“You have been to many upper-class gatherings with Ms. Sox. You’re not shy to socialize. In fact, you carry yourself with grace. The former you simply did not want to attract attention.” Mrs. Stone had a clear idea of her nieces’ history. Serenity answered with a smile, “Mrs. Lowe would take me and Jasmine to parties, but we were there for the food.” Jasmine would persuade Serenity to go along every time. The pair would arrive at the scene and find a seat in a corner to enjoy the feast in delight. For foodies, it was all about the food. Once their bellies were filled, the pair would admire and appreciate the beautiful people at the party while discussing between themselves. Hence why no one knew Serenity and Jasmine’s names even though they had attended multiple social gatherings. Jasmine made a name for herself when she lay down on the ground during Mrs. Dawson’s birthday celebration. “Liberty.” Mrs. Stone could relax when it came to her younger niece. Serenity was l
“Any news, Seren?” Mrs. Stone threw a question at Serenity. Serenity huddled together with Elisa watching reels when her aunt asked her a question. Lifting her chin, she asked in confusion, “What news, Aunt Audrey?” Elisa stopped the videos and looked at her mother. “Are you referring to our investment? The contracts are signed and out of the way, so the work can commence now. I’m hiring a few agriculturists to start farming. Seren, we should get a start on the sales front too.” Elisa was running the sales bit now. However, agriculture was still underway, and nothing had grown yet. Hence, they had not received any orders. Serenity responded, “Sure. Tomorrow night is a good opportunity.” Old Mr. Marshall’s birthday celebration was a business engagement too. Mrs. Stone was speechless. Judging by the scowl on her mother’s face, Elisa realized they got the wrong answer. She gave Serenity a nudge. It dawned on Serenity what Mrs. Stone was trying to get to. “Aunt Audrey,
Serenity gave it a thought before replying, “I don’t take on a lot of stress. My in-laws are not pressuring me either. Nana only talked about having a great-granddaughter every once in a while. Zachary said he’s taking me on a trip to Annenburg once he’s done with his work. We’re going to visit Mr. Young-Johnson.” Zachary believed Serenity did not have many friends, so he was trying to get her and Ben’s wife, Jane, together. Since Remy was part of the Johnson family, and he was in love with Elisa, Serenity could befriend Jane and get an understanding of the Johnson family for Elisa. At least, she could check out if the Johnsons were as nice as the public put it out to be. The way Serenity saw it, Elisa and Remy got along well. They looked good together. Serenity would stand on Elisa’s corner and convince Aunt Audrey if the Johnsons proved to be a good family and if Elisa developed feelings for Remy too. Sure, Remy was hailed from Annenburg, but he had bought a house next to the
After walking Serenity to the door and seeing her drive away, Mrs. Stone turned on her heel and returned to the house. No sooner had Serenity returned to the shop than Jessica barged in. Serenity was surprised by Jessica showing up. “Where’s your sister, Serenity?” Jessica shot the question the moment she walked into the shop. “What business do you have with my sister, Mrs. Brown?” Serenity put away her car keys and faintly asked Jessica. Jasmine kept her eyes peeled, ready with a broom for when Jessica got out of line. Jessica was black and blue in the face. With that black eye, she appeared rather gaunt. She was only twenty-five years old, a year younger than Serenity. Yet, Jessica looked a lot older than Serenity right now. It was probably because Hank did want to foot the bills for her expensive skincare products now that he got the girl. Liberty had a better skincare routine than Jessica currently. Serenity had no sympathy for Jessica despite how she looked now.
