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
Of course, Zachary would not go crazy for Serenity if he could easily have her swoon over him. Zachary was brought back to what Mrs. Lane said to him. He loved the person Serenity was now. Serenity would not be the same person he fell in love with if she changed. Such was her personality. “I don’t have a love rival. I’ll be jealous if I have a strong love rival who’s eyeing you. I would worry that someone will steal you away from me. I’m not that great after all.” Serenity spoke matter-of-factly—she had no rivals in love. Sure, there were many women who coveted him. However, these women could not even take the first step to confess their feelings to Zachary. It was not like Serenity ever met these women either. There had never been catfights. Her love life had been smooth sailing as she monopolized all of Zachary’s affection. He gave her all of his love and affection. With that in mind, Serenity believed she was a lucky woman. She got someone who loved her! Serenity
“Where are we going?” The couple indulged in a little romance until Serenity realized that they were not en route to Brynfield. “To the villa on the hilltop.” “Oh,” Serenity remarked. Zachary stared at her with a worried look, afraid she might be displeased or not like it. The villa on the hilltop did not leave Serenity the best of memories. Zachary held Serenity captive in the estate for two days after the revelation of his identity. He was afraid to lose her, but it took everybody to talk sense into him before he could let go and allow her to leave. Since the day she set foot out of the villa, Serenity had never returned to the place. “Seren, we don’t have to go if you don’t like it there. I’ll get the driver to switch course for Brynfield.” After a pause, he mumbled under his breath, “Nana is still staying in Brynfield.” Serenity replied, “We can go to the villa on the hilltop. No need to switch routes.” The guy must think that he might startle Grandma May in B
Mrs. Newman would have everything sorted if they were faced with an ordinary person. It was a different story because the person they were targeting was Mrs. York. “No. Did Mr. Newman come looking for you?” “Yes. He came with gifts to apologize again, but I wouldn’t meet with him. I told Callum to handle it.” Since Callum would have to engage with the Newmans in the near future, he could use the practice by dealing with the matter. Poor Callum. “I wouldn’t be so kind as to forgive Carrie even if Mrs. Newman came to me. To be kind to the enemy is to be cruel to myself.“The feud between Carrie and I is past reconciliation.” Serenity took Camryn’s side too, and Carrie had it in for Camryn. The fact that they took different stands determined that they were on opposing sides. “No need to patch things up with her. She’s spoiled and thinks she should get her way in everything. She’ll always hold a grudge even if you forgive her. She’ll get even with you every chance she gets
Zachary gave it a thought before saying, “It sounds like a good plan. The DNA test is the most direct approach and compelling evidence.“I’ll send someone to bring him here. You can get a DNA test with him. You can slam the evidence in their face during the trial unless Noah isn’t their grandson.” Serenity said, “Um… What if Noah isn’t their grandson…” Zachary was speechless. The couple’s minds went blank. In the end, Zachary said, “Just get a DNA test with your grandfather. The old man is not going to cooperate for sure. Here’s where Noah can come into place. He can get a few strands of hair from your grandfather. The hair follicles have to be intact to do the DNA test.” The DNA test did not always have to be done with blood. Noah was the youngest grandson in the Hunt family. Serenity had roughened the boy up a couple of times to the point Noah revered Serenity now. It was a great opportunity to use him. Believing that Zachary’s plan was doable, Serenity remarked, “We’l
Caroline smiled gently. “I do quite like Sonny, he's really cute. Liberty, you've done a great job raising your son. It's easy to see that in ten or twenty years, Sonny will be very successful.”The only little one in Wiltspoon who had a familial connection to her was Sonny, as well as Clive’s son. Serenity's baby had not been born yet, after all.“Oh, by the way, I've prepared Christmas gifts for all of you, and I've written your names on them so it's clear whose gift is which. One of them is for Serenity's unborn baby. That generation will call me ‘grandaunt’, right? I'm not sure whether Serenity’s having a boy or a girl, so I've prepared a gift for both a boy and a girl. If it's a boy, then the other gift will be for her second child.”Caroline smiled and said, “Considering how much the Yorks wish for a daughter, I think Serenity and Zachary will probably give it another go and try for a daughter.”In this case, giving double the gifts was not excessive.“My nephew isn't even b
Caroline sighed internally once again. She would not ruminate about the past, and neither could she bring herself to. Mr. Foster was still alive, but he had returned to seek revenge for his master, and in doing so, he made Belinda fully realize that she would never receive his love in this lifetime. Now that Belinda was dead, all the love, hatred, and grudges had dissipated with her. Fortunately, she came to a realization before she passed on and regretted the things she had done to Tiara.Liberty said, “Your mother truly was very shrewd.”Belinda was ruthless, but when it came to making her posthumous arrangements, she had been meticulous, especially in preventing Hunter and his sons from plundering the Fisher family's assets. It had to be said that Belinda had truly done her duty as the head of the Fisher family, though as a mother, she had been too biased. She appeared very good to her three sons on the surface, but when dividing the family estate, she was very objective. “Did
