“Shut the door, Elaine! Shut the main doors!” Belinda suddenly shouted. Then, she dug her phone out to call Mr. Gordon. Once he picked up, she instructed, “Go ahead with what I instructed you to do.”She did not want to live anymore. She wanted to take everyone down with her. Apart from the party from Wiltspoon, her other guests were all the Fisher family members who had some capability. Everyone would be taken out in a single blow.“Mom!” Caroline shouted. “Stop deluding yourself!”Belinda turned and gave Caroline a vicious slap. “Get out, you unfilial daughter! Get out! I don’t want to see you, you unfilial daughter!”She did not just stop at a slap, but also pushed Caroline, trying to drive her out.Caroline hugged Belinda as she begged with tears in her eyes, “Mom, you have to wake up! You have to face the consequences of your actions.”Belinda shoved Caroline away, angrily questioning, “What have I done wrong? I’m not at fault! If I didn’t look out for myself, I would have b
Thus, they all stayed to continue watching the spectacle. They had heard rumors that Belinda had caused her sisters' deaths to ascend to her position, so her rise to power was unjust. However, since it was all hearsay without concrete evidence, they could only discuss it privately. Later, Belinda reunited with Audrey. Although they were aunt and niece, they treated each other like enemies. Audrey even arranged for her niece Liberty to come to Jensburg to establish a company and compete with Fisher Enterprise.The Fisher family members began to understand that there was no smoke without fire. It was possible that Tiara was truly harmed by Belinda, which was why Audrey hated Belinda and arranged for Liberty to compete with Caroline for the matriarch position.Tonight, they were finally getting the real answer—Tiara had indeed died at Belinda’s hands. She was truly heartless. Despite having been raised by Tiara, she was driven by a lust for power and jealousy over Patrick’s love and loy
“And the gasoline we prepared was somehow all swapped out for water. There’s no way we can get a large amount of gasoline on such short notice.”Belinda’s expression instantly darkened. She slowly lowered her phone from her ear, realizing that she had been the only one ensnared in a trap that night. She glared fiercely at Audrey and the others, unable to understand how they had managed to pull this off. They had not shown their faces at all before tonight. Even after they did appear, they had just wandered around in the courtyard and had a caustic exchange with her that was not even that intense.Belinda realized that the one who had truly been trapped was herself. Audrey had brought so many people with her just to make her believe she could take them all down at once. Little did she know that they had dug her a pit to jump into of her own accord.What was she supposed to do now? The police had arrived. There was no way for her and Mr. Gordon to resolve this amicably. Just like that
Decades had passed, so Belinda might not necessarily be sentenced to death, considering it had been forty or fifty years since.Audrey said calmly, “Belinda, neither you nor your assistant can escape tonight. How did we manage this? Didn’t I tell you that the people who saved Uncle True were legends from decades ago? Don’t you know how capable they are? “You didn’t think you were the only one capable of scheming, and that we’d just do nothing despite knowing you wanted to get rid of all of us, did you? You were watching our every move, but we were watching you too. Besides, did you really think you could keep a close watch on us all? There are so many of us. Who could you guarantee to have watched round the clock?”Any one of them could easily set up a counterattack or sabotage Belinda's plans. Belinda wanted to set fire to Fisher Manor because she could no longer live in it and even wanted everyone who entered the manor tonight to die in the fire too. Hence, they swapped all the g
Belinda dragged her hostage upstairs up to the top floor. It was a good distance from the crowd downstairs and they had backed up quite far. The gun she had could not shoot that far, so she would not hit anyone even if she fired. All she could do was threaten the crowd that if anyone approached the door, she would fire. If she fired at the door from the top floor, she could still hit someone.The hostage was knocked out, so she could free a hand to call Mr. Gordon and get him to save her. If she could not take everyone down with her, then she did not want to die anymore. She wanted to escape. She had a small helicopter. If Gordon flew it over, he could save her from her dire straits. The policemen below had already called their superiors, asking for backup and snipers.“Mom, let her go and put down the gun! I’m begging you, please don’t go any further down this path.” Caroline ran forward fearlessly, shouting up at her mother from several meters away, pleading for her to stop. She ur
Audrey also reached out to pull Caroline to her side and she said, “Liberty’s right. Don’t go inside. Look at her. When she shot your father, she pulled the trigger without any hesitation. She’s gone mad.”Hunter had fainted from the pain of the gunshot. Adrian and his brothers were frozen from shock, not having expected their mother to actually shoot their father. When they saw that she even fired at Caroline, the three brothers were even less inclined to step forward, fearing dearly that their mother would shoot to kill them without a care that they were her sons. They stayed by Hunter’s side, waiting for the paramedics to arrive to send their father to the emergency room.Caroline’s eyes reddened as she looked up at Belinda, standing by the rooftop balcony railing. She broke free of Audrey’s grip and ran to the front of the crowd once more, kneeling with a loud sound. She banged her head against the ground, kowtowing as she cried out, “Mom, please, I’m begging you—don’t continue
