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
Zachary heard Jasmine shout from the other side of the phone. He also kept calling, “Seren, Seren!” Elisa picked up Serenity’s phone and yelled at Zachary, “Zachary, what did you say to Serenity? What did you say happened to Liberty?” “Elisa, send Serenity back first. Liberty is injured and is being treated at the hospital. Let’s talk about the rest when you’re back.” “How is Liberty doing?” Elisa’s face changed as well. She knew Serenity was only so frightened because something happened to Liberty, but she did not know what exactly happened to Liberty. After hearing what Zachary said, Elisa was feeling nervous and afraid too. The Hunt sisters were her mom’s favorites. If something were to happen to Liberty, who knew how sad Elisa’s mom would be? “I don’t know either. She was stabbed a few times and is still being rescued. We’re already at the hospital. Elisa, send Seren back with Ms. Sox now. Drive safe.” Zachary wished he could fly over to pick up his wife. Howe
When Sonny was snatched, even if Liberty and Hank did not go after him, the men who were secretly protecting them could also save him. They had long set up a trap and were ready to catch the kidnappers. Only, they neglected a mother’s determination to protect her child. Mothers were willing to sacrifice themselves for their children. A mother who saw her child being abducted would definitely run after the child. The men who were protecting Liberty and Sonny thought of that but did not expect Liberty to be able to keep up with the kidnappers. Her physical strength was amazing. She refused to give up no matter what. Even when she was kicked hard and stabbed by the bad guys, she did not let go. Only when she saw the Yorks’ bodyguards did she know it was safe and was willing to let go. In the end, she was seriously injured while Sonny was unharmed. Duncan turned around and punched the wall. Yes, he too had sent people to protect Liberty and her son. Despite that, Libert
Serenity’s words brought Mrs. Stone to tears as well. She thought of herself back then when she and her sister were sent to the orphanage, there were two of them. However, when she finally had news of her sister, she became the only one left. She did not even see her only sister one last time. Zachary hugged Serenity tightly, giving her support and comfort. “Seren, Liberty will be fine. She’ll wake up soon. It’ll be alright. “Don’t worry. We still have to help her take care of Sonny. He’s terrified.” Serenity was so scared that she could not stop crying. Zachary’s reassurance did not work at all but once he mentioned Sonny, her cries became softer. Yes, she still needed to help her sister take care of Sonny. After crying for a while, Serenity adjusted her emotions and took the tissue given to her by Zachary to wipe her tears. She then left his embrace and walked toward Sonny, who had been held by Hank. “Aunt Ser.” Sonny stretched out his hands toward Serenity. Ser
Liberty was in the ICU and did not need to be taken care of by family members, who were only allowed to visit inside for a while every day. Although Serenity could not watch over her sister in the ward, she refused to leave the hospital and insisted on waiting outside for her sister to wake up. Her sister would definitely wake up. Police came to the hospital. Everyone watched as several police officers walked over. “Which one of you is Jessica Yates?” asked the policeman in the lead. Everyone looked at Jessica. Jessica answered with fear, “I am.” After saying something, that policeman immediately let two policewomen go forward to take her away. “Officer.” Hank hurriedly blocked their way. His parents followed behind him. They all looked at the police officers. “Officer, may I ask what crime my wife has committed? Why are you taking her away?” Hank questioned. “We suspect that Jessica Yates is involved in this child abduction, so we need to take her back for th
“Jessica wants to cut off our family line! She wants to get Sonny and Liberty killed! This wicked woman! You b*tch!” Mrs. Brown cursed at the top of her lungs. If this incident was caused by Jessica, then the past accident when their family went to the zoo was not an accident, but a scheming plan by her. How could this woman be so malicious?! She wanted to abduct both of her grandsons. When Serenity heard that Jessica was involved in the incident, she shoved Sonny into Zachary’s arms and wanted to beat Jessica up. “Seren.” Zachary tugged at Serenity and reminded her, “She’ll be punished by law. Don’t do this.” The police had come, so they did not need to be the ones to teach Jessica a lesson. Julian had collected evidence, so Jessica would not be able to get away. She would be jailed for a few years at least. If the men of Mrs. Newman’s godfather were captured, all of them had prior criminal records and would be dealt heavier sentences. That was because they wer
