“Dunc is nice, Dad. He treats me well. He’s not a bad guy.”Sonny tried his best to clear Hank’s misunderstanding toward Dunc.Hank felt bitter, but he kept a smile on his face. He replied, “Mm. Duncan isn’t a bad person. He treats you and your mom well. I feel at ease knowing you and your mom are living with him.”No matter how jealous he was, he had to admit that Duncan had dedicated his heart and energy to Liberty and Sonny. Duncan was better than him, Sonny’s biological dad. Liberty had made a great choice marrying Duncan.Although Duncan was still in a wheelchair, he would eventually recover. Once he recovered, he could take on any challenge and be the pillar Liberty and Sonny needed. “Sonny, Sonny,” Olivia called out from the living area. Hank told Sonny, “Your grandmom is calling you. Go out and have a look.”Sonny hummed in agreement and left the room. “Grandmom.”Hank smiled when he heard Sonny saying that. He liked being with his son and parents. He truly
Liberty and Duncan had only gotten their marriage license for a few days. They were newlyweds. Even with Liberty by his side, Duncan still wanted to have video calls with Sonny several times a day. He missed Sonny more than she did. He would worry about whether Sonny was eating and sleeping well at the Browns’ place.He also worried whether Chelsea’s son would bully Sonny.While Sonny had learned martial arts, he was not exactly skilled yet. Besides, he was taught well and would not fight under normal circumstances. Therefore, Duncan was worried that Sonny would be at a disadvantage. Liberty thought Duncan was acting more like Sonny’s biological father than Hank. “Sonny’s here,” said Duncan. He got up and walked toward Sonny, leaving his wheelchair behind. He could walk short distances. Liberty was anxious that he might fall. She quickly left her neighbors behind and followed him. She reminded him, “Walk slowly. Be careful.”They did not have their bodyguards with them
Hank pulled Sonny’s luggage over. Luke and Olivia had many bags in their hands too. They were presents they had prepared for Sonny and Liberty. Although the stuff they prepared was not as expensive as the supplements Sonny had brought back, it still contained their sincerity. “Liberty,” Hank called and handed the luggage over. “Sonny’s belongings are all inside. He can’t take that many toys, so there’s some left at my place. He said he can play them the next time he comes.“We bought him a few sets of clothes. They can’t fit into the luggage, so we put them in bags.”After speaking, Hank took the bags from his parents’ hands.Aside from the clothes and toys they had bought for Sonny, the rest were presents for Liberty. “My parents prepared some snacks for you. You can have them while celebrating the new year. It’s nothing expensive, just a token of our sincerity.“Although we aren’t husband and wife anymore, we’re still Sonny’s parents. We can still be friends or relative
“The wind is strong, Mr. and Mrs. Brown. Please return home. We’ll be heading back as well.”After Liberty took everything her ex-in-laws had prepared for Sonny, she said goodbye to them, and under their gazes, she walked toward Duncan and Sonny, who were waiting for her.Sonny had already gotten off Duncan’s shoulders.Duncan had also returned to his wheelchair and held Sonny in his arms. They waited for Liberty to return. When Duncan saw the bags in Liberty’s hand, he told Sonny, “Help Mom hold some of the stuff, Sonny.”“Okay.”Sonny slid down and went to grab his luggage. He could pull the luggage along since it had wheels.Liberty let him.On the other hand, Duncan took some bags from Liberty’s hands and placed them on his thighs. He said, “Why are there so many things? I remember there wasn’t this much when we sent Sonny over.”“Dad bought me new clothes and toys. I really can’t take all the toys, so some of them were left in Dad’s house. I can play with them the next t
Once Dylan arrived home, he went looking for his nana first. Grandma May was not in the manor. She was in one of the houses at the foot of the hill. Dylan did not search the houses one by one. He simply gave her a call. Grandma May picked up the call after some time. “You’re back, Dylan? I thought you weren’t planning to come back.”She chuckled. “How are things going? Have you found your little fox? Your elder brothers have already succeeded in getting their women. The three of you are the only ones left.“Peter is quicker than you. He said he could bring his fiancée back in a few months. Austin is probably doing better than you too. They aren’t you.”“When are you coming back, Nana? I have something to tell you.”Dylan requested Grandma May politely as he did not want other people to be present.Grandma May could roughly guess what Dylan wanted to do. She said, “I’m not in the manor. I’m out shopping with Serenity and won’t be back so soon. If you have something to say,
“Dylan didn’t really disobey you, Nana. It’s simply because his partner is Imogen.“If it weren’t for Zachary telling me, I wouldn’t have thought Imogen would have that many identities. She hid all of them well. Dylan couldn’t find a thing even after investigating it for a long time.”Serenity smiled and added, “As expected of Silver’s best student. She’s definitely different.”Grandma May was being extremely nice to Dylan.She had chosen Silver’s student for him. The legendary masters and their students were the true big bosses. Any one of them could rival Julian. “Dylan was trapped by his dream. He couldn’t escape it.”Grandma May sighed. “I don’t know what happened. He never met Sugar before. I can’t believe he dreamt of her before I gave him a picture of her. He even had the same dream several times.“Maybe they were just fated to be together.”Camryn smiled. “It must be fate. Maybe they were husband and wife in their past lives.”“You’re amazing, Nana. How did you know
Grandma May brought her daughters-in-law to Zachary's villa. The butler did not go home to celebrate the new year. Instead, he had brought his family over upon obtaining Zachary’s permission. Sam was a disciplined person. Although he had brought his family over, he would still watch over the house properly and not let his family enter the main house.He was Zachary’s butler and had his own quarters. He did not live in the main house. Sam was surprised to see Grandma May and her granddaughters-in-law coming over late at night.“Have you all come by yourself, missus?”Sam opened the gates for them and asked Serenity, who had lowered her window. He was worried that Mr. York might have made Mrs. York angry and that she had come over to escape him. It would be New Year’s Eve tomorrow. Logically speaking, Serenity should have been at Wildridge Manor. However, upon seeing Grandma May, Camryn, and the rest, Sam finally figured it out. Grandma May must have been feeling mischievo
While Grandma May and her granddaughters-in-law had settled down, Zachary and his two brothers were still waiting for their wives. As the sky was getting darker, Zachary could not help but give Serenity a call. “Why are you and Nana not back yet, Seren?”“We won’t be going back tonight, babe. Nana said we’ll return after breakfast tomorrow. We’re staying in your villa in the high-end neighborhood now.”Zachary replied, “I already had a bad feeling when Nana brought you guys out.”As expected, Nana had “kidnapped” their wives.Serenity laughed. “Go to bed early. We’re singing now. Hayden is a pretty good singer.”“You should rest earlier. Don’t stay up too late. You’re still pregnant.”Zachary reminded her.“Mm. I will. I’ll hang up now. Let’s talk again tomorrow.”“Okay. Sonny came over this evening and asked where you were. I said you went shopping, and he said why you didn’t wait till he came and if you didn’t miss him.”Serenity smiled. “He called me afterward and told
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