At that moment, the office phone rang. Liberty picked up the call and was informed by the secretary that Caroline had arrived.“Please let her in,” replied Liberty before hanging up. “Caroline is here.”Liberty told Duncan. He said calmly, “So what? We aren’t doing anything shameful. There’s nothing to hide.”He was Liberty’s fiancée. Most people in WIltspoon and Jensburg were aware of this. Seeing him in Liberty’s office would be completely normal to Caroline. Besides, he was one of the shareholders of Liberty’s company. Therefore, the company was also Duncan’s territory. He was uninvolved in the operations and only invested his money. He believed that Liberty could manage the company well. Liberty smiled and did not say anything else. She went to prepare a pot of tea. Soon, Caroline entered. Darren was behind her with multiple shopping bags in his hands. When Liberty saw the bags upon exiting the pantry with a pot of tea, she told Caroline, “What did you br
The backing Liberty had was too strong.Although Caroline was familiar with the family business and internal affairs, she had no backing. The number of people supporting her within the family had also decreased. It was not because she was incompetent but because she was Belinda’s daughter. Whatever Belinda did was exposed by the media and circulated among the people of Jensburg. It would be a lie to say that the Fisher family members did not hold a grudge at all. Even if Caroline was kinder than Belinda, they could not support Belinda’s daughter as the next matriarch. People would change. When Belinda first assumed the position decades ago, she was friendly to the family. However, once her position was stabilized, she started eliminating those who were capable and those who disagreed with her. She wanted to monopolize power. Therefore, nobody wanted Caroline to take over as matriarch. On the other hand, Liberty received much more support. Unless Liberty gave up on the
Caroline sighed internally once again. She would not ruminate about the past, and neither could she bring herself to. Mr. Foster was still alive, but he had returned to seek revenge for his master, and in doing so, he made Belinda fully realize that she would never receive his love in this lifetime. Now that Belinda was dead, all the love, hatred, and grudges had dissipated with her. Fortunately, she came to a realization before she passed on and regretted the things she had done to Tiara.Liberty said, “Your mother truly was very shrewd.”Belinda was ruthless, but when it came to making her posthumous arrangements, she had been meticulous, especially in preventing Hunter and his sons from plundering the Fisher family's assets. It had to be said that Belinda had truly done her duty as the head of the Fisher family, though as a mother, she had been too biased. She appeared very good to her three sons on the surface, but when dividing the family estate, she was very objective. “Did
Caroline smiled gently. “I do quite like Sonny, he's really cute. Liberty, you've done a great job raising your son. It's easy to see that in ten or twenty years, Sonny will be very successful.”The only little one in Wiltspoon who had a familial connection to her was Sonny, as well as Clive’s son. Serenity's baby had not been born yet, after all.“Oh, by the way, I've prepared Christmas gifts for all of you, and I've written your names on them so it's clear whose gift is which. One of them is for Serenity's unborn baby. That generation will call me ‘grandaunt’, right? I'm not sure whether Serenity’s having a boy or a girl, so I've prepared a gift for both a boy and a girl. If it's a boy, then the other gift will be for her second child.”Caroline smiled and said, “Considering how much the Yorks wish for a daughter, I think Serenity and Zachary will probably give it another go and try for a daughter.”In this case, giving double the gifts was not excessive.“My nephew isn't even b
“That’s fine. You can get your marriage license first, then slowly pick a good day or the wedding. “You two must invite us to your wedding when the time comes,” Liberty repeated.Caroline smiled and replied, “We’ll see when the time comes. For now, it’s still early.” She knew that Liberty wanted to support her, to show Darren that she had someone supporting her. Although Darren would not mistreat her, Liberty’s kindness still moved Caroline. If not for her mother having committed such heinous acts, she and Liberty would surely have become good friends. Caroline sighed inwardly. After sitting for a little while longer, Caroline got up and said, “Liberty, you’re busy, so I won’t disturb you any longer. I’ll leave now. See you next year.”Liberty got up to see her off and walked her and Darren to the elevator. Duncan followed them out too in his wheelchair.“Mr. Fletcher, treat Caroline well. She’s a good girl.” Liberty could not help but stress, although she knew that Darren w
Caroline's ability to successfully run and grow her company and do increasingly better in the past showed that she was a capable person.“She also has Darren by her side. Darren is excellent in every way, especially his loyalty. People like him are like loyal retainers of old. Even if they die, they will never betray their master.”Duncan had a very good impression of Darren. “I hope they can be happy together. They should be. The way Darren looks at her, it’s full of tenderness.”“You know what they say, birds of a feather flock together—people are drawn to those similar to them. The fact that they get along so well with us and we appreciate each other means we’re of the same kind. Darren will absolutely be a doting husband in the future.”Duncan was sure that a new member would soon join the ranks of the doting husband team and that would be Darren. Liberty smiled at him, and Duncan could not help but reach out and gently pinch her cheek.“Why are you smiling at me like that?
