Otherwise, even Mrs. Stone would have wanted to bring Jasmine and her son together.Josh would have thought, ‘I was lucky that Zachary introduced me to Jasmine first.’Zachary deserved a reward for playing matchmaker. Elisa breathed a sigh of relief after getting away from the mothers. She complained that Serenity and Jasmine rescued her too late. “You’re exaggerating.”Serenity found it funny. She said, “You even used the word ‘rescue’.”“The ladies seemed easy going though.”Jasmine smiled and said, “Their gazes on you were so gentle.”Elisa shuddered. She said, “They were looking at me as if I was their daughter-in-law.”That statement made Serenity and Jasmine laugh. “Seren, look.”Elisa suddenly nudged Serenity and stuck her lips out in a direction. “What’s wrong?”Serenity and Jasmine looked in the direction Elisa indicated. Jasmine saw Duncan was with an unfamiliar woman. Serenity did not find anything unusual because she had seen Duncan and Lily before. She
“Mrs. York.”They were stopped by Mrs. Newman and Camryn just after taking several steps. Camryn was being dragged by Mrs. Newman. When Serenity saw Camryn was about to fall, she instinctively stretched her hand to support her. “Be careful, Camryn.”Serenity steadied Camryn before looking toward Mrs. Newman. Mrs. Newman squeezed a smile. “Thank you for helping Camryn, Mrs. York. She can’t see, so she falls easily.”Elisa said, “She’s blind, yet you keep dragging her.”Mrs. Newman’s smile faltered. “I guess the sun will rise from the west tomorrow,” Elisa said sarcastically. She gave Mrs. Newman a sidelong glance. “This is your first time bringing Camryn to a banquet, Mrs. Newman. How rare. Do you guys think the sun will rise from the west tomorrow?”Elisa’s mockery infuriated Mrs. Newman, but she did not let it show on her face. She maintained her smile and said, “Camryn is blind, and I can’t always be by her side even if I brought her to banquets. I was afraid of her ge
Serenity asked Camryn softly, “Is she trying to arrange a marriage for you and some rich man’s son?”After pressing her lips together, Camryn replied softly, “She won’t let me get married to a rich man. She’ll only give me to someone else. She can give me to anyone who’ll benefit her.”Serenity was furious upon hearing that. Sensing her anger, Camryn smiled unexpectedly. She said, “Don’t worry. I can protect myself.” She had a small blade with her wherever she went. Serenity still wanted to say something, but Camryn poked her palm again. Therefore, she did not say anything else. Mrs. Newman chose a quiet and relatively remote spot. She gestured to Serenity to sit. “Do you want anything to eat, Mrs. York? I’ll take some food for you.”“No, thank you. You can talk about what you want, Mrs. Newman.”Mrs. Newman laughed sheepishly. She said, “Mrs. York, you and Camryn clicked right away and are friends. Carrie is Camryn’s biological sister. Can you not sue Carrie for Camryn’s s
Serenity said seriously, “Mrs. Newman, I’m not insisting on having your daughter sentenced. Your daughter committed a crime. Whether or not she’ll be convicted, I don’t want myself to get hurt anymore. You should know your daughter well. You said she knows her mistake and guarantees not to hire someone to hurt me again. “You might believe her, but I don’t.”Mrs. Newman glared at Serenity with a dark expression. Her husband kept telling her to build a good relationship with Serenity and plead for mercy for their daughter. Did he think she did not want to build a good relationship with that country bumpkin? Did she not apologize, offer compensation, and plead for mercy for their daughter?She even asked Camryn to look for Serenity. However, Serenity was stubborn. She was determined to sue Carrie. Hatred boiled in Mrs. Newman’s heart. Since Serenity would not make things easier for them, she would not let Serenity live a peaceful life either.Mrs. Newman stood up and said wit
Serenity used to see scenes of people being drugged and set up in novels or TV shows. She did not think that that would actually happen in real life. Moreover, it was a younger sister drugging her elder sister to ruin her life. After a moment of silence, Camryn said, “It’s not once or twice that she drugged me.”Serenity was speechless. “They’re treating you so poorly. You can move out.”The risk of living together with them was too huge. Camryn was silent again before saying angrily, “My father left me that house. Why do I have to move out? The people who are supposed to move out are them! They used to bully me for being a kid, and now they’re bullying me for being blind.”Serenity’s eyes gleamed. That was a lot of information. Zachary analyzed the situation for her before. Camryn’s biological father might have been killed. Camryn almost died from being gravely ill when she was sixteen years old, but no one in the Newman family sent her to the hospital. It was obvious tha
Callum said cheekily, “It’s only a matter of time before she becomes my wife. I’m just doing this to get in some early practice. I wouldn’t want to end up like my brother who had trouble doing so.” Serenity chuckled, “That’s a strange lesson you took from your brother.” “Using my brother’s many mistakes as a guide allows me to avoid many pitfalls in my relationship.” Serenity was speechless. When was the first time Zachary addressed her as his wife? She barely remembered. Perhaps it was not a very significant experience for her, which explained why it did not leave an impression. If it was something impactful, she would have remembered. Fortunately, Zachary would never find out that this was her impression. It would have plagued him with countless sleepless nights thinking about it. Serenity walked away. She was going to see her business partner. Elisa took Jasmine with her to introduce Jasmine to her best friend Tasha. Tasha’s cousin was joining them as well