When Austin reached the door, he stopped and turned to say, “Ms. Isabella, I only care about my future wife. Other young women are simply strangers to me.“I’m polite to other women when I need to be. If they’re unimportant, I’ll ignore them. Even if that woman is my boss, I won’t cross any lines. If I do, there must be a reason behind it.“Get some rest, Ms. Isabella. You might have a headache when you wake up tomorrow. I’ll prepare a warm honey drink for you in the morning.”After speaking, Austin left. Isabella turned to look at where he last stood. What did his words mean?He said he only cared about his future wife.Aside from this lady, he would not step out of line with any other young woman, even if she were his boss. What did he mean by crossing lines?Was it showing concern? Did he mean that if his boss was a young woman but not his fiancée, he would simply do what was required of him without any personal feelings involved? Was that what he meant?If so, was
Isabella was cold sometimes, but that was not her true personality. She was a reasonable person. Austin was not worried that he would be mistreated as a live-in son-in-law. “Ms. Isabella.”Isabella looked toward him and waited for him to speak. He asked, “This may be abrupt, but may I ask what your ideal type is?”Isabella was stunned. Why did the question come to her? What was the type of man she liked?‘Someone like Austin,’ she thought. After a moment of silence, she said, “I like men who are capable, responsible, and have correct values. Even if his family isn’t as financially well-off as mine, I don’t mind so long as he’s honest, competent, and sincere about his feelings for me.“Of course, it’ll be great if we have the same social status. That way, we’ll have similar perspectives and more common topics. If we get married, we’ll be joining forces instead of it being a one-way financial aid.”“Although you can accept someone who isn’t from a similar family backgrou
After a moment of silence, Isabella said, “It’s okay. I know I was forcing it.”There was no point in asking Austin if he did not want to reveal anything. If he wanted to tell her, he would do so without her asking. However, her curiosity spiked with his silence. She was eager to know who his fiancée was. He was already so protective of his fiancée even though he had not met her before. It made Isabella jealous. It was her first time feeling that kind of emotion throughout her life. Although it was not a strong feeling, she still felt it. “You weren’t forcing me to tell you. You were simply curious. Most people have a curious side. It’s only natural for you to be inquisitive as well.”Austin said gently, “It’s not just you. Those who knew that my nana had chosen fiancées for my brothers and me were also curious about who the ladies were.“To be honest, we didn’t even know Nana had been choosing fiancées for us since a few years ago until she handed their pictures to us
“You can drink it now. It’ll turn cold if left aside for longer.”Isabella took the ginger ale and drank it with elegance. She put it down after drinking half of it. “I’m drunk, but only slightly. I can walk, and my brain is still alert. I know what I’m doing and saying.“I’ve had enough ginger ale.”She did not want to consume too much liquid late at night. “Which family is your fiancée from, Austin? Where is she? Do you mind telling me?”Isabella was insistent on getting answers. Austin had never told her when she had asked him about it before. He kept saying he would focus on working and that he was not in a rush to get married. After all, he was only in his twenties; Zachary only got married at thirty years old. If he was unsuccessful in wooing his fiancée that year, he did not mind waiting for a few more years. Isabella suddenly felt jealous of Austin’s fiancée, having had his heart without even doing anything. She wondered what Austin’s fiancée had done to cat
