“Jessica wants the reception to be at Wiltspoon Hotel. How much is that going to cost? We’re paying for the reception. Instead of marrying for love, Hank is marrying himself into debt.” Mrs. Brown whined, “It’s not like she can lay a golden egg.” Liberty grabbed a cloth and wiped the table. All the while, she listened to whatever Mrs. Brown had to say without giving her two cents. Her former mother-in-law came to her to vent about Jessica because the latter was demanding and did not hold back on splurging. If Jessica was foolish like Liberty for paying for the renovations and refusing the Browns to pay for the wedding and family support, her ex-mother-in-law would probably brag about Hank marrying someone younger and more beautiful right after the divorce. Mrs. Brown would laugh at her for being fat and ugly. No one would want Liberty after she left Hank. “Liberty, have you been thrifty and skipping meals lately? You seem to have lost a lot of weight.” “Mrs. Brown, I’m no
“Liberty, I got to go. I’ll visit you and Sonny some other time.” Mrs. Brown left these words before making the run for it. Serenity carried Sonny out the door as they watched Mrs. Brown get into a taxi. Serenity clicked her tongue once it was confirmed that the old lady had left the building. She shot off. “She’s never been so eager to see Sonny before, so why change now?” Sonny was holding the toy car that Mrs. Brown stuffed in his hands before leaving. Taking the toy car from Sonny, Serenity asked, “Do you like the toy car, Sonny?” “No.” Shaking his head, Sonny replied, “I have a lot of toy cars.” All of them could move whereas the toy car that Grandma gave him could not.“Why don’t we throw it away?” After much thought, Sonny answered, “For Lucas.” He believed Lucas would not go after his toys if he had his own toy car. “Sonny, Lucas will never fight with you over your toys anymore. If you don’t want to throw the toy car away, we can give it away to other child
Serenity said, “I understand that another marriage isn’t on the table now, but I’m speaking in terms of the future. You’re young, Liberty. Are you planning to be single for the rest of your life?” “Why not? I think I’m doing fine. I don’t need to wait on my in-laws hand and foot or deal with any issue with a mother-in-law and a sister-in-law. I can do whatever I want and spend on whatever I want. I feel free.” Thanks to her newfound freedom, it dawned on Liberty why more and more women did not want to take the marriage route. Serenity was speechless. “Don’t worry about me, Seren. My life can’t be better. Don’t you think I’m happier now that I’m divorced?” Serenity nodded her head. “Don’t you wish I’ll always be happy?” “Of course.” “Don’t bring up the possibility of a second marriage. I just escaped from hell, but Seren, this shouldn’t be a reason for you to be afraid of marriage. Yours is different from mine. Zachary seems like a reliable guy. There was no guarantee
“Zachary owns a villa in a high-end residential area. The villa is huge with a front and back garden. The view is breathtaking. I did my research and found the price of the villas starting from ten million dollars.” Liberty was speechless. “Zachary said he makes millions in annual income and doesn’t have big spending. He saved quite a bit of money to buy the villa, but it’s still on a mortgage.”“How much does he have to pay for his mortgage?” “I didn’t ask. It’s his house. The mortgage is his business. I won’t demand a share of his house if we end up separating.” “Don’t jinx yourself. What do you mean separate? Your marriage has only begun. You should invest in your relationship. Don’t be like me.” Liberty wanted nothing about a divorce coming from her sister’s mouth. Since she failed in her marriage, she hoped her sister had a better chance at spending the rest of her life with Zachary. “It’s right for you to think so. His house is his unless he offers to put you in th
“Zachary’s back from the business trip. You can take him to meet Aunt Audrey when you have time.” Liberty changed the subject.Liberty had no way to tell whether Zachary was related to the richest family in Wiltspoon, but their aunt was the wife of Stone Group’s chairman, so she must have seen the York brothers before. If Serenity took Zachary to see their aunt, they would know whether Zachary deceived Serenity about his identity.Mrs. Lane was listening on the side and thought she should remind Zachary when he got home at night.It would be better for him to confess to Serenity as soon as possible.“Zachary said he won’t be free until after New Year. He’s been very busy recently, and his company is holding an annual dinner soon.”“Does his company allow employees to bring their family members to the annual dinner? Did Zachary say that he’ll take you?”Serenity had never worked in corporate before, but Liberty did and was familiar with the culture. Liberty thought that if Zachary
