Callum looked into Camryn’s eyes for a while before uttering, “Serenity is right. You should get your eyes fixed first if you want to collect evidence. I’ll keep the voice recorder safe for you here so it doesn’t fall into their hands. It’ll only put you in danger.” “Thank you, Mr. Callum.” Camryn never thought about asking for the voice recorder back. As Callum put it, Camryn might lose her life over the voice recorder. “I’m going to play along if they plan on using me to save that sister of yours. Do you have a problem with that?” Camryn looked confused. “What do you mean by ‘play along’?” “Your stepfather wants me to marry you. They must think I’m not for it and will use it as leverage to get your sister out of jail. Well, they have another thing coming.” Callum was a proud member of the York family. He was not one to be messed with. Mr. and Mrs. Newman must be desperate to try anything. They adored Carrie so much. “What do you think about me marrying you?” “
Hank’s mental state was heading in an unhealthy direction as things got better for Liberty in life. He could not help but make Liberty jump through hoops. For example, Hank could buy a mini suit for their son, but with Jessica egging him on, Hank believed Liberty was deliberately driving a wedge between him and his son. Liberty refused to let him see his son. Hence, Hank insisted on taking Sonny to try out clothes. He made a huge fuss the moment Liberty disagreed with him. “Where’s Sonny? Where did you hide him?” Hank looked around the breakfast diner, but his son was nowhere to be found. “Did you hide Sonny at Serenity’s place?” That was not right. Serenity’s bookshop was closed for two days. He had been to the bookshop. “Sonny is in a class. He’ll be back soon.”Liberty faintly added, “I’m not stopping you from meeting with Sonny, Hank. If you really want to take Sonny along, then fine. I’m almost done anyway. I’ll go with you when Sonny is finished with his clas
“Mom.”Sonny came running in his gym uniform. “Sonny, you’re back.” With a smile, Liberty went up and picked her son up. “How was it? Do you feel tired? Did you cry?” Sonny shook his head. “I didn’t cry, but I do feel tired.” “Oh, you’re tired. Let me kiss your tiredness away. You must stick to the classes.” Liberty was concerned that her son could not keep up with the workout. She gave her son a kiss and reminded him to hang on so as not to disappoint Zachary after all he did for Sonny. Sonny was exhausted and tempted to quit, but his uncle’s words were imprinted in his mind. By taking up the art of self-defense, he no longer had to be afraid of bad guys. He could also protect his mother. He wanted to be the manly man and shield his mom from all harm. Sonny gave a firm nod. “I will stick to the class, Mom.” Jim entered the diner too. “Ms. Hunt.” He said hello to Liberty. “Thank you, Jim.” Jim smiled. “Don’t mention it, Ms. Hunt.” It was his duty to drop of
“It’s up to you whether you want to do it. Don’t be scared to speak your mind if you don’t want to.” Liberty did not want to force her son. She respected his choices. Tilting his head, Sonny looked at his dad and contemplated for a while before asking, “Is my mom going?” “Yes. Didn’t I give your mom an invitation the last time?” “Oh.” Sonny bobbed his head. “Okay, Dad. I’ll do it.” Hank smiled. He knew his son was close to him and would be happy to be his flower boy. “Should we go pick an outfit then?” Sonny turned to his mother once more. Hank had to tell Liberty, “We should hurry if you want to come along.” Paying Hank no mind, Liberty turned off the electricity and checked if the stove was off. With all that confirmed, she let the two workers knock off and said to Jim, “Jim, you can return. I’m going with Sonny to pick out a suit for him.” Sonny had his lesson in the morning. The class in the afternoon was not necessary. He was young, so William did not want t
Hank regretted it. In fact, the regret sank in a long time ago. He realized life was not as good as he thought since he went public about his relationship with Jessica. He was disappointed with his decision. This was especially when his family nitpicked and fought with Jessica endlessly. It was annoying. He was having more than second thoughts. It was all the same, going from a lover to a wife. Had he been nice to Liberty, gotten her on a weight loss program, and given her time to dress up, his wife would not have lost to his lover… “Why are you staring into blank space, babe?” With Hank’s eyes on Liberty, Jessica nudged him and brought him back to earth. “I’m fine.” Hank had no guts to admit he was dwelling in the past and regretted his choices as Jessica would jump down his throat. He had his pride. He did not want a public fallout. It would only let Liberty see him as a complete joke. Hank drew close and carried his son out of the car. Once Liberty got out, h
Sonny cried as he put up a fight to break free from the man’s locked arms. The boy even kicked the man. It was a shame Sonny’s limited strength was merely a scratch to the big man. It was useless. Seeing that his kicking did not work, Sonny suddenly slapped the man’s eyes. Now, he got a reaction. The man in black could not see as Sonny smacked and slapped his eyes. The man staggered in his footsteps and could not keep up the speed. Liberty gave everything she got to pick up her pace. Ten meters, five meters, one meter… Frustrated, the man in black was about to knock Sonny unconscious when Liberty charged up and pounced on him. She got Sonny back, but she tumbled onto the ground. Despite falling down, she kept her son tightly wrapped in her embrace. Sonny remained on top of his mother during the fall. The only thing a mother could think of was protecting her child in a moment of danger. Not wanting his effort to go in vain, the man in black came to snatch Sonny when Libe
