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
Shawn believed the Hunts were unbelievable. Their shamelessness was on a whole new level. “Serenity, I got your conversation with them on tape,” Jasmine said. “I’ll send the voice recording to you in case they make things up about you again online.” Serenity gave her best friend the thumbs up. The Hunts got her so riled up that it slipped her mind to record on her phone. “Shawn, aren’t you going to work?” After sending the voice recording to her best friend, Jasmine realized her cousin was still at the shop. She urged him to hurry to work. Reluctant to leave, Shawn uttered, “I’m working in my family’s company. It doesn’t make a difference if I’m a little late.” “All the more you should put in the effort and abide by the company’s rules and regulations since you’re working in your family’s company. Set a good example so no one can find fault with you. Hurry along now. You’ll get it if Aunt Rachel finds out you’re not in the office.” As Shawn was the firstborn, Jasmine’s aunt
Zachary was a little worried that Serenity could not deal with the Hunt cousins, but he said nothing about it. He did not even give Serenity a call. Now that they had been married for nearly a month, Zachary had a bit more of an idea of Serenity’s personality now than before. Serenity would call him for help if things were more than she could handle. Since there were no calls from her, it meant she could manage. Besides, she would not lose since she had a leg to stand on. With this in mind, Zachary switched to another car after work and drove to Wiltspoon School. When Zachary was leaving the office, Josh complained that Zachary had recently pushed all the business dinners onto him. Zachary replied, “I have a wife. I should go home to spend some time and bond with my wife after work.” Josh was speechless. ‘As if! ‘It’s clearly an excuse!‘It’s just his excuse to slack off!’Josh protested in his mind. Zachary had been neglecting his work since he got married. It was so u
After a pause, Zachary added. “I’ll drive you to work tomorrow morning.” Since Zachary was being thoughtful, Serenity left her e-bike at the shop and took a ride in Zachary’s car. Jasmine watched the couple as they left while mumbling to herself, “They’re acting more like a couple now.” Although Zachary was aloof and antisocial, his care for Serenity was in the details. “I’d be happy to marry immediately if a man like Mr. York comes into my life.” It was a pity that her blind dates had nothing on Zachary. The supposed fine men were only placed above the rest because of their high income. However, they were far from being labeled fine men. The man Jasmine went on a blind date with at Beans and Cream had taken a fancy to Serenity. The man even made a private call to the matchmaker to ask about Serenity, only to find out that Serenity was taken. The man must be living in Lalaland. Jasmine called the man to give him a piece of her mind, threatening to ruin him if he were to
Everybody in the neighborhood knew how close the sisters were. Liberty kept the matter from her sister to save her the worry. “Thank you, Mrs. Zaks.” Serenity thanked Mrs. Zaks before continuing her quick walk toward her sister’s residential building while dragging Zachary along. “My brother-in-law was angry that my sister hadn’t cooked lunch for him when I dropped her off the other day. Hank looked like he wanted to hit my sister, but he wiped that look off his face when he saw me,” Serenity babbled to Zachary. “Why didn’t my sister let me know?” Serenity felt bad for her sister. Women gained a second chance in life when they got married. Her sister’s second chance in life did not seem smooth sailing. Hank’s attitude toward Liberty changed for the worse less than three years into the marriage. Zachary replied firmly, “Your sister doesn’t want you to worry. Mrs. Zaks said that your sister chased your brother-in-law down a few streets with a knife. It means your sister had
Serenity’s sister was her rock. Now that Serenity was all grown up and had the means, it was her turn to protect her sister. “Seren.” Liberty held onto her sister and said, “Don’t go. The injury is only superficial. Plus, I didn’t let him get away with it. I chased him down a few streets with a knife and scared him out of his wits. I trust he won’t be violent to me anymore.” “If he has done it once, he will do it again, Liberty. He won’t know fear if you don’t fight back when he lays his hands on you. He’ll only assault you again.” There should be zero tolerance toward domestic violence! “I know. That’s why I didn’t give in and beat him up too. I even went after him with a knife. You should’ve seen the scared look on his face. His legs were shaking. I heard that you must win the first fight between couples, and I won! He should think twice before laying his hands on me next time.” Liberty pulled her sister back firmly, keeping Serenity from getting even with Hank. “He’s bac
