âIâm fine.âThe man who coughed said softly, âI think Iâm exhausted from all the traveling.ââHey, boy. Open the gates and let us in now. Canât you see our eldest friend is about to collapse? Why do you care who we are? Do the Stones not know how to treat their guests properly?âThe man who said he could demolish the door was loud. He was impatient too.He glared at Gabe and urged him to open the gates. He would have taken the gates down without his companions keeping him in check.âDan,â one of them scolded him. Dan immediately went silent.âBoy, this man here is the person your missus has been looking for. Donât worry. We arenât bad people.âPlease open the door and let us have a glass of water. He has a weak body.âThe youngest among the five elderly men was the one who checked the sick manâs pulse. He was Dr. Cardenâs teacher, the legendary doctor.The legendary doctor had already brought Laurence back to FC Manor and took care of baby Oliver there. Later, he found out
Patrickâs attempts to return and avenge Tiara had been stopped by the legendary doctor and the rest.They said there was no one to be the next matriarch even if his revenge was successful, unless he could find Tiaraâs daughters. Thanks to Silver, Patrick finally received information about Tiaraâs daughter.After discovering Audreyâs location, Patrick had wanted to rush over to find her. However, he was unable to do so due to his weak constitution.The legendary doctor had spent a lot of time improving his health. Patrick wanted to meet Audrey, the Fisher family's youngest miss back then, as soon as possible due to his old age. He wished to tell her everything he knew and pass on some evidence he had to her.He felt regretful for not being able to avenge Tiara.Therefore, he had to hand over this responsibility to Audrey.From what his friends told him, one of Tiaraâs daughters had died in a car accident over ten years ago and she left behind two daughters. Her in-laws were crue
Cliveâs son, Elias, was crying. Clive walked around the room with Elias in his arms to calm him.Alice did not even open her eyes. She asked, âIs he hungry? Or did he poop?ââI think heâs hungry. You can continue sleeping, love. Iâll coax him and give him some formula. Heâll be asleep until about nine after drinking the formula.âAlice hummed in agreement. She turned around and went back to sleep.Although they had a nanny, the nanny could only carry Elias when he was asleep. If she tried carrying him when he was awake, he would start crying within minutes.It was because he needed to smell his motherâs scent.Therefore, Alice would look after Elias during most of the day. Luckily, he was a good boy too whenever Audrey and Elisa helped out. Otherwise, Alice would have died from exhaustion.Elisa often praised Elias for knowing how to differentiate family from other people. He never cried when his family members carried him.However, he would break into tears immediately in his
âDear, who was it?â Alice rolled over when she heard the phone ring and sat up too, leaning toward her crying son to pick him up.âDonât pick him up, love. If you do, he wonât want to drink the formula I made for him.â Clive hurriedly stopped his wife. âThe kiddoâs really fussy. Once he smells you, heâll refuse to drink his formula.âAlice saw that Clive had already started preparing the formula, so she did not pick their son up. It was fine for him to cry a little.âGabe called and said a few elderly men came by looking for Mom. Apparently, theyâre the ones Momâs been looking for all this while,â Clive said as he made up a bottle of formula. âI donât know if itâs true, but I asked Gabe to receive them first. Once Iâve fed Elias, Iâll head downstairs to take a look.â âIs the person Momâs been looking for that really capable guy who assisted your grandmother back in the day?â Alice knew all about Audreyâs family background and the grudge against the Fisher family. She also knew tha
Elias quickly became full. Clive carefully handed him over to Alice to carry before calling Julian to see if he had any news of that old assistantâs whereabouts.Julian replied a little sheepishly, âWe still have nothing even after searching for so long. Mr. Stone, I suspect the person you guys are looking for isnât among the living anymore.âThere were plenty of old people in their seventies or eighties, but old people in their nineties were much rarer. The person Audrey was looking for was almost a hundred years old, which was why Julian thought he might be dead.Very little information could be found on him also because all of this had happened decades ago. This made it very difficult for them to find him. Audrey did not even remember what that person was called anymore. All she remembered was whenever she saw him as a kid, she would call him âuncleâ.She did not even know his surname. How was Julian supposed to find him? The Buchams had a powerful information network, but they
Alice laughed. âOf course. If we manage to get on Quinnâs good side, itâll be just the same as getting on Julianâs good side.âAs the eldest daughter-in-law of the Stones, Alice had no need to curry favor with anyone, but she still wanted to forge ties with Julianâs wife. There would always be a need for the Buchams at some point.For example, they had only managed to get the Buchams to help now through Zacharyâs connection. The rich madams of the upper class mostly had ulterior motives for keeping in touch, apart from the rare few who were truly friends. The rest were just using one another.âHurry downstairs and see if the old people who came are scammers.â Alice then turned to coax her son softly. âElias will fall asleep really quickly. Iâll sleep a little longer with him. Thereâs no need to wake me for breakfast. You have to eat something before you head to the office.ââOkay.â Clive leaned close to kiss his beloved wife on the cheek before tenderly touching his sonâs face. He
His face was full of wrinkles and only looked somewhat similar to the portrait Audrey had drawn of him from memory. It was no wonder Julian had not been able to find him. Audrey had not been able to remember what he looked like very clearly, so although the portrait was lifelike and drawn well, it was of no use since he was drawn in the wrong likeness. Was he Tiaraâs outstanding assistant?âMay I know your names?ââThatâs not important. Itâs been decades since anyone asked for our names, so we donât quite remember them anymore,â the legendary doctor said. âYou can just call me Doc. Mr. Stone, Iâve been a doctor for decades and have been labeled âthe genius doctorâ among others. Lilian Carden is my disciple. You must have heard of her.âHe introduced himself first. At Cliveâs age, it was very unlikely for him to know of the legendary doctor, but he must have heard of his disciple Dr. Carden, who successfully treated Camrynâs eyes.âMr. Stone, we donât like beating around the bush ei
Doc explained on Patrickâs behalf the real reasons he had been unable to avenge Tiara for the past few decades. Patrick was agitated as his tears streamed down his face out of guilt toward his matriarch and he began to cough violently.Doc hurriedly took out the medication he took with him everywhere, shook two pills out of the bottle, and made Patrick swallow them as he said, âDonât get so excited, Patrick. We havenât even gotten to meet your little miss Audrey yet.âThe others also kept comforting Patrick and told him not to get overly excited. Once he took the pills and had some water, Patrick calmed down. Clive was very nervous too, worried about the old manâs health.He had never met Doc before but knew of his abilities and how Dr. Carden was his eldest disciple. Dr. Carden had helped Camryn recover her eyesight and Doc was pretty much the Johnsonsâ in-law, while the Stones were also in-laws with the Johnsons. Due to this convoluted form of kinship, they could not be neglectful
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
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. Isabellaâs 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 Austinâs 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 Louisâs place with his bag. âAustin.âLouis suddenly asked, âDid 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 Austinâs 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 fiancÃĐes. 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 fiancÃĐe. 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