Zachary took off his suit jacket and handed it to Serenity. “Wear it and take a nap.”Since they were no longer at the beach, Serenity accepted and covered her body with the suit jacket before she took a nap.Zachary turned off the music in the car to not disturb her.He drove the car in silence while Serenity took a nap. After a while, they arrived at Brynfield.The bodyguards were wandering in the lobby because their boss was out of their sight all night.After the bodyguards saw Mrs. Lane came back with the missus’ pets, they found out that their boss was taking his wife out on a drive. The bodyguards were anxious, but no one dared contact the boss for fear of disturbing the couple’s privacy.At that moment when the bodyguards saw Zachary’s car, they quickly dispersed as they were afraid that the missus would see them.Jim ran the fastest and almost dove right into the bushes.That was because the missus could recognize him.Zachary pretended not to notice the bodyguards’ r
Zachary acted on his idea. He sneaked around Serenity’s room and rummaged through her things like a thief.After searching all the places where Serenity might hide the agreement, Zachary still could not find her copy of the agreement.Where did she put it?Zachary stood in front of the dresser as he stared at it while trying to recall any corners which he might have left out.He had rummaged through all the drawers.Finally, his gaze landed on a piece of paper on the table with a golden hairpin drawn on it.He picked up the paper.Serenity’s drawing was excellent.Why did she draw this golden hairpin?Zachary could not guess Serenity’s intention of drawing a golden hairpin. He flipped it over and saw that it was the agreement he was looking for.Serenity doodled on the reverse side of her agreement.No wonder he could not find the agreement after he ransacked her room.Zachary folded Serenity’s copy of the agreement and stuffed it into his pants pocket. He then walked to th
Liberty’s mind went blank for a moment.She did not expect Jessica to answer Hank’s phone.Liberty then took the phone away from her ear and recorded the call.Zachary’s friend helped Liberty to investigate and collect evidence of Hank’s adultery. However, the evidence he had could only prove that Hank was emotionally cheating on her because Hank did not sleep with Jessica.At that moment, the cheating pair was probably together, so Liberty thought of recording the call first.“Who are you?”Jessica was smug when Liberty kept silent. Liberty’s reaction was just as Jessica had imagined it to be.After Liberty found out that Hank was cheating, she made a huge fuss. Hank was so annoyed that he wanted to divorce her regardless of his son’s custody.If Liberty did not cry or make trouble, Hank and his family would think that Liberty was looking forward to a divorce and would make her stay instead.“I’m Hank’s secretary, Jessica Yates. Who are you?” Jessica asked knowingly.“Who am
Liberty knew that she had to take care of her son and could not leave her son home alone at this hour just so she could catch the cheating pair in the act.Liberty was contemplating if she should call her sister.Should she disturb her sister at this time?After hesitating for a while, Liberty felt that it would be beneficial to her to seize this opportunity to capture more evidence of Hank’s adultery.Thus, she called Serenity.Serenity slept so soundly after drinking two bottles of beer that she did not know Zachary carried her upstairs.Liberty called Serenity repeatedly, which forced Serenity to wake up.Serenity took her phone and answered the call without looking at the caller ID.“Hello, who is it…?”“Seren, it’s me, Liberty.”“Liberty, what’s wrong?”Serenity, who was gradually regaining her senses, remembered that Liberty was going to bring up divorce to the scumbag Hank and thought they got into a fight again. Serenity’s sleepiness instantly disappeared. She sudden
Serenity removed a key from her bunch of keys and handed it to Zachary while she said, “This is the key to my sister’s house.”Zachary’s dark eyes flickered.He knew Hank was at a business entertainment.Since Zachary asked Josh to investigate Hank and collect evidence of Hank’s infidelity, the nosy Josh went above and beyond his task and sent someone to follow Hank discreetly.Therefore, Josh knew what Hank was doing as soon as Hank left his office.When Zachary was with Serenity in the evening, he took the time to send a message to Josh, telling Josh to look for an opportunity to fuel the flames so Hank and Jessica could make substantial progress. That way, they would have evidence of Hank betraying his marriage.This way, Liberty would get the upper hand from a moral point of view when she filed for divorce.Now that Hank and Jessica finally slept together, was it a natural course of events or was it the result of Zachary’s intervention?Zachary could not determine which one
Zachary locked the front door and pulled Serenity out. As he walked, he explained, “My friend found out that your brother-in-law is now at Grand Hotel, which is owned by the Stone Group. I work at York Corporation, and the two companies aren’t on good terms with each other. I don’t want people from the Stone Group to recognize me, so I painted half of my face black. No one will be able to recognize me now.”Serenity glanced at the birthmark that he drew.Even when they were in a rush, Zachary could think of this detail, which showed how meticulous he was.No wonder Zachary could be a white-collar executive at York Corporation.Serenity finally believed Grandma May’s praises for Zachary that he was a very attentive man.Of course, Zachary would only be attentive if he cared about someone.“Wash it off with soap water when we come back later.”Serenity ran a bookstore that sold stationeries, so she knew how to clean marker stains on the skin.Zachary wanted to say that she could
