, I’m wrapped around both of your thick thighs, so you can forget about trying to kick me away.”Serenity could not help but laugh.Jasmine laughed too and said, “You’re speaking casually with us already. We can’t just abandon you now, can we?”Imogen was very good at co
Jasmine scoffed. “Don’t believe a single word of what she says. She’s a master at exploiting. Second to none.”Serenity heard Chelsea say to Mrs. Brown, “Mom, the kids said they hadn’t eaten something delicious in a very, very long time, so I took them out to eat. We’re done eating, but I don’t have enough money to pay the bill. Do you have money in your account? Transfer some money to me.” Chelsea walked off into the distance. Serenity and the rest could no longer hear what she said.Jasmine said to Imogen, “If I had a daughter like that who only knew how to leech off her family and take advantage of them, I’d strangle her at birth.”Imogen replied, “You wouldn’t know if she was that sort of person at birth, though.”Jasmine was silent for a moment before she decided, “I’d cut all contact with her and pretend I never had a daughter, then.“Imogen, that shameless nut is Sonny’s aunt. She just loves taking advantage of anything she can. She used to frequent her parents’ place to
“Have you eaten, Dad?”Hank replied warmly, “Not yet. I’m not hungry yet, so I’ll only eat after I’ve taken two more customers. You’ve eaten, right?”Sonny replied, “Yeah. Aunt Ser and Jazz took me out to eat and we ran into Aunt Chel and the rest. Lucas said hi to me but, I don’t why, Aunt Chel covered his mouth. Lucas’s granddad and grandmom were there too, there were so many of them eating together. Only Aunt Ser and Jazz and Jen were with me, just the four of us.”Hank did not pay much attention to this at first and laughed. “Oh, you ran into Aunt Chel? Did you say hi to her?”“No,” Sonny answered honestly. “Lucas called out to me but Aunt Chel covered his mouth. Dad, what does Aunt Chel mean by that?”Hank was silent for a moment. “Your Aunt Chel… You don’t have to mind her.”He finally realized it. Had Chelsea been afraid that Sonny and the rest would try to join their table if she said hi and did not let Lucas talk to Sonny because of that?Being her brother, Hank did und
George’s business was doing fairly well and Chelsea was definitely not short of money. Hank could forgive her for not inviting their parents out to dinner with her family but she even asked their mother to foot the bill once they were done eating. It was no wonder Hank was angry.“Got it, Sonny. The next time I’m free, I’ll take you out to eat too, okay? I have to go now. You have to listen to your Aunt Ser, okay?”“I’ll be good, Dad. Take care.” Done tattling, Sonny happily ended the call.Serenity heard it all. After Sonny returned her the phone, she tapped him on the forehead. “You’ve even learned how to snitch, huh, kiddo?”Chelsea had really gone too far this time though. This had nothing to do with Serenity, so she would not interfere. If Sonny wanted to complain, it was the Browns’ issue. If she had been the one to tell Hank about it, Hank might suspect she was deliberately making things up about Chelsea, but he did not have the same reservations with Sonny.Sonny blinked a
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
Austin was extremely patient with the boys. Although they occasionally caused trouble, most of them were minor issues. They would never do something they were not allowed to do.After breakfast, Austin brought them their bags. With a boy in each hand, he left the house. It was to prevent the boys from saying he was playing favorites. Dominic was used to that scene. Initially, Austin was simply Ms. Isabella’s private chef. However, he gradually took on more responsibilities.He would take the two young masters to school. If he had time in the evening, he would also fetch them from school. Austin also made sure Louis and Phillip did their homework, supervised their hobby classes, and played with them. Sometimes, he would even teach them martial arts and train with them. Dominic felt Austin was an all-rounder. It seemed like there was nothing Austin could not do. No wonder Ms. Isabella thought highly of Austin. However, Austin was a young master of a wealthy family. He w
Louis and Phillip were downstairs having the breakfast Austin had prepared for them. The food was different every morning, and everything was delicious.Having gotten used to Austin’s cooking, Louis and Phillip could no longer stand the food provided in the school. They thought the food there was terrible. Louis was enrolled in an elementary school not far from home. As he was a first grader, he did not need to stay in the dormitories and could have his lunch and dinner at home. Phillip, who was a year younger than him, was still in preschool. He would have breakfast and dinner at home. Actually, the preschool did provide breakfast, but Phillip refused to eat in school and insisted on having breakfast at home. In order to eat the breakfast Austin made, he would get up early in the morning without the adults waking him. After putting on his clothes and washing up, he would head to Louis’s place with his bag. “Austin.”Louis suddenly asked, “Did my sister come back last n
Isabella had always thought Tati was teasing her. Therefore, she did not take her words seriously. She thought it was completely normal for Austin to treat her well as she was his boss. From Austin’s perspective, she was his source of income. Now that Isabella pondered about it deeper, she realized perhaps Austin did come to Satbury for her. It was not just to be her chef. He always said Grandma May only gave the York lads a year to pursue their fiancées. However, Austin had never left since he started working for Isabella. Even if he did, it was to accompany her on business trips. He was busy feeding and taking care of her every day and had never gone to pursue his so-called fiancée. He did not even try to gather information on her. Was he not anxious?A year would go by pretty quickly. Although it felt like it had not been long since Austin started working for Isabella, three months had passed. Time really flew. Three months had gone by in the blink of an eye. Neve