Whether it was Serenity’s hometown or the neighboring villages, the young worked in the cities while only the older generation stayed behind. The elderly could not do much farm work, so the fields were deserted. Since there was someone rich who wanted to rent the fields from them, they would not refuse the opportunity to earn money.Serenity and Jasmine were very pleased to hear this.After Elisa finished updating them about the investment project, she looked at Serenity and hesitated a moment before saying, “That was the good news. Time for the bad news. Seren, I also got someone to inquire about what your relatives were up to while talking about contracting the land.”“Everything they’ve done has been bad news. Just say it, Elisa. I’m prepared to hear whatever it is they’re doing recently. At most, they hauled away the bricks, sand, and gravel and sold them.”“The trucks of materials you sent to rebuild the house were still there. They were stacked properly untouched. Your relati
“They can try every dirty trick under the sun, but we’re not going to change our minds about taking them to court. We’ll only take what is ours and nothing more,” Serenity spoke firmly. She was not a heartless person, but she could show no mercy when it came to her money-hungry relatives. It would take Serenity a lifetime to get over the hurt from her childhood. “Of course. They can talk and make up stories all they want. We’ll take the legal route, so it’s a fair game for them and us.” Elisa said, “I have never met anyone more shameless than them. Are you sure your father is their blood family, Seren?” “I believe so. My father shared an uncanny resemblance with his old man. They’re just playing favorites…. That’s the case with some parents—they dote on the oldest and youngest while the middle child tends to get ignored. “I will request for a DNA test if they put up a defense, saying that my father isn’t their child in court. The DNA test will prove the blood relations. “
Serenity said with a smile, “I know, I know. I’m the luckiest woman alive. I will count my blessings. I mean, I do count blessings.” Her best friends and family were easily paid off by Zachary, and now they always put in the good word for him. Well, Zachary was good to Serenity. “I don’t know what I should get him.” Serenity puckered her brows. Her two best friends believed Serenity was tormenting them by showing off her relationship. It did not affect Jasmine much though as Josh was nice to her too. However, as someone without a partner, Elisa was envious and jealous. “Zachary used to have everything but a wife. Though that’s settled because you’re now married to him. He needs children in his life now. Hurry up and make babies. Get a pair of twins—a girl and a boy.” With an adorable kid like Sonny in mind, Elisa uttered, “You can have lots of children if they are as cute and smart as Sonny. Zachary can afford to raise them anyway. “Seren, any good news from you? I m
Serenity was shocked. She was in the wrong business. In fact, why set up her own business? She could just give Zachary children. Her wealth could be built through giving birth. Jasmine gasped in awe; as expected from the wealthy. The push present was a lot of money, and Grandma May was not the only giver. The other family members would be showering with cash gifts too. “Seren, you can be rich by having children,” Jasmine commented with a smile. Elisa grabbed Jasmine’s hand and caressed the charm bracelet Jasmine got from Mrs. Bucham, uttering, “Jasmine, you don’t need to be envious of Seren. Your future mother-in-law gave you a family heirloom. I thought my eyes deceived me, but now that I had a close examination, I’m certain this is the Buchams’ family heirloom.” Jasmine was at a loss for words. “The Buchams’ family heirloom? How can you tell?” It never occurred to Jasmine that Mrs. Bucham would give her the family heirloom during their first encounter. Did Jasmine p
It never occurred to Serenity that Mr. York turned out to be her husband. “Seren, it’s all in the past. I quit daydreaming the moment he saw me as his cousin-in-law. He has done a lot for you but never anything for me. He wouldn’t even talk to me in the past.” Serenity was not the only reason Elisa could get over Zachary. Elisa was able to tell that Zachary had no feelings for her as he only had eyes for Serenity. “Come to think of it, my best friend shares a similar experience with you except their roles were reversed—she took Zachary’s role. She hid her identity when she was together with her boyfriend, but the guy left her for someone rich. Apparently, the new girl had money and connections, so he didn’t need to work as hard to advance in his career.” Serenity remarked, “She should be relieved that she saw the man’s true colors before they got married.” “That’s what I told her too.” Elisa grabbed her car keys. “I got to go, Seren. Do you have time to draft the contract?
