“I’ll be right there. I’m sorry, Liberty.” Hank apologized on behalf of his mother and sister before ending the call. Picking up his car keys, he told his father, “Dad, Mom and Chelsea made a fool of themselves at Liberty’s diner again. Come with me to bring them back.” Black in the face, Mr. Brown took a moment to swallow the news and said, “They have nothing better to do.” They had a nice thing going on as a family, and it had all come to an end. It took Hank to get a new wife for Mrs. Brown and Chelsea to appreciate Liberty. Now the ladies would not stop harassing Liberty, and it was embarrassing. “I’ll take your mom back to our hometown after your wedding. We won’t come to the city unless necessary.” Mr. Brown believed taking his wife and daughter back home could give the newlyweds some space. The absence and distance would do them all some good. At least, the family would not be having fights every day. That way, his former daughter-in-law would be left alone too. Hank
Grandma May was lost for words. Snapping out of her trance, Liberty asked, “Mr. Lewis, h-how did you know they were here?” Duncan let go of the struggling boy. Despite giving Sonny many pinwheels, he still could not get through to the little man. Duncan believed he was a failure because he could never get the three-year-old to like him. “Grandma May called me and said your former mother-in-law and sister-in-law were stirring trouble at your place. She told me to hurry over with security, and I did because I was worried that they might scare Sonny and hurt Grandma May.“Are you all alright?” Liberty was in a daze. No wonder Duncan showed up out of the blue. It turned out Grandma May called him for help. Well, Lewis & Co. was nearby after all. It made sense why Grandma May sought Duncan for help. Without thinking much of it, Liberty said, “They have no shame, but I’m not afraid of them. I was going to splash them with water, but your arrival was perfect timing.“Thank you
Duncan replied nonplussed, “What’s your nana trying to do, Zachary? Does she think that I have feelings for Liberty? I honestly am fond of Sonny. That’s all.” Zachary believed his best friend’s eagerness to explain was a dead giveaway. His nana had a good eye for this kind of stuff. Nana would not put the feelers out to Duncan if Duncan was not interested in his sister-in-law that way. In the past, Zachary noticed that fate tended to draw Duncan and Liberty together. Wiltspoon was a bustling major city. Yet, the pair kept bumping into each other. If that was not fate, then what was it? “Hmmm… I adore Sonny too. It’s your business whether you like my sister-in-law or not. It’s not my problem either, but I hope you only take a liking to Sonny. I don’t want you hanging around the diner because of Sonny’s mother.” Since Duncan was Zachary’s best friend, Zachary knew him well. Duncan would not make a good couple with his sister-in-law, mainly because of Mrs. Lewis. Liberty w
Zachary did not have mixed feelings about it. Sure, Elisa was younger than him by a few years, but she was Serenity’s older cousin, so he should not be awkward about acknowledging Elisa as the older cousin-in-law. “Yeah, I came to pick Seren up. Did you skip work to come here?” Zachary replied in a husky voice, “I left early after finishing my work. No one will say anything.” Elisa pursed her lips. Zachary was the boss of York Corporation, so whatever he said goes. No one would say anything even if he skipped out on work for a whole month, much less the occasional early dismissals. “Mr. York is a busy, busy man, but he has nothing to do when Seren is at stake,” Elisa teased.Zachary never had time to meet Elisa in the past. Now Elisa found out that it was not that he did not have the time—he simply was not interested in her. He would make time for Elisa no matter how busy Zachary was if he truly liked her. With that registering in her mind, Elisa saw the light. Zacha
Elisa found it a shame that she could not become the love of Zachary’s life. However, she was comfortable with Zachary being her cousin-in-law and wished Serenity nothing but happiness. Judging by the shimmer in his dark eyes, Zachary was taken by surprise. He thought Elisa would take the chance to discredit him in front of Serenity. Poor Elisa. Zachary totally had her misjudged. “Is the car outside with the flat tires John’s?” “Yes.” Pulling out his phone, Zachary said, “I’ll call the traffic police to tow the car. It’s parked there, obstructing traffic.” “He secretly came by twice to check on the car. I guess he’s waiting until I’m not around to get the tow truck to come around.” There was sarcasm in Serenity’s tone. “He’s acting like a thief.” “That reminds me. I need to tell you that your cousin has made an appointment for surgery with a plastic surgeon. What looks do you think she should go by?” Serenity wickedly uttered, “She wants to resemble me and take my pla
The Hunts had moved the graves of Zachary’s parents-in-law elsewhere, and Serenity and her sister had no idea of the location. The Hunt family’s intention was to stop the sisters from visiting the graves while pushing John to pay respects to Serenity’s parents as their son. John could then inherit the property from Serenity’s parents. The mention of her parents put Serenity in low spirits. Holding her hands, Zachary soothed Serenity, “Your parents in heaven will be happy to see you and your sister doing well in life.” “I’ll take back everything that belongs to my parents!” “You got me. Go and get them. I will hire the best lawyers to fight the case. We won’t let them win!”Serenity gave a firm nod. “Ahem.” Clearing her throat, Elisa interrupted the couple. Elisa drew close as the couple watched on. “Seren, my mom called and told you to come home with me. We can start getting ourselves ready for the event.” She then turned to Zachary. “Seren made you an early dinner.
Serenity chuckled and went ahead to give Elisa a hug. She settled Elisa down, “Don’t be mad, Elisa. I won’t let you miss out on the next fun.” “Don’t hold me. Your man is glaring at me.” Nudging Serenity away, Elisa teased her before turning around to bring the food out of the kitchen. With Serenity looking at her man, Zachary answered in a stiff voice, “Even if she’s a woman, I mind that you hug her. You can hold me if you want to hold anyone.” Leaning in, Serenity quickly gave him a smooch on the face and pinched his cheek. “Alright, alright. I’ll only cuddle with you from now on. Go and wash your hands. I have to get to my aunt’s place once you’re well-fed.” Zachary whined like a man who was not getting any action. “I have nothing to do, and yet you won’t let me go with you. We have not attended an event together since we got married.” Serenity looked askance at him and asked, “And whose fault is that?” Zachary shut up right away. It was his fault and his problem. Th
Serenity thought she could just put on whatever. However, Audrey said they had to dress for the occasion. Tonight’s event was for the upper middle class. Audrey initially had no intention of attending the social meeting, but since Serenity asked for a favor, she thought it would be perfect for Serenity to start off with. Hence, she told the host that she would be attending for Serenity to ease into the circle. Since it was not an event among the upper crust, there was no need to be overly dressy. Audrey did not pick out the fanciest gown for Serenity. Serenity had a slim figure and a great face. She carried herself with grace too. Any gown would bring out her natural beauty. With Serenity coming out in the gown, Audrey complimented, “Seren, you just have that refined air about you. You have a great figure that works nicely with the dress. It would be perfect if you don’t walk too quickly.” Serenity was trained in the art of self-defense. Although she was endowed with natura
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