Audrey called Patrick “Uncle True”, so her sister Lisa followed suit. They were the only ones who called him that, and every time, he would respond with a smile. In Audrey’s blurry memories, her parents and Uncle True were always very busy and her mother was not in good health, so she often delegated to Belinda.Now that Audrey thought about it, it was likely Belinda’s desire to seize power arose from Tiara’s bad health and constant need for Belinda’s help in managing the company and family matters. Belinda must have felt indignant that despite doing so much for them, everyone was still in favor of Tiara, so Belinda wanted to take Tiara’s place, thinking that only by becoming the matriarch would everyone favor her completely.When Audrey called Patrick “Uncle True”, he responded with a tearful exclamation. Neither had a strong impression of the other anymore, but Audrey had taken very good care of herself and looked like both her parents. When Patrick looked at her, he felt like he c
Last year, Patrick was at death's door again. He did his best to calm himself. He nodded at his friends before saying to Audrey, “Missy Drey, I’ll do my best to stay alive until you guys have avenged Ms. Tiara and punished Ms. Belinda. I wouldn’t be able to rest in peace otherwise. I’m useless. It’s been so many years, but I still wasn’t able to avenge Ms. Tiara or find you and your sister.”If he had managed to find news of Audrey and Lisa earlier, Lisa might not have died young. He had failed to protect Tiara and even her two daughters. He felt guilty toward Tiara. Having undergone special training before going to Tiara’s side and doing many things for her, he had failed to carry out the last two most important duties. He was too ashamed to meet Tiara in the afterlife.The camp where he was trained immediately arranged for a new assistant for Belinda when she succeeded the matriarchy after Tiara’s death, who then took over the network he used before. The network he built himself, h
Before Lisa’s grave, Audrey cried her heart out, but nothing she could do would revive her sister. All she could do was shower an abundance of love on her two nieces. After the sisters’ miserable childhood and subsequent separation, as well as learning the truth behind her family’s deaths, Audrey hated Belinda with her whole being.Patrick said with resentment, “One should not do something they don’t want others to know about. She will pay for what she did.”“That’s right, Uncle True. She’ll pay for what she did.”“It’s just that I’m useless. I don’t have a lot of proof. All I have is this bit of evidence and it’s not going to be enough to prove she did it, also because anyone who could be a witness is already dead,” Patrick said, blaming himself so much that he started crying again.Audrey said coldly, “I don’t care if there’s no proof. I will take back control of the Fisher family. I might not become the matriarch myself, but I can make my niece one. No matter how much she does o
“Lisa’s eldest daughter went to Jensburg, Uncle True. She’s growing her business there. You won’t be able to see her for now,” said Audrey gently. She knew why Patrick was staring at Elisa. He was probably worried that none of Tiara’s descendants could become the matriarch of the Fisher family. Patrick was loyal. He thought the Fisher family belonged to Tiara’s bloodline. Although Belinda had been the matriarch for over forty years, he had never acknowledged her. On the other hand, Belinda did not want Patrick alive. She had always felt a sense of wrongness being the matriarch as long as he was alive. The curtain fell only with Patrick and her sisters dead. It would also be a boost of confidence. “Seren is on her way here. You’ll be able to see her soon.“Seren takes after her dad, while Liberty takes after Lisa. Liberty’s son looks like a mini Lisa. If Sonny wears a dress and has pigtails, he’ll look exactly like her.”Audrey was unable to find Liberty and Serenity bec
The York men were the same as the men in his son-in-law’s family. No wonder the Yorks and the Johnsons had a good relationship. “Doc.”Zachary greeted the legendary doctor politely as well. Doc nodded back. Next, he introduced his friends to Zachary and Serenity. Then, he pointed at Patrick and told Serenity, “Patrick is the person you all have been looking for, Mrs. York. Your aunt calls him Uncle True.”“Please call me Serenity, Doc.”She looked toward Patrick and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Patrick.”Patrick and Serenity had never met each other, so they did not share the same excitement as Audrey. Patrick nodded with a smile and said, “You must be Serenity.”Audrey was right. Serenity did not take after Lisa. They might have looked slightly alike at first glance, but one could tell they did not look similar upon a closer look. It seemed like Serenity had inherited her features from the Hunt family. “I’m Serenity. My sister, Liberty, is currently in Je
Audrey was shocked. “Is there no way to let Uncle True live a few years more, Doc?”Doc replied, “Lilian and I have used all our best medicine on him. We’ve done our best. Patrick could only live this long because of his firm conviction and having us maintain his health.“Although your mom’s not avenged, he’s relieved to see you all doing well and having some influence. He thinks he can leave the revenge to you all and finally reunite with his master in heaven.“Since his conviction is gone, he won’t be able to live for much longer. Besides, he’s almost a hundred years old. Even if he leaves one day, you’ll have to accept it.”How many centenarians are there in this world anyway?Audrey looked toward Patrick’s room worriedly. Doc knew that she feared Patrick would pass away in his sleep. He reassured her by saying, “He’ll hang on as he hasn’t passed the evidence to you. He’s been hiding it himself. We’ve never asked him about it or seen it.”To be honest, Patrick had never tr
Audrey agreed. “You can come over with Sonny after picking him up.”After a pause, she added, “Doc said Uncle True’s days are limited. We should let him meet Sonny.”Everyone exchanged glances with each other. Serenity asked, “What illness does he have?”“It might have been a side effect from his past injury. The elderly usually fall sick easily. Uncle True is very old.”Audrey sighed and stopped talking. The legendary doctor had even told them to be mentally prepared. “I’ll come over in the evening after picking Sonny up.”Serenity understood that Patrick was of advanced age. At this age, they usually passed away once their wishes were fulfilled.“Should I ask Liberty to come back?”“Not yet. Uncle True hasn’t given us the evidence. I don’t think anything will happen for now. I’ll invite him to stay here the next time he comes. We’ll take care of him until he leaves us.”Patrick was not married or bore any children. He viewed Audrey and Lisa as his own. Audrey felt
“We should return to Wildridge Manor and inform Nana of this, Seren. She probably wishes to meet the masters.”They were born in the same generation. Grandma May was already a notable figure in Wiltspoon back then. Those grand masters probably knew her as well. Upon recalling that Serenity had woken up early, Zachary changed his mind. He said, “You can go back and rest. I’ll go to the manor. If Nana wants to come, I’ll drive her over.”Serenity replied, “I’m not tired. I’ll go with you.“We haven’t gone back for some time anyway. We can stay there with Sonny for the weekend. We should also tell them that I’ll be taking him to Annenburg when winter break starts next week.”Zachary asked worriedly, “Will it be exhausting for you? Get some rest if you feel tired. Don’t overdo it.”Serenity straightened her back and patted her bump. “The baby isn’t that big yet. I won’t get tired that easily.”“Don’t pat your bump. The baby might’ve woken up from his sleep because of that.”Za
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