True—no matter how capable Mr. Gordon was, he was still human, after all. He was an elderly man himself, being older than her by a few years, and was almost eighty years old. He continued working tirelessly for her. No matter how outstanding he was, he could not compete with the younger ones in Zachary’s generation. He was not a god.Take Patrick for example; had he not been impressive? Even then, he was pushed to the limit by the assassins she sent back then and almost died. Even though he survived, he sustained severe injuries that gave him recurring pain and illness over the years. If Doc had not been the one who saved him, there was no way he would have lived to see this day.Belinda still could not believe she was at the end of her rope. She called Mr. Gordon again. The call seemed to connect, but he did not pick up. It rang for a long time and still, he did not answer. After it stopped, Belinda called again but still got the same result.Belinda's heart felt like it had plumme
They were so far away that she could not even see their features clearly. Who could she hit with her two remaining bullets? The only possible target was herself. She peered at the family member she had taken hostage and recognized the young lady, who was a fairly capable woman. If the girl was kept alive, then she would be a threat to Caroline. Belinda felt she should kill the girl.On second thought, under the current circumstances, Caroline might not be able to become the head of the family. She would keep these capable family members alive then, to make things difficult for Liberty.Liberty only had workplace experience before getting married and having children, which caused her to disconnect from society for a few years. After her divorce, she started anew with a breakfast diner business. Later, she opened a restaurant, but the scope was still limited. It was not until she came to Jensburg and established a new company that she truly entered the business world, and her experie
Austin asked Isabella gently.She hummed mildly before saying, “It’s slightly better than the first time you made them, but there’s still room for improvement.”“Thank you, Ms. Isabella.”She did not mention the problem and instead said there was still room for improvement. It was clear she did not want him to get too proud of himself. In reality, she was quite satisfied with the pastries he made today.Isabella turned to the little ones. “Louis, Phillip, go back with Austin. Don’t wait for me for dinner tonight. Just ask Austin to make you whatever you want to eat.”The little boys did not really want to go home, but in front of their serious big sister, they did not dare to insist on staying and obediently followed Austin out of the office. As soon as they left the office, the boys pulled their scarves tightly over their faces, hiding themselves completely, leaving only their big, bright eyes visible.The secretary had already guessed their identities. Although she could not se
“Phillip, if you want to eat anything, just tell me. I can have Austin make it for you.”Isabella opened the box of pastries and placed it in the center of the table so Tati could try some as well. She remembered that Tati loved the pastries Austin made. As for Louis calling Austin her personal chef, Isabella did not correct him, because it was the truth. The family benefited from her picky taste and had the privilege of enjoying all sorts of delicious food. She often changed chefs, and every chef she hired was a top expert in the industry. As others put it, even the simplest omelet prepared by a chef from the O'Connor family tasted better than those cooked by others.“I want to eat everything! I love all the dishes Austin makes, and I also love buns and pastries.”“Isa, I want ravioli. Can Austin make us ravioli this time?” Not wanting to be left out, Louis made a request of his own after Phillip made one.Austin laughed. “No problem. This Saturday, I’ll make ravioli for you. I’
Isabella looked at him, and the two of them locked eyes for a moment. Then Isabella asked, “You’re trained in self-defense?”“I am. I trained for more than ten years. My nana is a wise and capable matriarch. She’s the one who raised us to be well-rounded, both in academics and self-defense.”Isabella recalled that she had asked someone to investigate Austin’s background. She had only done a brief inquiry into his family situation, mainly to learn more about him as a person, so she did not know much about his family. She knew he had a large family with many members, and they all lived in the large ancestral home passed down through generations. Oh, right—these were things Austin had briefly mentioned himself. As for what his family was like, he had not said much, and she had not investigated further. After all, she was not looking to marry him, so there was no need to delve into his family tree like she was tracing a genealogy. As long as she knew he came from a respectable family
