Serenity smirked in her mind. No deed went past God himself. Karma was bound to strike back. The writing was on the wall. Granddad and Grandmom got it coming for them. “Regardless of their intentions, we’ll go there with you. You can use an extra pair of hands in a fight.” Grandma May insisted on going along. Serenity wanted to say that she could fight, but she could be outnumbered by all her relatives at her shop in a fight. Hence, she did not stop Grandma May from going with her. Liberty mentioned before that Grandma May could kick *ss. With the trio finishing off their breakfast, Serenity tried to clear the table when Grandma May gave her grandson a look. Zachary quietly got up and took the dirty plates from Serenity to carry into the kitchen for a wash. “Seren, don’t spoil him too much.” Grandma May showed Serenity the tricks. “You need to get him to help out with the house chores. This home belongs to you two, and you need to run it together. Sure, it’s taxing for
In the kitchen, Zachary heard every last word of Grandma May’s conversation with Serenity. Zachary was accustomed to his nana’s favoritism toward Serenity. Nana had been hoping for a granddaughter for far too long. Alas, she welcomed nine grandsons instead. Nana developed an instant liking for Serenity and saw Serenity as her own granddaughter. However, the old lady changed her mind at the thought that her granddaughter would have to marry somebody one day. Hence, Nana did everything in her power to make Serenity her granddaughter-in-law, so Serenity would be with the Yorks forever. Zachary washed the dishes and wiped the stove clean. He then cleaned the wiping cloth and washed his hands before coming out of the kitchen. Serenity got up to bring out his jacket and tie. Although she had not gotten the hang of putting a tie on him, Zachary was flattered by her initiative. Zachary felt it was worth it if washing the dishes could earn him a little sugar from the missus.
“Serenity.” Mike and John entered the shop with Granddad. The others were left outside. “Is this your man?” Old Mr. Hunt sized Zachary up for a while, forming the opinion that Serenity’s husband was better than Liberty’s husband. Meanwhile, he was upset as well as his granddaughters did not give them financial support when the girls got hitched. The girls were raised, only to ditch their own family for another. His son would turn over in his grave if he knew what his daughters did. Although the girls’ parents were no longer around, their grandparents, Old Mr. and Mrs. Hunt were. Serenity and Liberty should have provided their grandparents the financial support. However, Serenity and Liberty did nothing of that sort. “That’s your grandson-in-law. What do you think? Isn’t he hot?” Approaching Zachary, Serenity placed her hand on his shoulder and deliberately asked Granddad. “Don’t we look good together?” Old Mr. Hunt was rendered speechless. He asked the old lady. “
Pointing at the door, Serenity barked coldly, “There’s the door. Please get up, turn around, and get out of here, Granddad!“My sister’s affairs are none of your business!“My so-called cousins have approached me many times, so they know what I said. It’s not like they were interested in giving me a sincere apology. All they were after was my reconciliation with you. Whose fault do you think it is?” Seeing that Serenity would not budge, Old Mr. Hunt peevishly told Zachary, “See that, young man? She doesn’t want her family by her side. You’re free to kick her around. Don’t worry, we won’t come for you.” Zachary had a mind to throw the old man out. He had never seen a grandfather like this ever. Despite his disdain for his granddaughter, the old man should not say such a thing. Zachary callously remarked, “I married my wife to love and spoil her, not to pick on her. A man who tyrannizes his wife is no man at all.” “Are you going to get out yourself or should I drive you out
“Why did they stick up for scumbag Hank?” Jasmine curiously added, “Did the Browns give something to make their time worthwhile?” Serenity smirked. “My sister and Hank restructured the terms of the divorce. In line with the new divorce papers, Hank has to give my sister over a million bucks. I guess Mrs. Brown couldn’t part with the money, so she tried to get my granddad to talk to us.” The Hunts were the sisters’ family by name after all. “I wonder how much Mrs. Brown gave my granddad. Well, she’ll never see the money again. She’s usually bright when it comes to setting my sister up, but not this time. I guess she got flustered.” There were no do-overs in life. “Now that the matter’s over, you should get to work, Zachary.” With the Hunts gone, Serenity urged her man to go to work. Although Zachary came with Serenity to the shop, he was not of much help. Serenity packed a hefty punch, so he would usually take a stand back and let her handle it. A certain heir sulkily t
