Nevertheless, that was Zachary’s business. Duncan would not interfere in Zachary’s affairs as he was only Zachary’s best friend. “I see.” Duncan took a fleeting glance at the items in the shopping cart. Zachary’s wife did not take the visit to Zachary’s home lightly since she bought a lot of good stuff. “Sonny.” As always, Duncan would play with Sonny. Sonny turned his head away before Duncan could touch his hand. He asked Liberty to hold him. Knowing that her son was afraid of Duncan, Liberty picked him up. “Sonny, I gave you a pinwheel. Why are you still afraid of me?” Sonny wrapped his arms around the nape of his mother’s neck and buried his head against his mother’s shoulder, refusing to meet Duncan’s gaze. Did Dunc think a pinwheel could win him over? Sonny would not be taken in easily; as if he would fall for that. “Come, Sonny. Let me carry you to get more beautiful pinwheels.” Duncan tried to take Sonny from Liberty. Sonny put up a struggle and cried,
With Duncan’s help, Serenity managed to put all her shopping haul into her car and filled it to the brim. “Thank you, Mr. Lewis.” Serenity expressed her gratitude. Duncan smiled and replied, “I’m not just business partners with Mr. York. We’re friends too, and the close kind. You’re his wife. It’s only natural that I help.” He then turned to Sonny and added, “Sonny doesn’t like me and is scared of me, but I can’t help but draw near and play with him every time.” Duncan found it amusing even though Sonny was scared to tears and burrowed himself in his mother’s embrace. Sonny would think Mr. Lewis was treating him like a pet monkey. “We got to go, Mr. Lewis.” Liberty carried her son into her sister’s car and said goodbye to Duncan. “Bye.” Duncan took strides to his car parked by the side of the road after Serenity started the engine. Once they were gone, Jessica nudged the grimacing man next to her. With Hank scowling, Jessica remarked, “What? Are you angry that a ma
Hank uttered in disdain, “She’s still a fat cow no matter how many pounds she drops. I want to throw up just looking at her.” He put one hand on Jessica’s lap. “You’re the best, Jessica. I love you the most.” Jessica smiled in delight. Liberty had nothing on her! While on the way home with her sister, Serenity had to bring up Duncan to her sister, “Liberty, I think the universe is putting you two together. You’re always running into him. I mean, he was driving by when he saw you and Sonny.” Liberty burst into laughter. “That’s just a coincidence, Seren. Mr. Lewis is fond of Sonny.“Honestly, I have my apprehensions running into Mr. Lewis.” “It’s true that Mr. Lewis takes a shine to Sonny. I was at an Italian place with Jasmine when we met Zachary and Mr. Bucham buying Mr. Lewis dinner. I can’t believe the three of them were in the humble restaurant. We later had dinner together.“Mr. Lewis asked why I hadn’t brought you and Sonny along.” Liberty replied, “Mr. Lewis may
Serenity responded, “When are we going to your family home? I bought gifts for your family. We can go in the afternoon or tomorrow, so the stuff can stay in the car. Otherwise, we’d be moving them up and down.” After much thought, Zachary said, “We’ll go tomorrow morning. I feel a bit tired since I just got back today. I should get some rest.” The couple had been apart for three days, and he missed her so. He wanted to spend some alone time with Serenity before heading to the old residence. “I’ll leave the stuff in the car then.” “Alright.” Zachary had no issue with that, but he still reiterated, “Text me when you reach the neighborhood.” “Got it.” Serenity then asked, “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up now. I’m driving.” Zachary would see her soon since Serenity was on her way home. Hence, he said, “Alright. Drive safe.” “Sure.” Serenity then disconnected the call. “Liberty, Zachary proposed to leave for his family house tomorrow. You and Sonny should come
“She’s driving. Do you have something to say to Seren, Aunt Audrey? I’ll put her on.” Liberty was about to hand the phone to her sister when Mrs. Stone uttered, “It’s okay. Tell Seren to drive safely. Tell her not to put up with any mistreatments while she’s at her in-laws. It doesn’t matter who they are. You’re my nieces. You deserve only the best.” Having found out her nephew-in-law was Zachary, Mrs. Stone did not know how she felt about it in the last few days. She mentioned it to her son, and her son had known about it too. However, he wanted to keep it from Elisa. Mrs. Stone did not want her daughter to know that Zachary’s mysterious wife was Serenity either. Everybody was dying to find out who the missus of the York family was, not knowing that she was right under their nose. Some even got on well with the missus of the Yorks. Jasmine, for example, was into the hottest gossip about Mr. York. She was curious about who had won his heart and even wanted to know how his m
Besides the Hunt sisters and Sonny, Mrs. Stone also prepared a gift for Zachary.Although it was not possible for him to become her son-in-law, her niece’s husband was still her in-law, so she was feeling a little more generous and prepared a gift for Zachary too.“Mom.”Elisa came down the stairs, dragging her luggage behind her.Mrs. Stone hurriedly signaled for the butler to get out.She stood up, walked towards her daughter, and said with a smile, “Why’d you take so long to pack?”“I had to make sure I packed everything I needed to bring, you know. Where’s Clive and the rest?”“They haven’t come down yet.”Elisa lifted her luggage and descended the final few steps of the stairs. Mrs. Stone took a few steps forward, wanting to help her bring it down, but Elisa would not let her.“Mom, what did you ask the butler to do just now?”“I prepared some gifts for Liberty and her sister and wanted him to help send them over.”Elisa hummed in acknowledgment, then said, “Liberty did
Her sister was right there, and so was Jim.His romantic gesture made her a little… embarrassed.The moment he carried her, Serenity got a whiff of that familiar scent on his body and could not resist touching his face.Yeah, that still felt really good.Zachary was speechless.She said she did not want his thoughtfulness, but when he hugged her, she took the opportunity to take advantage of him.Wait till night fell and she—Zachary hurriedly stopped himself and halted that train of thought, lest he could not help himself.After placing Serenity on the ground, Zachary went to carry Sonny from the car.“Uncle Zak,” said Sonny in his childish voice. As Zachary reached out to hug the little guy, he jumped straight toward Zachary. Zachary reacted quickly and caught him easily before raising him high into the air.Sonny burst into laughter.After teasing Sonny a little more, Zachary put Sonny down and stopped playing with him. He asked, “Sonny, did you miss Uncle Zak?”Sonny no
Jim had only walked for a few minutes before he received a call from Zachary.“Jim, come back. We need your help again to move stuff. This time, the things have to be moved to the eighth floor. There are quite a few things too, so the moving fee… Seren, how much should we give Jim?”Zachary pulled the phone away as he asked Serenity.Serenity looked at all the gifts her aunt had sent over. It was too much, even if half of them were her sister’s. It would take some time for Jim to move all of them alone, so she said, “Ask Jim to come back first. He can take a look and name a price.”After dealing with him a few times, she felt she was now pretty familiar with Jim. It would be embarrassing if she gave him too little for the moving fee, but it would be a loss to give him too much as well, so she simply decided to get Jim to name a fee.Jim looked like an honest and trustworthy person and did not seem like he would charge an astronomical amount.“Alright. Jim, just come over first.”
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.
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