Serenity understood that it would take a while for Elisa to let go of her feelings for Mr. York. Elisa had not pestered Mr. York for a long time. She was probably here now because she wanted to secretly take a look at Mr. York.It must be painful for Elisa to fall in love with someone who did not love her back.“I’ve had the milk tea here a few times before, and I think the milk tea and desserts in this store are quite nice, so I came here to try them again. But now, I just find them average.”Elisa said it very naturally as if she actually came here just to drink milk tea.She had indeed tried the milk tea from the same shop before and thought it was delicious. Maybe because back then, it was worth the wait.Now, she found it mediocre because she no longer had someone to wait for.“Are you here to wait for your husband to get off work? Since he’s back from his business trip, when will you bring him to my house?”“Probably after New Year. He’s very busy now and can’t spare any t
Elisa sped off. She was originally behind Remy’s convoy, but she stepped on the gas and quickly overtook him.Unexpectedly, her car stopped moving in two minutes.It was a flat tire, so she had to make an emergency pullover to check her tire.How could her tire be leaking?When Elisa got out of the car, Remy, who was behind her, recognized her.Remy’s driver also recognized Elisa. That was because he gave way to Elisa last time, and the incident was memorable.“Stop,” Remy ordered the driver to stop the car.The driver hurriedly pulled over and stopped right next to Elisa’s car.Remy instructed the driver, “Ask Ms. Stone what’s wrong.”He guessed Elisa was here because of Zachary.Remy lived in Wiltspoon for a long time, so he was aware that Elisa was chasing after Zachary. Since Zachary announced to his circle of friends that he was married, Elisa stopped pestering Zachary.They met again today.Remy thought, ‘Zachary is so much like my elder brother. Even though they’re m
FC & Co. and the York Corporation had in-depth cooperation. Elisa heard that Remy was in charge of FC & Co.’s branch in Wiltspoon. No wonder Remy was at York Corporation.“Mr. Johnson.”Elisa was the daughter of the Stone family and had heard of Annenburg’s FC & Co. She knew that FC & Co. was the same as York Corporation and was a multi-billion dollar corporation. These two families were the richest people in their respective cities.Moreover, the Johnson family was just like the York family. Although they were rich, all family members got along well with each other and worked together. They were a truly harmonious and cohesive family.Elisa’s mother often said that the York family could become the richest family and be at the top of the social hierarchy for so long because they had an excellent upbringing. The York children and grandchildren were well-trained to be amiable with each other. The York brothers would not turn against each other for personal interest and get along well
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
Austin was extremely patient with the boys. Although they occasionally caused trouble, most of them were minor issues. They would never do something they were not allowed to do.After breakfast, Austin brought them their bags. With a boy in each hand, he left the house. It was to prevent the boys from saying he was playing favorites. Dominic was used to that scene. Initially, Austin was simply Ms. Isabella’s private chef. However, he gradually took on more responsibilities.He would take the two young masters to school. If he had time in the evening, he would also fetch them from school. Austin also made sure Louis and Phillip did their homework, supervised their hobby classes, and played with them. Sometimes, he would even teach them martial arts and train with them. Dominic felt Austin was an all-rounder. It seemed like there was nothing Austin could not do. No wonder Ms. Isabella thought highly of Austin. However, Austin was a young master of a wealthy family. He w
