To everybody’s surprise, Zachary grimacingly ignored Josh and stormed past him. The only thing Josh heard was Zachary callously telling Mr. Chaplin, “Notify all senior-level executives for a meeting now.” Josh wondered if the earth was about to shake. “Duly noted.” Mr. Chaplin was ahead of Josh in responding as Josh was taken aback by his best friend’s sour face. Zachary made a beeline to his office, only to stomp back out in less than two minutes to head to the meeting room. Josh went with him this time. There was no one in the meeting room. No meeting was scheduled today, to begin with. Yet, Zachary told Mr. Chaplin to notify higher management to attend a last-minute meeting. The man was on a warpath! Zachary entered the meeting room and took a seat at his place while waiting for the arrival of his executives with a stoic face. Josh paused before making his way to Zachary. He pulled a chair out and sat next to Zachary. “What’s going on with you, Zachary? Who g
Zachary fell silent. “You should let it all out to me before the others arrive. Don’t bottle everything up inside. You’re not just harming yourself by doing that but everybody in the company too.” Zachary’s rage brought forth hellfire! Josh was trying his best to keep the better days alive in the entire office building. “I saw Serenity with Shawn when I was delivering her a coat.”Josh was rendered speechless. With his jaw wide open, Josh had a hard time finding the words before finally saying, “It’s a misunderstanding. I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding. Sometimes, what you see isn’t the whole truth, Zachary. Don’t sulk as you did before. You have to give the missus a chance to explain.” “Shawn confessed his feelings to her.” Josh paused and replied, “Shawn is my idol. He’s bold and courageous. Mr. Lowe taught him well to be his successor.” Zachary gave Josh the stank eye. Josh rubbed his nose and said with a smile, “Zachary, maybe I should get Mr. Chaplin to buy you
The senior executives entered the meeting room in droves by then. Seeing the two biggest bosses waiting in the room, the senior executives were startled and got a bad feeling about the meeting being called at the last minute.Zachary still had his poker face on. Some looked at Callum, hoping to seek comfort from him. The least he could do was tell them what the sudden meeting was about. Although Callum appeared calm, he was looking at Josh. Sure, Callum was from the same family as Zack, but Josh was closest to Zack. Josh got up.“I’m going to the men’s,” he said while tipping Callum the wink. Getting the hint, Callum got to his feet and followed behind Josh before all attendance was accounted for. Despite knowing what was going on, Zachary did not stop them. Zachary stared at the senior executives who were in the meeting room. Josh mentioned that he would drive his employees up the wall when he went mad. Zachary was interested to see how so. Everybody was at a loss
Serenity stopped the car in front of York Corporation’s building before giving Zachary another call. While on the road, she had called Zachary no fewer than twenty times. The jealousy-ridden sourpuss refused to take her calls. It made her worried sick! Fortunately, Zachary finally accepted her call. “I’m at the entrance of your office building, Zachary. Can you take thirty minutes off work? Come out. I need to talk to you.” Jumping to his feet, Zachary approached the window in the meeting room and pulled open the curtains to look down. Since he was on a high floor and far away from the ground, Zachary could not tell if the car at the entrance belonged to Serenity. “Are you listening, Zachary? Say something.” Serenity uttered anxiously, “Come out. I’ll wait for you at the entrance until you’re off work if you don’t come out.” Zachary’s husky voice came through. “Hang on. I’ll be right out.” Closing the curtains, he turned on his heel to walk out of the meeting roo
“You’re a b*stard! You won’t even give me a chance to explain. What you see isn’t always the truth.” Serenity let go of Zachary and angrily pinched him on the arm. He scared her. She thought they were entering another phase of silent treatment. Zachary quietly took her pinching. It hurt like hell, but he did not care. All was good knowing that she cared about him. “Shawn confessed his feelings to me, but I rejected him. I’m your wife. I won’t leave you unless you decide you don’t want me anymore.” “Really?” The concealment of his identity came to mind. Would she stay by his side when she was to find out that he had been lying to her for so long? “Don’t you believe me?” Letting out a sigh, Zachary pulled her into his arms. “Serenity, I was really angry when I saw you with Shawn. My instinct told me to leave. I know that you were not to blame. Shawn was all over you.“The truth is… I’m jealous. “I’m green with envy. I’m jealous at the thought Shawn loves you and
“Although you can kickbox, you should stay away from him. Your husband is petty-minded and can’t stand to see you together with him. I’ll get jealous even though he’s the one all over you.” Zachary was feeling jealous in the past but he never admitted to it back then. It would not matter to Zachary who Serenity was with if he did not care. Now that he had feelings for Serenity, Zachary lost his head and was out for blood. “I’ll chase him away if he comes along, but I can’t cut off his legs to stop him from coming.” Zachary put on a stern look and said, “I’ll make sure he doesn’t show his face.” “What are you planning to do? Don’t do anything stupid.” Zachary pinched her cheek. “Don’t worry. I won’t do anything stupid now that I have you.” He wanted to spend the rest of his days with her. Zachary had made plans to end partnerships with the Lowes and even steal from them some projects that were in talks. The Lowes would know the Yorks were putting the heat on them. Zac
“I’m not petty like you.” Zachary replied hesitantly, “You’re mad.” “Yes, I’m mad. I sent you so many text messages, yet you’re cruel enough not to reply to any one of them.” While getting out of the car, Serenity pulled Zachary out together with her. She put the umbrella into his hand and said, “You should get back to work. I got to go.” She was still hungry. Serenity did not have the chance to drink the hot cocoa he made for her this morning and now her stomach was aching. “I’ll watch you leave from here.” Since Elisa and her mother came looking for Serenity, they must be there to talk about Mrs. Stone’s sister.Zachary could not keep Serenity for long. Serenity sat behind the wheel and waved at Zachary, saying, “Let me know beforehand if you’re coming over for lunch. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even have any leftovers.” “Sure.” Zachary would not head to the shop if Mrs. Stone and her daughter were there. Serenity soon drove away. Standing there, Zachary watched
For the sake of peace and quiet, Jasmine did not hesitate to lie on the floor at Mrs. Dawson’s birthday celebration. It meant that the pressure to get married was pretty bad for Jasmine. Josh would not be able to wiggle his way out of the situation if Mrs. Sox caught him visiting Jasmine. Although Jasmine was his type, nothing was carved in stone yet between them. They had not reached the stage of meeting the parents. Josh only let the head of the Bucham household know about it while keeping it from the others. He was afraid the seniors of his family would turn up in a large group at Jasmine’s house and scare her off. Jasmine thanked Josh’s show of concern. The pair did not chat for long and ended the phone conversation. … Elisa and her mother waited at Serenity’s shop for Serenity’s return. Shawn left after Elisa and her mother came along. Shawn’s mother warned him to keep a distance from Elisa. The Lowes did not want to cross the fiery princess of the Stones. Mrs.
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