Hunter let out a self-deprecating laugh before Caroline could answer. “Belinda never loved me. It was simply because not many people were willing to be a live-in son-in-law, except me. She only put up with me because she couldn’t get Mr. Foster’s love yet had to give birth to a successor.”Caroline remained silent. She did not know whether Hunter ever had a place in Belinda’s heart. The answer could go both ways, but was there any meaning in pursuing it? Belinda was already dead. “I couldn’t move her heart even after decades of trying. I’m a failure of a man, Carol.“If she loved me even slightly, I wouldn’t have sought out excitement or cheated on her.“Most of the things I did was to get revenge on her.”Caroline pressed her lips together. “I think Mom did care about you. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have had four children with you or got angry when you had an affair.”Hunter saw a glimmer of hope at Caroline’s words. He asked, “Is it true? Did your mom love me?”He ch
‘Did it even matter whether Mom and Aunt Tiara were close?’ Caroline thought to herself.It did not soften her mom’s cruel heart. Aunt Tiara still died from her mom’s schemes. There was also Aunt Alivia. What did she do wrong? She lost her life right after losing her eldest sister.Aunt Alivia probably did not even know she had died at Belinda’s hands. Those who could guess the culprit or had cooperated with Belinda back then were also killed. Entire families were wiped out. Many innocent people were affected after the incident. Belinda deserved to die, but even death was not enough to pay for her sins. Of course, Caroline could not make such a comment because Belinda was her mom. “Your mom valued her daughters more than her sons. When she didn’t know you and Cece had been changed, Cece was her favorite. Sometimes, I even had to get Cece to help me ask for forgiveness from your mom when I made her angry.”Caroline remained silent. She had witnessed how much her fam
If Liberty was still unfamiliar with her responsibilities and required some assistance, Caroline was willing to help until Liberty found her footing. Then, she would leave Jensburg.Anyway, she would not take a single thing from the Fisher family. It was not as if she could not survive without the Fisher family. She still had her career. Hunter panicked. He said, “How can you simply give away everything your mom worked so hard to obtain, Caroline? Her death will be in vain.“What happened between the previous generation remains between them. Since Belinda is dead, it’s over.“However, she was the matriarch before she died. As her daughter, you’re her legitimate successor. You should take over her position. Don’t be a fool and give it back to the other side.”Caroline was unwavering. “It isn’t mine, Dad. I won’t take it. We’ve wronged Mrs. Stone and the rest all along.”Hunter tried to persuade her, “Listen to me, Carol. Don’t give them everything that belongs to the Fisher fam
Hunter was present when Belinda made her will. He dared not voice out any opinions back then. He simply knew the will stated that if Belinda passed away before him, half of her assets would go to Caroline because she was her biological daughter and the one to inherit the family business. The rest would be divided equally among Adrian, Justin, and Jason. Celine was not allocated much. It was only mentioned that she could keep anything she had received before her identity was discovered.In the end, as Belinda’s husband, Hunter was not given anything. However, the will did make it clear that his sons would have to provide for him when he was old. They could decide the amount of allowance they would give him. Belinda had no control over it. After a short pause, Hunter said, “Even if we do it according to Belinda’s will, you’re still my child. Shouldn’t you take care of me as well?”“I never said I wouldn’t. If my brothers can’t afford to provide for you, I’ll give you a mont
“Belinda worked tirelessly day and night for Fisher Enterprise all these years. Even if she had snatched her position as the matriarch, her contributions to Fisher Enterprise cannot be ignored. She should be given credit and had rightfully gained the assets under her name.“Don’t think you can do whatever you want after Belinda’s death. While I can’t sue you if you dare give your mom’s assets to Audrey and the rest, your brothers can.”Caroline found that she was not angry at Hunter’s threat.“If nothing else happens, Adrian, Justin, Jason, and I will divide Mom’s assets according to the will she made,” she said indifferently. Hunter had a bad feeling again.He asked cautiously, “What do you mean?“Did Belinda give everything to you?“Did she change her will?”Caroline did not answer his questions. Belinda had been insistent on sending Caroline away. She even called Darren over and entrusted Caroline to him. She was going to let Caroline take her entire wealth and escape
“Ordinary people can’t earn what my brothers do their entire lives.”Caroline did not know how rich her brothers were. However, when Belinda was alive, no matter how incompetent she thought her sons were, she still helped them to accumulate wealth. Even if her brothers did not have hundreds of millions on them, they would certainly have a comfortable sum.They had no right to complain that they were poor when the wealth they had was something most people could only dream of.How could they be afraid of being unable to survive?Nevertheless, if Caroline did not become the matriarch, the Clark brothers could no longer live in Jensburg. They were incompetent and had been relying on Fisher Enterprise and Belinda to support them.Once the CEO changed, there would be no one to clean up after them. Fisher Enterprise would no longer let them do whatever they wanted. Even if Caroline were to be the CEO, she would not let Fisher Enterprise be her brothers’ safety net anymore. Beside
Caroline was not afraid of Hunter and his sons harassing her. If she could not withstand such pressure, she could not call herself the Fisher family’s successor. Hunter did not say much in the call. He simply informed Adrian to come over to the hospital and hung up when he saw Caroline returning with his drink. Caroline pretended to be clueless about the call and handed the glass to him. Hunter’s throat was parched after trying to persuade her. He downed the glass of water in one go. “Carol…”“You don’t have to say anything else, Dad. I can handle it. Looking after you is our responsibility as children. I’ll give you as much monthly allowance as my brothers do. I won’t let you starve. As for the other requests, you’ll have to talk to my brothers about them.”When Belinda made her will, she made it clear that Hunter was the Clark brothers’ responsibility.Caroline could provide for him should she choose to, but it was entirely up to her. “Have a good rest, Dad. I have t
“Rest well, Dad. Don’t ruin the rest of your life or your sons. And don’t test me. I never had patience whenever it came to you guys.”Then Caroline walked out. Hunter wanted to call her back, but he hesitated and could only watch her leave. Once he was sure she had left, he let out his fury. “What an ungrateful daughter! Damn it. Belinda gave birth to such an unfilial child.“Isn’t she afraid of retribution for speaking to her dad like this? Soon enough she’ll regret not listening to me! I can’t believe she’s going to give everything she obtained to someone else. I’ve never seen a bigger fool.”Hunter was furious that Caroline had not taken his advice to heart and had even threatened him. However, he could not do anything about it. Her domineering personality was just like her mom’s. Back then, Hunter thought Caroline was useless. Celine’s biological parents did not treat Caroline well, but clever people could always find a way to excel, even in horrible situations. Cel
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