For some reason—probably tired from running or scared stiff—Hank lost all energy and could not pick Liberty up. “Don’t move Ms. Hunt!” The York family’s bodyguard pushed Hank away to prevent him from moving Liberty as it might cause Liberty to bleed out. After calling the emergency line, the bodyguard tried to stop the bleeding and contact Zachary and the others too. Having found out that his sister-in-law was stabbed multiple times, Zachary shouted, “How could you allow Liberty to get hurt when there were so many of you watching her?” How was he supposed to explain to Seren? The bodyguards remained without a word. They had a lot of eyes on Liberty and Sonny, but so did the other party too. The security team was minutes away from catching up to Liberty, and it was in those minutes Liberty was stabbed. The nearest ambulance was sent to the scene. Liberty was rushed to the hospital for treatment. “Mom…” Sonny sobbed and wailed. He was covered in blood—his mother
“Liberty.” Serenity was at a town near her hometown, checking on the progress of her project when she picked up the call. Thinking that it was her sister, Serenity said hello with a smile. Zachary also dialed Serenity’s number while on his way to the hospital, but Sonny was one step ahead of him. His call did not go through. “Aunt Ser…” Sonny burst out crying at the sound of his aunt’s voice. Serenity tried to calm her nephew down. “What’s the matter, Sonny? Why are you crying? Was the lesson tiring? Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Sonny is a man, and men don’t cry. Don’t cry, Sonny. I’ll take you to the supermarket later. I’ll get you whatever you want.” “Aunt Ser, Mom was bleeding. There was a lot of blood… Come back, Aunt Ser. Mom’s about to die… Wahhh!” Sonny’s voice trailed on and off amid the wailing. On the other end of the line, Serenity was in shock. The phone fell right out of her hand. Next to Serenity, Elisa bent over to pick up the phone. Serenity managed to gr
Immediately, someone brought a large cup of water for Dylan. Imogen took the cup and handed it to him, urging him to drink. Dylan accepted the cup and drank it all in one go, which eased the spiciness in his mouth a little. “Imogen, your cousin said I need to finish these peppers, but I haven’t even eaten half yet.” Dylan looked at the basket of peppers and saw that he had not eaten even half of them. He had never eaten this much spice in his life. Right now, his throat felt like it was on fire, and his voice was hoarse. The intense heat was affecting him badly.If this had happened in Wiltspoon where the climate was warmer, after eating so many peppers, his throat would have been terribly inflamed, and he probably would have an upset stomach and a serious case of indigestion. Then, he would be stuck in the toilet for half a day.However, since it was cold in Huntington, eating a little chili every day was not a problem, though not as much as Dylan had just eaten. His stomach
“Did you need me for something, Layla?” Imogen, despite being in a rush to stop Dylan from continuing to eat the chili peppers, asked Layla.“Of course, I came to talk to you about work,” Layla replied.“But the discussion might take a while. Are you going to discuss work with me first, or go downstairs to stop Dylan from eating more peppers first?”Imogen hesitated for a moment but decided to stop Dylan first. Layla guessed that her cousin would choose Dylan and sighed inwardly. Imogen was already wrapped around Dylan's finger. However, Dylan had not entirely escaped Imogen’s influence either. Though he had not fallen in love with Imogen herself, he had fallen for her alter ego, who was still her cousin in the end.Fortunately, the woman Dylan loved was her cousin's alias. If he had chosen another woman, Layla would never have allowed her cousin to take him back. The Doyle ladies did not settle for second place.“Layla, give me about ten minutes.”“Alright, I’ll wait for you
It was already so spicy, there was no way it could get worse. Thus, following his family's advice, he began grabbing huge handfuls of chili peppers and stuffed them into his mouth. The heat made his eyes water, and it felt like his mouth was swelling from the spice. Imogen also saw the comments and watched as Dylan continued to eat the peppers in large mouthfuls. She turned off the livestream, not wanting to keep watching. However, her heart was in such a mess that she could not focus on her work. A few minutes later, she tossed her pen aside, pushed her chair away from the table as she stood up, and walked out quickly. She ran into Layla as soon as she left the office.“Layla,” Imogen called out. “You heading out?” To be honest, Layla knew the answer without asking. “He’s eaten quite a lot of chili peppers already. He doesn’t usually eat spicy food. And eating so much at once will harm his stomach.” Imogen still felt sorry for Dylan. Layla smiled, “If you're worried
