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
“Are you here to bring Ms. Newman home for dinner? Is there something you need to discuss with her? If so, I don’t want to intrude on your mother-and-daughter time,” Callum tenderly asked Mrs. Newman, acting like he had no idea of Camryn’s status in the family. Mrs. Newman was not here to give Camryn a hard time for once. She came to notify Camryn of Old Mr. Marshall’s business engagement at Wiltspoon Hotel tomorrow night. Camryn was to go with Mrs. Newman. Of course, Camryn was not there to replace Carrie. Mrs. Newman merely wanted to introduce Camryn to an old CEO who may be helpful to the Newmans’ family business. Although Camryn was blind, she was prettier than Carrie. Camryn’s soft and calm voice was soothing to the ear. Mrs. Newman was sure the old CEO would be captivated by Camryn’s beauty. “You’re not a bother at all. I just want to say a few words to Camryn before I have to leave.” Mrs. Newman kept a friendly attitude in Callum’s presence. She said to Camryn, “Do
“Either way, I’m going to send someone to get you tomorrow afternoon if you don’t come home. No matter what, you’re going with me tomorrow night.” Camryn remained aloof as she replied, “I can’t see, Mom. What do you mean, see the world? The world to me is darkness. There’s nothing for me to see.” “You!” Furious, Mrs. Newman was dying to give Camryn a slap. “I have said my piece. You can either listen or ignore it. Regardless, I’m sending a car to you tomorrow afternoon. I’m busy. I got to go.” Mrs. Newman could not get along with Camryn. Resentment and hatred overtook Mrs. Newman every time she saw Camryn’s face. Now that she had done what she came here for, Mrs. Newman said, “Sorry you have to see that, Callum. My daughter lost her confidence after losing her sight. “I want to take her to the party and help her out of her funk. Hopefully, she’ll find her confidence again. I need to attend to business, so I need to go.” Callum replied, “Sure. Bye, Mrs. Newman.” Mrs. New
“Boss, go and have your dinner with Mr. Callum. I’ll watch the shop.” The employee smiled as Camryn and Callum walked out of the shop. Callum waited in the car for Camryn. With the latter handling herself well in her familiar surroundings, it was hard to tell that she was blind. This was the first time Camryn had taken a ride with Callum. She felt her way to the passenger’s seat, sat tight, put her cane away, and buckled up. She did not take the back seat, but not because she did not want to. Callum refused to let her sit in the back because it would appear as though he was her driver. Since Camryn would not dare order a certain York around like a driver, she sat in the passenger’s seat. The passenger seat was not the safest place to be. It was a good thing Callum was steady behind the wheel. He was not the kind to put the pedal to the metal. She did feel somewhat safe to take a ride in his car. “Where are we going to have dinner?” while starting the engine, Callum ask
“Can you see just a little?” Callum sat right next to Camryn. By right, Camryn would not be so precise as to snatch the sunglasses out of Callum’s hands since she could not see. “You’re sitting next to me, so I can gauge the distance from your scent to retrieve my sunglasses. Well, I hope I can see a little, but too bad, I can see nothing.” Her world was only a single shade of blackness. “You look good without your sunglasses.” Callum complimented her looks. “Do you think my mom is trying to use my looks for something, Mr. Callum?” “I think you already have an idea. It’s easy to carry a conversation with intelligent people. You get what I’m trying to say without me getting into it.” Nana picked Camryn out of all the women to be his wife, so she clearly was not some bimbo. Although upbringing and history did not matter to Nana when it came to selecting her future granddaughter-in-law, one of Nana’s criteria was a good IQ level. They needed wits to survive in this dog-eat
Camryn also had a younger brother who was protective of her, but it only lasted for a few years. Her mother went so far as to enroll her brother in a boarding school to stop contact between them. Her mother got rid of anybody who was good to her. “Didn’t you say the bouquet was for your fiancée?” Callum said with a smile, “Have you ever heard about me getting engaged? I just made that up to fool your mom.” Although Camryn was impaired in sight, she paid attention to the gossip about the wealthiest family in the city. Sure enough, she had never caught wind of an engagement. The only person who was tied down by a woman was Mr. Zachary, and his wife was Serenity. After Serenity lent Camryn a hand, Mr. Zachary even told her stepfather that Serenity hit it off with her. Her stepfather had since been kinder to her.Camryn’s stepfather treated her poorly in the past. While he would not torture or pick on her like her mom, her stepfather would keep mum whenever her mom and Carri
