“I ate in the car.”Josh was speechless.“By the way, I saw something interesting earlier. Do you want to hear about it?”Zachary gave him a look and walked ahead. His handsome face remained expressionless, and his lips pursed into a line as he stayed silent.Josh hated that attitude, but he could not stop his chatty mouth from saying, “I arrived early and just so happened saw your missus send Ms. Stone here, so I stopped to figure out what was going on.“Before your car arrived at the company, your missus and Ms. Stone chatted rather amicably. Boss, your wife and admirer seem to like each other and are ready to be good friends. What do you think of it?”Zachary could not be bothered to even look at Josh, so he simply entered the elevator, leaving behind the chatty administrative executive.Josh did not get angry either and chuckled in his heart, ‘This will definitely be the drama-of-the-year.’He really wanted to know what Serenity Hunt would do if his boss’s identity was reve
“Good. It’s best if they all lose their jobs and then get cursed to death by everyone. Let them have a taste of what Internet violence is like. They’re completely inhumane.”Although Elisa was a little unruly, she was still somewhat virtuous.Furthermore, she was very fond of Serenity, so she was willing to avenge Serenity.‘Think of it as returning the favor.‘After all, it’s because she sent me to York Corporation that I was able to see Zachary today. He even talked to me.’“Clive, I’m going home to accompany Mom. You get back to work,” Elisa was done talking and hung up the phone.She did not want to take up more of her brother’s precious time.The old Stone residence was not far from the old York residence, but they were on different routes.If they were on the same route, Elisa would have blocked Zachary’s car on his way home. Well, Zachary rarely went back to the old York residence anyway, so it would be hard for her to block the road even if they were on the same path.
Darrell did not even know if his sister-in-law was dead or alive.“Maybe we’ll run into your sister or her children by chance if we go out on a vacation.”After a moment of silence, Audrey said, “My sister was still so young when we separated. Women go through drastic changes from how they were when they were little. Even if I happen to meet her children, who knows if I’ll be able to recognize them as my niece or nephews?”“Come on, let’s go for a holiday!”Not being able to brush off her daughter’s thoughtfulness, Audrey roused her spirits and agreed to go on a beach vacation with Elisa.Seeing that her mother agreed, Elisa exchanged a glance with her father, then thought of other topics to talk to her mother about. As she chattered, she brought up today’s events.She said happily, “Mom, I saw Zachary today. He stopped the car and even wound down the window to talk to me. Unfortunately, the bouquet I stuffed into his car was thrown out by him.”Audrey was speechless.“I also m
When Serenity got back to her store, she saw Shawn there. She smiled at and greeted him. “Shawn, don’t you have work today?”Shawn looked at her with adoration hidden deep in his eyes and said, “I worked overtime last night, so I can go in a little later today. How come you’re late today?”He asked seemingly casually, but in fact, he wanted to inquire about Serenity’s recent situation with her husband.Jasmine said that Serenity’s husband had helped to suppress the trending search and even accompanied her back to her hometown to collect evidence for the counterattack, so Serenity was grateful to him.Shawn thought, ‘I also want to help Serenity, but she didn’t give me a chance to. I called her that day, but she didn’t answer the phone.’She had only sent him a message saying that she was fine afterward.“There was a pretty lady asking for help on my way here. I was late because I lent her a hand. Oh, that smells good. What are you eating, Jasmine?”Serenity was planning on going
Serenity replied breezily, “Okay, it’s settled then.”Shawn was pleased too.He was looking forward to Saturday arriving.Several cars suddenly stopped in front of the bookstore. Sawnn said, “I’ll go take a look.”He turned around and left.Soon, he returned and said to Serenity, “It’s your relatives.”Serenity had just finished eating. She wiped her mouth with a tissue and said, “Since they’re here, I guess I can’t continue to be scared of them.”She was not surprised that those outrageous people found this place.Thanks to the blessings of a majority of the netizens, her uncles and cousins’ jobs were exposed. They also had good connections, and the incident made the trending news twice, so it was easy for them to find Serenity and her sister.“Serenity.” The Hunt family brothers entered, led by Mike. A total of eight of them came, all dressed in branded goods and holding a set of keys in their hands. They shook their keys from time to time as if the keys were made of gold.
