The Johnsons' status in Annenburg made others think twice before acting rashly. Moreover, they could no longer obtain any information about Laurence from FC Manor and suspected the Johnsons had sent the child away but had no idea where.“It’s alright. When summer vacation comes next year, I’ll take Sonny to your house for the whole summer.” Liberty smiled.Laurence cheered, “Aunt Lib, you have to keep your promise! You have to let Sonny come over and play with me next summer!”The two kids would occasionally have their little tiffs, but they spent most of their time happily playing together. Although there were many children at FC Manor, they were all younger than Laurence and could not play with him. He really looked forward to Sonny’s visit.“I promise,” Liberty assured him.By the time summer vacation rolled around, Serenity would have had her baby and not be able to bring Sonny to the Johnsons’ home. Liberty planned to take her son there instead. When the time came, she would
“Mom, Uncle Zak won’t be coming to pick me and Aunt Ser up too soon, right? I haven’t had enough fun yet. I want to play a little longer!”Hearing this and also worried that Sonny would go back to Wiltspoon early, Laurence quickly pleaded, “Aunt Lib, please don’t take Sonny back too soon. Let him stay a few more days. We still haven’t played enough! I won’t fight with Sonny if you let him stay longer.”Liberty laughed, “Alright, Sonny can stay for another week. His uncle should be free to go pick him up by then.”Laurence felt that a week was still not enough of a time, so he suggested, “Could you come get him in ten days?”“Ten days, huh?” Liberty calculated the days and said, “If it’s in ten days, I’ll be on holiday then. Alright, Sonny can stay at your house for another ten days, but you two must get along and not fight, alright?”“Aunt Lib, you’re the best! I like you so much! I won’t fight with Sonny. He can’t beat me anyway, so at most, I’ll argue with him instead.” When i
Laurence's face fell, and suddenly, his breakfast did not seem so appetizing. On second thought, he realized that summer vacation next year was still six months away, and once again found his breakfast appealing.“Serenity, what subjects does Sonny usually take? Next summer, the kids will be playing together, so why don’t we just have them take classes together? They might learn faster with a study buddy,” Ben suggested.Serenity replied, “I probably won’t be able to come over here next summer unless Laurence visits us.”Even if it was past her postpartum care period by then, the baby would still be too young and it would not be convenient to travel. However, if Laurence went to Wiltspoon, the responsibility would be too much for her to handle. It might be easier if Jane brought the twins along with Laurence. Then it would not be so heavy a burden. Laurence’s guardians were Ben and Jane, after all. By summer, the twins would be walking, and if they stayed at Wildridge Manor, it wo
Ben silently grumbled about how quickly Zachary learned after coming to him for advice back then. After breakfast, Jane and Serenity took the kids to play in the hall while Ben had gone to work. Reluctantly, he handed his precious daughter over to Jane and asked her to see him off.Jane sighed, “The kids are already this big, and he’s still so clingy.”Serenity teased, “That’s just you showing off! You guys have been together for ages but you’re still as loving as you were in your honeymoon period—if that’s not showing off, what is? Also, you know, Ben dreamed of getting to marry you for ten years before finally catching you. It’s normal for him to be clingy.”Jane blushed. Doc approached, carrying Oliver, while Cheryl brought her two little boys to join the fun.When she spotted Jane, Cheryl exclaimed, “These two little rascals woke up asking for their older brother! They’re driving me crazy. Since you’re not going into the office these few days, I’m leaving them here to play with
However, Serenity asked, “Sonny, how about practicing writing with Laurence every day? You both have great memories, so copying more will help you remember the content better. It’ll be beneficial for you in the future.”It was never a bad thing to have some medical knowledge. Laurence looked at Sonny. Under both his friend’s and aunt’s expectant gazes, Sonny subconsciously found himself nodding. Oh, alright, he would make this big sacrifice and practice his writing with his buddy.Meanwhile, in Satbury, two little boys warmly bundled up were building a snowman in the O’Connors’ yard after a heavy snowfall last night. Louis was crafting a large snowman. Stepping back to admire his work, he turned to his younger cousin and said with satisfaction, “Look! I finished my snowman. Are you making turtles?”Phillip had created several turtle-shaped snow sculptures, and they actually looked quite good. “Yeah, they’re turtles. Louis, can you help me build more turtles to make it look like th
Isabella pinched her younger brother’s face. She said, “Did you miss me or Austin?“Why are you asking after Austin as soon as I got out of the car?”At that moment, Austin stepped out of the last car. He happened to overhear Louis’s question and smiled. “I’m here, Mr. Louis.”Louis and Philip heard him and looked in his direction. Upon confirming that it was really Austin, they immediately ditched Isabella and dashed toward him. As the boys were not too close to Austin, they were embarrassed to ask him to lift them even though they wished to. However, it felt as if Austin could read their minds. He carried Louis with a grin and spun him around, making Louis giggle. He put Louis down and repeated the action with Philip. The little boy enjoyed the upsy daisy too. Isabella watched Austin interact with her brothers from afar. She had to admit that he was good at making children happy. Louis and Philip were unfamiliar with Austin. After all, he had followed Isabella on a
Isabella was surprised. “You look after your sister-in-law’s nephew too?”Although Austin was her private chef, he had an established career in Wiltspoon. She thought he would be busy, so it was a surprise to hear that he also babysat.It would be understandable if it were his nephew, but it was his sister-in-law’s nephew. “Not often. We’re a big family. The elders love fighting over who gets to play with Sonny whenever he comes over. I just tease him sometimes.”Austin added, “I mentioned this earlier. I have many cousins. Although my dad and his brothers don’t live together, their houses are close. Our families often come together to spend time over meals. It is always very lively, just like how it is in your family.”The O’Connor family’s atmosphere was decent. The family in power was respected, while the branch families were dedicated to assisting the main family. Whenever a problem arose, the main family’s decision was prioritized. The O’Connor brothers had minimal confl
If the O’Connor family relied on Isabella’s father and not her to manage their business, they would have gone bankrupt long ago. Old Mr. Connor had known that his children were not very capable. Therefore, he started training his granddaughters young. That way, they could take over the company, and his sons could step down as soon as possible. Even if things would be difficult for Isabella and Tati, he believed they could overcome it. He also had no choice because the O’Connor family had more daughters than sons. Delphine only felt less guilty after giving birth to Louis. Isabella said, “Don’t you like painting? You can paint something. I can even hold an exhibition for your artwork when the weather gets warmer next year.”Delphine’s eyes gleamed. She was good at oil painting, but it was mainly a hobby. She had never considered earning money with it, let alone holding an exhibition. However, she found herself considering it after Isabella brought it up. Delphine wanted t
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