Zachary’s family did not want to put the strain on Serenity. Mrs. Stone was Serenity’s aunt and a senior on Serenity’s side of the family. She should be showing more love and affection to Serenity. “Aunt Audrey wasn’t trying to push me into having a baby. Her heart is in the right place. We have been a real married couple for a few months now, but I’m not pregnant yet. I think it’s normal she’d ask.” Sticking her hand out, Serenity gave him a squeeze on the cheek and smoothen his puckered brows. She said, “Don’t make that wry face. Your frown is scary enough to startle your timid wife. “You can be a ghost for Halloween with that face. No makeup required.” Amused by her remark, Zachary flicked her forehead. “Have you seen such a handsome ghost? If you’re timid, then there’s no one with nerves of steel in the world.“Fine. I’m not mad. I think it’s between us whether we want to start a family. Other people shouldn’t stick their noses where they don’t belong. Even my parents ar
Austin said, “He’s definitely here to discuss a potential partnership with your company.“He's just the acting head of the Longbottoms. He doesn’t truly control the family. If the real head returns, everything he’s worked for will go to someone else.“The downfall of Belinda Fisher probably gave him a wake-up call and he doesn’t want to end up like that.“He’s definitely seeking to cooperate with you regarding his personal business. He’s just using the Longbottoms’ name, since their influence in Windermere is enormous.”In terms of wealth, the O'Connors and the Longbottoms were on equal footing, but the O'Connors had fewer members and did not have the same level of influence in Windermere as the Longbottoms.Isabella said, “He’s very ambitious. A partnership would only just be the beginning. Once it’s established, he’ll start thinking about how to cheat us and steal our business.“Plus, he’s very lecherous. Nobody can put a number to how many women he’s toyed with. Some even lost
Tony was aware that whenever his wife had to play the villain, it was always to protect him. He said, “You're right, I misspoke. Your mother isn’t that kind of person.”“Manny, I’ll be leaving soon. You stay here, and I’ll leave half of my men with you. If anything comes up that you can't handle, contact me. I’ll be waiting to hear good news from you.” Tony decided to fly to Wiltspoon in the afternoon. He would only stay for two or three days before returning to Havenmill to handle business.However, as he thought about how he was working like a horse for Longbottom Corporation when many of the benefits did not even belong to him personally, Tony felt a bit disgruntled.“Got it.” Manny did not reject his father’s arrangement.As the Longbottom father and son were discussing how to deal with the O’Connors, Austin entered Isabella’s office.Isabella was busy, so Austin did not disturb her. He quietly sat at the tea table and made some tea.“It seems you’ve learned the art of tea-
Manny had never been to Wiltspoon, but he knew from his father that several prominent families in Wiltspoon had close ties with the Johnsons from Annenburg. It was possible that the child adopted by the Johnsons’ young missus was Laurence. Unfortunately, he could not meet that child, so he could not be a hundred percent certain. The child was currently out of sight and well-protected, hidden so effectively that even the Longbottoms’ information network could not find anything. The other prominent families in Wiltspoon were also helping to keep the child hidden, so Manny deeply disliked the people from these families. Even though they were thousands of miles away, they were still an obstacle to him and his father in their pursuit of becoming the true head of the family.“That's right. If we can conquer the O’Connors, we’ll have a backup plan,” his father said. “You must put your all into it, son. If you need help, just let me know, though this is also an opportunity for you to ge
Tony Longbottom was the only person who would put on such a parade. The big shots in Satbury usually had entourages of their own, but none would put on a spectacle as big as Tony would.As they departed in their car, Tony’s gracious demeanor utterly shattered.His face twisted into an ugly, cruel expression as he said, “I’ve never been treated like this before, even when the legitimate branch of the family still lived, and those two ignorant little girls actually refused to see me multiple times.”Manny was very angry too and he said, “Pops, since they refuse to go about this the easy way, we’ll have to show them the hard way. We can approach it from other angles, and once they’re completely out of business and they have nowhere else to turn to, they’ll be at our mercy.“Won’t they have to do as we please then? I want to marry them, they’ll have to marry me, and if I don’t, I’ll just make them my mistresses. Don’t the O’Connors have plenty of daughters? I’ll fuck every one of them
