“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
“Serenity, Liberty, you came back just in time. What’s this about? I’m telling you, the moment you left this house and this town, the house and fields belonged to us. “My son left this house for us. The property belongs to us, so we can give it to whoever we want, but we won’t give it to you since you’re married into other families.” Old Mrs. Hunt felt slightly guilty when she saw the sisters bringing many people over. When she was in the hospital, she had heard about how incredible Serenity had become. Now, she also knew that Serenity soared to the top and became the missus of a wealthy family. This made Old Mrs. Hunt a little guilty. After all, she and her husband had forcibly occupied the house. Back then, taking advantage of the fact that the sisters were still underage and incapable, she even kicked them out. Serenity was only about twelve years old when she and her sister were booted out. After Serenity and Liberty were thrown out of the house, they would return to the
Unfortunately, Old Mrs. Hunt was only an old woman. She could not break free from the two bodyguards that were holding her. The two bodyguards did not harm her and only took her away. When the other members of the Hunts saw what was happening, they quickly rushed over. Nonetheless, both the Yorks’ and Stones’ security teams also moved forward simultaneously to block them out, disallowing them from getting close. “They hit me, they hit me!” Seeing as they were outnumbered, Old Mrs. Hunt plopped to the ground as soon as her feet touched the earth. She slapped her thigh while shouting that she was being hit. Despite that, the people in town only gathered to watch and did not get close. Someone was also taking videos of them. The crowd could see the truth for themselves. They saw clearly that the people brought by Serenity only carried Old Mrs. Hunt away and did not hurt her at all. Old Mrs. Hunt was probably trying to blame the other party. The person recording the video
Serenity sneered, “When my parents just died 16 years ago, we got 1.2 million dollars in compensation. You and Granddad along with your children and grandchildren crowded our house to the point where we didn’t even have a place to stand. “You forced me and my sister to hand over the money, saying that you had a share of it. It’s true that you and Granddad had a share of the money, but how much did you take? “Back then, in order to get more money from my parents’ insurance payout, you stated that Liberty and I don’t need to support you on behalf of our father while you’re alive, and that we don’t need to hold funerals for you when you pass. We don’t need to sustain you in life and bury you in death. It was written in black and white. “Perhaps you’ve destroyed your copy, but the other copy is well-kept by Liberty. I believe the town committee has also kept a copy. The townspeople who were witnesses are still here today. Should we ask them to confront you? “Does the house belong t
Now that Serenity and Liberty were capable enough to come back to reclaim their parents’ property, Mrs. Deli fully supported them. “Yeah, it was you who said that they don’t need you to support you while you’re alive or handle your funerals when you pass. You didn’t raise them in the first place, so how could you be so shameless as to ask them for money? Your sons and grandsons benefitted so much. Why don’t you ask them for money instead?“Your whole family made a fortune from taking advantage of their misfortune, yet you’re bullying the orphaned girls. Your family has gone too far, so you should be struck by lightning instead. You’re old now. How many more years can you live? You’re not even afraid of going to the depths of hell after death, never to be reborn.” Even though the people in town opined that married daughters should not return home to fight for their family property, they felt that Old Mrs. Hunt and her people were too much. They could not help but intervene. “They
Mrs. Stone continued, “I came here today not to quarrel with you. I’m just here to accompany my nieces, and I also want to see the place my sister used to live. By the way, there’ll be less trouble if you move out voluntarily. If you don’t, we’ll sue you for the forced occupation of someone’s property. “We’ll get the house back even if we have to go to court. When the time comes, we’ll let the court rule how the property is going to be split! Don’t you dream about occupying what belongs to my nieces. Similarly, they won’t take what doesn’t belong to them.” The people from the Hunts’ hometown exchanged looks. It turned out that Lisa’s sister had found Serenity and Liberty. The Hunts knew that Mrs. Stone was Serenity’s aunt, but of course, they would not spread this news in town. For the Hunts, it was bad for them that Lisa’s sister recognized Serenity and her sister. Was John not a senior executive of a subsidiary of Stone Group? It was said that John had lost his job because
Isabella’s bodyguard had only called out to her, not daring to touch her, so she had not woken up. However, when Austin gently patted her face and called her, she woke up almost immediately. When she opened her eyes and saw Austin’s handsome face, Isabella was momentarily dazed, thinking she was dreaming about him.She had actually dreamed about Austin. Had she developed feelings for him? If she had not, why would she dream about him? In all her life, this was the first time she had dreamed about a man. Isabella wanted to touch Austin’s face, but as she raised her hand, she realized she was not dreaming.Austin was real. She could smell the fresh scent on him because they were so close.He had showered.Isabella quietly lowered her hand, hoping Austin had not noticed her earlier intention, lest he misunderstood.“Ms. Isabella,” Austin’s warm and pleasant voice reached her ears, making her want to close her eyes and go back to sleep. With him around, she felt safe and secure.