Isabella said, “If Louis wants to climb up to the roof to take off its tiles, my mom would even go as far as to give him a ladder to climb up there. You don’t know the situation, so I don’t blame you, but when we get back, I’ll have a good talk with my mom.”Louis and his brother exchanged glances, wondering if they had caused trouble.“Isa, since they’re already here, just let them play in your office. They’re probably going stir-crazy at home.” Seeing that her baby brother and cousin looked scared that they had caused trouble, Tati could not help but feel sorry for them and spoke up in their defense. “They’re kids, after all—they love to play.”Austin also added, “It’s winter break right now. Most other kids are out playing already, and they’re stuck at home. Even though the house is big, they’ll eventually get bored playing indoors.”Just like when he and his brothers were younger, they had a children’s playground at home too. In fact, they lived on a manor estate on the hill an
Austin immediately regretted bringing the boys with him. He tried his hardest to recall whether anyone had seen their faces when they left; at least, he did not think anyone had.The two boys were still young and had sat in the backseat of the car. He had driven a black Mercedes, and as long as the duo had not rolled down the windows, no one could see them as the car sped along. After entering the Costa Corporation building, there were no other people around from the moment they got out of the car to the time they entered the office building. It was only when Austin was sure that no one had caught a clear shot of them that he finally relaxed. He told himself that, no matter how much they begged him in the future, he would not thoughtlessly take them out again.Before his own brothers entered society, they had been carefully protected by the family, and it was very difficult for the outside world to capture clear photos of them too. When they were old enough to step into the busines
“Has your sister ever hit you?”Austin freed a hand to adjust Louis's hat and scarf. He also tugged at Phillip, gesturing for the little boy to follow in his older cousin’s footsteps. The cold wind was howling, and he feared these two little ones might be blown away by the strong gusts. The two little boys replied in unison, “She has hit us, but it’s really rare. She really loves and cares about us.” “She only hits us when we make a really big mistake,” Louis added, afraid that Austin might think Isabella was a bad person. He quickly said, “She does it for our own good.”Austin laughed. “I really didn’t expect that someone as well-mannered as your sister would actually raise a hand on you. It shows just how big a mess you two must have made.”Austin thought this was good. It was necessary for the two boys to have someone they feared. Otherwise, if they were spoiled too much, they would become unruly, and as they grew older, the messes they made would only get bigger, which wou
While Carrie was being scolded by Mr. Longbottom, Austin was delivering afternoon tea to Isabella.She had social engagements later that evening, so she would not be home for dinner. Given her picky eating habits, she likely would not have anything but drinks during the event, and Austin was worried that she would get drunk drinking on an empty stomach. He knew she could hold her liquor and no one would dare force her to drink, but even half a glass of wine on an empty stomach could upset it. Thus, he specially prepared some snacks to bring to her. They were freshly made and still warm.Also accompanying him were the O'Connor boys. After Austin parked the car, he got out holding the box of snacks. The boys unbuckled their seatbelts and got out of the car as well. Phillip had been sitting in the backseat, and when he closed the door, he did not push hard enough, leaving it slightly ajar. Austin reminded him to close it properly and Louis turned to help Phillip close the door. Then,
From then on, Mr. Longbottom no longer had to worry that his current efforts and sacrifices were all for someone else’s benefit. He could legitimately become the true head, gaining absolute authority in the Longbottom family and Longbottom Corporation, without being held back by others.“I wasn’t telling you to complete the task before Christmas. I was reminding you to step up your efforts and work harder. Stop constantly stirring up trouble for your sister,” Mr. Longbottom criticized. “Your current targets are Serenity Hunt and Sonny Brown, not Camryn Newman.”He added mercilessly, “No matter how you act out, you can’t compete with her. That’s a fact. Apart from being a few years younger than her, you really don’t have anything to compare. You can’t measure up to your younger brother, let alone your sister.”Among the three children of the Newman family, the most useless was Carrie. Of course, her being the most useless was exactly why he could use him. Camryn and Trenton were not
The O’Connor ladies were not like usual girls. Pestering them was useless. It would make Mr. Longbottom look cheap as well. After all, he was the temporary head of the Longbottom family. What woman could he not have for himself?Among his past lovers, there were also ice queens like Isabella. He still managed to charm them with some effort. Once they became his woman, they would soften and revere him. When he abandoned them, they would wail and cling to him, unwilling to leave. Of course, ten of those lovers could not even compare to Isabella. When Mr. Longbottom’s car was leaving, it passed by a black Mercedes-Benz in the opposite direction.Mr. Longbottom turned to look. He saw the security of Costa Corporation on duty opening the gates immediately upon spotting the black Benz. It only had to slow down before entering the compound.‘Maybe that’s one of Costa Corporation’s senior managers,’ he thought. He turned his head back and leaned against the seat. After some thin