Serenity said, “I’m okay. Am I not sitting here all fine? But my car was smashed. Zachary drove me to work this morning.” Liberty nervously asked, “Who was it? Was it those people again?” She thought it was their relatives again. “No. It’s the Newman family. Well, the sister of the woman I helped before, to be precise. I got into two arguments with her, so she hired a few thugs to get back at me.” “I can’t believe it! Where is the law?” Liberty reproached. “Did you call the cops?” “Yeah.” Serenity looked at her nephew in her sister’s arms and replied, “I’ll be fine, Liberty. Zachary assigned another two bodyguards to protect me. I’m letting you know now in case you and Sonny might be dragged into this.“How about you move in with us, Liberty? We can look after one another, and it’s safer for all of us.” Liberty answered, “I’m renting in quite a safe neighborhood. Since you called the cops, they would’ve learned their lesson and wouldn’t try something again. We’re livin
The clock struck nine. There were two more hours before the event ended. Yet, Zachary had come all this way to take his wife home. Mr. Jefferson smiled and said, “It’s nice that you dropped by, Mr. York. It’s my mother’s eightieth birthday. Can we have the honor of you joining us at the party?” Without replying to Mr. Jefferson, Zachary uttered in a low voice, “Jim.” Jim stepped forward with a gift in his hands. Zachary said, “I’m sorry to bother you. This is a little gift for the birthday girl. I wish nothing but happiness and longevity to your mother.” Although Zachary did not attend the celebration, he was giving Old Mrs. Jefferson all due respect by preparing a gift. Jim handed the present to Mr. Jefferson. He accepted the gift and thanked Zachary profusely. Standing there, Zachary appeared rather dashing. The bouquet looked brilliant under the night light. Seeing that Zachary had no intentions of coming in, Mr. Jefferson did not insist and told the maid to fet
Together with the other ladies, Mrs. Stone stood at the entrance of the Jeffersons’ residence and watched as the familiar Rolls Royce drove away. “Mrs. Stone, Mr. York is really good to your niece. We’re only halfway into the party, and he’s here to take your niece home.” Mrs. Stone replied with a smile, “Zachary is good to Seren, so good that us oldies are jealous too.” One of the ladies next to Mrs. Stone probed, “When are Mr. York and your niece planning for a wedding? It’ll be nice for us to join the celebration.” Mrs. Stone curled her lips and remarked, “My older niece, my husband, and I went to Wildridge Manor two days ago. We were there to discuss the wedding. We got a date pick in early fall, so it’s a few months till the wedding. Don’t worry. You are all invited. Don’t forget to bring a gift.” The ladies replied with smiles, “Of course.” It was an honor to be invited by the York family. No one would pass up on rubbing shoulders with the Yorks. In fact, many wante
The O'Connor family, due to a predominance of daughters rather than sons, was extremely cautious about their sons-in-law.Even though they did not have a son-in-law yet, it was clear from the way Isabella’s uncles were not allowed to interfere in the family business that they were worried about a son-in-law taking control of the O'Connor family’s wealth.Even Isabella’s aunts were forbidden from involving themselves in the family business. This was to protect their love-obsessed selves from being easily manipulated or influenced by their in-laws.At twenty-seven, Isabella had not even considered dating, as she knew once she had a partner, her elders would put their guard up against her and her partner.It was not just the elders who would be cautious, Isabella herself would be wary of her own husband.Too many men had used their wives’ family wealth to rise to power, only to later swap their wives out for younger and more beautiful women. Some even swallowed the entire family fort
“If the woman’s side minds her moving so far away and wants us to go to her family, except for Zack, who can’t move because he’s the head of the family, the elders in our family don’t really care. As long as we’re happy, they’re fine with it.”They had the powerful York Corporation backing them, and each of them was highly capable. Even if one of them married into another family, they would not be bullied by the woman’s family. If the woman wanted to push them around, she would have to think twice, with the York family’s influence behind them.However, so far, none of his brothers had done so.Austin thought to himself that he might just set a precedent.Isabella now bore a heavy burden. Her brother was too young, and it would take at least a decade before he could take over. Isabella would have to manage the family business for many more years.Isabella’s eyes sparkled. “Your family’s so open-minded. With your family’s wealth and standing, there’s really no need for you guys to l
“Zack is much more at ease now, but honestly, the person who was the biggest help to him wasn’t any of us—it was Josh. He and Zack are really good friends, and after graduation, Zack brought him into York Corporation.“He’s Zack’s right-hand man, and he’s really impressive.“Zack is incredibly efficient too. Back then, no one in the company could keep up with his work speed. He slowed down a bit after marrying my sister-in-law and starting a family. Now, he likes to stick close to her, and he’s not as crazy about work as he used to be.“He also goes to fewer networking events now. He used to attend these events and work late into the night, but now he’s home before ten at night. No one can stop him.“Those CEOs who work with our family know this too. If they have a business to discuss with him, they try to get it done during the day. They don’t want to drag it into the night.”Isabella laughed softly, her eyes showing a hint of envy. “Before, I didn’t know you were a York. But aft
