Darren was helping her because he feared she would be woozy. Caroline sat on the sofa. Looking at the various dishes, she said, “We can’t eat them all. You didn’t have to cook so many dishes.”“It’s not much. The portions are perfect for two.”Darren placed a bowl of soup before Caroline. He asked her to taste it first. “You can start eating too.”“Okay.”Darren did as he was told. He delivered the food as soon as he finished cooking and had not eaten anything himself. He liked eating with Caroline. She had a good appetite and would not reduce her food intake just to maintain her figure, unlike other elite ladies. Caroline would eat whatever she wanted to her heart’s content.She would never deprive her stomach of food. At that moment, Caroline’s phone rang. “I’ll get it for you.”Darren put down his utensils and went to grab Caroline’s phone. He passed it to her, saying, “It’s Mr. Queen.”“Hi, Mr. Queen.” Caroline smiled. “Are you back from your vacation?”
“When did Mr. York arrive in Jensburg?” Caroline asked. “Not long ago. He wanted to tag along and visit you when he heard you were hospitalized.”Zachary had lied to Serenity, saying he had a business trip when he had gone to Jensburg.He was going to observe the situation in Jensburg and discuss their next steps with Audrey before returning to Wiltspoon. Zachary would be there for a couple of days, for any longer Serenity might find out.Caroline smiled. She said, “How thoughtful of him.”Strictly speaking, she was Zachary’s elder despite being several years younger. That was because she was Serenity’s first cousin once removed. Zachary was supposed to be respectful to her. Paying his elder a visit was expected, but everyone knew his true intentions. If it were not for Caroline warning Liberty, those people from Wiltspoon would not be as friendly to her. Even if they were nice to her, they would still be wary. Caroline understood their feelings. If it were her, she
The butler sighed. Even Mr. Clark did not have such freedom, and he was Madam Fisher’s husband. However, her madam trusted Mr. Gordon. He was her lifelong assistant, after all. On the other hand, Mr. Clark had lost his status because of his affair. If he and Madam Fisher did not have children or grandchildren, they would have gotten a divorce. After Mr. Gordon was upstairs, he went straight for the study and knocked on the door. He only entered after obtaining Belinda’s permission. Belinda was practicing calligraphy. Mr. Gordon went to her side and took a look.“What do you think?”“You aren’t focused, and that’s reflected in your handwriting. You should stop and not waste any more ink.”Mr. Gordon was the only person who dared to speak to Belinda without filters. What he said was the truth. Belinda was feeling uneasy. She could not focus, so how could she be in the mood for calligraphy?Her writing was far from pretty. It was a massive drop in quality compared to w
It was nine o’clock at night in Wiltspoon. After ending the video call with Liberty, Serenity said to Sonny, “Are you all packed? Don’t forget to bring your present for Laurence.”Sonny replied, “Yeah, everything’s packed. I’m just bringing some toys and a gift for Laurence. I might forget to bring myself, but I’d never forget that.”Serenity laughed. “If you forget to bring even yourself, how will you give Laurence his gift?”Sonny laughed sheepishly. Serenity picked him up and placed him on the bed. “Your Uncle Zak is on a work trip, so tonight you’ll sleep with me. First thing tomorrow morning after breakfast, we’ll head to your Uncle Ben’s place. I told you to go with the elders, but you didn’t want to. They like you so much, they’d definitely take good care of you.”Sonny lay back on the bed, resting his head on Serenity’s thigh, and said, “They might like me a lot, but I don’t know them that well and you and Mom always say that I shouldn’t cluelessly follow anyone other than
Memories from before the age of three often disappear, but that scene was so traumatic for Sonny that he could never forget it. After the incident, he also had nightmares for a long time. He had also never forgotten the scene of his mother getting injured and covered in blood because she saved him."I only trust Mom, Aunt Ser, Uncle Zak, and Dunc," Sonny said seriously. "I can't trust my dad and the others."The little boy understood everything clearly.Serenity gently touched his little face, her gaze soft. "You are your mom's treasure. No matter what happens, I’ll never let you two be separated. Sonny, your mom has had a hard time, so when you grow up, you should take good care of her.""I will, Aunt Ser. When I grow up, I want to earn lots and lots of money to buy a big house and a new car for Mom so Mom doesn't have to work so hard, and also buy a big house for you."In Sonny's eyes, his mother worked so hard just to make money. So when he grew up, he wanted to work hard and e
“I’ll answer it.” Sonny chose to answer his father's call in the end. Serenity handed him the phone, letting him take the call. If she could avoid talking to Hank, she would.“Dad,” Sonny greeted.Hank responded with a smile that could be heard through his voice, “Sonny, still awake?”“If I were asleep, I wouldn’t be able to answer Dad’s call. Dad, have you finished work? It still sounds quite noisy over there.”Hank replied, “I’m not done yet, but I could get off work if I want to. Is your Aunt Ser there?”“Yes. Are you looking for her?”“Sonny, do you want to come over and stay for a few days? You’re on winter break now, so why not stay over for a couple of days? Your grandparents miss you.”Hank made this call to discuss with Serenity the possibility of having Sonny stay with the Browns for a few days. It was now the winter holidays and his parents missed their grandson. Chelsea had sent Lucas over, but it was too boring for Lucas as he was alone, so his parents thought it would be
