Serenity was shocked. She remembered how desperately she studied back in high school to be accepted into a reputable university.However, Zachary and his brothers could easily get into a good university and even skipped a few grades.“Serenity, don’t look like you’ve been hit to the point of doubting your existence. The person who’s been hit the hardest is me.”Serenity thought about it and agreed. Rowan was the most pitiful one here. She laughed and said, “Don’t be discouraged, Rowan. I believe you can also get into a good university. You can do it!”“I have to get into the same university that my brothers went to. If I fail, I’ll... retake the exam.”He wanted to say that if he failed, he would slap himself twice. However, after thinking about it, it was better not to put his foot in his mouth, so he changed his mind.Zachary turned to glance at his brother before returning to focusing on driving. “If you fail, don’t say that you’re my brother.”Rowan was speechless.“Zachary
Grandma May was actually in denial of her feelings of schadenfreude.Serenity stayed up the whole last night and only drank a cup of coffee this morning, so she was feeling tired now.“I’ll call my sister and ask her how Sonny is.”After the call, she learned that Elisa and her mother had visited Sonny with gifts. However, Serenity knew the main purpose of their visit.“Sis, did Mrs. Stone say anything?”Serenity did not reveal the other matter to her sister.“She didn’t say anything. She just felt heartbroken that Sonny had suffered. Elisa scolded the Reptons family for a good half an hour.”Her sister’s friends and in-laws were more powerful than her own husband and in-laws, which made her even more sad.How blind was she to have married a scumbag like Hank?How dare a father like him compete with her for Sonny’s custody?When the divorce lawsuit went to court, she would provide the photos of Sonny’s injuries from the physical abuse to the judge. She believed that the judge
Zachary went back to their little home with Serenity in his arms.As soon as the door was open, the pet dog rushed over.“Get out of the way!”Zachary gave a hushed roar, and the little thing lay on the ground obediently, not daring to come any closer.It knew that its male owner did not like it very much.Fortunately, he did not abuse it or deprive it of food and water.Ring ring ring...Zachary’s phone rang.He was still carrying Serenity and could not spare a hand to answer the phone.The phone stopped ringing.It should be from Josh. Zachary instructed him to call every ten minutes so he would have an excuse to leave.However, there was no need for that now.Audrey and her daughter had already left Liberty’s house.He carried Serenity back to her room, placed her on the bed, and covered her with the quilt before calling Josh. “You don’t have to call anymore.”“I don’t? I was thinking about whether to spam you.”Zachary’s lips twitched.“Have you eaten? Do you want
Zachary said stubbornly, “No!”“Really?”“Really!”Serenity straightened her back and said with a regretful expression, “I was thinking that if you didn’t want me to leave, I could tell Mrs. Lane to stay at my sister’s house while I accompany you. Since you don’t need it, I’d better go keep my sister company.“The weather is getting colder. It sure feels like winter is approaching. I always feel uncomfortable sleeping alone during this time.” Serenity sighed.Zachary was speechless.‘Is she implying that if I said I didn’t want her to leave, she would hug the pillow and quilt and hog my bed?’Serenity was still carrying a regretful look. She reached out and patted his face twice, before trailing her finger down to his neck, and finally rubbing his chest. When Zachary’s eyes deepened and he stared intently at her, she withdrew her wandering hand.“I’m hungry. Let’s eat. I want to see if the dishes my husband cooked for me are any good.”Serenity was done teasing him and left.
After flirting with each other before and over dinner, Zachary showered Serenity with meticulous care.Serenity was a little overwhelmed by it.At the same time though, she thought, ‘Sure enough, a good husband has to be trained by oneself.‘I hope the husband that I’ve trained won’t be snatched away by others.’The couple went to Liberty’s house together after dinner.Sonny had woken up but refused to play by himself. He stuck to his mother like a piece of gum.Serenity was the only other person he allowed to hold him. He even refused Mrs. Lane to carry him.“Liberty, are you going to work tomorrow?” Serenity asked while she was hugging her nephew.Liberty looked at Sonny and deliberated before saying, “Seren, I want to quit and start my own business.”She was feeling uneasy with the way Sonny was now. However, she had just started her job. It would be easy to lose her job if she took a leave of absence.After a day of consideration, she decided to take her son with her to s
“Seren, you should go to work tomorrow or open your shop. You don’t have to come over. I can take care of Sonny.”Serenity was still worried. “Then I’ll ask Mrs. Lane to stay here.”Mrs. Lane was hired with the priority to take care of Sonny during the day anyway, and cleaning up Zachary’s and her home was secondary.Liberty felt a little embarrassed.Her brother-in-law hired Mrs. Lane because he did not want his wife to be tired, but Mrs. Lane was always helping her instead.“We’re sisters, Liberty. We should support each other.”Serenity did not want her sister to be burdened psychologically. “As long as Sonny and you are doing well, nothing else is more important.”“You pay Mrs. Lane’s salary for now. I’ll pay you back when I’m back on my feet.” Liberty was grateful for her sister’s help, but she could not take it for granted.Zachary said warmly, “Liberty, we’re family. Don’t be such a stranger. Serenity and I have a good income now with no children yet, so we don’t have ma
After comforting Serenity, Grandma May yawned gracefully. She put down the TV remote control, got up, and said to the young couple, “I’ll head in to rest up. I’m old and can’t stay up late.”She took a few steps and stopped before turning around to ask Serenity, “Seren, should I bring your pillow out?”Serenity smiled and said, “No need. There are pillows in the guest room for me.”Grandma May glanced at her grandson twice, but did not say anything. She proceeded into Serenity’s room.By the time Serenity went in to take a shower, the old lady was already snoring loudly.Serenity was speechless.Ten minutes later.She came out of the room in her pajamas. Just after closing the door, she saw her man in his robe, leaning against the door of his room with his arms across his chest.“Not sleeping yet? You have to work tomorrow.”Serenity casually said to him, pretending to not remember teasing him earlier. She walked past him toward the guest room.However, when she pushed open t
Serenity climbed into his bed and lay down comfortably, saying, “I’ve only slept in your bed once, but I feel like it’s particularly warm. Maybe it’s my imagination.”She pulled the quilt up to cover herself and smiled. “Good night, Zachary.”Zachary’s dark eyes flashed. He stared at her for a long time before suddenly lifting the quilt off her and was about to pin her down.However, she sat up and removed herself from the bed at once. She put on her slippers and left.“Serenity.”Zachary reached out to pull her back.“I, uh—I need to use the bathroom.”Aunt Flo might have come to ruin the atmosphere.The man did not understand. “There’s a bathroom in my room.”“Your bathroom doesn’t have what I need. I’ll come back to sleep in your bed after I use the bathroom, but—I won’t be able to sleep with you for a while.”Serenity playfully pinched his face. "Put on a little weight."No matter how slow Zachary was, he finally understood and slowly let go of his hand, letting her retu
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