Jessica made a long face.A while later, she turned on her heel and walked out. “Mrs. Brown.” With Serenity calling after Jessica, Jessica turned around and looked at her, waiting to get an answer about Liberty’s whereabouts. Serenity played nice and reminded her, “The bruises on your face are obvious. You might want to get something to clear them away. I heard that your wedding with Mr. Brown is coming up. The black and blue would not go well with the theme of your wedding.” Jessica’s wrinkles deepened with a grimace. Without a word, she cocked her head back and strutted out of the shop with her chest out. It was as if by doing so, she could prove her life could not be any better. A delivery person arrived. Jasmine ordered milkshakes to the shop. She took the milkshakes and gave a cup to her best friend. Jasmine gloated, “The Browns must have abused her. I thought she was all that, and her mother-in-law and sister-in-law had nothing on her.” Sipping on the milksha
Although Callum brought Camryn two business deals and revenue, she could not possibly spend all the profits on buying him dinner. “Alright. You can pick the place since it’s your treat. I’m happy if you want to cook for me too.” It did not matter to Callum where he was having the meal so long as his fiancée was treating him. If Camryn could read his mind, she would challenge Callum about her being his fiancée. Likewise, Callum would refute that since his nana made her his spouse candidate, so she was his fiancée. “I can’t see, Mr. Callum. I can’t cook.” Camryn calmly reminded Callum that she was blind.She could move freely in a familiar environment, but cooking was on another level. Camryn would make her own food if she had her eyesight. Despite being a child of the Newman family, Camryn used to do everything herself.The smile on Callum’s face faded. Oh, right. She could not see. How was she supposed to cook? He would probably not taste his wife’s cooking if she sti
Camryn and her aunt had an idea of who fed her the poison, but they had no hard evidence. Ten years ago, Camryn was only a sixteen-year-old teenager. Since her aunt had married and moved out of the city, she could rarely come back to her family home. They could not find proof against the poisoner. All Camryn knew was that her aunt got into a fight with her stepfather. Her aunt left in tears after her stepfather slapped her. Since then, her aunt always stayed at Wiltspoon Hotel whenever she was back in the city. She had not stepped foot into the Newmans’ residence. Callum commented, “You have a positive outlook on life.” Camryn faintly replied, “What can I do? Will crying help me see again?“No matter what happens, I need to face and accept reality.” Impressed, Callum uttered, “Not bad. I like the way you think.” With a straight face, Camryn asked, “What time is it, Mr. Callum? We should go and have dinner if it’s time.” One employee had gone out to make a floral delivery
Camryn walked around the cash register to retrieve the roses for Callum. As if she just heard the footsteps, Camryn stopped what she was doing and turned her head to face Mrs. Newman. She indifferently uttered, “Mom.” Mrs. Newman first checked Callum out. Unable to put her finger on the familiar face, she painted a smiling face and asked, “You look familiar, mister. And you are?” The person with the Maybach was no ordinary man. Straightening his back, Callum turned around and met Mrs. Newman’s gaze. He courteously responded, “Callum York.” “Ah, Callum York.” Mrs. Newman could count the time she had met the nine heirs of the York family because they rarely attended any social engagements. The outside world would probably not know how the York boys look or what their names were if they never joined the corporate world. The York family shielded their children well from the world. Mrs. Newman beamed at the mention of Callum’s name. She wanted to be friendly with the Yor
Serenity’s embarrassed look made Zachary’s desire burn stronger. However, he still held himself back.After taking a few deep breaths, Zachary released her and said gently, “I’ll run the bath for you. You should wash up and rest early.”After speaking, he went to the bathroom to prepare the bath for her.Serenity watched him walk away. He reappeared a moment later and took her pajamas. He asked, “Do you want to wash your hair? I can help you with it.”It was inconvenient for Serenity to wash her hair with her big bump.“I washed my hair yesterday. I’ll pass tonight. When I was young, my mom often told me not to wash it daily. She believed the old wives’ tale that it’d cause frequent headaches when I got older. So, I always wash my hair on alternate days.”Like any old wives’ tale, Serenity did not know whether what her mother said was true but she had heard it from other adults in the past.She had long hair anyway. Even if her mom did not say such a thing, she did not like wash
Zachary smiled. “Everyone grows old. No matter how well we maintain our appearance, we’ll still get wrinkles and gray hair, and lose our teeth at a certain age.”“Even if you lose all your teeth, I’ll still love you. You’ll always be the best man to me.“To think that the best man in the world is my husband, who loves and spoils only me.“You can spare some of your love for the baby when the baby is born, but I must be your priority.”Serenity thought about how her children would be sharing Zachary’s love with her. Therefore, she requested him to continue loving her the most.Zachary kissed her and said lovingly, “You’re my wife and the only one I’ll dote on. My son will receive love from his wife in the future. I won’t be sharing my wife’s love with him.”Little did he know that he would be eating his words half a year later.As Grandma May had always mentioned, Zachary loved eating his words.“Don’t be angry, okay?”“Okay. Since you’re asking on behalf of Austin, I’m not mad