“Whether he actually feels any fatherly affection or not, as long as he's still my father and is staying in the hospital, as his daughter, I should at least go visit him. Every time I come back from the hospital, my mood might be low, but how much better do you think his mood can be?” Caroline and her father and brothers were essentially hurting each other in a war of attrition. Darren remained silent. On the way, Caroline asked Darren to stop in front of a flower shop. She got out and bought a bouquet of flowers. She did not buy any fruits or nutritional supplements.Seeing that she only came back with a bouquet, Darren could not help but smile. “Mr. Clark is going to be upset when he sees you only bought flowers. Flowers are cheap, they can’t be eaten, and they wither after a few days. He’d much prefer it if you bought some supplements for him.”“I’m not buying those for him. He'll sell whatever nutritional products I send him to make money. It feels like they've become obsessed
When they arrived at the hospital, Caroline told Darren to wait outside the ward and not follow her in, so Darren waited by the door in the corridor. Caroline took a few deep breaths before entering the room, holding the bouquet of flowers.As soon as she entered, she heard Hunter complaining to the caretaker about Caroline’s cold-heartedness and Belinda’s bias. He also said that Belinda deserved to die, that she should have died sooner because if Belinda had died a few years earlier, the matriarchy would have been succeeded by Celine, who had a good relationship with the Clark men. If Celine were in charge, Hunter could walk all over the Fisher family.As the father of Fisher’s matriarch, he would not lack money. Celine, being filial, would just give him money if he asked for it. There would be no room for Caroline then.The caretaker spoke up in defense of Caroline. She said, “Mr. Clark, Ms. Caroline’s your actual daughter. And the late Madam Fisher did not treat you badly either
Elisa giggled. “I’m not really jealous. I was just joking with you, Mom. You started it first by joking with me.“I also know that you’re good to Remy for my sake, hoping that my future in-laws will see how well we treat him and, in turn, treat me well too.“But Mom, even if I have to move to Annenburg with Remy in the future, you don’t need to worry about me being bullied. He can protect me, and I can protect myself too. Have you forgotten who I am?“I’m the little hothead. I’m the one who bullies others, not the other way around.”Audrey removed her daughter’s hand and lightly pinched her cheek. “I’m not worried at all about you being bullied by your in-laws. My future in-laws are wonderful people. Their family values are upright, and their household is harmonious. You hit the jackpot by finding a man like Remy.”Elisa said proudly, “That’s because I have a discerning eye. Any man I choose, and his family, must be excellent.”“Yes, yes, you have the best eye.” Audrey laughed an
When Alice saw her sister-in-law return, she quickly asked, “Elisa, have you eaten yet? If not, I can make something for you.”Audrey stopped her daughter-in-law and said, “Don’t worry about her. She’s got Remy in the kitchen cooking something delicious for her. With Remy around, she’s not going to starve.”Hearing this, Alice smiled and sat back down. Elisa protested, “Mom, how can you say that? Remy’s cooking for me of his own volition. You always say I’m exploiting him. You’re getting more and more biased.“You feel sorry for Remy but not me. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have found such a good son-in-law like Remy. So, you should still love me the most, just like before.”Audrey chuckled. “If it weren’t for you saying you wanted to eat his cooking, would he be in the kitchen right now? I called you two over for dinner, but you didn’t want to come.“Remy has been working all day. He must be tired, but when he comes home, he still has to serve you like a princess.”“Mom
“I’m not picky with food. Whatever you like, I’ll enjoy it too, so I’ll base the dishes on your preferences.”No matter what, he always put her first.Elisa said contentedly, “I’ll go back home and check on things. I heard my nephew crying earlier. Once the food is ready, just call me over from the fence.”Remy replied dotingly, “Alright, go ahead and check on him. You can bring the baby over to play for a while too.”After being taken out for a stroll, the little one had grown quite fond of going outside. If he cried after being fed, hydrated, and well-rested, it was clear that he just wanted to go out and see the world.As Elisa walked out, she said, “We’ll be eating soon. If we bring him over and he starts crying to go out, it’ll ruin our meal. It’s better to leave him at home for Grandpa True to look after.“Nowadays, he’s the apple of Grandpa True’s eye. Grandpa True even said that to see more of the younger generations, he’ll strive to live a few more years.”Patrick’s wil
