Lilian, who had not gone out that day, took her incessantly crying son from the nanny as she asked, “Did he poop?”“No, we just changed his diaper.”“He ate not long ago, so what’s making him cry now? It’s so annoying—he cries all day and night. Can’t he just let us have some peace?” Lilian tried to soothe her son while asking the nanny, “Where’s Tim?”“Mr. Tim is probably with Mr. Ben.”Since Doc and Serenity were coming today, and instead of going to work, Ben and his brothers had stayed at the manor to wait for their arrival along with the elders.Lilian said to the nanny, “Alright, I’ll take him to play with his cousins.”Although Oliver’s cousins were older than he was, they would look at each other and sometimes cry together when gathered. Most of the time though, they still played. However, Oliver was a few months younger and could not sit up yet. He could only lie in his crib, and after lying down for less than two minutes, he would cry for an adult to pick him up.Meanw
Lilian playfully pinched her son’s chubby little face, “So clingy. Do you think we have the time to carry you all the time? It’s all your father’s fault for indulging you. When you were just born, he was always holding you.”When Tim first became a father, he would rush to hold the baby whenever he cried. This habit spoiled Oliver and he would cry easily when away from an adult’s arms.“And your grandfather dotes on you too. He spoils you the most.”Oliver smiled at his mother. Seeing her son’s smile softened Lilian’s heart. She kissed his little face and found his skin so tender that she could not help but give it a gentle nibble. She did not think she had bitten too hard. However, the baby soon pursed his lips and began to cry loudly.Lilian was silent for a moment before she grumbled again, “You little rascal, Mommy only gave you a gentle nibble. Your skin is just so soft that I couldn’t resist. I didn’t bite hard at all, yet you’re crying so much. I see you’re preparing to comp
In Beatrice's eyes, Lilian might as well be a dog. She had a tendency to bite people, especially babies, and the smooth and soft baby skin was irresistible. When she could not control herself, she would end up biting them. Lilian followed her mother-in-law into the house."Mom, when will my master and the others arrive?""They already have. Ben and the rest went out to meet them."Lilian sighed with relief when she saw that her son had stopped crying. She was really worried that the baby would keep crying until Doc arrived."Stop biting Oliver," Beatrice chided. "Even if you really can't help it, don’t bite so hard. The baby is so young, and his skin is tender. Even a gentle bite can leave a mark for a while. Plus, he's your son, and instead of doting on him, you’re behaving like a dog. Did you eat dog meat while you were pregnant?"Lilian awkwardly replied, "He smiled at me. I found him too incredibly cute and gave him a few kisses, and couldn’t help but give him a gentle nibbl
Lilian smiled and said, "Connor, I can’t hold you right now. Why don’t you sit and play with your toys for a while?"Connor stretched his arms but was not picked up, so he complained loudly at Lilian. "Wow, now you know how to shout when you aren’t picked up too." Amused, Lilian freed a hand and lifted Connor to hold him as well. Once in Lilian’s arms, Connor noticed that his sister was still holding a toy and tried to grab it from her. Chloe clung tightly to the toy and would not let him take it. Even when Connor persisted, Chloe managed to wrest the toy back and hit him with it. After being hit a few times with the toy, Connor pouted, his eyes welling up with tears as he prepared to cry."Antonia, quickly, take Connor. He’s about to cry."Lilian was most afraid of children crying, as evidenced by her attempts to comfort her own son. She wanted to escape the moment a child started to cry. Antonia took Connor from Lilian’s arms and picked up one of Connor’s toys from his crib
Daughters were so adorable. They were also more obedient and less mischievous compared to sons.Beatrice said, “Didn’t you say you weren’t going to have a second child? If you do want one, you should wait a few years until Oliver starts preschool. Then you can consider having a second.”Beatrice had a laid-back attitude toward how many children her daughter-in-law wanted to have. She would not interfere or rush them. Whether one child or more, or none at all, she would not oppose it. They were all grownups with minds of their own. As long as they knew what they were doing and were happy, it did not matter to her whether they got married, had children, or how many they had."Yeah, not now. I don’t have the time for that right now."Lilian thought about how she would be flying to Wiltspoon that night to accompany Patrick to Jensburg. With her busy schedule, she truly had no time for a second pregnancy right now. She decided to wait until Oliver got a little older before thinking abou
Serenity smiled and said, “That’s how kids are. Childhood is the happiest and most carefree time in a person's life. When they grow older and start schooling, and face academic pressures, they won’t be as carefree as they are now.”Jane agreed. “Yes, I sometimes wish I could return to my childhood. Being a little kid was the happiest time.”As a child, she was the family’s little darling. She was pampered by everyone and was even more carefree than her adopted son Laurence. After all, Laurence had to study medicine and self-defense. Before she started elementary school, her time was purely spent playing.Serenity said, “Keep your voice down—don’t let Ben hear you. Otherwise, he might think you’re unhappy with him and start wracking his brain to figure out how to make you happy.”Jane instinctively turned to look at Ben. As if sensing her gaze, Ben looked up and smiled at her. Jane smiled back. Turning her head, she affectionately linked arms with Serenity.“I’ve always been happy.
