In the evening, parents came to pick up their kids after school. Following the usual rush hour in the bookstore, Serenity headed to her sister’s house for dinner, whereas Jasmine went on a date with Josh. The bookstore would not operate at night.Serenity bought two bags of fruits for her sister.Serenity and Liberty still got along the same way as before. It did not change just because Serenity had become Zachary’s wife.Serenity had the key to her sister’s rented house. She straight away unlocked the door with the key. She pushed open the door, only to see a girl. To be specific, it was Sonny. Sonny was walking around the house in a pretty dress, looking delighted.“Sonny?”Serenity entered the house and shut the door. While laughing, she asked her nephew, “Why are you wearing a dress?”“Aunt Ser.”Sonny scampered over and showed off his dress. “Aunt Ser, do I look good in it?”Serenity placed the two bags of fruits on the coffee table. She carried her nephew and said with a
Thinking about it, Duncan had a net worth of hundreds of millions. Everything he bought was of good quality and expensive. It was normal that he did not know how to ask for a discount. Liberty did not voice her thoughts. Duncan’s spending habits had nothing to do with her. She was simply his tenant. “Aunt Ser, when will I have a little sister?” Sonny asked innocently. Serenity served food for her nephew. “I don’t know either. Even if I got pregnant, what if it’s a little cousin brother?”She had been discussing with Zachary how the York family had always given birth to sons.She suspected the York family was not fated to have daughters. Sonny gave it some thought and said, “Aunt Ser, I want a little sister. I don’t want a cousin brother.”“Why don’t you want a little cousin brother?”“A cousin brother can’t wear skirts, just like me.” Serenity burst out laughing. When she saw her sister eating like a bird and not eating meat, she said, “Liberty, you’ve been waking up
Sonny was happy to see Zachary. His tiny body leaned toward Zachary. Zachary quickly put down the items in his hand to carry the child. Serenity bent over to pick up the two bags of fruits and a carton of milk he had bought. She said with a smile, “Why are you here? Didn’t you say you had a business engagement? I bought two bags of fruits for my sister, and now you too. We even bought the same types of fruits.”Zachary carried Sonny into the house. “That’s because our hearts are linked. Something came up, so my client can’t come over. Tonight’s schedule was canceled, so I rushed over to have a meal.” He knew that his beloved wife was at his sister-in-law’s place. That was one of the benefits of having bodyguards following Serenity. He could give Serenity freedom and not ask about her whereabouts during usual days, but he would also be able to find her with just a call if he wanted to know her location. “Liberty,” Zachary greeted. Seeing that her brother-in-law had come, Libe
Liberty kept quiet.Serenity spoke, “You never took care of Sonny before. He’ll not be able to get used to it and cry if you take him to your place. If you want to visit Sonny, you can come over every day during the daytime and play with him.” Mr. Brown said embarrassedly, “Serenity, we didn’t take care of Sonny before, so we’re trying to make up for it now. We’re old and bored at home. If we help your sister to take care of Sonny, she’ll be able to focus on earning money too.”He asked the child in his arms next, “Sonny, do you want to follow Granddad and Grandmom home?”Sonny asked, “Is Mom coming?”Mr. Brown was stunned. He replied, “Your mom isn’t going, but your dad is in Granddad and Grandmom’s home. Sonny, follow us back and stay with us, okay? That way, your mom won’t be tired as well.”Sonny twisted and turned to get down. He ran back to the table, climbed onto his chair, and sat down. “I want to eat. If Mom isn’t going, I won’t go too. I want Mom!”Mr. and Mrs. Brown
In Mrs. Brown’s words, her son would not be hers if she returned to her old home. Her son would be under Jessica’s complete control. Besides, Hank and Jessica had not held their wedding yet. Jessica said only to hold the wedding after their house renovation was done. She would appear more presentable that way. They were living in a rented house. Jessica’s family would not even have a place to stay if they were to have a wedding before that. If Mr. and Mrs. Brown could take care of Sonny, they would not be as bored as they were now and could nurture their relationship with Sonny. After all, Sonny was the Brown family’s only hope of continuing the family line. Jessica was not getting pregnant. They did not even know whether she was fertile or not. Liberty had vegetarian food. She finished her meal in no time. Seeing her former in-laws whispering to each other, she walked over and took the four bags of fruits her sister and brother-in-law brought to the kitchen. A few minutes
After Serenity and Zachary were done eating, he said to his wife, “Seren, bring Sonny and sit over there. I’ll collect the dishes.”Zachary would do chores at home, so Serenity was used to it. Since Zachary told her to bring Sonny to sit on the sofa, she carried Sonny over and sat beside her sister. After she was seated, three people looked at her. Her sister and her sister’s former in-laws were staring at her. Serenity was puzzled. “Liberty, why are you guys looking at me like that? Is there food stuck on my face?”She touched her face, but there was nothing on it. “Serenity, how can you let Mr. York clean up the dishes and do household chores?” Mrs. Brown scolded Serenity. “When a man returns home after working outside for the entire day, you should take care of him properly as his wife. Men will like returning home if you let them feel the warmth of family.”Serenity understood why the three of them stared at her. She said, “My sister took good care of your son in the
Sonny was Mr. and Mrs. Brown’s true grandson. When they returned to their rented house, they saw their son and daughter-in-law watching TV. Their expressions did not look good. “Dad, Mom, didn’t you pick Sonny up?”Hank stood up and turned toward his parents. He asked that question when he did not see his son. Jessica walked over too. She said, “I organized the smaller room and decorated it into a kid’s room. I bought a lot of toys for Sonny too. Why didn’t you pick him up?”Jessica had received a lock of hair and a note from an unknown woman. On it was written that the hair belonged to her mother. It also asked her to carry out the plan as soon as possible and bring Sonny to crowded places like the zoo or a children’s park. If she did not follow that woman’s instructions, the next item sent to her would be two of her mother’s fingers. Jessica was terrified. She counted on her in-laws to bring Sonny back, but they failed. How could she put her plan into action?Mr. and
Jessica pouted and did not say anything else. She turned around, went back to her room, and slammed the door hard. “Darling, darling.”Hank called her twice. Mrs. Brown said to her son, “Leave her alone. She just doesn’t want you going on an outing with Liberty. It’s not like you’re going out with Liberty alone. We’re all coming along, but she still chooses to be jealous.“Did she forget that she snatched you from Liberty?”Mrs. Brown disliked Jessica a lot. She used to think that her son was capable. At this moment, she disdained Jessica for being a homewrecker. The Brown family decided to pick up Sonny and Liberty to go to the zoo tomorrow afternoon. The weather was neither too cold nor hot—just lovely for an outing. On the other hand, Serenity and her husband returned home after lingering in her sister’s house for a while. On the way back, she told Zachary, “In the past, the Brown family said they loved Sonny, but those were just empty words. They never lent a hand. M
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