“Isabella O’Connor is so outstanding, so why are you asking me to go for Tati O’Connor instead?” Manny said under his breath in puzzlement.He had seen photos of the two ladies and Isabella’s appearance was more striking. She had a cold and aloof aura that easily triggered his desire to conquer her, and after just a few glances, he was captivated.If it were up to him, Manny would choose Isabella.Tony looked at his son, smiled, and said, “You can’t control her. Of course, if you manage to make her fall for you, we can talk about switching. But for now, focus on Tati O’Connor.”Tati was also beautiful. However, she did not have Isabella’s cold demeanor. She seemed much gentler, like she smiled often.“Marrying Tati O’Connor would be a big advantage for both you and our family.”Manny thought for a moment and then nodded in understanding. “Got it, Dad.”Manny’s good looks, wealth, honeyed tongue, and generosity toward girls made him good at winning them over. Pursuing a rich youn
After testing the O’Connor sisters and realizing they were not like other women, Mr. Longbottom thought of having his son marry Tati.He knew that his son would not be able to handle or control Isabella, so he set his sights on Tati. Tati probably did not realize she was considered an easy target. Most people underestimated her because she had always kept a low profile.At that moment, a young man got out from the other side of the Rolls-Royce. He resembled Mr. Longbottom. Indeed, he was Mr. Longbotton’s eldest son, Manny.“Dad.”Manny went to his father’s side and glanced at the building before him. He asked, “Aren’t we driving inside?”In Havenmill, Manny could do whatever he wished because his father was the interim head of the Longbottom family. While he had no respect for ordinary people at all, he was clever enough not to offend people he should not.He never parked his car outside the places he wanted to go and simply drove his car through the gates. However, Manny
Meanwhile in Satbury, a few luxury cars stopped at the entrance of Costa Corporation. The door of the first car, a Rolls-Royce, opened. A bodyguard came out of the car.He waited for his boss, who was sitting in the backseat to exit.Mr. Longbottom got out of the car. Although he was over fifty years old, he looked like he was in his forties as he maintained his appearance well.He wore a white tailored suit with a tie, which made him look more youthful.The bodyguards in the other cars alighted as well.They quickly stood behind Mr. Longbottom to protect him. It was also his display of power.A few bodyguards grabbed many gift boxes from the trunks. Mr. Longbottom stood in front of the company and raised his head to look at the sixty-eight-storey office building. It was a symbol of the O’Connor family’s abilities.Costa Corporation was not the family’s only business. They were involved in many industries and were successful in all of them.The O’Connors were wealthy and powe
Jasmine added, “In some cases, the divorced women can get married to a better man, while the divorced men can’t even find a new wife. There are many single men now.“Isn’t there a saying nowadays that men who have wives are extremely lucky?”When Jasmine was at the bookstore, she would also visit the neighboring stores to listen to juicy gossip. Many of the store owners were not locals and they had many stories to tell. Someone said there was an evil mother-in-law in a rural area who looked down on her daughter-in-law. She would egg her son on to abuse his wife and get a divorce. She would also tell her son that she could find a better and younger wife for him. However, once the divorce went through, news of the mother-in-law’s evil deeds and the son’s domestic abuse spread far and wide. Who would dare marry off their daughters to a man like that?Besides, holding another wedding would require a lot of money. The cost of a wedding had increased a lot compared to the past.Whe
“Sonny’s fine. He has recovered. You want to get Sonny from school?”After thinking about it, Serenity agreed and said, “Okay. I’ll message Sonny’s teacher later to tell her you’ll be taking him.”“Okay, Serenity. Thank you.”Hank was thankful that Serenity did not make things difficult for him. Serenity and Liberty had great character. Liberty had a new relationship and already let go of her resentment for Hank. She could coexist with him peacefully. On the other hand, Serenity still held grudges against Hank. However, since he and Liberty had divorced, he could no longer hurt her. He was also Sonny’s father. Serenity was willing to tolerate him for Sonny’s sake. Therefore, she always said yes whenever Hank requested to meet his son. “You’ll be taking Sonny out to eat after picking him up, right? Remember not to let him eat too much fried food, especially fried chicken and fries. He’ll get a sore throat.“He got a fever that day due to a throat inflammation.”“Got it. I’ll