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 finished preparing dinner after two hours.Looking at the table full of Serenity’s favorite food he had personally cooked, in a rare bout of whimsy, Zachary dug his phone out to take a photo of it and posted it on his social media.Ever since his last post, his social media had once again gone on a long hiatus.The moment the photo was posted, his friends and important clients not only speedily clicked like, they even left comments.“Mr. York, can I still make it in time if I come over now?”“Mr. York, I’m only just realizing that you’re actually really good at cooking.”“Mr. York, hurry and send some over—I’ll help you finish it.”“Mrs. York really is blessed. I’m so jealous! I slaved for you for so many years but I’ve never tasted a single bite of your cooking before.” This was a comment left by Josh.After Zachary finished posting the photo to his social media, he put his phone back into his pocket and did not see his friends’ likes and comments.He returned to the
Jasmine looked at Josh as she said this.Josh immediately began feeling immense pressure.As he was bad at cooking, he had no way of presenting a table full of dishes that could rival a professional chef as Zachary had done.In his heart, he griped about his good friend. He was so exceptional that he was about to thoroughly outshine all the other single upper-class men. It was not easy trying to get a wife.“Ms. Sox will be very happy in the future too.”Josh had no skill in cooking, but he felt that he would treat his wife very well. If something came out of his relationship with Jasmine, he would definitely ensure her happiness.Jasmine laughed. “Who knows at present if they’ll be happy in the future? Love and marriage aren’t the same. Things can be super sweet while dating, but after marriage, everything returns to reality. Every single flaw a person deliberately hides while dating will be exposed without fail. A marriage will only last if they can tolerate each other to the e
Based on the Bucham family’s network, Josh was extremely clear about her entire family history stretching back eighteen generations. He even knew about how many children her grandmother had had and how many had survived to adulthood. She did not even know that.She only knew her father had four siblings and thought her grandparents had only had five children.Once, she had no idea what they had been talking about before that, but Josh mentioned her father had eight siblings. It was just that only five of them reached adulthood, while the remaining four had died when they were infants.At the time, Jasmine was struck dumb.She then returned home and asked her father, but he had no idea either. When she asked her grandmother about it, it was only then her grandmother admitted that that was the truth.In the past, living standards were bad and many people had many children, but most had at least one child who passed away.Her grandmother asked her how she knew about that.It had be
While Josh’s proposal had failed, elsewhere, Zachary and his wife were happily enjoying their honeymoon phase.After dinner, Serenity sat on the sofa watching television as Zachary washed the dishes in the kitchen.A life like this made Serenity feel very fulfilled and also blissful.After sitting for a moment, she got up and walked to the kitchen. Leaning on the doorway, she watched Zachary wash the dishes.“Don’t you want to watch TV anymore?”Her stare was quickly noticed by Zachary. He turned his head to glance at her before he resumed washing the dishes.“I don’t follow any dramas, and I don’t know which ones are good. I didn’t find any that I wanted to watch after flipping through the channels either. I feel like TV dramas aren’t as good as they used to be. The special effects are over the top. Maybe I’m just old, but anyway, I can’t bring myself to watch anything.”Zachary laughed and said, “You’re so young, but you’re calling yourself old already. You normally come back
Zachary finished wiping down the stove, washed the rag, and proceeded to wash his hands again. Then he turned to walk toward Serenity and stopped before her. His large hands cradled her face and pinched it lightly a few times before he said, smiling, “I told you, you should go only if you want to go. If you don’t, then you don’t. I don’t mind either way.”Serenity grabbed his hand, walked to the balcony with him, and sat down on the swing.She leaned against his shoulder and together, they looked out at the city lights.“When all the houses below are all lit up, the huge building opposite us goes all dark. They’ve all gone home for New Year’s.”“Tomorrow morning, we’re going back to the old residence. I’ve already informed Nana and there’s already a room arranged for us to stay in.”Zachary had his arm around her shoulders as their heads leaned against each other.That moment was full of warmth and sweetness.“Seren, our old York family residence is really old. I hope you won’t
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
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