Caroline said, “My eldest niece is ten years younger than me. She’s not suitable to be my daughter. If I must adopt, then my youngest niece who’s a few years old will do.”That would be Jason’s youngest daughter, who was only six years old.Of course, those were empty words. She would not adopt her niece as her daughter. Caroline wanted a child of her own. If she could not wed a husband, then she would ask Darren as the sperm donor and try conceiving via IVF.Darren was clever and capable. She believed that their daughter would not be inferior in any way. Caroline’s nieces were mediocre at best. It would be difficult to train them to become future matriarchs. Otherwise, Belinda would have chosen one of her granddaughters instead of helping Caroline rise to the ranks.Darren was loyal to Caroline. He would be more dedicated to protecting her and their daughter if they shared a daughter. It would be a win-win situation. Although Caroline did not want to admit it, among all
“Those families are in Wiltspoon and have few businesses in Jensburg. They can’t interfere in our family affairs.“So what if Liberty is Aunt Tiara’s descendant? Aunt Tiara has been dead for decades. The current matriarch is our mom. Returning the position to Aunt Tiara’s descendants is understandable only if you are incapable. Since you’re competent, why should we surrender the position to them?”Adrian added, “Is Liberty even capable? Her establishing a company in Jensburg doesn’t mean anything. No one in our family is close to her. They didn’t even take you seriously when you first returned, let alone her.“While many family members are dissatisfied with Mom, they can’t do anything about it.”He then muttered softly, “Maybe Liberty is destined to have a short life like Aunt Tiara and dies when she’s middle-aged.”His hiring someone to hit Liberty with a car was unsuccessful. To circumvent this, he had sent two cars, yet the mission still failed. “What did you say?”Carolin
Caroline looked at Adrian and said, “You’d have better done nothing. I’m busy, and Mom isn’t in Jensburg. I don’t have the time to clean up your mess if you’ve stirred up trouble.”“No. I didn’t. I’ve been working or going to my mother-in-law’s place to argue with Emma. I don’t have time to be a troublemaker. Besides, I’m an adult. I can lie in the bed I make. I wouldn’t dare to let you do it for me.”“That’s great. You can go back to work. I’m heading out now.”Caroline got up and walked away from her desk. The siblings left the office together. Adrian had wanted to pry into what Caroline was going to do outside. He could not obtain any information but her tight lips. After entering the elevator, Caroline stood upright in front of him in her suit. She gave off an intimidating aura. Adrian cursed mentally but kept a smile on his face. The doors opened when the elevator arrived on his floor. Adrian exited the elevator. When he was passing by his secretary’s desk, he sto
If it were not for Liberty’s intervention, Celine would not have died. Although many factors contributed to Celine’s death, Adrian dared not bother his mother or Caroline. Therefore, he unleashed his anger on Liberty. While Liberty had three influential families—the Yorks, Lewises, and Stones—supporting her, they were based in Wiltspoon, not Jensburg. He would be fine as long as he was not too obvious. Caroline did not know what Adrian was plotting. Just as she exited the building and got into her car, she received the results of Darren’s investigation. She did not react when she saw it. Instead, she started driving calmly and left the company. A few minutes later, Darren called her. Caroline parked her car by the roadside before answering the call. “Ms. Caroline, Mr. Adrian was behind Ms. Hunt’s almost getting hit by two cars.”Darren had sent Caroline sufficient evidence that Adrian had been behind the incident. “I saw the outcome. I knew it’d be him.”Caroline said
After a moment of silence, Darren said, “There’s new information in Wiltspoon, but I haven’t confirmed the details yet. Maybe Liberty will disclose something to you.”“It doesn’t matter if she does or not. After all, we’re rivals. To be frank, I dare trust her fully, but she doesn’t. If she were to have full trust in me, she wouldn’t be a good fit to take over the Fisher family.”Before the truth behind Tiara and Alivia’s deaths was exposed, Caroline would not hand over anything that belonged to the Fisher family just yet. She promised that if her mother had indeed killed her Aunt Tiara and Aunt Alivia, she would cooperate with Liberty and return everything that belonged to Tiara’s descendants. After that, she would leave and not obstruct Liberty from becoming the next matriarch. However, if her aunts’ deaths were indeed an unfortunate accident, Liberty would have to compete against her fair and square. If Liberty could defeat her, she would willingly accept the loss.Therefore,
Even if Caroline were not involved in the Fishers' infighting, she would still experience deception as a businesswoman. Only a few people were truly kind in the business world; most were cunning. Ever since Caroline started her business, she had been paving her own path and managed to stand out among her competitors. Many smaller factories and companies were unable to secure orders and went bankrupt because they could not compete against her company. It had always been the survival of the fittest. Darren said, “I’ll find out more. If Mrs. Stone has truly found that assistant, I believe she’ll come over soon.”Audrey would seek revenge if Belinda did murder Tiara.Although Belinda could probably avoid the death sentence since decades had passed, she would definitely lose her position as the matriarch. Her descendants would be stripped of their rights to become matriarchs too. Audrey most likely would not spare any of them. Thinking about it, Darren reminded, “Should we p
Those who would harm her were either her brothers or father, while others dared not do anything to her. “Okay. That’s all. I’ll go and pick you up if I can finish my errands early.”Caroline did not refuse the offer. After the call ended, she was deep in thought for a moment. She felt like she was becoming more reliant and attached to Darren. He was the only person she could trust wholeheartedly. Caroline sent a message to check on Liberty’s arrival and update that she would be there soon. Liberty replied quickly, saying she had reached Caroline’s company and was welcomed in by a manager.Caroline returned a thumbs-up emoji.After putting her phone down, she started her car again and drove away. Forty minutes later, Caroline arrived. Her company had been doing well and was growing steadily. Even Hayden was willing to collaborate with Caroline’s company. That proved how promising the future of her company was. However, Caroline had not returned for some time. The
Although Mr. Wolfe did not know why Liberty had visited, he hosted her with utmost care. “I came late because I had something going on earlier,” Caroline whispered. She entered the VIP room and saw Liberty and her bodyguards sitting with a cup of tea in front of them. None of them had touched the tea. Upon seeing Caroline, Liberty smiled. “You didn’t have to come over if you were busy. We could’ve talked over the phone.”Caroline grinned as well. “Something happened. Adrian came over to get my signature on a document just as I was heading out. He kept rambling and we had a call with our mom. That was why I was late. Sorry to keep you waiting.”“It’s okay. It wasn’t that long of a wait.”Liberty got up to greet Caroline and only sat after Caroline came closer. Caroline told Mr. Wolfe to get back to work after he poured her a cup of tea. Liberty also asked her bodyguards to leave. They did not need to watch over her in the room. Soon, Liberty and Caroline were the only o
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