The security guard brought out a basket and handed it to Dylan.Dylan took the basket and poured the bag of chili peppers into it. Next, following the live broadcast team’s instructions, he walked in front of the camera and said, “Last year, I unintentionally hurt Imogen’s pride. It was my fault, and I apologize to her.“Imogen doesn’t have time to deal with me, but Ms. Layla Doyle said that as long as I eat chili peppers on this livestream, she’ll allow me to come here every day to wait for Imogen. I’m afraid of spicy food and usually don’t eat anything spicy at all.“But for the sake of seeing Imogen and having a chance to get her forgiveness, I’m willing to accept Ms. Layla’s challenge and eat these chili peppers.”The live broadcast team was at a loss for words.Layla had not prepared a script for Dylan, but he went ahead and explained the backstory. Was that okay?Someone secretly messaged Layla to ask for her opinion. Her reply was to allow Dylan to say whatever he wanted a
Isabella had invited him to sit at the dining table and eat with them, but Austin refused. He said he was the chef, so he could just have his breakfast in the kitchen.He always remembered his position as Isabella's personal chef and did not let the fact that the others saw him in a more favorable light now go to his head and cross the line. His adherence to his principles and awareness of his position only made Isabella respect him more.Though he was one of the extremely affluent Yorks, after accepting the job as her private chef, he completely discarded his identity as a rich heir and earnestly took on the role of her personal chef.By the time Austin finished his breakfast, Isabella and the two young boys had also finished eating. He came out to clear the table.Phillip slid off his chair and said to Louis, “Isa’s passing by my preschool today. She said she’ll take me there.”He was showing off. Sure enough, Louis looked enviously at his sister. Isabella did not even glance
Austin placed the two breakfast portions on the dining table and then walked over to Isabella, who was still reading the newspaper. “Ms. Isabella, breakfast is ready.”“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Louis’s voice came from the stairs. Then, they saw him quickly running down the stairs with his schoolbag in one hand.“Louis!” Isabella called out.Louis immediately stopped, then picked up his schoolbag to carry it on his back before slowly descending the stairs step-by-step, no longer daring to run.The two boys really did have very similar personalities.“Good morning, Isa. Good morning, Austin.”Louis walked over to Isabella’s side and respectfully greeted them.“If I ever see you running down the stairs again, I’ll punish you by making you miss a week of eating Austin’s meals.”“Isa, a week is too long!” Louis instinctively tried to negotiate.“You still dare to bargain with me, huh? That shows you don’t want to change. In that case, I’ll make it a whole month.”Louis was speec
“Isa, Austin promised me that he would make cartoon-shaped snacks for us this Saturday. You won’t mind, right? I’ve already told my classmates, and they’re all coming to our house!”The little boy was also concerned about his image. He was afraid his serious eldest cousin would refuse, and if that happened, he would be so embarrassed. After all, after Austin promised him, the other kids at preschool treated him so well. They all wanted to try the cartoon-shaped snacks Austin made. However, since Austin was Isabella’s private chef, if Isabella did not agree, there would be nothing even Austin could do about it.Isabella lightly pinched Phillip’s cheek. “Since Austin’s promised, he’ll keep his word. I’ll be resting at home this weekend and won’t stop you, but don’t make a racket here. Go do it at your own house. I need to rest.”“Thanks, Isa! I’ll tell my friends not to disturb your rest. Isa, has Louis not woken up yet?”With Isa’s promise, Phillip’s little face lit up with a smil
Upon hearing that Phillip might be coming, Louis moved much faster.Isabella did not wait for her brother. She said, “Head downstairs by yourself later, and make sure to check your schoolbag to see if you’ve packed your books and water bottle.”She would not help her brother check those things. Every day, she made sure her brother checked everything himself because it was his responsibility. If their parents or employees tried to help, she would scold them.Now, their parents no longer dared to help Louis with things he could do himself. They let her take charge of him. Her parents had Louis when they were in their forties, and he was their only son. If they were the ones raising him, Isabella was sure her brother would have been spoiled beyond reason.“I know, Isa,” Louis replied, already starting to brush his teeth.After leaving her brother’s room, Isabella headed downstairs. As soon as she reached the first floor, she saw Phillip running in with his little schoolbag on his
Isabella patiently said, “No, you can’t. If you sleep for ten more minutes, time will be too tight, and we’ll hit the worst of rush hour when everyone’s heading to school or work. There’ll be too much traffic and you’ll be late. You mustn’t be late.” If her brother was constantly late, he would get used to it and start liking to sleep in. Isabella would not let him develop such a bad habit.“Isa, I won’t be late. Every day when I arrive at school, there are still plenty of classmates who haven’t arrived. I can just tell the driver to speed up.”“Absolutely not! It’s not safe to drive too fast. It doesn’t matter if the other students are late, but you can’t be late. Get up now, or I’m going to get angry.”Louis pouted.Amused, Isabella pinched his lips, saying, “Come on, get up. In two more days, it will be the weekend, and you’ll get another two days off.”“This holiday was too short.”Under his sister’s urging, Louis reluctantly sat up. “It feels like we just got let out for w