Jessica leaned against Hank’s chest and said softly, “Hank, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have answered that call. I was afraid she was looking for you for something urgent.”“It’s okay. I can’t keep this hidden from her forever and have to tell her about our affair sooner or later, anyway. Since she already has some doubts, I’ll bring up the divorce when I get home.”Hank did not want Jessica to suffer any grievances.His heart had long been biased toward Jessica, and he no longer had any affection for Liberty. However, Hank put up with Liberty because he was taking into consideration his parents and son. Otherwise, he would have kicked Liberty out long ago.“Hank, will she get a cut of your assets if you two get divorced?”Jessica did not want Liberty to get a cut of Hank’s property.She wanted to see Liberty leave empty-handed.Liberty was away from the workforce for a few years, and her child was only two years old. She wanted to return to the workplace, but that would be quite dif
Hank whispered in Jessica’s ear, which made her smile.Fortunately, he was smart.Jessica was relieved that she could enjoy a lavish lifestyle after marrying him.Of course, she also had to put her guard up. After marriage, she would hold his salary card. He also promised to add her name to the title deed, so she would make sure that he did as he promised. Anyway, she would not follow in Liberty’s footsteps.“It’s actually very easy to make Liberty leave without a penny,” Hank said.“How?”Although Hank only had that bit of money, it was still better not to give Liberty anything. As long as Hank did not share his property with Liberty, Jessica would be able to reap the benefits.“Just make her choose between Sonny and dividing the property. She will definitely choose Sonny and leave empty-handed.”Jessica was disappointed after hearing this and said, “Are you willing to give up your son’s custody? He’s the only paternal grandson your parents have. Even if you’re willing to give
Lilian often messed with the medicinal herbs her master cultivated, which led to her being chased and scolded by him.It seemed her son had inherited her restless nature.“How’s Sonny been lately?”Liberty had been on edge these past few days because Caroline had been preparing to lure her three brothers into a trap and had not had time to call her son.“Same as usual, but it seems like things have soured again with the Browns.”Serenity added, “Sonny still answers when Hank calls him, but he doesn’t seem happy when his grandparents visit. He doesn’t like going to the Browns’ place, and he doesn’t want to take their calls either.“Hank’s mother and sister are truly incorrigible. They must have been badmouthing you and Duncan in front of Sonny again, which is why he’s upset with them.”During the holidays, Sonny had stayed with the Browns for a few days and started to warm up to them.However, who would have thought that the mother and daughter would start spouting nonsense in f
Once the baby was born, he would apply the knowledge he had learned over the past few months to care for the baby. He was determined to be a competent and responsible father.Serenity released her arms from around him and shifted to her side.Zachary let go, too, allowing her to turn.Then, she planted countless gentle kisses on his face.“Babe, with you here, the baby and I will be just fine. Don’t worry too much,” Serenity comforted softly after kissing him.“You are my rock. If even you are nervous, I’ll start feeling anxious too, and that won’t be good.”Hearing this, Zachary immediately said, “Seren, don’t worry. I’ll protect both of you. Alright, I won’t be so nervous anymore.”He gently touched her rounded belly again. “Lil’ Bun should be a calm kid. He’s not that mischievous.”He felt that the baby’s movements were not too intense.Serenity wanted to tell him that there were times when the baby kicked more vigorously, but she decided against it, knowing it would only m
“Just hit the gym a few more times. Lately, you’ve been spending less time there.”Every day after work, he would come home and orbit around her. As a result, he had less time to work out.It was normal to gain a few pounds eating well and exercising less. Did he really think he could eat anything without gaining weight?The reason he could maintain a model-like physique before was that he exercised daily.“Ow.” Serenity suddenly cried out in pain.This startled Zachary so much that he nearly jumped up, asking anxiously, “Is it stomach pain? Are you going into labor? Let’s go to the hospital right away.”He was about to pick her up, but Serenity stopped him by pressing his hand.“Don’t be so nervous, Zachary. It's not time yet. It’s not happening so soon. It’s just the baby kicking again. His kicks are getting stronger.”As she entered the later stages of pregnancy, the little one inside her was growing stronger. Sometimes, a couple of kicks from the baby could actually hurt.
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