Hank only had one son—Sonny—and it would remain that way in this life. The fact that the child still acknowledged him as his father and though they were not very close, it was some form of comfort.After ending the call, Sonny handed the phone to Serenity and said, “Dad wanted to have me stay with him for a few days, but I refused. We’re going to play with Laurence tomorrow. I really don’t want to go back and play with Lucas. He always bullies me. But I’m not afraid of Lucas anymore because I’ve learned self-defense.”Even though he was not particularly talented at self-defense, with time and practice, he had become stronger. His coach said that if he persisted for several years or even a decade, he would have the ability to protect himself. Sonny was not ambitious; he just wanted to be as capable as his Aunt Ser.Serenity hummed in acknowledgment. “If you don’t want to go back, then don’t.” She patted Sonny’s head and said gently, “It’s late now. Go to sleep. We’re leaving early to
“We’re not biased toward Lucas. Sonny is our only grandson through you, and we love him too. In the past, we were the ones who raised Lucas, so naturally, we were closer to him and ended up favoring him. That won’t happen again,” Olivia quickly assured. She knew Hank harbored grievances against them. He resented them for always favoring Chelsea. One particular incident was when Chelsea tried to make Serenity pay for an expensive dinner for her family, but naturally failed, and she called Olivia and asked for money. Not realizing Chelsea was trying to take advantage of her, she sent the money. It was only later that Sonny revealed what had happened.When Hank found out, he was furious and told them that if they continued to favor Chelsea, they would have to move in with her, and he would stop giving them financial support. He was now making a modest income from driving. It was much less than his previously high salary, and they could no longer afford to keep sending Chelsea money.“
“Remy, Remy!” a voice called from outside. It sounded like Audrey. Remy came out of the kitchen, wearing an apron.“You keep at it, I’ll go out. My mom must have seen the lights and knew you were back, so she’s calling you over for dinner at our house.”At this time, her family was probably halfway through their meal.Elisa put down the remote control and walked out of the house with a packet of snacks in hand, munching as she went.“Mom.” Elisa walked to the fence and responded to her mother.“Elisa? You’re back too? You came back and didn’t even come home for dinner? We’re eating right now. Hurry up and bring Remy over. Grandpa True was just saying that Remy hasn’t come over for dinner in a few days.”Remy had been busy entertaining clients lately, so he had not had time to join his in-laws for meals.Elisa replied, “Mom, I feel like eating Remy’s cooking tonight, so we won’t be coming over. You guys go ahead.”“Oh, you. It’s so late already, and you’re still making Remy c
Elisa said, “Although cousins can be as close as siblings, it’s still better to have another child. After all, we won’t be living at your family home permanently, and our children might not have much time to bond with their cousins in the future.“I have two older brothers, and the three of us have always been close. My brothers have always doted on me, and I can always talk about things with them. My sister-in-law has been very kind to me even after they got married too.“I’m used to having siblings around. It’s lively, and no matter what happens, we can always talk things through. It’s nice not having to face everything alone. I don’t want my children to feel lonely in the future.”Elisa continued, “Most importantly, I love children. If you could be the one to carry and give birth, sparing me the exhaustion of pregnancy, I’d even consider having three kids. But unfortunately, you can’t.“If I have to carry the baby myself, even though I love children, I’d only have two—preferably
Jasmine smiled. “I can’t tell. He’s so tiny. I’m scared when I have to carry him. I’m afraid of hurting him. What if he slips from my arms?”As a first-time mother, Jasmine was inexperienced. She was not like Serenity, who had raised a baby before. Josh and Zachary had secretly taken classes on how to look after a baby. The way Josh held the baby was more accurate than hers. “You’ll get better at it after learning slowly. I didn’t dare to carry my nephew either because I was scared of hurting him, but I’m an expert now.”Elisa could not resist touching the baby’s face again. She really liked babies.“Has the baby been fed?”Camila replied, “He was fed an hour ago.”The baby had been ravenous. Everyone was relieved when they saw the baby could feed normally. The doctor said the baby might experience jaundice a few days later and that premature babies should be monitored closely. Jaundice usually appeared when the baby was a few days old. It would reach its peak after
Remy gave it some thought. If he were to become a father, he would also be extremely happy, to the point that he would forget about posting on social media.They were usually busy people and did not have the habit of posting regularly anyway. Josh only started sharing a lot on Facebook after he got married. He simply wanted to show off his life after marriage and irritate his friends who were still single. Even Zachary would post about his love life on Facebook occasionally. Remy suddenly felt he had to keep up with the trend and post something on Facebook during his free time. Remy and Elisa went to buy some supplements before heading to the hospital. There were still many people in Jasmine’s ward. Most of the men were sitting in the small living area while the women were chatting with Jasmine or looking at the baby in the room. The baby boy was already fed and in fresh diapers. He was sleeping soundly. “Jasmine.”Elisa walked over with the supplements she had brought.
