He had probably just arrived and seeing the shop was not open, he stood at the door for a moment before turning to leave.Once he turned around, he saw Liberty approaching as she rode the e-bike with her son.“Liberty!” Hank Brown shouted.Hearing her ex-husband’s shout, Liberty had the impulse to make a U-turn and leave.Her ex-husband and his family simply seemed to keep haunting her.She had never seen Hank so concerned about her and her son even before they had divorced.The little guy sitting in front, however, was very happy when he saw his father and yelled, “Daddy.”Liberty did not turn her bike around and leave in the end. She had not done anything wrong, after all. She did not need to feel guilty.Hank walked down the steps and waited for the mother and son to reach him.“Sonny.”Liberty parked the e-bike and Hank walked forward to carry his son down from the child’s seat. He asked Sonny, smiling, “Sonny, did you miss Daddy?”“I did.”Hank lowered his head to kiss
Liberty said with an impassive face, “If your wife finds out that you ordered flowers for me and she comes yelling at me for seducing her husband, that would be hilarious. If I wanted to seduce a man, I would definitely seduce someone better and more outstanding than you are. Why would I pick up trash I’ve already thrown away? Are there no men left in the world?”Hank flushed in embarrassment. In Liberty’s view, he was a scumbag. Considering her temperament, she would never get back together with an ex.He really did not understand what his mother and sister thought. They treated Liberty so badly in the past and now wanted him to win Liberty back. What did they think she was?Someone who would come and go when beckoned with the wave of a hand.“Liberty, I admit I was wrong, but that’s all in the past now. Now, we… can’t be husband and wife, but we can still be friends. For Sonny’s sake, could you at least give me some leeway?”Liberty looked at her son. He was innocent and pure an
Jessica was not willing, and deep down, neither was Hank. So only by ameliorating his relationship with Liberty could they get Zachary to spare them.If he knew earlier that Serenity was Mr. York’s wife, even if he had to drag it out, he would have done his best to delay divorcing Liberty. Then Serenity would not have allowed Zachary to force him into a corner for her sister.Unfortunately, these were all thoughts in hindsight.At the time, he had suspected that Zachary was “the” Zachary York, but did not believe that Serenity had the luck to marry into a rich family, so he had discarded the thought. Who knew that he really was “the” Zachary York?Hank was at a loss for words.“Mr. Brown, if there’s nothing else, please leave.”Hank hugged his son and sat there, unmoving, but said, “I want to accompany Sonny a little longer. In the past, I was too busy with work and didn’t have the time to play with him, but now that I’m temporarily unemployed, it just so happens I have the time
“But Jessica’s family isn’t good—not as good as Serenity. Back then, Serenity not only would help with the housework and make breakfast but would also help with taking care of Sonny. In the past, no matter what time I got up, Serenity would prepare breakfast for us three and I only had to eat and go to work.“Now, Jessica won’t get up early to make breakfast for us and even wants me to get up and make it for her. Her family only knows how to ask for favors but they don’t help in any way.”Liberty felt furious hearing that. “That was because you treated my sister like a free housekeeper! Do you remember why we argued last year? You said my sister was staying in your house for free and what was the use of paying two to three thousand dollars a month for food?“Now there’s no one being a free housekeeper for you guys, you’re saying my sister was good? Mr. Brown, let me tell you, if it weren’t for me, Seren would have moved out long ago. Do you think she was happy to be a housekeeper fo
As Duncan was driving past after work, he happened to see Hank carry Sonny out from the shop. Thinking that the scumbag was here to kidnap Sonny, he immediately hit the brakes and stopped in front of All You Can Eat.“Sonny.”Duncan swiftly got out of his car and walked over with big strides. Before Hank could react, Duncan had taken his son from his arms.After Duncan took Sonny from Hank, he even gave Hank a kick, which made Hank stumble a few steps backward and finally fall to the ground onto the steps, butt first.Hank looked at Duncan, stunned.What was this Lewis doing?He took his son and even gave him a kick!“Get out of here! If you dare try and kidnap Sonny again and harass Liberty, I’ll make sure you won’t be able to walk before I’m done with you!”Hank was speechless.“Dad!” Sonny cried, struggling to get down.Hank climbed to his feet and explained, “Mr. Lewis, you’ve misunderstood me. I’m not here to kidnap Sonny, and I haven’t harassed Liberty either. I’m just
Sonny looked at his dad and said, “That’s Dunc. Dunc would never bully Mom.”Hank was silent for a moment before he asked, “Do you like Dunc a lot?”Sonny shook his head. “I don’t like Dunc, but he’s not a bad man.”Dunc was a good person, but that did not have anything to do with whether or not he liked him.“Sonny, Dunc is going to take Mom away from you. He’ll become a bad guy in the future. What you need to do is stop Dunc and Mom from being alone together. If Mom wants to go on a date with Dunc, you need to cry and throw a tantrum, get it?”Sonny learned the way his Uncle Zak frowned when he was angry and said loudly, “Dunc likes Sonny! He’s fighting Mom for Sonny, not fighting Sonny for Mom! Dunc looks scary and Sonny doesn’t like it, but Dunc is not a bad guy!“And Mom never goes out with Dunc! Every time Dunc comes over, he gives Sonny a pinwheel. Sonny doesn’t like pinwheels anymore.”Dunc did not even know how to change it up.Hank was speechless.He stopped and look
Liberty did not regret it either.Duncan frowned. “Then why is he constantly here looking for you? That scumbag treated you like that back then. Every time I see him I feel like giving him a beating and venting some anger for you.” “He wants to use Sonny to ease the hostile relationship between us.”Duncan was thoughtful for a moment, and said, “Their main aim is to get Zachary to let them off the hook, right? Don’t forgive them and let them be unemployed forever. Once they’ve spent all their savings, we’ll see if Hank and his wife can still continue being as loving to each other as before.”Poor couples had a hundred things to lose. Hank and Jessica’s bitter days were still ahead of them.“Now that your diner is here, you can’t move and neither do you have to move. Just let them watch how your business gets bigger and better every step of the way. In the future, you can open a big hotel and become a strong independent woman and a billionaire—we’ll see how frustrated they get.”
Duncan too knew that Liberty did not need his help—she had the Stone and York families helping her now.After a moment of silence, he said, “Anyway, go ahead and do your thing. I’ll head back lest my mother calls to urge me again.”“Alright. Have a safe drive, Mr. Lewis.”Liberty walked Duncan out of her shop.Duncan looked at Hank’s car and asked Liberty, “That’s your ex-husband’s car, right?”“I saw him get out of it. It’s probably his new car.”Hank had changed his wife and his car too.If Zachary had not punished Hank, Hank would have been living very comfortably. He would have money, a new wife, and a new car…Duncan wanted to walk over and poke a hole in Hank’s tires, but when he thought of how Hank would likely be unable to leave for a while with his tires punctured and would stay in Liberty’s diner to eat, Duncan gave up on his thoughts.“In the future, if that family comes to try and harass you again, just give me a call and I’ll get someone to come over and help you