Serenity carried her sleeping nephew while asking her sister, “Have you eaten, Liberty?” “Not yet. I came right after feeding Sonny. I’m pretty done with all the packing. I’ll need to trouble you to drive over and move my things once the divorce is finalized, Seren.“I found a good place to rent this morning. It’s not too far from your place, and the accessibility of public transportation is pretty good in the area. The problem is tidying up the place though. I’ll figure that out once I get the procedures done and out of the way.” The matter at hand right now was getting the divorce finalized. Hopefully, there would be no complications in between. “Have something to eat and rest here, Liberty. I’ll drive you to the bank to meet with Hank. I’ll stay with you until he wires the cash to your account, and then I’ll come back to the shop.” Grandma May jumped in before Liberty could refuse. “Let Serenity go with you, Liberty. We can’t feel at ease if you go alone. That family is s
Grandma May nearly choked on her food. Why did Jasmine include the fiery Stone girl in this? Grandma May would have to stay out from the fun if Elisa was going along. In addition, Zachary would be assigning his security detail to do the house demolition. As Zachary’s number one fan, Elisa would be able to identify the bodyguards, unlike Serenity. All hell would break loose then. It was a good thing Serenity put Grandma May’s worries at ease when Serenity said, “Let’s not involve Elisa since things might turn rough. She’s an heiress, so she probably hasn’t been in this sort of situation. It might scare her.” If Elisa were here, she would refute that as she had seen it all and had nerves of steel. It was a pity her cousin excluded her, blocking her from joining in on the fun. “I think a dozen men should be enough.” Serenity did not want to bother her best friend’s cousins. “We have to make it snappy. We might not be able to remove everything by tonight if we’re too sl
Knowing what hit her sister’s funny bone, Liberty replied, “Who cares if they’ll get along? I’ll have nothing to do with Hank after the divorce.” After a pause, Liberty added, “I’m guessing there’ll be a lot of drama.” “Good! Serves them right!” Serenity admitted she was a bit wicked to anticipate a hard life upon the Browns after Hank remarried. She hoped Jessica would turn the Browns’ lives upside down and give Chelsea hell. Since Liberty did not accept Chelsea’s call, Chelsea sent a text message instead. Liberty had blocked their numbers on WhatsApp, only sparing Hank’s number to discuss the separation matters. Once the divorce papers were finalized, Hank’s WhatsApp contact details would be a permanent fixture in Liberty’s lists of blocked numbers. Liberty deleted Chelsea’s text message without even reading it. She then blocked Chelsea’s phone number, refusing to accept any more calls and text messages from this sender. It would not take long before Chelsea was no
“A baby’s face changes almost every day. We’ll only know who he takes after when he’s a little older.”Serenity agreed. “I should call Elisa and share this news with her.”Jasmine probably did not have time to tell her friends about her newborn. Serenity also forgot to inform Elisa because she was too worried about Jasmine. Zachary told her to call Elisa only after they were inside the car. There were too many people in the hospital. Serenity held back her excitement and immediately called Elisa when she got in the car. Elisa was extremely busy at the company. She was the only one who could manage their joint company at that moment because Serenity and Jasmine were pregnant. Even if they wanted to return to the company to work, Elisa would not allow them. Rest was of utmost importance for pregnant women. Elisa was unmarried and not pregnant. She did not mind being busier. She only picked up Serenity’s call after some time.“Seren.”Elisa held the phone in her left h
