Looking rather curious, Alice asked Serenity. Serenity turned around before replying, “It’s a good thing my sister didn’t tag along, but all’s good now since my sister divorced Hank. I knew I was the reason for the fights between Hank and my sister. That was why I married in such a hurry.” She explained to Alice the hasty marriage. Alice nodded her head. “I see. You saved your husband’s nana, and his nana really likes you. She paired you two together probably to repay your kindness too.” She had rarely seen the Old Mrs. York, but her man had mentioned that the old lady was friendly and did not put on airs. Old Mrs. York had a thing for going around keeping her identity hidden like a woman-child. There was one thing Alice could not wrap her head around. It was questionable for a bad*ss person like Old Mrs. York needed rescuing.Was Serenity sure that the old lady did not have her eye on Serenity from the very beginning and tried to scam her to be Zachary’s wife? “Is you
Alice took Serenity around the residence before excusing herself to take a nap. “Go and have your break, Alice. I’ll sit here and enjoy the view.” Serenity did not want to go back into the house. Compared to the lavishly furnished home, she preferred the natural scenery in the yard. She saw a few garden patches along the fence and guessed that her aunt must have done the gardening herself. Mrs. Stone was the lady of a wealthy and powerful family, but it did not change the fact that she grew up in an orphanage. It made sense that she would be hands-on with gardening after going through poverty and retiring from a desk job.“Are you cold? I’ll send someone to fetch you a jacket if you are.” Serenity and Liberty did not bring extra clothes as they were here for a meal. They thought they would go home after a meal and a good chat. It turned out Mrs. Stone wanted them to stay for a few days. Serenity had to return later in the evening to bring a change of clothes. “Thank you,
Communication was key. “Sure.” Zachary’s hanging mind was at ease. “You’re sick. Don’t take your drinks cold, and get a doctor's appointment after work. Why don’t you go now instead? Don’t drag on. Do you have a fever?” Zachary lifted his arm to feel his head. It was burning. No wonder he felt light-headed. Nevertheless, he did not tell Serenity the truth. “I don’t have a temperature. Don’t worry. I’m feeling fine. I’ll get some medicine from the pharmacy later. How are you at your aunt’s place?“Are your uncle and cousins good to you?” “You look a little red. Are you sure you don’t have a temperature, Zachary?” Serenity had a keen observation. “My uncle and cousins are nice. I don’t need to say much about Elisa. We hit it off fine. Zachary, blood relation is an amazing thing. Elisa and I have never met before. We didn’t even know we were cousins, but we got on well from the get-go.” Zachary grinned. “Send my regards to your aunt since I can’t visit her yet. I have t
“Alright. I’m on a break like the students now. I’m going there to sort you out and whip you into a henpecked husband if you don’t be good. You can forget your dignity in front of your colleagues.” The smile across Zachary’s face deepened. “So you’re saying that you’ll come here and keep tabs on me if I deliberately stay away from the doctor?” “Don’t you dare, Zachary!” Zachary cowered on purpose. “I’m scared. I wouldn’t dare.” “Alright now. I’m going to stop here. Hurry up and get yourself to the hospital. You’re an adult, yet you don’t take good care of yourself.” Serenity grumbled before hanging up. She left Zachary to his work. “Seren.” “Liberty.” Serenity watched as her sister drew close. “Is Sonny asleep?” “Yeah. I want to take a walk while he’s sleeping. It’s good exercise. I run three times a day now. I put myself on a diet and cut down on my sugar intake.” Liberty stopped and added, “My takeaway from the three-year marriage is that we women should take ca
Clive cussed Zachary in his mind. He was still second-guessing whether it was Zachary when Serenity mentioned her husband’s name. Now that Zachary said that he was away on business, Clive could confirm that Zachary was Serenity’s husband. “When are you coming back?” “Are you that eager to buy me coffee?” “Quit the act, Zachary. I know it all. The wedding ring on Serenity’s finger belongs to the same pair as yours, right? Your wife whose face is not shown in the picture is Serenity, right?” Zachary went radio silent. He neither admitted nor denied it. Clive took Zachary’s silence as his admission to the fact. “When did you two get married? Was it before Serenity went viral on Twitter? You’ve been married for a while, yet you kept quiet about it. Elisa went mad for you and even went all the way to your office to profess her love for you in public!“Elisa became the talk of the town while you went on your aloof and sophisticated self, making a joke out of Elisa. The publi
Zachary terminated the call right away. Despite being hung up on, Clive was not angry at all.He smirked coldly. “You can refuse to acknowledge me as your cousin, Zachary, but I’ll get my way one way or another.” Alice was pouring him a glass of water when she heard his comment. She said, “You’re now family. What do you mean get your way? Whatever reason he keeps his identity a secret, Zachary is Serenity’s husband.” “I’ve been his rival for many years, and none of us ever get the upper hand. Now that I have the chance to climb over his head, I got to make use of the opportunity.” Clive grabbed the glass and took a couple of gulps. “Zachary wound me up badly. I must get my payback when he returns from his business trip. I’ll contact Serenity to come along when he buys me dinner. I bet he’ll have to call me his cousin then.“Honey, I’m walking on air just thinking about my nemesis bowing to me because I’m the older cousin.”“I think you’ve gone mad.” Alice replied amusedly,
Josh sat upright immediately.“Come in.”The door was pushed open, and a bodyguard came in with an invitation.Josh thought that it was an invitation for Julian to a banquet. Unexpectedly, the bodyguard walked straight to him and handed him the invitation. “Mr. Bucham, this is an invitation sent by Mr. Stone. The Stones will be holding a banquet tomorrow night and have invited you to join.”“Me?”Josh took the invitation skeptically and questioned, “The Stones are holding a banquet, and Clive had someone specially send it over? Also, the banquet is tomorrow night? Why so sudden?”Other families might make their banquet known a few days in advance. Some even gave guests ten days of notice so they could get ready.Was this a last-minute decision by the Stone family?Josh remembered how Audrey recognized her two nieces and he guessed the real purpose of the banquet.‘She must wish to introduce her two nieces to Wiltspoon’s elites.‘Hehe, what does Zachary think about it?’“Mr.
What would the scene of a woman meeting her ex-husband and his mistress when out shopping be like?Liberty did not have much of a reaction. As for Jessica, when she walked into the store and saw the Hunt sisters, her instinctive reaction was to cling tightly to Hank’s arm.It was as if she was afraid others would not know they were a couple.“Daddy.”Sonny, who was being held by Serenity, called out to Hank when he saw the latter.The people in the store turned to look at Hank.They saw Hank standing next to the young and beautiful Jessica, then at Liberty, whom Sonny had called “Mommy” earlier. The store clerks looked at Liberty with sympathy.She came out shopping for clothes but ended up catching her husband cheating on her...“Sonny.”Hank walked over to Serenity under the watchful eyes of the store clerks. Jessica followed closely.“Sonny, let Daddy hold you.”Hank reached out to hug Sonny.Serenity did not give him Sonny directly and placed him on the ground instead.
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