“You! Certainly.” “Doesn’t that make me the matchmaker?” Josh thought about it and answered, “Yes.” “I’m giving you my bank details so you can send me a little token of appreciation for pairing you two together. Come on, I’m not going to give you money as a wedding gift, I have better things in mind than something as impersonal as that. However, I will admit that I am a shallow man and would like some money as a way of thank-you for my role as a matchmaker..” Josh was struck speechless. Serenity had transformed Zachary into a man who kept checks and balances even when it came to his interpersonal relationships. This banquet continued well into midnight. In the past, Zachary would only show up for ten to fifteen minutes at most, just as a formality. After that, he would immediately excuse himself. Tonight was an exception. He waited until the banquet was over before leaving with his beloved wife. His actions were a testament to the love and affection he had for his
Zachary smiled lovingly and embraced her tightly. He felt like the luckiest man in the world to get to call himself her husband. It did not take long before Serenity fell asleep. After ensuring that she was asleep, Zachary took off his suit jacket and threw it over her, careful to not wake her up. “Take us back to the hilltop villa,” Zachary instructed the driver in a low voice. The driver nodded dutifully. With that, Zachary leaned against the backseat of the car with his beloved wife in his arms. He closed his eyes and got some rest. By the time they arrived at the villa, he had fallen asleep as well. The driver stopped the car, then he turned around and peeked at Zachary and Serenity who were both sleeping soundly in the backseat. He turned to Jim in the passenger seat and asked, “Jim, should we wake Mr. Zachary and Missus up?” Jim immediately remarked, “Of course. Are you going to just let them sleep in the car for the night? If you do that, you’ll be out of a jo
Austin quickly left the CEO’s office. Just as he stepped out, he ran into Tati, who was looking for Isabella.“Ms. Tati,” Austin greeted politely.Tati nodded and waited for Austin to leave before she knocked on the office door and entered.“Austin came early today to cook for you,” Tati said, holding a folder in her hand and opening it as she walked toward Isabelle.She sat down at the desk, handed over the folder, and said, “Isa, this is urgent. Please take a look.”Isabella took the document, glancing through it as she replied, “He comes around this time every day, neither early nor late.”“That Longbottom fellow came by again?” Tati asked.It was only after Mr. Longbottom had directly asked to see Isabella that Tati found out the old lecher had come again.“Yes, but I didn’t meet him. He brought some gifts, claiming they were holiday presents for us. I had them sent back. He’s too ambitious, and he has bad intentions. We’re absolutely on guard against him. Why would we give
Isabella turned her head to look at Austin.Austin stopped the massage and asked in a gentle voice, “Are you feeling any discomfort? I can work on it. I don't give people massages often, so I don’t have much experience. I'll keep giving you more massages as practice so I'll be able to serve you better.”“It's not that,” Isabella smiled. “It's actually very comfortable. It’s just that I really want to meet your grandmother every time you mention her.”In Isabella's mind, Austin's grandmother had already become something of a legendary figure.Austin thought to himself, ‘Nana’s already met you. You probably met her before, you just didn't know it was her.’His nana had surely spent a lot of time observing Isabella, getting to know her, and confirming that her character and abilities were suitable for him before choosing Isabella for him.“When you’re less busy, if you’re willing, you can come visit us in Wiltspoon. Lots of flowers bloom in spring, and there’s beautiful scenery ever
When Isabella first took over the family business, many of her grandparents' and parents' friends and relatives openly tried to sabotage her. They played dirty tricks, schemed, and tried various ways to undermine her.They wanted to take advantage of her, and they also did not want her to take control of the family’s legacy. They tried to prevent her from establishing herself in the company, even going as far as to collaborate with outsiders to trap her.She had suffered countless setbacks, faced numerous conspiracies, and even experienced several so-called accidents, nearly losing her life. It was only after all this that she truly understood the treachery of human nature. From that point on, she learned to arm herself with cold indifference.Though she was taking over her own family’s business, it felt like she had to fight through a bloody battle to secure her place, as if she were a king striving to ascend the throne. It was exhausting and disheartening.However, she endured an
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