However, Remy felt that his niece, Chloe, seemed even more outstanding than her brother. Perhaps in the future, it would be Chloe who would take charge of the family.“I miss Clo-clo so much. I don’t know why, but lately, whenever I see little babies, I feel especially fond of them. Maybe it’s because as I get older, I’m becoming more maternal.”“You’re not old at all. I’m older than you, so don’t talk about being old in front of me.”Remy did not like hearing her say she was getting old. If she was old, then he was even older. Remy felt that he was still in his prime, especially since he had not even married Elisa yet.“I’m older than Seren, and her baby is due in two months.“Oh, by the way, earlier, besides complaining that I was making you cook and worrying that I was tiring you out, my mom also suggested that we start preparing for pregnancy. She said that by the time we hold the wedding in the fall, it could be a double celebration.”Remy turned to look at her, his eyes bur
“Just like how Grandma May taught Zachary and the others, being able to cook isn’t just about earning points when looking for a wife—it’s also about rewarding your own stomach.” His own grandmother had not said anything like that. All she said was that flowers did not stay in bloom forever. Although the Johnsons were currently at their peak and were wealthy beyond measure, the world was unpredictable. Who knew in which generation the family might decline?Having more skills never hurt. Learning an extra skill meant that if the family ever fell on hard times, they would at least have the ability to support themselves.That was why their family elders encouraged them to develop a wide range of skills. They did not need to master everything, but they should at least have a basic understanding of many things. In truth, his cooking skills used to be quite average.It was only after he developed feelings for Elisa and learned that she had once had a crush on Zachary, who was skille
Audrey heard the cry of her precious grandson and immediately forgot about her daughter. She called out loudly, “You two enjoy your time together then. My grandson is crying, so I’m heading back inside.“You and Remy can start preparing for pregnancy too. When it’s time for the wedding, it’ll be a double celebration.”Hearing someone else’s daughter had given birth, Audrey was eager for her daughter to do so too. Though she was already a grandmother, she wanted to be a grandmother to her daughter’s child too. That was simply how elderly people with both sons and daughters were.Elisa was speechless. She heard the hurried footsteps of her mother heading back into the house, calling out before even entering, “Darling, don’t cry. Grandma’s back.”Elisa muttered, “Now that she has a grandson, even I, this precious daughter of hers, have been pushed aside. When I give her a grandson, I doubt there’ll be any room left for me.”She and Remy would definitely have children, but they were n
“Remy, Remy!” a voice called from outside. It sounded like Audrey. Remy came out of the kitchen, wearing an apron.“You keep at it, I’ll go out. My mom must have seen the lights and knew you were back, so she’s calling you over for dinner at our house.”At this time, her family was probably halfway through their meal.Elisa put down the remote control and walked out of the house with a packet of snacks in hand, munching as she went.“Mom.” Elisa walked to the fence and responded to her mother.“Elisa? You’re back too? You came back and didn’t even come home for dinner? We’re eating right now. Hurry up and bring Remy over. Grandpa True was just saying that Remy hasn’t come over for dinner in a few days.”Remy had been busy entertaining clients lately, so he had not had time to join his in-laws for meals.Elisa replied, “Mom, I feel like eating Remy’s cooking tonight, so we won’t be coming over. You guys go ahead.”“Oh, you. It’s so late already, and you’re still making Remy c
Elisa said, “Although cousins can be as close as siblings, it’s still better to have another child. After all, we won’t be living at your family home permanently, and our children might not have much time to bond with their cousins in the future.“I have two older brothers, and the three of us have always been close. My brothers have always doted on me, and I can always talk about things with them. My sister-in-law has been very kind to me even after they got married too.“I’m used to having siblings around. It’s lively, and no matter what happens, we can always talk things through. It’s nice not having to face everything alone. I don’t want my children to feel lonely in the future.”Elisa continued, “Most importantly, I love children. If you could be the one to carry and give birth, sparing me the exhaustion of pregnancy, I’d even consider having three kids. But unfortunately, you can’t.“If I have to carry the baby myself, even though I love children, I’d only have two—preferably
Jasmine smiled. “I can’t tell. He’s so tiny. I’m scared when I have to carry him. I’m afraid of hurting him. What if he slips from my arms?”As a first-time mother, Jasmine was inexperienced. She was not like Serenity, who had raised a baby before. Josh and Zachary had secretly taken classes on how to look after a baby. The way Josh held the baby was more accurate than hers. “You’ll get better at it after learning slowly. I didn’t dare to carry my nephew either because I was scared of hurting him, but I’m an expert now.”Elisa could not resist touching the baby’s face again. She really liked babies.“Has the baby been fed?”Camila replied, “He was fed an hour ago.”The baby had been ravenous. Everyone was relieved when they saw the baby could feed normally. The doctor said the baby might experience jaundice a few days later and that premature babies should be monitored closely. Jaundice usually appeared when the baby was a few days old. It would reach its peak after