Clive felt terrible seeing his wife in pain and had gone as far as to suggest an abortion to alleviate her pain. Jasmine had heard of husbands who doted on their wives, but this was the first time she had ever heard of a husband who suggested something as drastic as abortion as a solution. Elisa said, “Of course she’s not going to get an abortion! She thinks it’s a ridiculous suggestion, understandably so, but that doesn’t stop my brother from trying to persuade her to get an abortion. He keeps harping about ever since she got pregnant, she hardly had any appetite at all, and would regularly throw up anything she ate, even vomiting bile at one point.“She’s lost a lot of weight and it’s causing my brother a lot of stress. Right now, my parents are at home every day to help keep an eye on her because they’re worried that one of these days, my brother is going to force her to go to a hospital for an abortion.” That explained why Mrs. Stone had not been seen lately. Jasmine e
Back when Liberty and Hank got married and their place was getting renovated, Hank had no time to monitor the progress. Liberty was the one who paid for everything but had no time to oversee the progress either since she was busy with work, so the task was left to Serenity who had time to help keep an eye on things. She experienced firsthand what it was like renovating a new place and could naturally relate to how Remy felt. Still, she had a sense that the true reason Remy came so often was that he wanted to see Elisa. Elisa was a rather sharp-witted person as well but this was an occasion where her perceptions failed her—she did not realize Remy had his eyes on her at all. Perhaps she stopped caring so much about these things since she failed to win over Zachary. Elisa drove to the main entrance of the villa and remarked, “Good point, he mentioned something about buying this villa for his sweetheart and went on about how they would spend their married life here. “I don’t
“Mr. Johnson, why don’t you wait at the gazebo for now.” The servant led Remy to the gazebo and apologized profusely for the inconvenience caused. Remy was a very understanding man, “It's okay, why don’t you get back to your work.” He sat down at a stone-carved table under the gazebo and placed the snacks he brought for Elisa on the table. He did not inquire what was going on inside the house. Ever since he bought the villa next to the Stones, it gave him an excuse to regularly come over and pay a visit to the Stones. At this point, most of the housemaids in the family recognized and treated him very politely. They would respectfully invite him into the house every time he came around. This time was the sole outlier where they did not invite him into the house immediately. He figured some sort of emergency must have happened and decided to not be too probing, especially since he was an outsider. If they would not tell him, he would not ask either. After all, he
How nice it would be if childbirth was simple and effortless. He would like for him and Alice to raise their child without Alice having to go through such a harrowing experience. If a man could get pregnant, he would be more than willing to bear the pain of pregnancy rather than let Alice suffer. A housemaid went up to Elisa and whispered something in her ear. Elisa told the servant something in a hushed voice and sent the maid away. After that, she turned to Alice and told her, “Alice, please don’t hold it against my brother. He’s a little out of it right now, you can see how even my mom is telling him off.” Alice could not deny that she was rather upset. She has been married to Clive for years now and the only reason they had pushed off having a child was that Clive was very possessive and wanted her all to himself. To appease him, she had been on the pill the entire time to avoid a pregnancy. It was to the point where rumors were beginning to surface that she was
“Liberty, you’ve done this before. Do you have any advice on how to stop her vomiting?” Now that he learned the risks of abortion, he relented from putting Alice through it. Liberty answered, “I can’t stop her symptoms, but I suggest if things don’t get any better, you can go to the doctor for more advice. When I was pregnant with Sonny, I didn’t vomit that much.” During her pregnancy, she had also heard tales of other mothers experiencing terrible and severe symptoms. She was glad that her pregnancy was a relatively easy and stable one. In severe cases, some people did not stop vomiting until the child was born. “We went to a doctor, but it’s not helping,” Clive said irritably. “Then she just has to tough it out and things will get better eventually. All I can tell you is that you should stop telling her to get an abortion. That’s only going to make her feel stressed which doesn’t help. Ideally, you should keep her in a relaxed state through the pregnancy both mental
Serenity said, “Aunt Audrey, Liberty wants to go to the car dealership to buy a car, and I have to go back to the bookshop later. Are you and Elisa free to accompany Liberty to look at cars? I don’t think it is safe to roam the streets every day riding her e-bike with Sonny. That’s why I suggested she buy a car. Zachary said he would give her one, but she didn’t want it.”“I am capable of buying a car myself. I don’t need Zachary to give me one. I know Zachary is my brother-in-law, but I can’t take his things just like that and be a freeloader. I don’t want people to say that our family wants to take advantage of your in-laws.”They were poor, unlike the rich Yorks. However, Liberty does not intend to be a burden to her sister.She did not want any benefits from the Yorks.Touched, Serenity said, “Liberty, Zachary wouldn’t think badly of it, and neither would my in-laws.”Serenity knew her sister would always be considerate toward her.“I know Zachary and the in-laws won’t think