Hunter had neither money nor power. What could he possibly use to save his sons?“Dad, go home. When the trial starts, we’ll send someone to pick you up so you can attend and observe.”Hunter stood up angrily and stormed off.After he left, Ellie asked Ava, “Are we really not going to do anything? My child is still young. Having a father in prison will always be a stain on their life.”“What can we do? Even if we wanted to save them, we don’t have the means. We know what Caroline is like. She’s not going to let this go lightly this time,” Ava replied. “Anyway, think about last year, when they were caught cheating. How did they treat us then?”Remembering the events from last year, Ellie said, “Let them serve a few years in prison, then. Ava, Caroline is in the hospital. Should we go visit her?”“We should. Let’s go tomorrow. We’ll call Emma and visit Caroline together. The Fisher family is full of terrible people, but Caroline still has some conscience. She’s always been kind t
Hunter was momentarily speechless. He did not have much money. When Belinda was alive, he never had more than five hundred dollars on him. After his children grew up, he secretly asked them for money. During that time, he had money to spend freely, living a lavish life outside.However, all that money had been spent. He had no savings, mainly because he was used to spending extravagantly.He had been unable to save money. He did not own any shops or properties either; Belinda had kept him on a tight leash.The house in their hometown had been built with Belinda’s money, but it was not under his name. It was under his three sons’ names.After Belinda’s death, his sons supported him. Each son gave him over a hundred thousand dollars a month for living expenses.Combined, that was several hundred thousand dollars a month, allowing him to live comfortably in Ashford. He had managed to save a little, but not much, just over a million dollars in total. Hiring the best lawyers for h
Despite this, lying in bed and enduring the pain, Caroline could not help but start to cry, feeling deeply wronged.When Darren came in and saw her crying, he walked over, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently wiped her tears with a tissue.“They’re not worth your tears,” he said, his heart aching for her.Caroline sat up and buried herself in his arms. “Darren, you’re all I have now.”Darren held her tightly, his voice filled with tenderness. “I’ll always be by your side, no matter what happens, Ms. Caroline. Even if the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you.“If you’re really hurting and need to cry, then cry. Let it all out.”It would also help her sever ties with the past and the family bonds that had caused her so much pain.Caroline did cry—a long, cathartic cry. It would be the last time. From now on, she and the Clarks would go their separate ways.Meanwhile, Hunter went to Justin’s house and called Jason’s wife, Ellie, over. He said to his two daughters-in-law, “By no
After a moment of silence, Hunter repeated the same line. “But you didn’t die, did you? You only got a little hurt, and it’s not even serious.”Caroline almost laughed in anger at this.Sure, she had not died. She had only been injured. Did that erase the fact that her brothers had tried to kill her, though?She retorted, “Dad, if I had tried to kill your three sons, but they didn’t die and only got a little hurt, would you say the same thing to them? Would you tell them it’s just a family dispute, ask them to forgive me, not to sue me, and not to send me to jail?”Hunter instinctively replied, "If you had the intent to kill, how could I let you continue down that path? Of course, I’d have to let you serve a few years in prison…“Carol, I’m old, really old. I only have the boys to rely on in my old age. Are you trying to leave me with no one to depend on in my later years?”Caroline said coldly, “I’ll provide for your living expenses. I’ll make sure you don’t starve. You can even
Darren did not let go even after being struck.Seeing Darren get hit, Caroline’s expression darkened. She coldly said to her father, “Dad, if you really want to kneel, go kneel at the hospital entrance and shout at the top of your lungs that your daughter is unfilial.“Tell everyone that your sons tried to kill your daughter, and your daughter refuses to forgive them, so you’re kneeling there to force her to forgive your sons.“Let’s see if I give in.”Hunter stopped struggling. After slapping Darren, he felt a pang of fear. He was afraid Caroline might retaliate by slapping him to avenge Darren. Fortunately, while Caroline was furious, she did not lay a hand on him.He began to cry. “Carol…” He wept bitterly.Darren released him, and Hunter sat on the sofa, sobbing, “Carol, I’m old. I have no income, my parents are long gone, and your mother is no longer here. I only have your three brothers to rely on.“If you send all three of them to prison, what will happen to me? Who w
Caroline hummed. “I do plan to visit Wiltspoon to see her sometime soon. I just don’t know if I’ll be kicked out when I get there.”“And I should visit Mr. Foster too. How is he, by the way?" Patrick was the longest-living person she had ever met. Back when she lived with her adoptive family in the countryside, the oldest people in town usually lived into their eighties, and few made it to ninety. Patrick was nearly a hundred years old. What was more, he could walk without support and even travel long distances with his old friends.Liberty replied, “He’s doing quite well. Aunt Audrey accompanies him on walks every day. When they don’t go out, he sits by the cradle and watches baby Elias for hours on end.”The bond between generations was strong. When Patrick looked at Clive’s son, Elias, he felt like he was looking at his great-grandson. As Tiara’s great-grandson, Elias was naturally like his own great-grandson, too.“Dr. Carden comes by periodically to check on him and adjus
Liberty had already called Audrey to inform her about what had happened and also mentioned it to Serenity.Knowing the Clark brothers had all been captured, Serenity felt thoroughly relieved and stopped worrying that her sister would run into trouble in Jensburg.She told Zachary that Caroline never let people down.Zachary did not comment.Caroline’s fever had completely subsided, but her coughing had worsened. The doctor had changed her prescription, but the effects were not immediate.When Liberty entered, Caroline was out of bed and walking around, supported by Darren.“Caroline, why are you out of bed?”Liberty scolded her, “Get back in bed and lie down. You’re injured. If you don’t rest properly and keep moving around, you’ll aggravate your wounds, and you’ll regret it.”She did not blame Darren, though. She knew Caroline always came first to him. He always followed her lead and was unable to influence her decisions.“I’ve been lying down all day. My back is sore, and I’m
The housekeeper replied, “Yes, sir.”They did not have much work in the first place, so they did not need to slack off. Once they were done with their work, they had tons of time to entertain themselves.Hunter rushed out the door with his car keys. Despite being over seventy years old, his driving skills were still quite good. Not needing to hire a driver, he drove himself straight to Jensburg.Upon arriving at the city, Hunter did not immediately go looking for Caroline. He was unaware that she had been injured.Instead, he went to meet his old friends to ask them to help him find out if anything had happened in relation to the Fisher family last night.After he finished speaking, one of his friends said, “We were about to ask you the same thing. Your three sons attacked your daughter with knives and even kidnapped her, intending to chop her up and feed her to the fish.“Luckily, that Mr. Fletcher, who works for your daughter, arrived with the police and rescued her, but she wa