Zachary said after a brief pause, “Nana, you really do think in the long run. Tell your sons to put in the effort and give you a granddaughter instead. It might be faster that way.”Grandma May instantly laughed and scolded him, “If your grandfather was still alive, would you say that it’ll be quicker for us to try for a daughter instead? Your parents, aunts, and uncles are already old. How can they give birth to more children? They didn’t manage to get a daughter when they were young, so they can only pin their hopes for a granddaughter now.”“My third uncle and aunt are only in their forties. I think they can still try.”If his third uncle and aunt were here, they would say, “Zachary, you traitor!”“Are you busy now?”“I’m on the phone with my Nana.”“Look, that’s what I mean. You’re not cute at all. You’re not busy, right? If you’re not, I’ll go to the office to find you. Let’s go shopping.”Zachary was at a loss for words.“I’m working, Nana.”“The company won’t close down
Olivia soon walked in while holding Chelsea’s third child.Chelsea was not with her. She probably went back to work.“Sonny, Lucas is here to play with you.”Olivia called out to Sonny while holding her other grandson.“Serenity, Ms. Sox.”She smiled and greeted Serenity and Jasmine. She glanced at them a few more times when they saw the two packing up.Her attention was soon drawn to Elisa.Elisa did not put Sonny down and asked him, “Who is she, Sonny?”Serenity straightened up and said in a light tone, “Why are you here, Aunty?” Then, she told Elisa, “She’s my sister’s mother-in-law and Sonny’s grandmother.”She emphasized on the word “grandmother”.Elisa looked at Lucas, who Olivia was holding, then looked at Sonny. Sonny only greeted his grandmother once and nothing else. He was obviously not close to his grandmother.She guessed the relationship between Liberty and her mother-in-law was not pleasant.“Sonny usually has no playmates, so I went back and brought Lucas
Serenity said coldly, “Who is Lucas? What has he got to do with me? Sonny is my nephew. I can’t possibly let him suffer to coax someone else’s child. What did Sonny do wrong? It’s your other grandson who was raised badly. He always bullies Sonny, steals his toys, beats him, and brings his toys back home. You’re their grandmother, right? Are you blind?“Or is this what you usually teach him? Olivia, Lucas is your grandson, but so is Sonny. You’re too biased!”Olivia was speechless.She responded, “Sonny is still young, Serenity. Besides, Sonny has so many toys. What’s wrong with giving Lucas one or two to play with? Look, Sonny, your brother is crying. Share some toys with him to play together, okay?”Sonny hesitated.Elisa said to him, “Sonny, you don’t have to force yourself if you don’t want to share. If he likes to cry, he can cry as much as he wants. Since he wants to roll around and clean the floor, we’ll let him do as he pleases. It’ll save your Aunt Seren the need to mop th
Serenity’s expression was gloomy. “I also wished that she was his step-grandmother. That way, it would not be that hurtful. Unfortunately, she’s his real grandmother.”Her nephew’s grandmother and her own grandmother were comparable to each other.After a pause, she added, “That old woman brought Lucas over so he could infect Sonny. If Sonny gets sick, my sister will be too worried to go to work. She’ll definitely take time off to take care of Sonny, but she has just started her job. If she keeps taking time off, it’ll be difficult for her to keep this job.”The Brown family was really doing everything to keep her sister from returning to the workplace.Now that her sister had a job, she should bring forward her plans to divorce. The earlier she divorced, the faster she could get a new lease on life.“Serenity, why does your sister’s mother-in-law not want her to go to work?” Elisa asked.Serenity walked back with the broom. When she saw Sonny walk out, she bent down to pick her
“Liberty, now that you have a job, you can ask Hank for a divorce.” Serenity advised her sister to file for a divorce as soon as possible.Jasmine and Elisa both echoed, “Divorce early and start anew.”Liberty looked down at her son’s tender little face and nodded firmly. “I’ll wait for Hank to get off work tonight and ask him for a divorce.”She already had the evidence of Hank’s affair.When she first got the evidence, she did not immediately fall out with him because she was still unemployed and without an income. It would not be conducive for her to fight for the custody of her son.The New Year is around the corner. Initially, she wanted to wait until she got her first paycheck before bringing up the divorce. However, her mother-in-law’s behavior today made her unable to tolerate it anymore.She could bear with it no matter how they treated her, but she could not tolerate them harming Sonny!When her mother-in-law and sister-in-law came over two days ago, she heard Chelsea
Sonny soon fell asleep in his mother’s arms.Liberty took the opportunity of him sleeping and handed him over to her sister. She was extremely grateful that Serenity and her husband hired Mrs. Lane to help her take good care of Sonny.She could not stand on her own feet yet, but she would remember Serenity and Zachary’s kindness. She would repay them well when she could stand on her own again.Liberty then went to work.Elisa received a phone call from a friend. The others did not know what the friend said, but after Elisa took the call, she said goodbye to Serenity and Jasmine before leaving in a hurry.“Jasmine, you watch the shop with Sonny first. I’ll take Mrs. Lane to buy some bedding products.”Serenity had not forgotten that she had to buy a bed, cabinets, and bedding for Mrs. Lane.“Sure.”Jasmine agreed easily. Business would be idle until the students finished their classes in the evening.She would always read novels to pass the time.Mrs. Lane said, “Ms. Hunt, you
