At Jensburg, Caroline had just finished her meal in the hospital and was just about to head outside for a walk. However, she met Hunter and her brothers at the ward’s door. They were just about to enter. Adrian had a few boxes of food, while Justin and Jason carried a huge fruit basket. Hunter was holding a bouquet. When they saw Caroline, they simply stared at her as if they were at a loss. “Why are you guys here again, Dad?”Caroline spoke first. She turned her body sideways to allow them to enter the ward. Darren was washing the lunch boxes in the bathroom. He had been preparing Caroline’s meals every day.She refused to eat anything but food prepared by Darren. Caroline dared not even eat takeouts, fearing her mother might have drugged it. After being hospitalized for several days, the doctors were not able to identify the drug she had been given. However, she suspected the doctors might have been bribed and were ordered not to tell the truth. With the advan
It was ironic that her family would harm her but not Liberty and the rest, who were her enemies. Hunter said, “Carol, these are just little things from your brothers and me to you. We’re family. How can we not visit you when you’re hospitalized?“I’m old and weak. I’ve also been hospitalized for a long period recently, so I don’t have the energy to look after you. On the other hand, your brothers are young and strong. They can take care of you.“If you think it’s uncomfortable having them around, we can get your sisters-in-law to accompany you. You don’t have to trouble Mr. Fletcher all the time. After all, he isn’t family.”Hunter placed great emphasis on the last sentence. He was reminding Caroline to keep a distance from Darren. The clueless hospital staff must have mistaken Darren as Carol’s husband. Hunter disliked Darren. Truth be told, he hated Mr. Gordon most. Although Hunter had always been polite to Mr. Gordon and sometimes treated him like a brother, deep down
Things like Fisher Enterprise would be Caroline’s in the future and they would have to depend on her to get by. Belinda even said that it would be absolutely foolish and shortsighted of them to continue treating Caroline as they were used to, and scolded them for not knowing to curry favor with her. Did they not realize that the tides were turning?Adrian was reprimanded so severely that he did not dare say even a single word. Then, she ordered him and the rest to bring Caroline dinner after work. The matriarch had spoken, so how would Adrian dare to disobey? He hurriedly called Hunter and asked him to get their cook to whip up a full-course meal on short notice, pack it, and bring it to the hospital.The Clark brothers gathered to visit Caroline with their father, but what met them was Hunter’s scolding too. Hunter had told his sons early on to leave for his hometown with their children to avoid the most chaotic period the Fishers were facing, but they refused and only sent their ch
This was how assertive the women in the Fisher family were. With such a dominant personality, how could her marriage be anything but unhappy? Adrian complained inwardly about Caroline, thinking that his father was truly the only one who could endure because if it were up to them...He recalled how ever since he became aware of his family dynamics, in the face of his mother's domineering ways, all he could do was submit and endure. His father was like a bush weathering the storm, while the rest of them were just little blades of grass.“Caroline, we are family!”“You have never treated me like family. The only daughter and sister you really care about is Celine. Let’s stop pretending since we all know the truth,” Caroline responded coldly. “Dad, you don’t need to come over and act like a loving father. You might be able to put on the act, but I can’t. I remember how you’ve treated me since my return.”When Celine was still alive, Hunter had considered arranging a marriage for Caroli
After a brief silence, Belinda said to her daughter, “Darren is your person, and he will be your man for life. I’ve never said I wanted to transfer him, nor have the authority to do so.”Once an all-around assistant was assigned to the head of the family or successor, only his master could order him around for the rest of his life.“I want to have a chat with Darren. Have him come to the office. I’m still here.”Caroline asked warily, “What do you need to talk to Darren about? Why can’t you tell me first, and then I’ll relay the message to Darren?”“Caroline, don’t you trust me? I’m your mother. Do you think I’d harm you? If I say Darren is your person for life, then he is your person for life. I don’t have the power nor intention to take him away from you. You don’t have to let him come to see me. I can go to the hospital myself and talk to him privately there. But if that’s the case, I’ll be in a bad mood and might do things that will upset you. You have two options. Your call.”
Still, Emma was unwilling to give up what she was entitled to. She insisted on an equal division of marital assets, while Adrian wanted her to leave with nothing. As the one at fault, he still expected his wife to part with nothing, but Emma disagreed and her family opposed it too. As a result, their divorce had not been finalized yet.Caroline speculated that the couple might finalize their divorce before Christmas. Belinda would advise Adrian to get divorced for two reasons. Firstly, to give Emma her freedom and avoid turning their in-laws into enemies, and secondly, if they divorce, their children could stay with Emma, which might preserve Adrian’s line in case of future troubles for the Fishers.Both her parents were currently focused on protecting their grandchildren. Caroline had only been in the hospital for a few days and knew about the situation on the outside. Before she was admitted, Emma had visited her and said that the divorce would definitely happen. She also apologize
After Belinda hung up, Caroline looked at Hunter and her brothers to say, “I’ve spoken with Mom. You can go now.”The four Clark men had overheard the conversation between Caroline and Belinda. They felt awkward and guessed Belinda wanted Caroline to treat her brothers better. However, Caroline was unyielding.Adrian and his brothers already had little sibling affection for Caroline, and their resentment toward her grew even more. If the Fishers were not facing a crisis, they would have found a way to deal with Caroline. However, taking action against Caroline now would mean helping the forces from Wiltspoon. That was the only reason they had not acted. Well, alright, they also lacked the capability. All they could do was hide behind Belinda, take advantage of Fisher Enterprise, and satisfy their own desires.“Caroline, since you’re doing much better now and don’t need us to take care of you, you should take good care of yourself. Your brothers and I will head back. If you need anyt
Caroline asked Darren to go to Fisher Enterprise.Darren expressed his concern. “I’m worried about leaving you here alone if I go.”“What’s there to worry about? The only person who might try to kill me is my mother. My father and brothers might want me dead, but they don’t dare to act on it. If they openly tried, they wouldn’t survive either. Liberty and the others definitely wouldn’t do that and my mother won’t kill me right now either.” Caroline was confident about this. If her mother did want her dead, she would have been dead many times over by now.Darren pressed his lips together. “I’ll go see what she wants then. Call me if anything happens.”“Got it. Go on—get going.”Under Caroline’s urging, Darren headed to Fisher Enterprise. Since Belinda had returned to the office and was in a bad mood, many people were still working overtime even though it was the weekend. Although the office building was brightly lit, it felt oppressive just walking into it.As Darren entered the b
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