The Hunts treated the sisters more like enemies than families. “Here you are, my good grandson-in-law. Hurry up and do something about your wife. Serenity doesn’t know her manners. Without tough love from her parents, she hasn’t learned much about respect. I’m sure your family’s all about social graces since you’re an heir. You should divorce the uncultured girl. “You better keep her on a tight leash if you want to stay with her. Hit her if she refuses to listen. You need to beat her into submission. Her grandmom used to be defiant, but I gave her a beating every day until she did everything I say. “Serenity drenched my clothes. You might want to give me some money to get a change of clothes.” The stoic air around Zachary gave Old Mr. Hunt the chills. Still, Old Mr. Hunt psyched himself up to put forth his opinion without shame. Jasmine was tempted to whack the old man. A grandfather like Old Mr. Hunt was unheard of. She had a strong reason to doubt that Serenity’s father
There was no justice in the world. Old Mr. Hunt’s other granddaughters were rather dutiful, but the insolent granddaughter was one who bagged herself a rich husband. Seeing that Granddad had made a quick exit, John and the others had no reason to stick around.They all ran back to the cars and sped away. Zachary plonked the bucket down onto the ground, spattering water onto his pants. “I dare you not to run, old man!” Zachary shouted at the runaway cars. He was thinking of getting his bodyguards to haul Old Mr. Hunt into the car for them to drive away if the old man would not budge. It made things a lot easier as the old man did not hang on for long and took off on his own. Serenity and Jasmine emerged from the shop. Jasmine said, “Seren, are these people here to patch things up? Well, don’t make peace with them even if they make a public apology online. They’re jealous that things are going well for you.” With a long face, Serenity uttered, “I have no intention of mak
Mr. Zachary said something about putting his dignity aside to win his wife back. He seemed to care about his dignity when it came down to it though. Jim rushed into the car to grab the roses for Mr. Zachary. “Sir, these are the flowers you bought for the missus. You haven’t given them to her.” Jim handed the bouquet to Zachary. Zachary snapped out of his thoughts. That was right. He bought Seren some roses. Grabbing the bouquet from Jim, Zachary uttered in a husky voice, “I’ll let Sam know to double your bonus.” Although over the moon, Jim remained respectful on the surface. “The bonus doesn’t matter to me so long as you and the missus can get back together.” “I’ll use your bonus to buy my wife some flowers then.” Jim was speechless. All Jim did was pledge his loyalty, but Mr. Zachary took away his doubled bonus. Everybody turned their heads away to hide their laughter. With the bouquet in hand, Zachary was about to step into the shop when he pulled his leg back
“Why are you here, Zachary?” asked Elisa, baffled. There was no reason for a man of Zachary’s status to be here. However, it was Zachary in the flesh. Unable to believe her eyes, Elisa blinked a few times before taking a closer look at the man. Sure enough, it was the Zachary she knew. Elisa’s eyes widened in shock when she saw the bouquet between Zachary and Serenity. Zachary was even holding Serenity’s hand. The only logical explanation that came to mind was that the man simply resembled Zachary, but he was not Zachary.How could Zachary, an aloof man who never went anywhere without his security detail to keep young women away, possibly hold another woman’s… Ah, before she forgot, Zachary had a wife now, and his wife had his heart. It was rumored that he spoiled his wife crazy. Although Elisa had never seen his wife, she believed Zachary was the type to give his wife all the love in the world. For Zachary, it was forever once he fell in love. That was why Elisa did not
“Seren, what kind of cock and bull story does he give you? Has he been stringing you along that he was just a salaryman?” Serenity thought Elisa would be livid and cut ties with her the moment the latter found out that Zachary was Mr. York. When faced with the truth, Elisa was fuming but the anger was targeted at Zachary for deceiving both parties. Elisa would have quit on him if Zachary had told her he was married right off the bat. Nevertheless, Zachary kept his mouth shut, leading Elisa on that he was single. Elisa was all over him and somewhat became the homewrecker in someone’s marriage. Out of all people, it had to be the marriage of the cousin she hit it off with. “When did you get your marriage license, Seren?” Elisa suddenly asked. Serenity replied, “Early October, I believe.” It was a hasty marriage, and Serenity was simply looking for a marriage of convenience, so the date was not that important to her. All she remembered was that it was somewhere at the beginnin
Serenity lifted her gaze to meet his eyes. Alas, Zachary had turned away and walked off. She stared blankly as Zachary took large strides away. The hurt sneaked up on her. Serenity had no idea whether it was because of him or herself. Jasmine and Elisa were talking about something outside when Zachary came out of the shop with a grimacing look. Without looking at the girls, he made a beeline to his usual ride—the Rolls Royce. Zachary had gotten rid of his security team, but the chauffeur stayed behind in case Zachary needed a ride. Seeing that Zachary was out, the chauffeur got out of the car and opened the door for him. Zachary, together with the Rolls Royce, disappeared out of Jasmine and Elisa’s sight in no time. Elisa and Jasmine were left staring at each other. The girls immediately turned on their heels and rushed back into the shop. Serenity was not behind the cash register. Her crafting tools sat quietly on the cash register with trails of blood all over the
“It has nothing to do with Zachary. I cut myself by accident.” Acting like everything was okay, Serenity said to Elisa, “Elisa, the thing about me and Zachary…” “I don’t blame you, Seren. You don’t have to explain or apologize to me. It’s not like we just met. I’m only furious that Zachary lied to both of us. He made a monkey out of us cousins.” Moments ago, Jasmine had told Elisa the whole story about Serenity finding out Zachary’s identity. Elisa’s heart went out to her cousin who was fooled the whole time. “Seren, I gave up on Zachary a long time ago. I got over Zachary the moment I found out he was married. I feel more at peace after I backed off and stopped thinking about him for a while. Don’t let me come in the way of your decision. Lying aside, he’s someone you can spend the rest of your life with. “Of course, since he played you like a fiddle, I hope you take your time in forgiving him. At least, make him suffer for a bit.” Now that Elisa thought about it, she was
Zachary showed a sour face and held his tongue. Since there was no point talking sense into Zachary now, Josh suggested, “Why don’t you stay in the office while I do the snooping around for you? I think you need some distraction and what better way to get your mind off things than work? It will take more than a day or two before the conflict between you and your wife can be resolved. “It doesn’t help to hurry things along. You’re only making more room for mistakes if you rush into it.” It was true that Zachary needed to do something to distract himself. Helpless, he said, “You’ve just gotta let me know that you want to skip work. Don’t use spying for me as an excuse.” Josh chuckled. “I’ve been working my *ss for you for so many years. It’s time I get a couple of days off.” He and Jasmine had not made progress in their relationship. It was probably due to Zachary and Serenity that Jasmine remained on the sidelines. Josh could tell Jasmine was interested, but she held her fe
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
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