Unfortunately, the handful of close friends he had were just as inexperienced as he was.He could not ask Nana for a few tricks in private either. She would laugh at him.He thought of how he stubbornly said to Nana that he would not chase after his wife. Now, he was feeling his cheeks burn in embarrassment.However, he did not actually have to chase after his wife. Serenity was already his wife!“Thank you for your concern, Mr. York. I’ll be mindful.”Serenity’s dexterous hands were nimbly crafting a car. “Mr. York, you take Mrs. Lane home first. Also, don’t forget to take Snowball and the others with you.”Zachary’s expression tightened. “I won’t take the three furballs.”“Then let Mrs. Lane take them. The store’s not busy now, so you two can’t help me much here anyway. Why not go home and let Mrs. Lane clean up her room?”“You’re chasing me away!”Serenity glanced up at him and then looked down again to continue working. She said in amusement, “Mr. York, I realized that you
When Serenity learned the truth, she realized she had to apologize to Elisa.Mr. York in fact had a wife.Elisa should give up.She was a good girl. Serenity hoped that Elisa could let go of her feelings for Mr. York as soon as possible, and look for her happiness that belonged to her.“Since Mr. York is married, why wasn’t there any news?”Even Elisa did not know about it.“It should be to protect his wife. Think about it. Our boss is young, handsome, promising, and rich. Any woman who sees him in real life would fall head over heels for his charm.“Although no other woman except Ms. Stone has the courage to openly confess to him and pursue him, it doesn’t mean that there aren’t people who adore him. He’s worried that exposing his beloved wife’s identity and appearance would bring trouble for her. He’s also afraid that someone would hurt his wife while he’s not paying attention.”“I don’t know about the others, but Elisa is definitely not that kind of person. She’s a good girl
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
Austin was extremely patient with the boys. Although they occasionally caused trouble, most of them were minor issues. They would never do something they were not allowed to do.After breakfast, Austin brought them their bags. With a boy in each hand, he left the house. It was to prevent the boys from saying he was playing favorites. Dominic was used to that scene. Initially, Austin was simply Ms. Isabella’s private chef. However, he gradually took on more responsibilities.He would take the two young masters to school. If he had time in the evening, he would also fetch them from school. Austin also made sure Louis and Phillip did their homework, supervised their hobby classes, and played with them. Sometimes, he would even teach them martial arts and train with them. Dominic felt Austin was an all-rounder. It seemed like there was nothing Austin could not do. No wonder Ms. Isabella thought highly of Austin. However, Austin was a young master of a wealthy family. He w
Louis and Phillip were downstairs having the breakfast Austin had prepared for them. The food was different every morning, and everything was delicious.Having gotten used to Austin’s cooking, Louis and Phillip could no longer stand the food provided in the school. They thought the food there was terrible. Louis was enrolled in an elementary school not far from home. As he was a first grader, he did not need to stay in the dormitories and could have his lunch and dinner at home. Phillip, who was a year younger than him, was still in preschool. He would have breakfast and dinner at home. Actually, the preschool did provide breakfast, but Phillip refused to eat in school and insisted on having breakfast at home. In order to eat the breakfast Austin made, he would get up early in the morning without the adults waking him. After putting on his clothes and washing up, he would head to Louis’s place with his bag. “Austin.”Louis suddenly asked, “Did my sister come back last n
Isabella had always thought Tati was teasing her. Therefore, she did not take her words seriously. She thought it was completely normal for Austin to treat her well as she was his boss. From Austin’s perspective, she was his source of income. Now that Isabella pondered about it deeper, she realized perhaps Austin did come to Satbury for her. It was not just to be her chef. He always said Grandma May only gave the York lads a year to pursue their fiancées. However, Austin had never left since he started working for Isabella. Even if he did, it was to accompany her on business trips. He was busy feeding and taking care of her every day and had never gone to pursue his so-called fiancée. He did not even try to gather information on her. Was he not anxious?A year would go by pretty quickly. Although it felt like it had not been long since Austin started working for Isabella, three months had passed. Time really flew. Three months had gone by in the blink of an eye. Neve