Austin stared into Isabella’s eyes. He could detect some feelings in her gaze, but it was not obvious enough. What she felt for him was still mostly admiration. It was not the right time for him to confess yet. He would continue to wait. “You’re the best and most outstanding lady in my heart, Ms. Isabella. I admire you more.”Austin added gently, “You give off a strict and cold aura sometimes, but you’re always a nice person in my eyes.”Isabella had treated him well ever since he became her private chef. It only got better after she discovered he was a young master of the Yorks. Austin believed her when she said she viewed him as a friend because her actions reflected it as well. However, he was not content with being just friends. He wanted to be her husband. He wanted her to trust him and love him forever. He would also reciprocate her feelings and trust. Isabella smiled. “Even my parents are scared and avoid me when I’m in a serious mode. Louis and Phillip w
Austin responded, “Don’t worry, Ms. Edith. I’ll take good care of Ms. Isabella.”Edith had come in a hurry and left just as quickly. The hidden meaning in her cousin’s words was not lost on Isabella, but she did not comment on it.She allowed Austin to accompany her into the house. The lights were still on inside, but the first floor was empty. Everyone else had already gone to bed.Since Isabella had not returned yet, the housekeeper had left the lights on for her.The house was warm, so once inside, Isabella took off Austin’s coat and handed it back to him.Austin accepted the coat and followed her to the sofa. After she had sat down, he asked gently, “Ms. Isabella, would you like some ginger ale for a hangover remedy?”Isabella rubbed her temples and said, “Yes, please. I don’t want to wake up with a splitting headache tomorrow.”Austin immediately went to prepare it for her.Isabella leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes to rest. After some time, she heard Austin’s
Isabella’s bodyguard had only called out to her, not daring to touch her, so she had not woken up. However, when Austin gently patted her face and called her, she woke up almost immediately. When she opened her eyes and saw Austin’s handsome face, Isabella was momentarily dazed, thinking she was dreaming about him.She had actually dreamed about Austin. Had she developed feelings for him? If she had not, why would she dream about him? In all her life, this was the first time she had dreamed about a man. Isabella wanted to touch Austin’s face, but as she raised her hand, she realized she was not dreaming.Austin was real. She could smell the fresh scent on him because they were so close.He had showered.Isabella quietly lowered her hand, hoping Austin had not noticed her earlier intention, lest he misunderstood.“Ms. Isabella,” Austin’s warm and pleasant voice reached her ears, making her want to close her eyes and go back to sleep. With him around, she felt safe and secure.
Hunter had neither money nor power. What could he possibly use to save his sons?“Dad, go home. When the trial starts, we’ll send someone to pick you up so you can attend and observe.”Hunter stood up angrily and stormed off.After he left, Ellie asked Ava, “Are we really not going to do anything? My child is still young. Having a father in prison will always be a stain on their life.”“What can we do? Even if we wanted to save them, we don’t have the means. We know what Caroline is like. She’s not going to let this go lightly this time,” Ava replied. “Anyway, think about last year, when they were caught cheating. How did they treat us then?”Remembering the events from last year, Ellie said, “Let them serve a few years in prison, then. Ava, Caroline is in the hospital. Should we go visit her?”“We should. Let’s go tomorrow. We’ll call Emma and visit Caroline together. The Fisher family is full of terrible people, but Caroline still has some conscience. She’s always been kind t
Hunter was momentarily speechless. He did not have much money. When Belinda was alive, he never had more than five hundred dollars on him. After his children grew up, he secretly asked them for money. During that time, he had money to spend freely, living a lavish life outside.However, all that money had been spent. He had no savings, mainly because he was used to spending extravagantly.He had been unable to save money. He did not own any shops or properties either; Belinda had kept him on a tight leash.The house in their hometown had been built with Belinda’s money, but it was not under his name. It was under his three sons’ names.After Belinda’s death, his sons supported him. Each son gave him over a hundred thousand dollars a month for living expenses.Combined, that was several hundred thousand dollars a month, allowing him to live comfortably in Ashford. He had managed to save a little, but not much, just over a million dollars in total. Hiring the best lawyers for h