This was the main reason he insisted on his daily morning runs. Austin did not have much time alone with Isabella because she was always busy. She left for work early and came back late too. He could only see her during mealtimes, but even then, she only had a short time to eat. After finishing her meal, she would try to squeeze in a bit of rest. Austin did not want to disturb her rest, so the only time they could have some quiet moments together and chat was during their morning runs. Fortunately, back in Wiltspoon, he had already gotten into the habit of going for a morning run. “Good morning, Ms. Isabella.”As Isabella approached, Austin smiled and greeted her. Isabella, a bit tired after running for a while, stopped when she saw Austin. She walked over to him and smiled. “Good morning.” Isabella already had a good impression of Austin when she learned that he was a member of the York family, the wealthiest family in Wiltspoon. Now, knowing more about him, her attitud
Zachary had told him that the old pervert from the Longbottom family wanted to take over the O'Connors’ family business and turn it into his own private property because the pervert did not have actual inheritance rights to the Longbottom family headship, nor did he have the family head’s seal, token, or totem.“Dylan, I don’t have much advice for you. As Zachary said, we should trust Nana. As long as you follow what she says, you won’t suffer any losses.”“We’re beyond the age where Nana can make us suffer now anyway.”When they were younger, they often got the short end of the stick, largely because their grandparents would discipline them. They were told that if their abilities and plans were not sufficient, it would make them vulnerable to being taken advantage of.“Dylan, I think I’ll clock in a couple more hours of sleep before my morning run. After that, I have to prepare breakfast for Ms. Isabella.”“Okay, go to bed then. Don’t overwork yourself.”“I’m not. I’m enjoying i
Austin would not admit that he wanted to hear the gossip about Dylan’s love life.Dylan asked, “Are you free to talk right now?”“Sure. I have a whole dormitory unit to myself, and it’s quite spacious. I live quite comfortably. My salary comes on time every month, and I’m well-fed. My cooking skills have improved a lot, too.”Dylan was silent for a moment before he responded with another voice message.“You’ve only been focused on cooking? It’s been several months since you went there, and you didn’t even come back for the Christmas holidays. All you have in your brain is cooking.”“I came here specifically to cook in the first place.”Dylan was speechless.Indeed, Austin had heard that Isabella had an extremely picky palate, which he viewed as a challenge. Their nana had not even urged him once when he had eagerly gone to Satbury of his volition.Occasionally, Dylan heard his family mention Austin, saying that he was always busy researching new recipes and cooking, but seemed
Chameleon Fox turned to look at Dylan.After some time, she said, “Thanks for returning the token to me.”It was the end between him and Fox.Dylan stared at her and said, “Don’t be outside at midnight this often in the future. You should have a good rest.”It would make her fatigued in the morning. She would have to drink a few cups of coffee to stay alert.Fox smiled. “I like going out at midnight. It’s become a habit. Goodbye, Dylan.”She waved at him and opened the door. Soon, she disappeared from his sight.Since Imogen knew her token was in Wildridge Manor, she was no longer in a rush to get it back.It was because Dylan was still in Huntington. If she were to go to Wiltspoon and Dylan could not find her at the company, he would link her to Chameleon Fox. He already had suspicions that they were the same person.Wildridge Manor was a safe place anyway. She was not worried that the token would go missing.Dylan had hidden the token at the manor to keep it safe and preven
“Whether it’s Imogen, Chameleon Fox, or Sugar—aren’t they all you?”“I said I’m not Ms. Doyle.”Chameleon Fox’s expression hardened. “You’re a bastard, Dylan York. You flirted with me and Ms. Doyle before figuring everything out. This is two-timing. I won’t accept you, and neither would Ms. Doyle.”Dylan’s heated gaze focused on her face. He said, “You’re saying that you aren’t Imogen. Do you dare to remove your makeup, tear off your hyper-realistic mask, and show me your true face?”“Do you know what happens to those who have seen my true appearance? Death.“Everyone who has seen my face is already dead. If you wish to die, I can fulfill that wish for you. However, I don’t want to offend the York family and be their enemies. Don’t make me kill you.”She had only put on a layer of hyper-realistic mask that night. If she tore it off, it would reveal her true appearance.Dylan smiled. “That’s because you feel guilty. You dare not show me your true face because you’re Imogen and Su
Both Sugar and Chameleon Fox were not her true identity—her true self was Imogen Doyle. Dylan had to love her as Imogen. Imogen could not handle Dylan’s intense stare. She stood and asked, “When are you going to return my item? Give it back to me now. We should cut ties and never cross paths again.”“I don’t have it with me. I used to bring it along with me wherever I went, but you never came to get it. I left it at home. I didn’t bring it over.“Are you that desperate to cut off all communication with me? We’ve known each other for over half a year. Although we didn’t start on a good note, didn’t we get along afterward?”Dylan thought Imogen was trying to remove Fox from his life so he could get used to her being Imogen.“Do you have some misunderstanding toward the concept of ‘getting along’? We’ve only been quarreling or fighting whenever we met. Is that considered ‘getting along’? If it were not for you taking my thing and not returning it to me, I wouldn’t have had to chas