Louis and Phillip were downstairs having the breakfast Austin had prepared for them. The food was different every morning, and everything was delicious.Having gotten used to Austin’s cooking, Louis and Phillip could no longer stand the food provided in the school. They thought the food there was terrible. Louis was enrolled in an elementary school not far from home. As he was a first grader, he did not need to stay in the dormitories and could have his lunch and dinner at home. Phillip, who was a year younger than him, was still in preschool. He would have breakfast and dinner at home. Actually, the preschool did provide breakfast, but Phillip refused to eat in school and insisted on having breakfast at home. In order to eat the breakfast Austin made, he would get up early in the morning without the adults waking him. After putting on his clothes and washing up, he would head to Louis’s place with his bag. “Austin.”Louis suddenly asked, “Did my sister come back last n
Isabella had always thought Tati was teasing her. Therefore, she did not take her words seriously. She thought it was completely normal for Austin to treat her well as she was his boss. From Austin’s perspective, she was his source of income. Now that Isabella pondered about it deeper, she realized perhaps Austin did come to Satbury for her. It was not just to be her chef. He always said Grandma May only gave the York lads a year to pursue their fiancées. However, Austin had never left since he started working for Isabella. Even if he did, it was to accompany her on business trips. He was busy feeding and taking care of her every day and had never gone to pursue his so-called fiancée. He did not even try to gather information on her. Was he not anxious?A year would go by pretty quickly. Although it felt like it had not been long since Austin started working for Isabella, three months had passed. Time really flew. Three months had gone by in the blink of an eye. Neve
When Austin reached the door, he stopped and turned to say, “Ms. Isabella, I only care about my future wife. Other young women are simply strangers to me.“I’m polite to other women when I need to be. If they’re unimportant, I’ll ignore them. Even if that woman is my boss, I won’t cross any lines. If I do, there must be a reason behind it.“Get some rest, Ms. Isabella. You might have a headache when you wake up tomorrow. I’ll prepare a warm honey drink for you in the morning.”After speaking, Austin left. Isabella turned to look at where he last stood. What did his words mean?He said he only cared about his future wife.Aside from this lady, he would not step out of line with any other young woman, even if she were his boss. What did he mean by crossing lines?Was it showing concern? Did he mean that if his boss was a young woman but not his fiancée, he would simply do what was required of him without any personal feelings involved? Was that what he meant?If so, was
Isabella was cold sometimes, but that was not her true personality. She was a reasonable person. Austin was not worried that he would be mistreated as a live-in son-in-law. “Ms. Isabella.”Isabella looked toward him and waited for him to speak. He asked, “This may be abrupt, but may I ask what your ideal type is?”Isabella was stunned. Why did the question come to her? What was the type of man she liked?‘Someone like Austin,’ she thought. After a moment of silence, she said, “I like men who are capable, responsible, and have correct values. Even if his family isn’t as financially well-off as mine, I don’t mind so long as he’s honest, competent, and sincere about his feelings for me.“Of course, it’ll be great if we have the same social status. That way, we’ll have similar perspectives and more common topics. If we get married, we’ll be joining forces instead of it being a one-way financial aid.”“Although you can accept someone who isn’t from a similar family backgrou
After a moment of silence, Isabella said, “It’s okay. I know I was forcing it.”There was no point in asking Austin if he did not want to reveal anything. If he wanted to tell her, he would do so without her asking. However, her curiosity spiked with his silence. She was eager to know who his fiancée was. He was already so protective of his fiancée even though he had not met her before. It made Isabella jealous. It was her first time feeling that kind of emotion throughout her life. Although it was not a strong feeling, she still felt it. “You weren’t forcing me to tell you. You were simply curious. Most people have a curious side. It’s only natural for you to be inquisitive as well.”Austin said gently, “It’s not just you. Those who knew that my nana had chosen fiancées for my brothers and me were also curious about who the ladies were.“To be honest, we didn’t even know Nana had been choosing fiancées for us since a few years ago until she handed their pictures to us