“Okay.”Kade said gently, “I’ll hang up and send you my location. We can talk when we meet.”Soon, Kade ended the call and sent Imogen his location. It took Imogen and Dylan about ten minutes to find him. “Kade.”Imogen was happy when she saw him. She ran toward him elatedly.Dylan saw a man about his age or a few years older than him. The man looked handsome and gentlemanly. He wore a gray suit without a tie, which made him look like a successful person. From Imogen, Dylan knew his love rival was a senior executive of a multinational company. He was competent since he was assigned to return and handle the business in the country. Kade’s mother and Leticia were best friends. Kade was also Leticia’s godson. Imogen had known him since he was young, and the parents of the two families intended to bring their kids together. Upon seeing Kade in the flesh, Dylan felt threatened. If he wanted to win, he had to put effort into pursuing Imogen. If Imogen loved him and was will
Kade did not know if what he felt for Maria was love or friendship. There were two reasons behind his return to Huntington—his career and the time for himself to analyze his feelings. He had been friends with Maria for over two decades. They had a close relationship. In the past, when their families had similar social status, they wished Kade and Maria could get married. However, Kade and Maria seemed to be just friends and had no romantic feelings for each other. He had never even confessed to Maria. As Maria’s family business declined and they went bankrupt, the Butcher family’s attitude changed. They no longer allowed Kade and Maria to hang out because they were worried about Maria’s family dragging them down. Kade had helped the Sprearings a lot in private. Despite having a successful career, Kade was poor. Maria’s father had borrowed all of Kade’s money to salvage his company. If the company made a profit on the borrowed money, Kade could get his money back. The
“It’s lunchtime, Kade. Let’s find a restaurant and have some food.“It’ll take an hour or two to return to the city center, and there’s also the weekend traffic. If we head back without eating, you might get very hungry.”Imogen was already hungry. Kade smiled. “Okay. Let’s go with that.”Imogen led the way. Kade pushed his luggage to Dylan and said, “Please help me with my luggage, Dylan.”Without giving Dylan a chance to refuse, Kade quickly went after Imogen with a small bag, probably a laptop bag.Dylan had the urge to kick the luggage away. However, he held it in to maintain a good image before Imogen.Imogen’s attitude toward Kade was likened to that between siblings and friends. There were no romantic feelings involved as her gaze was too calm. It made Dylan feel reassured. Although Kade and Imogen looked intimate, Dylan could sense their intimacy was due to them reuniting after a long time. After Kade caught up to Imogen, she turned back and saw Dylan pulling
She loved Dylan, not Kade. “You, Maria, and I are best friends. In my heart, you two will always be my older brother and sister.”Imogen emphasized the words “older brother and sister.”She truly viewed them as siblings. She had never had a crush on Kade, nor would she have feelings for him in the future. Their families were only thinking about their own benefits. However, her parents knew the man she truly loved was Dylan. The York family was better than the Butchers and more suited for her.To be honest, if Imogen and Kade were to be together, she would be used by the Butchers. The Doyles would also have to aid the Butchers financially. If she were with Dylan, she would not have to worry about being used or giving away money. York Corporation was slightly superior to Davidson Group. Even Leticia wanted Dylan as her son-in-law. Kade understood Imogen’s words. She did not want to follow her family’s arrangements. She liked another man, and that man was more capable
Kade patted Imogen’s head again. “Thanks, Jen, but no one can help with relationship problems.”He had patted her twice. Whenever Dylan saw that intimate action, he desperately wanted to chop Kade’s hand off and feed it to the dogs.Dylan had not even touched Imogen’s head before. He had only held her hand. They had held hands many times and were near each other when she was Chameleon Fox, but they never did anything beyond that. Although Dylan was jealous, he did not rush forward to push Kade away. Kade’s and Imogen’s mothers were best friends who had known each other for a long time. Dylan was at a disadvantage, so he would not do anything rashly. Not only did he not push Kade away, he simply walked behind them quietly with Kade’s luggage in tow. He did not butt in their conversation either. Imogen brought the men to a restaurant. They sat down. Dylan placed Kade’s luggage beside him. He wanted Kade to look after his own luggage. The three of them ordered a se
Seeing that Imogen was protective of Dylan, Kade did not say anything else. The three of them chatted while eating, but it was mainly Kade and Imogen talking. Dylan rarely spoke. Only Imogen would talk to him from time to time. At that moment, Imogen’s phone rang.Looking at the caller ID, she told Kade, “It’s Maria. She must be calling to ask if you’ve arrived.”Kade’s smile faded. “I already posted on my Story once I landed. She must’ve known I’ve already arrived safely.”Imogen glared at him. She decided not to scold him and answered the call first.“I just picked Kade up, Maria. He arrived safely.”Imogen immediately told Maria not to worry as she had picked Kade up.“Oh. I wasn’t going to ask about him though. I just thought of talking to you since you’re free this weekend.”Maria denied that she was concerned about Kade. She had seen Kade’s Story on Instagram. She did not comment or like the post, but simply swiped upon seeing that he had arrived safely. Howev
Once Maria hung up, Imogen glared at Kade.With an innocent look, Kade asked her obliviously, “Why are you glaring at me like that, Jen? Did I do something wrong?”“You didn’t do anything wrong. I just know now why Maria’s lost hope and said stuff like she’s entrusting you to me. You couldn’t even call or text her? You seriously only posted on your Story? If she had muted your Story, she wouldn’t have seen anything.”Kade replied without thinking, “She probably wouldn’t have muted my Story, would she? If she did…”He was suddenly at a loss for words.Listening to their conversation, Dylan was sure that Kade was an indecisive man when it came to his feelings. A man like that was probably not a very big threat to him.Still, he did not dare be careless and would continue viewing Kade as his rival in love, staying on guard against him.Imogen took up the thread of conversation and replied to Kade, “If Maria had muted your Story, that would mean she’s on the verge of blocking you an
Kade had already done everything he could to help Maria’s family. It was his parents who were worried that Maria’s family business being in trouble would drag him down, so they no longer supported him being with Maria.His mother nagged him about it every day, and after hearing it so often, he became frustrated and did not know what to do. On top of that, he did not fully understand his own feelings. He was not sure whether what he felt for Maria was friendship or love.While he was struggling with this, his company arranged for him to return to Huntington to take over all their domestic business. He took this opportunity to give himself some time to think—was he truly in love with Maria, or was it just friendship?When he heard Imogen say she wanted to match Maria with her cousin, Kade felt a pang of panic and fear of losing her. This gave him a moment of clarity and he realized that he did have romantic feelings for Maria. He was in love with her. Dylan chimed in, “Mr. But
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