Zachary said he wanted the Hunts to be poorer than beggars.Josh replied with a smile, “There won’t be a good show if you crush them with a single blow.”Zachary was speechless.“You must be patient dealing with these people. Take it slow and let them lose everything they have bit by bit. It’ll be tormenting for them to try their best to fix their situation, yet they can only watch as they lose everything.”Josh admitted he dropped the ball this time because he was in no hurry to crush the Hunts in one blow.“But don’t worry, boss! You’ll definitely be satisfied with the results.“John Hunt was fired by his company. The trending story was very popular back then, so John has a bad reputation in the industry. It’ll be very difficult for him to find a good job.”Zachary’s expression eased after he heard that John had completely lost his job.“You gotta thank Ms. Stone for this. Ms. Stone asked her brother to fire John. I have to say, Ms. Stone is especially nice to your wife.”Za
In a cafe, Jasmine picked a secluded corner and sat down.Shawn sat opposite her.“Shawn, what do you want to drink?”“Whatever. I’ll have whatever you have.”Jasmine said to the waiter, “Two cups of black coffee, please.”“Jas, black coffee is bitter.”Jasmine glanced at him. Shawn then said sheepishly, “Fine…”After the two cups of coffee were served, Jasmine asked bluntly, “Shawn, I have a question for you. Are you in love with Serenity?”Shawn was stunned.He stared blankly at Jasmine.“Jas…”“Tell me the truth!”Jasmine ordered.Shawn’s face slowly flushed red.Did he show it?“Jas, I… I like Serenity.”“When did it start?”Shawn said in a low voice, “I don’t know when it started. It might have been when I first learned about love when I was 14 years old, or maybe 17.”Jasmine said in a gloomy face, “You’ve had a crush on Serenity for so long.”Shawn hid it long enough.Jasmine and Serenity were not even aware of that and had treated Shawn as a younger brother.
Jasmine said, “I’m only telling you all these because I’m your cousin. Not to mention Serenity doesn’t like you. And even if she does like you back, I don’t approve of you two being together.”“Why not?”“Because of your family. I know my aunt very well. If she finds out that you like Serenity, do you think she’ll still smile at Serenity? She will only do everything possible to prevent you two from meeting each other. She may even do extreme things to Serenity.“My aunt has been in high society for more than 20 years, so she has very high standards. You’re her only son and hope. You’re also the default successor of Lowe Enterprise, so her expectations of you are very high. She wants you to marry someone from an affluent family.“Serenity’s a great girl, and her only flaw is her family background. If you’re not involved, my aunt will happily treat Serenity as her niece for my sake. But when it comes to you, she will be ruthless. Serenity is definitely not a good daughter-in-law cand
Jasmine looked at Shawn with a stern face and said seriously, “Shawn, don’t make me look down on you!Shawn was too hurt to speak.He felt like he could not let it go.However, he could not do anything to hurt Serenity either.Jasmine eased her expression because Shawn was her cousin after all. She sighed and said, “Shawn, I’ve already told you whatever I could. You should calm down first and force yourself to stay away from my store for a while. If you don’t see Serenity for some time, your feelings for her will fade.” As she finished speaking, she got up and said, “This coffee is my treat. I’m heading back to the store. You should hurry back to the office because you’re still a trainee. You should work harder than anyone else because you’re not the only successor in your family. If you don’t work hard, you’ll eventually lose what should belong to you.”With the last bit of advice spoken, Jasmine pulled out her chair, and turned to walk away.Shawn sat there with a blank mind.
Serenity smiled, “I’m flattered, Mr. York. Do you have something to say to me?”Zachary replied, “I don’t have to socialize tonight. I was wondering if you’d be interested in going shopping with me later?”Zachary fled after giving Serenity that bouquet. After some thought, he suddenly felt that taking the initiative was not so difficult after all.Thus, he mustered up the courage to ask his wife out that night.After giving it a thought, Serenity said, “I was thinking of bringing Sonny to pick Liberty up from work later. If you don’t mind, we can fetch my sister from work and go shopping after dinner.”“Is Liberty working overtime?”“She just sent me a message saying that she doesn’t have to work overtime on the first day of work, so she can get off work at half past five.”Zachary was silent for a moment before he said, “Okay, I’ll pick you up later and we can fetch Liberty from work together. I’ll buy you all dinner.”“Sure.”“See you.”“Okay.”Zachary did not hang up imm
Zachary was in a good mood after asking his wife out on a shopping date later that night. His work efficiency improved greatly.When he responded to a knock on his door, everyone outside could hear that he was in a good mood.Josh pushed the door open and came in.He was not alone. Remy followed Josh in.Remy’s bodyguards were waiting at the door of the office.“Boss, Mr. Johnson is here.”Zachary stopped working, got up, and walked around his desk. “Mr. Johnson.”The two men shook hands as Zachary motioned for Remy to have a seat on the sofa.Mr. Chaplin informed Zachary earlier that Remy was here, but Zachary did not expect Remy and Josh to come in together. Maybe those two met outside.Josh went to pour a glass of water for Remy.After Remy drank the water, Zachary asked in a deep voice, “Mr. Johnson, is there a problem with our cooperation?”An important partner like Remy could see Zachary at any time without an appointment. However, Remy was mostly in contact with Josh.
Zachary said, “I’ve always looked up to Mr. Young-Johnson and was hoping for a chance to meet him. You’ve given me this opportunity.”Remy smiled. “My eldest brother has also admired you for a while, Mr. York.”They exchanged pleasantries.Remy came over to Zachary’s office to deliver his brother’s wedding invitation. Since it had been delivered, Remy did not stay long because he was busy.He said, “Mr. York, Mr. Bucham, I have something else to attend to, so I’ll get going now. If you have time in the evening, we can have dinner together. My treat.”Josh smiled. “I’m fine anytime, but Mr. York might not be free.”Zachary interrupted. “I’ll buy you dinner some other day, Mr. Johnson.”Zachary had plans with his wife tonight.Remy smiled. “Okay, then. I’ll wait for your call.”He stood up.Zachary and Josh both got up and walked Remy out of the office together.“Mr. York, Mr. Bucham, you don’t have to send me off.”Remy stopped at the door of the office and asked the two men
Josh said, “I heard about it even though I wasn’t there. Mrs. Lowe was the one who brought Jasmine to the banquet that time, so she quickly dragged Jasmine away.”Zachary was speechless.He heard Serenity mention occasionally that Jasmine’s family kept urging her to get married. Last time, Serenity even accompanied Jasmine on a blind date at Beans and Cream.Did Jasmine do that at Mrs. Dawson’s birthday party on purpose for the sake of her peace and quiet? That way, her family would not urge her to marry.“Ms. Sox was a sensation for lying on the floor. Everyone in our circle heard about this girl.”Josh smiled. “The girls in our circle won’t just lie on the floor even if they’re drunk because etiquette is engraved in their bones. They will still look elegant when drunk.”After a moment of silence, Zachary asked his friend, “Then do you like an elegant drunk or a wild drunk?”“I haven’t thought about this. But if you really want to arrange a blind date for me, go for it. I’ll me
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