As the sisters only had each other for many years, Liberty understood Serenity well enough to know that her sister would stick up for her. In a deliberate effort to get her sister to stick around, Liberty took out a bottle of wine and enjoyed a glass with Serenity until midnight before letting the couple leave. Serenity was a lightweight, and Liberty took out a stiff drink. After a glass of wine, Serenity found herself tipsy. She was feeling dizzy and staggering in her footsteps by the time she left her sister’s place. Liberty saw the young couple off at the door. She used to attend social engagements with her boss when she was working back then. Having learned to hold her liquor, Liberty could handle a glass of wine just fine. “Zachary, Seren’s drunk. Please take good care of her,” Liberty urged her brother-in-law. She got her sister drunk, so Serenity would not go after Hank for payback. Liberty was afraid the Browns would gang up on Serenity if she went to the Browns’ r
Mr. Longbottom thought he was not so inferior to men younger than him.More accurately, he was far superior. He had status, money, and power.Which of the younger men could be on par with him unless they came from a wealthy family?Many sons of wealthy families could not compete with him.“I can’t go over because I’m busy these days. But I do miss you too.“It’s more difficult because of the festive season. There are many events, and I have to accompany my family. My wife doesn't care about me, but her request is that I be with her during the holidays because we have to meet our friends and families. Do you understand?”Mr. Longbottom had a wife and children. Carrie knew about it. He had never hid that fact.Carrie did not know if he was close to his wife. Although he said they no longer had feelings for each other, Carrie dared not believe him because he had never let other women take his wife’s place.He also never allowed other women to become pregnant with his children.Mr
Carrie thought she had matured since she could figure out that much. In the past, she would not have understood a thing. Love was about accepting everything about someone. Most people could tolerate their partner’s shortcomings when they were deeply in love. However, without love, even a person’s strength would seem like a fault. Carrie smiled. “Mr. York is a workaholic. Serenity must’ve gotten the habit from him and turned into one herself. I can’t believe she’s working so hard even though she’s pregnant.”“She’s still in the early stages of pregnancy. Going to work is fine.”“Do you need anything else, Mrs. Longbottom?” Jasmine asked.“No. I shall take my leave now, Mrs. Bucham.”Jasmine was on guard and unwilling to reveal much about Serenity. Therefore, it would be better for Carrie to leave. She was not close to Serenity and her friends yet. “Bye, Mrs. Longbottom.”Jasmine saw Carrie out and watched as she got into her car.Once Carrie got far enough from the booksto
Mr. Longbottom had been surprised by her question. He told her coldly that she should refrain from asking unnecessary questions.One who knew too much would not live long. Carrie got intimidated and dared not ask another question. Although she got more curious, she did not try to gather more information for fear Mr. Longbottom would choke her again if he found out. “Nothing. I just asked because I haven’t seen her in a while.”Of course, Carrie could not reveal that she was looking for Serenity. Jasmine would get suspicious if she did. No one around Serenity was a fool. “Seren is busy with work. I rarely see her these days,” Jasmine said.Carrie knew it was a lie. She was aware that Serenity's closest friends did not trust her yet. It made her feel defeated. It had been months since Mr. Longbottom found her and asked her to approach Serenity. Despite her efforts, she still had not obtained Serenity’s trust, let alone become her friend.However, Jasmine and Serenity go
