Zachary gently let go of Serenity, bowed his head, and looked at her.Serenity gulped.Every time she looked at him, she could not overlook his attractiveness and always wanted to take advantage of him.If he had always been so gentle, she would have jumped him in less than a week.If she was more courageous, she could even try different moves every day.When Serenity was thinking about various ways to sleep with Zachary, Zachary’s deep voice resounded in her ears. He asked, “When did we sign an agreement?”Serenity was speechless.She looked dumbfounded as she was in disbelief that Zachary would say such a thing.“Back when we got our marriage license, you drafted the agreement and asked me to sign it. The contract period was half a year.”Zachary looked calm and said blankly, “Why don’t you recite the content of the agreement for me?”Serenity opened her mouth but could not say a word.After so long, she could not remember much about the contents of the agreement. She only
The eight York brothers surrounded their grandmother and left.The group went to the Wiltspoon Hotel for dinner.When the lobby manager at Wiltspoon Hotel saw the York brothers coming in with Old Mrs. York but without their bodyguards, he was a little lost.Should he greet them respectfully?However, Mr. Callum said that as long as Mr. Zachary did not bring his bodyguard, he should treat them as regular hotel guests and pretend not to know them.While the lobby manager was deliberating on what to do, Zachary and his family had already entered the hotel and walked past the manager.All eight of them York brothers were extraordinary. When they walked into the hotel together, they instantly attracted the attention of countless people.The passersby heard the brothers talking to the old lady softly and heard them address her as their grandmother.They gave the old lady envious looks. This old lady was so blessed to have eight extraordinarily handsome grandsons. Their eyes were gree
Josh was talking to Julian. Although they were second cousins, it did not prevent them from being close-knit brothers.A bodyguard in a black uniform entered the room while walking in front of the two men, and said respectfully, “Mr. Julian, Mr. Josh. Mr. Zachary York is here.”“Let him in.”The bodyguard responded respectfully and turned to leave.Josh pointed to the yellow envelope on the table. “Zachary’s here to collect that.”“He came in person because he wants to meet me.”Julian instructed the butler to make tea and serve some fruit to the guest.Julian often used his family’s influence to help Josh. In fact, it was to help Zachary. Zachary knew that very well, so he came in person to thank Julian.“Zachary wanted to come and see you long ago, but you’ve been busy and you’re always away from home, so he hasn’t had the chance.”“Since he’s your friend, he’s also my friend. Friends help each other, so he doesn’t have to stand on ceremony. I’m glad that you’ve proven your
Ring ring ring…Julian’s cell phone rangAfter he answered the phone, he said apologetically, “Mr. York, I have something urgent to attend to. My apologies for not being able to host you.”Zachary quickly stood up.“Josh, please entertain Mr. York on my behalf.”Julian instructed his cousin and left.After Julian left, Josh took Zachary to his place. Zachary then listened to Josh’s mother complaining that if Josh did not get a girlfriend soon, he would be alone forever.Finally, Zachary managed to excuse himself. When they got out of Josh’s house, Zachary said, “Next time when your mother is at home, don’t ask me to come over.”Josh laughed. “Whatever she says just goes in one ear and out the other.”“How was your blind date with Ms. Sox? Didn’t you mention it to your family?”“Julian knows about it, but I didn’t tell anyone else lest they pester Ms. Sox and scare her away.”Zachary patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. “If you like her, you just need to work harder to
Serenity was elated that he had the thoughtfulness to do so, but she still rejected the idea.Just as Zachary was about to anxiously say something, with one arm hugging the flowers, she hooked her other arm around his neck. She pulled his head lower, leaned in closer and said softly, “Don’t put too many flowers at home, or else the owner will be easily charmed.”After she said that, she even patted Zachary’s chest—she was telling him not to be easily charmed by others.Zachary was at a loss for words.Was there such a saying?He would have to ask Josh about this another day.Serenity got into his car.Zachary returned to his car and as he started it, he asked, “How’s Sonny?”“The swelling hasn’t gone away completely. Last night, he had a fever and cried the whole night. This morning, his fever finally went down but he was so tired from crying he only fell asleep in my sister’s arms then.”Serenity’s good mood deflated again once Sonny was mentioned.“Zachary.”Serenity looke
After Zachary parked the car, he remembered the evidence of Hank’s asset transfers and called out to Serenity who was about to get out of the car.“I asked a friend to help look into Hank’s asset transfers. My friend was very helpful and sent me the evidence last night. I put it in the backseat. It’s in that yellow folder.”“Your friend truly was very helpful. He managed to gather the evidence so quickly.”Serenity was not only grateful to that friend of his. She was curious about him and really wanted to meet him.She thought it would take a long time to gather the evidence, since Hank had not just started doing this recently.Yet, Zachary’s friend managed to gather all the evidence in just a day’s time.“Zachary, it’s such a waste if that friend of yours doesn’t open his own detective agency.”After Serenity got out of the car, she opened the door to the backseat and picked up the yellow folder that had been placed there.“He has a relative that specializes in information gat
“Mrs. Lane, it wasn’t easy for Sonny and my sister to fall asleep, so don’t wake them up yet. Just keep some porridge warm on the stove for them to eat when they wake up.”Mrs. Lane nodded. “Alright.”The three ate breakfast together. Serenity made herself a cup of instant coffee to wake herself up.Once Mrs. Lane finished eating, she left the little dining area. Zachary took advantage of this to reach out and hold Serenity’s hand.“Seren.”Zachary said warmly, “You should stay home and rest. I’ll go alone.”Serenity held her hand back and reassured him, “I’m fine. I’ll be able to hold up as long as I finish this cup of coffee. And anyway, you’re going to the Reptons’. You might have to continue arguing with them, and you’re not as good as I am in that department. Even if you brought all your cousins, you might not be able to win against Chelsea Repton in an argument.”All the Yorks were cultured people. Arguing was definitely not in their DNA.“I’m Sonny’s aunt. I definitely h
While Serenity was feeling uneasy, Elisa spoke. Her voice was abnormally calm when she asked Serenity, “Serenity, my mom will come home around noon. Can I go to your place to pick up Sonny?”Elisa did not have much of an impression of her aunt, and could not tell much from the photos of her. In Serenity’s words, children were all cute when they were young.If Sonny looked like her aunt, even if it was just a little, she could not just let it go. She had to let her mother see him.Elisa recalled the moment she first met Serenity. Something inexplicable had made her want to get closer to Serenity.The first time she met Sonny, she liked him right away too.If Sonny was her aunt’s grandson, that might explain why she liked Sonny from the moment she met him.It was not like she had never seen a kid of Sonny’s age before, but only Sonny made her like him from the very first moment. He made her want to kidnap him to be her own nephew and when she bought toys for him, she was not stingy
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