“However, after being morally blackmailed by you guys who deliberately distorted the truth and being labeled as someone who’s unfilial, I decided not to visit her anymore. I won’t give her any money either. All of you have scolded me online, but now you want me to walk up to her just to get another scolding?”“Serenity, they’re our grandparents. You won’t die from a little scolding by them. Although you’re not obligated to support them, anyone with a conscience would give them some living expenses. It’s been so many years, but your sister and you have never gone back to visit them or give them money for maintenance. Well, if you’re still able to sleep at night, then we won’t say anything about it.“We have already deleted our blog post, so you should delete yours too. Do you know what impact your post had on all of us? We can sue you for cyberbullying. However, since we’re cousins, we had decided to negotiate with you privately. There’s no need to bring this matter into court.”The
Serenity’s youngest cousin was only seventeen or eighteen years old. It was the age whereby impulse and hot-bloodedness reigned supreme.He had a horrible temper too. When Serenity refused to go to the hospital or delete the post, he got angry and threatened to smash her bookstore.Serenity looked at him coldly. “Don’t you dare!”Her eyes were stern and cold, and her icy words carried a domineering aura that made the Hunt brothers shrink for no reason.“Noah.” Mike turned his head to glare at the youngest cousin. When the latter did not dare to speak up anymore, he looked at Serenity and smiled. “Serenity, don’t be mad at Noah. That’s just the way he talks.“Like what John said earlier, we’re still cousins with close blood relations. No matter what, we’re family. Will you benefit by humiliating us? We were wrong in this matter, so we apologize to you. Let bygones be bygones, okay?“You don’t need to pay any money. We only ask that you go visit Grandmom. She really wants to see yo
Serenity chuckled and said, “I heard Granddad and Grandmom are doing well in the hospital; eating well, sleeping well, and coming down on me pretty hard too. They don’t seem to think they’re in the wrong. Are you sure they want to apologize to me?” Mike wanted to jump to his grandparents’ defense, but no words came out of his mouth. Grandmom and Granddad did not genuinely accept their faults. Instead, the Hunt family persuaded them to do so. The family wanted to put everything behind them before things got more out of hand for them. With both parties’ reconciliation, the public interest would soon wane and they would be distracted by the latest trending news. It would not be long before the netizens forgot about the Hunts, and the family would have their peace back. If there was one thing the Hunts learned, it was that the internet was a powerful force that worked like a double-edged sword. While the internet could be a tool to attack someone, those who abused it would suffer d
Hank’s parents had always been biased toward his sister, Chelsea. It would be difficult to change them. Their father, Luke, was a slightly better case because he had felt regretful ever since knowing Serenity was the York family’s missus. He regretted letting Hank date Jessica. After going through so much, he was more convinced that Liberty suited Hank better. Unfortunately, it was already too late. Hank could no longer return to the past. On the day Serenity and Zachary brought Sonny to the Browns’ place for a meal, Chelsea also brought Lucas back to visit her family. When Chelsea entered the house, Olivia was sitting on the sofa watching TV. She said, “I heard Liberty and Duncan getting married soon, Mom. The Lewises are preparing for the wedding. The couple will most likely get their marriage license after she returns from Jensburg.”Olivia looked indifferent. “That’s bound to happen sooner or later. Why are we still talking about her?“Even if she gets a boost in her
Next, she posted the pictures on social media. Many of her followers were her students’ parents. Only a minority of them were her friends or ex-classmates. She was flooded with blessings from them as well. One of Zoey Crawford’s worries was finally resolved. Since her daughter had gotten married, she would continue urging her sons to do the same. Zoey had been anxious that Quinn could never find a suitable partner because of her easy-going personality and proficiency in martial arts. Although she was introduced to a few men through matchmaking services, the men usually refused to show up. They were scared of the potential domestic abuse they could face since Quinn was good at fighting. They had heard of her countless accomplishments as well. Therefore, no one was interested in Quinn despite her decent figure, looks, and family background. This was where Zoey’s constant urging for her to find a life partner came from. Quinn had felt frustrated about Zoey’s nagging. She did not
Julian said gently, “You can meet Serenity, Jasmine, and Elisa often in the future.“By the way, don’t trust anything Elisa says. Take her words with a grain of salt.”Quinn asked, “What will Ms. Stone say to me? Why are you specifically asking me not to listen to her?”Julian cleared his throat. As he drove, he said embarrassedly, “I pretended to pursue Elisa for some time to help Remy back then.”Quinn said, “I didn’t know I had a love rival.”“Elisa isn’t your love rival. She and her family don’t fancy me anyway. When they knew I was pursuing her, Mrs. Stone immediately changed her mind and agreed to Remy and Elisa’s marriage. To her, I’m like a fierce beast unsuited for her baby daughter.”Quinn got invested and asked, “Why did helping Remy involve pursuing Elisa?”Julian came clean and recounted everything to Quinn. He did not want her to misunderstand.“Even your parents fell for your acting. I didn’t think you’d do such a thing.”“Don’t misunderstand, honey.”Quinn smi
Fortunately, Quinn herself was strong, and her family was not pushovers either. She turned to look at Julian.Without asking, Julian knew exactly what she was thinking, and he quickly reassured her, “Quinn, you don’t have to worry. That kind of thing won’t happen to us. I’m your rock. As long as I’m around, no one can bully you. In my family, apart from my parents, everyone else has to accede to me, and you know how my parents feel about you. They’re so grateful to you that they practically worship you like a goddess.“You’re familiar with the York family now and have seen the way they operate, right? Well, my family and the Yorks are old family friends. Birds of a feather flock together. The reason our two families are so close is we have similar family values.“Setting aside the fact that your family is powerful enough and supportive of you—even if you were like Serenity in the beginning, my family would never look down on you or mistreat you. They would only love and cherish you.