Who dared to offend Zachary York? Did that person not want to celebrate the new year?“Do you believe in my love for you, Seren?” Zachary asked instead of replying to her right away. Serenity laughed and said, “Why not? We’ve talked things out after I discovered your identity. Since then, I’ve never doubted your feelings for me.“Although I was mad at you for deceiving me back then, I didn’t question your love for me. I was just angry that you kept a secret from me. There were many opportunities to come clean, but you never did. You even made your family members cooperate with you to deceive me. That made me upset.“We’ve been married for quite some time, and our baby will be born in a few months. Did something happen for you to ask me this question all of a sudden? Tell me about it. Did someone spout nonsense to you?“Who’s the person with the big mouth? Reveal his name. I’ll scold him.”Serenity could not believe the person said something to offend Zachary right before the yea
Zachary only had eyes for Serenity. He did not fancy any woman other than her. While Zachary did scold Austin badly, he would not actually distance himself from his brother.After all, he only had one biological brother.However, Zachary decided that he would never say another word about Austin’s love life. If Austin were to look for him to talk again, Zachary would only lend an ear to his issues.It had been exasperating.“Alright. You’re twenty-seven. You can think for yourself. You shouldn’t tell me about your love journey in the future though. What do you take me for? You all come looking for me whenever you face problems. Am I a love advisor?“None of you can replicate my love story with Seren, so don’t tell me anything from now on.”Austin smiled sheepishly. He knew Zachary’s anger had not completely subsided.He quickly asked after Serenity and the unborn baby to change the topic, which softened Zachary’s tone. After some time, their call finally ended.Austin si
On the other hand, Austin closed and locked his door as soon as he returned to his room to prevent anyone from peeking. Then, he called Zachary.When Zachary picked up, Austin whispered, “My identity is exposed, Zachary.”“Exposed? What did you do?”Zachary’s voice was deep without betraying his emotions. “Isabella knows that I’m a young master of the Yorks. Her previous classmate had been to Wiltspoon with her husband who was there on a business trip and lived there for half a month. She knows about York Corporation and started asking questions once she heard my surname.“Isabella asked me why I hid my identity from her after I admitted to it. I replied that she never asked about my family tree. Besides, she already did a background check on me twice.”Zachary said, “You didn’t hide it from her on purpose anyway. You simply didn’t go about announcing that you’re from the York family. That doesn’t count as lying.“You were hired by the O’Connors based on your true abilities. Yo
“I think Austin gives you special treatment, Isa. His gaze and smile are different when it comes to you. You’re a clever person. I’m sure you felt something.“Have you ever thought that the person his nana has chosen for him is you?”Isabella frowned. “I don’t even know what his nana looks like, nor have I met her before. How could she possibly choose me? Besides, he said he’d be resigning to pursue that woman.“Anyway, I’m glad that you’re not sad. Just stay away from him and enjoy the food he cooks. Don’t think about anything else.”Tati was speechless.Isabella never believed her when she said she was not interested in Austin at all.However, when Tati thought of the way she acted around Austin, she could not blame Isabella for the misunderstanding. She had been expressing her admiration for Austin too outwardly. Since Isabella was giving her advice, she would do as Isabella said to reassure her.Tati decided not to go over to Isabella’s place for meals and keep a distance
Tati had made it clear that she did not love Austin, and purely admired him. Why was Isabella looking at her like that? Austin’s fiancée would never be her. If it were, Austin would have treated her differently. So who on earth was Austin’s fiancee?Why would Old Mrs. York choose someone from Windermere for him?Austin came to be a chef before pursuing his future wife. Which city in Windermere was his fiancée from? Was it Satbury?If it were Satbury, which elite daughter could it be?There were many elite daughters in Satbury, but not many were superior to the O’Connor daughters. Tati recalled Austin’s special treatment toward Isabella. A thought crossed her mind, ‘Is Isabella the lady Old Mrs. York has chosen for Austin?’“Tati, I want to discuss something work-related with you.”Isabella thought Tati remained silent because of Austin’s news. Therefore, she used work as an excuse and brought Tati to the study on the second floor. After closing the door, Isabella poured
Louis and Phillip were not the only ones worried. Even Delphine and the rest were anxious too. While they did think it was inappropriate for someone of Austin’s status to be their chef, the food he made was truly delicious. They had already gotten used to his cooking. If he were to leave, they would have to adjust their tastes to another chef’s cooking. Tati had even more concerns. Isabella admired capable people. Austin was highly skilled in cooking and had a head for business too. Moreover, he was a young master of a wealthy family. That made him more suitable for Isabella. Would Isabella be attracted?Isabella probably could feel how differently he treated her, right?“Did you chase Austin away, Isa? Why didn’t he come back with you?”Louis continued asking questions. He was worried that Isabella might have fired Austin. Not only could Austin make delicious food, but he would also play with the boys. Louis and Phillip really liked Austin. They thought he was fun,
Austin knew her question was related to Tati.He was aware of Tati’s admiration for him.Nevertheless, he recognized Tati’s feelings as pure admiration. On the contrary, Tati must have noticed that he treated Isabella differently. She probably told Isabella about it in private, but Isabella simply did not have plans for marriage due to her heavy responsibilities. Austin said with certainty, “No. Although I haven’t succeeded in pursuing her, I’ve set my heart on her. She’s my fiancée, and she’ll become my wife in the future. The York family doesn’t allow divorce unless our wives cheat on us. However, that definitely won’t happen.“Every woman Nana chose has a good character and values.“I’ll be loyal to my marriage and family. I’ll only love my only wife for my entire life. How outstanding other women are is none of my business.”Austin did not want to be like Dylan. He would rather spend more time inventing recipes. Isabella said with a hint of regret, “Okay.”She had to te