Complying with her husband’s request, Mrs. Newman reluctantly put a gift together. She then saw Mr. Newman out the door. Once Mr. Newman was gone, Mrs. Newman murmured to herself, “She’s just a country bumpkin. I doubt Mr. York will love her forever. The girl’s just a breath of fresh air to Mr. York for now. The country bumpkin won’t be the lady of the house for long once he’s bored of her.” Half an hour later, Zachary got a call through the intercom. Mr. Chaplin relayed Mr. Newman’s wishes to meet. Needless to say, Zachary knew why Mr. Newman was here. Mr. Newman turned up before Zachary had a chance to get even with the guy. “Let him in,” Zachary callously responded to Mr. Chaplin. Mr. Chaplin hung up and relayed the message. Sitting in the building’s VIP lounge on the first floor, Mr. Newman quietly but restlessly waited. He pulled himself together at the sound of incoming footsteps, pretending to play it cool as the receptionist approached. “Mr. Newman, our CEO wi
It had long come to Mr. Newman’s attention that Zachary was aloof and not the easiest to get on with. It was too early for Mr. Newman to say if he could get along with Zachary. Nevertheless, it was true that Zachary was an indifferent man. Mr. Newman had been around the business world for many years, and during his management of Newman Enterprise for more than a decade had turned a small business into a billion-dollar corporation. Although the Newmans thrived in foreign business, Mr. Newman had influence and connections in Wiltspoon too. “Mr. Zachary, I’m here to apologize on behalf of my daughter and wife,” Mr. Newman explained with a smile. Zachary callously replied, “I’ve never met your wife and daughter.” “Here’s the thing, Mr. Zachary. My wife and daughter got into a bit of a misunderstanding and conflict with your wife. I have given them a telling-off, but since my wife has to take care of my sick daughter, I’m here on behalf of them to apologize to your wife. “I didn
Keeping to himself, Zachary simply stared icily at Mr. Newman while Mr. Newman was on pins and needles. “So, your purpose here is to apologize, am I right, Mr. Newman?” Unable to count on Zack to say something, Callum broke the silence in the office. Mr. Newman nodded his head. “Serenity is a forgiving person. She usually doesn’t sweat the small stuff, but friendship is important to her.” Carrying a smile, Mr. Newman replied, “Mrs. York got a heart for sure. I’ve heard of it.” “It’s good that you know that. You can leave if there’s nothing else, Mr. Newman.” Quit the act already. The Yorks and the Newmans had no business connections with one another. Mr. Newman had been wanting to leave the moment he came in. However, he was not in a position to take leave. God knew how nervous Mr. Newman was when Zachary locked eyes with him. He was a lot older than Zachary and probably could be Zachary’s father. Mr. Newman had been through the toughest years of his life, but he felt
It appeared the sun had set seconds after it rose. The switch between daylight and darkness simply crept in on everybody. Serenity woke up bright early on Saturday morning. Zachary only got up when Serenity had breakfast on the table. “Why didn’t you wait for me to get up and make breakfast together?” Looming from behind Serenity, Zachary wrapped his arms around her. He loved the days of seeing her the moment he opened his eyes. He could find happiness in the most mundane days. All the fights, silent treatments, and misunderstandings taught Zachary to cherish everything he had. “I woke up without the alarm, but you were still asleep. I don’t see the point of waking you to make breakfast. It doesn’t matter who makes the breakfast.” Serenity turned around in his arms and lifted her chin to meet him face-to-face. With adoration in her eyes, she curled her lips. “Good morning, babe.” Coming to her eye level, Zachary tenderly responded, “Good morning, honey.” He then kis
Serenity, Liberty, Mrs. Stone, and the others were on their way to the Hunts’ hometown when Old Mr. Hunt brought his sons and two grandsons to Wiltspoon School. Here they were to talk cash with Serenity again. Old Mr. Hunt refused to believe the Yorks were unfazed by all the big hoo-ha the Hunts stirred in the last few days. Serenity might be feeling the pressure now. Alas, they arrived at Wiltspoon School only to find that Serenity’s bookshop was closed. “Why isn’t it operating for business? It’s eight o’clock. It says here they open at eight.” Getting out of the car, Old Mr. Hunt grimaced upon noticing the shop was closed. He ran his mouth and called Serenity out for being a lousy businessperson. Mike looked at the shops around and said, “Granddad, it’s Saturday today. The school is off. These shops target students as customers. They won’t bother opening when the school is closed.” Old Mr. Hunt mumbled, “The brat usually stays open on the weekend. She thinks she’s all t
“Never mind. Let’s go after Liberty. What line of business is she in?” “F&B, breakfast place.” “Oh, right. A breakfast diner. We can have free breakfast at her place then.” After finding out that Liberty was starting a new business, Old Mr. Hunt ran his mouth about Liberty and her refusal to lend a million to his grandson to get back on his feet. If that was not enough, Old Mr. Hunt shot off at his dead son, Scott, for having two disloyal daughters. Serenity and Liberty would be the death of Old Mr. Hunt. Old Mr. Hunt returned to the car, urging his sons and grandsons to freeload off Liberty’s new diner. They could enjoy meals at Liberty’s place whenever they came to the city. It was not like Liberty could do anything if they refused to pay. They were family after all! Old Mr. Hunt brought his sons and grandsons to Liberty’s breakfast diner, only to find the place shut. Seeing that the place was not open for business, he stayed in the car and chided, “Where the hell are t