Stacy was actually hoping that Julian and Quinn could get their marriage license today and hold the wedding right away. However, the date they had picked was after Christmas and they still had to wait over a month for the actual wedding. At least once they signed the papers, there was no need to worry about Quinn changing her mind. Stacy was afraid that Quinn and her family might have second thoughts, especially since her son was afflicted with a disorder.“Hey, sweetie.”When Stacy addressed Quinn, her tone was very gentle. Quinn thought that her future mother-in-law was even kinder and more considerate than her own mother. Her father had looked into the Buchams' character and knew that Stacy was actually quite formidable. To Quinn though, Stacy appeared so gentle and kind that she did not seem like the kind of person who would be overly strict or tough. Of course, anyone who could hold fast the position of the Buchams’ head missus and secure her husband’s love for decades as if
Quinn could not stop laughing when she saw him.Julian blushed a little in response. He asked, “What are you laughing at? Is my outfit ugly? Does it not look good?”He was used to wearing black clothes all the time. Although he had a white suit, he rarely wore it. Today, for the special occasion of legally getting married to Quinn, he had specifically chosen to wear white, a color symbolizing purity, to proclaim how his feelings were as pure as snow.“It’s not ugly, it looks great! You look even more handsome than usual. I’m just not used to seeing you in a white suit. Now, you look like a prince from a fairy tale—my prince.”Julian smiled indulgently. “That’s right. I’m your prince charming and yours alone. You look great in white, too, my dear wife.”It was Quinn’s turn to blush slightly. She was not used to being called his wife, especially since they had not even registered yet. Since they were about to go get their marriage license though, she might as well start getting used
Serenity laughed and said, “I hope I’ll be toasting at your wedding soon.”Peter replied, “I think I'll get married before Dylan does.”Dylan’s romantic path had been much more complicated because he had not wanted to follow the smooth, well-paved road that Grandma May had arranged for him.“We have lots of happy occasions lined up after Christmas, then,” Camryn remarked.“Yes, lots,” Serenity agreed.The courtyard was lively, with the elders occasionally joining in on the fun. Meanwhile, inside the house, Dylan was thinking about what Serenity had told him. She had repeatedly said that the person Grandma May picked for him would definitely be the right one, someone who would suit him well.She also suggested that he look into Imogen and that there might be a pleasant surprise in store for him, but that he was not to let Imogen know. The implication in Serenity’s words was that Imogen might be Fox and that Fox’s real identity was Imogen Doyle herself.After understanding Serenit
Dylan frowned as he pondered deeply.“The scent from outside is wafting in. I think the food’s ready. I’m going out to have a couple of skewers to satisfy my cravings. You can stay here and think things through.”Seeing that Dylan had finally grasped the main point, Serenity stopped the conversation and went out to have some barbecue. It had been a long time since she had eaten barbecue.After getting pregnant, although she was not as strictly monitored as Jasmine was, she still paid close attention to her diet and would do her best to avoid things she could not eat or had to limit. Liberty called her every few days to remind her to be careful.When Zachary saw Serenity come out of the house, he immediately picked up a plate of freshly grilled skewers to his beloved wife, saying, “I deliberately used less seasoning on these for you, so you can eat them with peace of mind. Sonny’s asleep now, right?” “He fell asleep long ago, after playing so hard today,” Serenity replied, then gr
In that case, Grandma May would not even need to step in to teach him a lesson. His older brothers would beat him up multiple times for tarnishing the York family’s reputation and dragging their names in the mud with his own.“Dylan, I told you that if you didn’t trust Nana, you’d face the consequences. Look, you’re starting to suffer now, aren’t you?” Serenity said. Who was Grandma May? She was a kind-hearted but cunning old fox who could sell someone out and still make them feel grateful for it as they counted the money she made for her. How could she pick a bad match for her grandsons? There was no way they would be unsuitable. “Serenity, it’s not that I don’t trust Nana, it’s just that I really couldn’t fall in love with Imogen. I feel like if I couldn’t fall for her in almost three months then I just won’t. And I always thought about Fox when I was with Imogen. I’m not some naïve kid who doesn’t understand what that means.” Dylan smiled bitterly. His family always compla