Sonny, feeling satisfied, said, “I’m so cute. I just knew everyone would miss me.”“This kid’s becoming more shameless by the day,” Serenity commented about her nephew’s growing arrogance.Jane laughed as she took Connor from Antonia's arms. “Sonny is speaking the truth. He’s as adorable as my Laurence.”This was a double entendre. Both kids were clever and cute, but they were also becoming quite thick-skinned, especially Laurence. Jane felt that her adopted son had grown up a lot in his recent time away. He was very perceptive. With a few unconventional old-timers around raising him, they could not judge Laurence by conventional standards.“I’m good friends with Laurence—we’re like brothers. My uncle says that Laurence and I have been playing together since we were little, so we’ll be childhood friends, and that we’ll always be best buddies.”Sonny and Laurence were sitting on either side of Lilian, who was still holding Chloe. The adults in the room laughed. It would be delightf
Lilian was “scolded” by Doc and was only left off the hook after she promised to never bite Oliver again. When baby Oliver returned to Lilian’s arms, he still gave her a huge smile that melted her heart. No wonder her master loved the baby so dearly. Oliver was truly adorable.The Johnson family had breakfast prepared. Everyone took their seats and together they had breakfast at the dining table. After eating, Jane and Lilian accompanied Serenity on a stroll in the garden. Serenity often felt too full after a meal and needed to move around. However, she would get hungry as soon as everything was digested. Jane smiled. “The fetus is growing rapidly at this stage. It needs a lot of nutrients. That’s why you get hungry quickly. Most pregnant women eat small but frequent meals.“I used to eat more than you when I was pregnant. My appetite returned to normal after I gave birth.”Jane had twins. Naturally, more nutrients were required for two fetuses.She felt herself stuff
Lilian often messed with the medicinal herbs her master cultivated, which led to her being chased and scolded by him.It seemed her son had inherited her restless nature.“How’s Sonny been lately?”Liberty had been on edge these past few days because Caroline had been preparing to lure her three brothers into a trap and had not had time to call her son.“Same as usual, but it seems like things have soured again with the Browns.”Serenity added, “Sonny still answers when Hank calls him, but he doesn’t seem happy when his grandparents visit. He doesn’t like going to the Browns’ place, and he doesn’t want to take their calls either.“Hank’s mother and sister are truly incorrigible. They must have been badmouthing you and Duncan in front of Sonny again, which is why he’s upset with them.”During the holidays, Sonny had stayed with the Browns for a few days and started to warm up to them.However, who would have thought that the mother and daughter would start spouting nonsense in f
Once the baby was born, he would apply the knowledge he had learned over the past few months to care for the baby. He was determined to be a competent and responsible father.Serenity released her arms from around him and shifted to her side.Zachary let go, too, allowing her to turn.Then, she planted countless gentle kisses on his face.“Babe, with you here, the baby and I will be just fine. Don’t worry too much,” Serenity comforted softly after kissing him.“You are my rock. If even you are nervous, I’ll start feeling anxious too, and that won’t be good.”Hearing this, Zachary immediately said, “Seren, don’t worry. I’ll protect both of you. Alright, I won’t be so nervous anymore.”He gently touched her rounded belly again. “Lil’ Bun should be a calm kid. He’s not that mischievous.”He felt that the baby’s movements were not too intense.Serenity wanted to tell him that there were times when the baby kicked more vigorously, but she decided against it, knowing it would only m
“Just hit the gym a few more times. Lately, you’ve been spending less time there.”Every day after work, he would come home and orbit around her. As a result, he had less time to work out.It was normal to gain a few pounds eating well and exercising less. Did he really think he could eat anything without gaining weight?The reason he could maintain a model-like physique before was that he exercised daily.“Ow.” Serenity suddenly cried out in pain.This startled Zachary so much that he nearly jumped up, asking anxiously, “Is it stomach pain? Are you going into labor? Let’s go to the hospital right away.”He was about to pick her up, but Serenity stopped him by pressing his hand.“Don’t be so nervous, Zachary. It's not time yet. It’s not happening so soon. It’s just the baby kicking again. His kicks are getting stronger.”As she entered the later stages of pregnancy, the little one inside her was growing stronger. Sometimes, a couple of kicks from the baby could actually hurt.
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