“Serenity is now the wife of the richest man. Why would she want the house? That’s a bit greedy.” Some people were of the opinion that Serenity should not fight for the house. Someone immediately came to Serenity’s defense. “She should fight for the house after what her grandparents did to her and her sister. Why should John get the house for free?” “I thought John is Scott’s adopted son?” Scott’s name was only known among the seniors and Scott’s generation. The younger generation would not know who Scott, Serenity, or Liberty was. Well, the Hunts were the main reason for that. They went so far as to stop Serenity and her sister from coming back to town. The Hunt family even relocated Scott’s and Lisa’s graves without letting the sisters know. Serenity and Liberty could not even visit their parents’ graves even if they wanted to. The last time Serenity came back, the Hunts were not home. She ended up having a chat with her fellow townspeople. Mrs. Deli jumped in, “Scott
Old Mrs. Hunt’s rhetorical question silenced some of the families with sons. “It’s an unwritten rule that the family fortune goes to the sons in this town, and the sons will handle the final days of the parents. I know that, but my parents didn’t have a son. They only had me and my sister. My parents’ inheritance should be passed down to me and my sister.“Grandmom, can you tell me when my parents adopted a son? Did the adoption go through while they were alive? Can we see the papers? “We have never been notified of any change to our family tree,” raising her voice, Serenity questioned Old Mrs. Hunt. The onlookers turned their heads to the source of the questioning. With Serenity walking alongside Zachary in the protection of men in black, the crowd cleared a path toward the gate of Serenity’s family home. Liberty left Sonny in Jim’s care, so the boy could have a little play nearby. She did not want Sonny to see her arguing with the old lady. Escorted by a team of securi
However, they had heard that this man had previously pursued Imogen, and those who had a good memory and had seen Dylan before, had already recognized him.When Imogen seemed a bit interested, this man then said he did not love her and went to pursue someone else. After failing to win over that person, he backtracked to pursue their vice president once more. This behavior left many people with a bad impression of Dylan.What did he take their vice president for?It was worth noting that Imogen was the chairman’s niece and the president’s sister. The chairman treated his own daughter and niece the same, and in the Doyle family, she was very much favored by her elders. The Doyles were one of the top families in Huntington, and as part of it, Imogen did not have to worry about finding a husband.Dylan ignored the looks people gave him. His gaze fixed on the cars coming out of the Davidson Group building, afraid that if he blinked, Imogen would pass him by.He watched the employees le
Duncan called Serenity to inform her that he was taking Sonny to the Lewises’ for dinner and would send him back later. Naturally, Serenity had no objections. With her nephew being well taken care of by Duncan, Serenity had time to go shopping with Jasmine. Jasmine was buying baby supplies as she was eight months pregnant and it was high time to prepare for the baby’s arrival. Watching Jasmine pick up items for her baby made Serenity feel the itch, and she ended up buying a ton of stuff for both her baby and Sonny.In the evening, Zachary and Josh came to pick up their wives.They both managed to cancel their appointments, leaving the task of handling work engagements to Callum and other senior executives. The two men who were once the busiest had now become the ones who most enjoyed slacking off.“Why did you buy so much? Where’s Sonny?” Zachary asked as he walked toward Serenity when he got out of the car. He saw his wife and her bodyguards carrying a bunch of shopping bags. T
Olivia cursed Duncan one last time. “You won’t have a good ending bullying the weak!” she spat before she was pulled away by her husband.Duncan watched them leave, his expression cold. “Dunc, don't be angry. My grandmom is always like that. When Lucas wanted my toys before, I cried and refused to let him take them. My mom wouldn’t let him either, but she always scolded my mom. I still remember that.”Sonny could vaguely remember some things from when he was two years old. It had only been a little over two years since then, after all.As he comforted Duncan, he gently touched Duncan's face, speaking softly, “Aunt Ser says we shouldn’t get too angry. If we get too angry, we’ll grow old faster. I don’t want you to get old, Dunc. I want you to stay just like this forever.“Dunc, please don’t be mad anymore. I won’t eat the fried chicken my grandmom buys for me anymore.”Duncan could not help but feel both amused and heartbroken for both Sonny and Liberty, who had been mistreated b