All members of the Stone family including Mrs. Stone hoped that Elisa would pick a talented young man from Wiltspoon. It would be convenient for them to meet up frequently if she married someone from the same city.On top of that, they would know right away if Elisa got treated poorly at her in-laws' house. If she married and relocated far away, no one would know how Elisa was doing.Although the Johnsons were well-cultured and of influential standing like the Yorks, both Mr. and Mrs. Stone were still reluctant for Elisa to be married so far away.As Remy had not confessed his love to Elisa, it would be hard for them to discuss this topic with Remy.Zachary saw Remy sitting under the gazebo as he got out of his car.Remy stood up and greeted him with a smile.“Why are you sitting here alone, Mr. Johnson? Not going inside?”Zachary walked over casually upon seeing a familiar face who was also a major client of his company.“Seems like I came at an awkward time.” Remy replied wit
“It’s nearly time for lunch. I don’t suppose your kitchen is ready yet. Do you want to join us?” Remy was quite at home at the Stones’ residence since he had the pleasure of dining there a few times. He said, “My kitchen is still under renovation, so I don’t have any cooking facilities yet. There will be a lot of people dining in the hotel at this hour. I don’t think I can get a private dining room for myself. I’d love to have lunch at your place.” With a smile, Elisa welcomed him into the house. As for Zachary and his wife, Elisa needed not to attend to them. Standing next to Zachary, Serenity stared at the backs of Elisa and Remy before telling her man, “They look good together.” Zachary only had his eyes on Serenity. Following her comment, he took a quick glance at the pair and faintly uttered, “They do.” “It’s obvious that Mr. Johnson has the hots for Elisa, but he’s not being truthful to her about his feelings. Zachary—uh, I mean—Babe, can you try and put out feelers
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
The Queen family was well-educated and had few members. Sophia had heard of other families fighting over power, but Caroline’s experience shocked her the most. Maybe it was because the Queens was close to her. Sophia quite liked Caroline as well. “How could they… You’re their biological sister!”Caroline smiled bitterly. “Are you having a fever, Carol? Your face is red.”Sophia touched Caroline’s forehead. She said, “You’re burning up. Have you informed the doctor, Mr. Fletcher?”Darren replied, “The fever started at dawn. Ms. Caroline caught a cold. Her fever subsided after taking medication once, but it returned.“It’s time for her to take her medicine.”Sophia spotted the lunch boxes. She told Darren, “Go have your lunch, Mr. Fletcher. I can look after Carol.”“It’s okay, Mrs. Queen. I can eat on my own,” said Caroline embarrassedly. It was her first time feeling cared for by someone her mother’s age. Although Sophia was not part of her family, the lady treated her
Caroline looked toward Darren. She said, “In my younger days, I often caught colds and coughs when the weather was too cold. The coughing will last throughout the changing of seasons. Therefore, I’ve been looking after my health since I grew up.“My immune system strengthened a lot. I haven’t been coughing for years.“I’m not worried.”Caroline stared at Darren lovingly. “I have nothing to be worried about with you here.”Darren pinched her face lightly with affection. “I’m still sulking. I didn’t want you to risk yourself, yet I couldn’t stop you. I’ll only feel better once you recover.”He was Caroline’s assistant and had to heed her orders. Even if they were dating, he still had to follow her arrangements.“Okay. Don’t be angry. I won’t take risks like this again in the future. You’ll age quickly if you get angry frequently. If that happens, your hair might turn gray before I even grow old.“We promised to grow old together.”Under Caroline’s gentle coaxing, Darren’s expre
Darren became an orphan when he was only a few years old. After losing everything, he was collected and trained by the training center to be an all-rounder assistant. He could not remember how he lost his parents as he was too young back then. Since he had no memories, there was no pain.Nevertheless, he had seen others interacting with their parents. He knew parents should love their children. There were not many parents who would not shower their children with love. Ms. Caroline was too unlucky to have met one. “I don’t care. I don’t care about my dad at all.”Caroline asked, “Has my dad asked you to give him money? He doesn’t need money. He just wants to know about his sons’ conditions.“Having lived for so many years, he was probably aware of the consequences of his sons’ plan and had advised them not to do it. They didn’t listen to him, so he’s just hoping to get lucky and waiting for some news.”Hunter must have known that her brothers were going to murder her. Sinc