“All that matters is that you’re okay, honey. Let’s not have more children. We’ll just have this one son.”Josh spoke while holding Jasmine’s hand.Women had to experience immense pain when giving birth. It came with many risks as well. Josh had heard other people saying that a woman usually had one foot in the grave during childbirth.He was genuinely shocked after accompanying Jasmine through her labor. He had been terrified and worried that something would happen to Jasmine.Luckily, everything ended well. Jasmine and their son were safe. However, Josh did not want to experience something like that again. Having one child was enough. There was no need for a second or third child. The Buchams were a big family anyway. He did not have to bear the responsibility of expanding the family alone.“Okay. We shall not have another baby.”Although Jasmine was brimming with motherly love and recovery from a vaginal delivery was quicker, she still thought childbirth was too
It was not just Camila. The rest of the people there also had the same thought. Josh and Jasmine had a great relationship. If something happened to Jasmine, Josh would be devastated and lose all hope of living.“Congratulations. The mother has given birth to a boy safely. The baby boy is six pounds and three ounces.”The people who brought Josh out were the anesthetist and nurse.The nurse instinctively reported the good news when she saw the crowd.Then, she explained, “The father probably fainted from shock after the baby was born. Come over and help bring him to the side to rest. The mother won’t be out that quickly.”Upon hearing her words, everyone’s mood brightened up.Camila, whose legs felt weak just now, was immediately filled with strength and stood up. Without Drake's help, she went to the nurse and asked, “Does the baby need to be in the incubator since he was born prematurely?”The nurse replied, “We’ll put the baby in the incubator and observe him for a while. If
Zachary was also worried that Serenity would go into premature labor out of shock. He also persuaded her to go for her checkup in a gentle voice. They could not do anything but wait anyway.Serenity finally decided to conduct her prenatal checkup first. Zachary accompanied her. Just moments after they left, the door to the delivery suite opened. A nurse stood there and shouted, “Is Jasmine Sox’s husband here?”“Yes. I’m her husband,” replied Josh quickly. He dashed to the nurse. “You must save Jas, doctor. Save the mother no matter what.”His family members behind him also echoed, “That’s right. No matter what happens, you have to save Jasmine.”The nurse said, “The mother is fine. It’s just that she wants her husband to accompany her as she’s in a lot of pain.”Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.Josh was about to rush inside but was stopped by the nurse.She asked him to change his clothes before taking him inside the delivery suite.Jasmine was wailing in pain. When
With advanced medical technology, a premature baby could still be healthy if taken good care of in the incubator. Serenity said, “Jasmine should be at thirty-five weeks. I just don’t understand why she would suddenly go into labor. Did she fall at home?“Or did she eat something that made her go into labor?”Zachary said, “That’s most likely not the case. Josh’s cousin is Jasmine’s dietician and keeps an eye on her food every day. There’s no way Jasmine would’ve eaten something bad unless she ate it secretly.”Serenity and Zachary suddenly went silent. Pregnant women had weird appetites. Once they had a craving, they could not go unsatisfied. Sometimes, they would even crave fruits that were not in season. Serenity herself was one of them. Once, she woke up in the middle of the night craving mac and cheese. Of course, Zachary, the ever-doting husband, had to satisfy her request. However, where could he find mac and cheese at that hour?Ultimately, he had to drive to the
People would reap what they had sown. They would have to bear the consequences of their actions. Sometimes, interfering in another person’s fate would backfire. After chatting for some time, Serenity said, “I have to go for my checkup now, Liberty. Let’s talk again when you’re free another day.“By the way, I’ll get someone to bring Sonny to you this weekend. He misses you.”“Okay,” said Liberty. After the call ended, Serenity put her phone into her bag and stood up. She told the man behind the office desk, “It’s almost time, babe. Let’s go.”“Okay. I’m almost done.”Zachary quickly signed and stamped a document before closing it. He walked over with the document in hand. Serenity and Zachary left the office together. He handed the document to his secretary. The secretary did not expect him to pass the document to him personally. He had thought of entering Zachary’s office to request it later. The secretary watched Zachary and Serenity leave. He could not believe
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.