“I don’t want to. I want to be with Dunc.”Sonny did not want his grandmother to carry him. He turned to Olivia and said, “Aunt Lili treated me when I was sick and she said my throat got infected because I ate fried chicken, and that’s why I had a fever. She told me not to eat fried chicken anymore.“Aunt Ser also said that when I feel better, she’ll fry it for me herself. It’s safer than the fried chicken bought from outside, but I still can only eat a little bit, not too much.“Grandmom, I don’t want to eat fast food bought from outside anymore. You guys shouldn’t blame Dunc. He’s really good to me and if you scold him, I won’t like you anymore.”Sonny did not really have any affection for his grandparents. They had always taken his cousin Lucas’s side. Whatever toys he had or food he liked, Olivia would take them away to give to Lucas. He did not like Lucas, and he did not like Grandmom either. Even though his grandparents were nicer to him now, Sonny still spent very little t
Olivia immediately retracted her hand when she saw Duncan’s cold glance. Not daring to forcefully take Sonny from him, she awkwardly smiled and said to Duncan, “Mr. Lewis, can we have a word with Sonny?”“You can ask Sonny. If he’s happy to, that’s fine,” Duncan said coldly, giving Luke’s bag a glance before addressing both of them. “Mr. and Mrs. Brown, Sonny had a fever yesterday, which the doctor said was due to a throat infection. You two took him to eat a lot of fried chicken and fries that day, which caused the infection.“Today, you brought him more fast food. If Sonny eats that, he might have a fever again. Please try to avoid giving him such heavy foods in the future.”Olivia immediately became anxious, reaching out to touch Sonny’s forehead. “Has Sonny recovered from the fever? Are you still feeling unwell? Why didn’t you take a day off from preschool?“It’s fine to do that, you know. There’s no need to rush back to school. Plus, Sonny doesn’t eat much. We did take him to
“I don’t understand what Liberty is thinking, leaving Sonny in Wiltspoon. When she got Sonny’s custody, she should have taken him with her,” Olivia muttered.She really wanted her son to file another lawsuit and regain custody of Sonny, but out of consideration for Sonny’s future, she could not do that. Plus, her son would not listen to her anyway.“Liberty went to Jensburg. She’s probably still dealing with a lot of trouble over there and we don’t understand the situation. If she could, she would have taken Sonny with her. She values Sonny’s education a lot, and Sonny has been well-educated under her care,” Luke spoke more objectively.Although he did not like Duncan, he could see that Duncan really cared for Sonny. Sonny was very attached to Serenity because she had raised him. That was natural, and it probably had nothing to do with whether Duncan was a good stepfather or not. Luke did not say this out loud to avoid being scolded by his wife for siding with Duncan.“Here comes
Moreover, Patrick was still alive, and he had been Tiara’s assistant. Plus, the crime of Belinda killing her sisters to rise to power had been exposed to the world and no matter how one thought about it, it was impossible for Belinda's children to take over the position.“Dad, I just can’t accept it! I just don’t agree! Even if I can’t get the position of the head of the family, Liberty can forget about taking away our positions in Fisher Enterprise!“And if Caroline doesn’t divide the huge fortune left by Mom with us, she can forget about taking it all. If worse comes to worst, I’ll go down with her. If I die, my children can inherit Mom’s fortune, but Caroline’s unmarried and childless! She stands to lose the most if she dies.”Adrian stood up and turned to leave once he finished speaking. It was clear he did not want to continue the conversation with his father and did not want to listen to his advice.Justin and Jason looked at each other, then at their father, who was tremblin
The older generation of the Fisher family had indeed accepted the gifts sent by the Clark brothers. They felt that they had been mistreated by Belinda, so they viewed the benefits given by Belinda’s sons as compensation from her. However, they had not agreed to do what the Clark brothers wanted—to solicit their support. Without concrete evidence, what could the Clark brothers do to them? Besides, it was quite normal for juniors to give their elders gifts during the holiday season, was it not?Hunter could not help but slap his son’s arm. He scolded, “How many times have I told you, and you still won’t listen? My words just go in one ear and out the other.“Though you lot and Caroline are siblings, you’re still Clarks, not Fishers. The Fisher family’s rules have been in place for over a hundred years and won’t change just because of you. If they could change, it would have happened long ago. Do you really think it would have taken this long?“Those old fogies are from the Fisher fa
At the sound of a car, Hunter, who was sitting in the yard basking in the sun, instructed the helper who was taking care of him, “Go outside and see if the young master is back.”The helper went out. Soon, Hunter saw his three sons walking toward him one after another.Seeing this, Hunter could not help but furrowed his brow, feeling a headache coming on as he pinched the space between his brows. He suddenly understood why his late wife would become so impatient and frustrated with their sons—they were really troublesome.He had tried to reason with them, advising them to preserve their strength, to stop hoping to stay on at Fisher Enterprise, and to return here where they could still live well, but they simply refused to listen.When they accompanied him back to Ashford during Christmas, he thought they had come to their senses, but when the new year started and Fisher Enterprise resumed operations, they eagerly hurried back.It made Hunter so angry that he scolded them at home f