The secretary wished she could skip work and visit Jasmine at the hospital with Elisa. However, that could never happen. She was simply an employee, while Elisa was her boss. The only alternative was if Elisa invited her along. Nevertheless, the employees could meet Jasmine during their break or visit her at her house. Elisa left excitedly. A Maybach was parked at the entrance of the company. When Remy spotted Elisa exiting, he stuck his head out and waved at her. Upon seeing him, she was no longer in a hurry to get to her car. She quickly walked over. “Why are you here? Why didn’t you go inside?”Elisa was beaming. As she had received good news, she had a smiling face regardless of who she met.“I just arrived. I didn’t drive inside when I saw you coming out. Where are you going?”Remy got out of the car.“Jasmine gave birth. I want to go to the hospital to visit her and her baby. You came at the right time. We can head over together, but let’s get some supplemen
“Yes. Health is the most important thing. Everything else is secondary. With the York family’s wealth and numbers, they won’t have to worry about not having a successor even if your child is slightly more ordinary.”Of course, Elisa personally hoped the next successor of the York family would be her nephew.The Stones and the Yorks could be considered relatives because Elisa and Serenity were cousins.The successor of the Stone family was most likely Clive’s son. If the York family’s heir was not Serenity’s child, would the two families’ relationship that was finally mended become strained again?After all, the head of the York family would no longer be a relative of the Stones if that were the case. However, Elisa did not voice her thoughts. She did not want Serenity to feel pressured. As an aunt, she also thought her nephew’s health was more important than anything else.“You must be busy, Elisa. You should go on with your work. I shall not disturb you. I appreciate your
“A baby’s face changes almost every day. We’ll only know who he takes after when he’s a little older.”Serenity agreed. “I should call Elisa and share this news with her.”Jasmine probably did not have time to tell her friends about her newborn. Serenity also forgot to inform Elisa because she was too worried about Jasmine. Zachary told her to call Elisa only after they were inside the car. There were too many people in the hospital. Serenity held back her excitement and immediately called Elisa when she got in the car. Elisa was extremely busy at the company. She was the only one who could manage their joint company at that moment because Serenity and Jasmine were pregnant. Even if they wanted to return to the company to work, Elisa would not allow them. Rest was of utmost importance for pregnant women. Elisa was unmarried and not pregnant. She did not mind being busier. She only picked up Serenity’s call after some time.“Seren.”Elisa held the phone in her left h
“All that matters is that you’re okay, honey. Let’s not have more children. We’ll just have this one son.”Josh spoke while holding Jasmine’s hand.Women had to experience immense pain when giving birth. It came with many risks as well. Josh had heard other people saying that a woman usually had one foot in the grave during childbirth.He was genuinely shocked after accompanying Jasmine through her labor. He had been terrified and worried that something would happen to Jasmine.Luckily, everything ended well. Jasmine and their son were safe. However, Josh did not want to experience something like that again. Having one child was enough. There was no need for a second or third child. The Buchams were a big family anyway. He did not have to bear the responsibility of expanding the family alone.“Okay. We shall not have another baby.”Although Jasmine was brimming with motherly love and recovery from a vaginal delivery was quicker, she still thought childbirth was too
It was not just Camila. The rest of the people there also had the same thought. Josh and Jasmine had a great relationship. If something happened to Jasmine, Josh would be devastated and lose all hope of living.“Congratulations. The mother has given birth to a boy safely. The baby boy is six pounds and three ounces.”The people who brought Josh out were the anesthetist and nurse.The nurse instinctively reported the good news when she saw the crowd.Then, she explained, “The father probably fainted from shock after the baby was born. Come over and help bring him to the side to rest. The mother won’t be out that quickly.”Upon hearing her words, everyone’s mood brightened up.Camila, whose legs felt weak just now, was immediately filled with strength and stood up. Without Drake's help, she went to the nurse and asked, “Does the baby need to be in the incubator since he was born prematurely?”The nurse replied, “We’ll put the baby in the incubator and observe him for a while. If