The backing Liberty had was too strong.Although Caroline was familiar with the family business and internal affairs, she had no backing. The number of people supporting her within the family had also decreased. It was not because she was incompetent but because she was Belinda’s daughter. Whatever Belinda did was exposed by the media and circulated among the people of Jensburg. It would be a lie to say that the Fisher family members did not hold a grudge at all. Even if Caroline was kinder than Belinda, they could not support Belinda’s daughter as the next matriarch. People would change. When Belinda first assumed the position decades ago, she was friendly to the family. However, once her position was stabilized, she started eliminating those who were capable and those who disagreed with her. She wanted to monopolize power. Therefore, nobody wanted Caroline to take over as matriarch. On the other hand, Liberty received much more support. Unless Liberty gave up on the
At that moment, the office phone rang. Liberty picked up the call and was informed by the secretary that Caroline had arrived.“Please let her in,” replied Liberty before hanging up. “Caroline is here.”Liberty told Duncan. He said calmly, “So what? We aren’t doing anything shameful. There’s nothing to hide.”He was Liberty’s fiancée. Most people in WIltspoon and Jensburg were aware of this. Seeing him in Liberty’s office would be completely normal to Caroline. Besides, he was one of the shareholders of Liberty’s company. Therefore, the company was also Duncan’s territory. He was uninvolved in the operations and only invested his money. He believed that Liberty could manage the company well. Liberty smiled and did not say anything else. She went to prepare a pot of tea. Soon, Caroline entered. Darren was behind her with multiple shopping bags in his hands. When Liberty saw the bags upon exiting the pantry with a pot of tea, she told Caroline, “What did you br
“What’s wrong?”Duncan replied softly, “I’m fine. I thought you caught a cold because you kept sneezing.”He wanted to fuss over her, yet he received her concern instead. That was the kind of relationship he wanted—mutual concern, understanding, and trust. Liberty understood why he suddenly came to her. She said, “You got so worried over an occasional sneeze. Don’t worry. I’m fine. I’ve gotten used to the winter in Jensburg after staying here for some time.“Maybe I was sneezing because someone said something bad about me behind my back.”Duncan immediately said, “Who dares to badmouth my fiancée?”Liberty feigned anger with a glance, but she was clearly happy. Duncan was very protective of her. Even Hank was not as protective as when she was dating him back then. The difference between true and fake love was so apparent. Duncan guessed, “I can’t think of anyone who’d scold you besides your previous in-laws.”Liberty replied, “You shouldn’t think about them. I no lo
“Anyway, you’re not allowed to take advantage of Sonny. He’ll catch on because he’s growing up. Don’t offend Serenity either. Otherwise, your hardware store that has finally stabilized will have to close down.”Chelsea’s expression changed when she recalled why she and her husband lost their jobs. “One more thing. If Liberty and Duncan get married, don’t be ignorant and stir up trouble at their wedding.”Olivia was worried that her daughter would be unreasonable and make a fuss. Chelsea was unhappy. “Do I look like someone who likes to create trouble? Liberty is different and isn’t as gullible as before. I don’t have the guts to make a ruckus at their wedding.“Do you think I’m that fearless? I’m afraid of losing everything too.”Nevertheless, Chelsea was still jealous that the sister-in-law she used to bully was able to marry into a wealthy family two years after her divorce. Olivia knew well of the daughter she birthed. She said, “Think about who rescued Lucas when someth
Chelsea muttered, “Even if you do that, Sonny isn’t close to you, Mom.”Olivia was speechless for a second. She said, “Even if we aren’t close, he’ll call me grandmom when he sees me. He doesn’t even greet me now.“Sonny may be young, but he’ll be four years old next year. He knows everything he needs to and is clever. He must’ve inherited Hank and Liberty’s best genes because they used to be smart people.”Liberty was not stupid. She even had a better career than Hank before she got married. What were they thinking back then?The Browns wanted to suppress Liberty to ensure she was less dominant than Hank. Therefore, Liberty was persuaded to leave her job after marriage to stay home throughout her pregnancy. She ended up becoming a housewife and lost the sharp edge she had in her workplace. Her world only revolved around her husband and son, causing her to lose her identity gradually. The Browns were changing Liberty bit by bit, yet they were not treating her well. Ultimately
“I’m not using Sonny. Since Hank and I are siblings and he only has one son, Sonny and Lucas can get along as cousins. If Sonny hangs out with his cousins more often, he’ll have brothers who have his back in the future.“If he runs into any problems, we can help him. He won’t be alone.”Chelsea guessed Hank must have told their parents something to have caused the change in their mother’s attitude. Olivia favored Sonny and no longer wished to work toward the future of Chelsea’s children.Olivia glanced at her daughter and chuckled. Then, she looked toward Lucas, the grandson she raised. Lucas was a naughty boy. He would never stay still and had already made a mess of the house in a short period. “Look at how Lucas behaves now and compare it to Sonny’s personality. Although Sonny can get mischievous sometimes, he’s more mature and sensible despite his young age. He’ll only be more composed in the future.“Even if he does run into trouble, he won’t require your help. You guys
“Even if my husband and I work tirelessly for another decade, we can never achieve the wealth of the Lewises.”Chelsea was mentally cursing Hank for being ignorant and not mending his relationship with Sonny. He even brainwashed their parents until they stopped siding with her. She could only imagine Sonny’s bright future, where he would be living in a large villa, driving luxury cars, and inheriting a megacorporation. Meanwhile, her children could only get a decent nine-to-five job. Their monthly salary could even be lower than the price of one of Sonny’s meals.Chelsea was jealous. She was anxious about getting her son to build a close relationship with Sonny.“Why don’t we file a case to regain Sonny’s custody, Mom? Liberty and Serenity won’t ignore us so long Sonny is in our house. They’ll help us so that Sonny lives a good life too.“That way, Sonny will have a deeper connection with us. He won’t forget us when he becomes a capable person.”Chelsea had a pipe dream. O