The day ended peacefully. The following day, Zachary ate breakfast and had Kevin drive him and his bodyguards to the airport. They were taking an airplane to Annenburg. Before boarding, Zachary texted Serenity to tell her he would soon arrive in Annenburg. Serenity would be returning from the Murphys’ place. On the other hand, Liberty brought Duncan to Queen Manor to visit Mr. Donald. They would soon become related to each other. Since Duncan was in the city, it was only proper that he visited the Queens. Meanwhile, in Wiltspoon, Jasmine had returned to the bookstore despite it being the winter holidays. She found it rather dull being at home all the time. At the bookstore, even when there were no customers, she could chat with the owners of the nearby stores. While some had closed their stores to celebrate the festive season, many chose to stay open. Jasmine was a month further into her pregnancy than Serenity. Her bump was huge. Luckily, it did not restrict her moveme
After half an hour, Liberty and Duncan finally arrived at the hotel. They bumped into Zachary and Kevin, who had also just returned.“You’re here, Duncan.”Zachary walked toward them. “Hi, Liberty.”Kevin walked over as well. “I told Zachary that you’d be here in no time. Being apart from your girlfriend isn’t easy, right?” Kevin teased.“You’ve experienced it yourself,” replied Duncan as he laughed. Kevin did not respond. He did miss Hayden a lot in the early stages of their relationship. “You two bought so many things.” Kevin saw the items in Duncan’s arms and on his thighs. They were all toys. “Sonny’s getting new toys again, eh?” “Yeah. We bought him some new clothes and toys. I’ve been giving him windmills all the time. It’s time to change it up.”Even Duncan found it slightly ridiculous. He thought Sonny loved windmills just because he saw Sonny playing with them once. That was why he kept getting more windmills for Sonny.Sonny used to be scared of him, but
She would wear light make-up for work to accentuate her beauty. Sometimes, she could not believe the glowing, confident woman looking back at her in the mirror was herself. She had changed a lot after her divorce two years ago. “I’m letting myself enjoy tonight because I’m with you. I won’t have late-night snacks anymore. Going on a diet is too difficult. I don’t want to do it again.”If she gained too much weight, it would be difficult to get fit again because she was happy and did not lack money. In addition, she had Duncan spoiling her. Since she no longer wanted to go on a weight loss journey, she had no choice but to control her appetite and exercise daily to maintain her figure. “I heard the others saying that you have many admirers here. Although they’ve not said anything, even a fool can tell that they’ve fallen for you just from their gazes.”The men who had a crush on Liberty knew she had a fiance who was the young master of the Lewises from Wiltspoon. While they
Liberty smiled. “We don’t have to have that many things. We can simply get our marriage license and choose a suitable date for a wedding.“I’m fine with just getting a marriage license. But, as it’s your first marriage, I don’t want you to miss out on anything, so let’s have a wedding.”Duncan did not want Liberty to feel slighted while at the same time, Liberty did not want Duncan to miss out on a wedding celebration.Liberty was about to get married for the second time while it was Duncan’s first. He was also a young master of the Lewises. Not holding a wedding for his first marriage seemed inappropriate. Duncan raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. His eyes were filled with affection as he said, “Let’s not let each other miss out on anything. We’ll have everything every other couple has and more.“I’ve said that I’d make sure you are the envy of everyone.”Liberty laughed. “I’m already envied by many. They’re saying that my luck is out of this world because I’m able to m
Now, everything was fine.However, this time, he was still unable to be by Liberty’s side. Even though it should have been much safer than when Sonny was kidnapped because he had arranged for people to protect her, he was still worried.He was afraid, feeling paralyzed as all he could do was just wait for news of her.Fortunately, everything went smoothly. No, it was more like there were scares but no real danger. When Belinda wanted to capture someone as a hostage, the first person she thought of was Liberty. First, Liberty did not know any martial arts. Second, she was the successor that Audrey had put forward, making her Caroline’s competitor. Moreover, Liberty was very significant to Audrey. If she were captured, the members of the York, Lewis, and Stone families would not dare act recklessly.Thanks to Dr. Carden’s quick actions, Liberty was pulled back, and she did not fall into Belinda’s hands as a hostage. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.After
“It’s just that when I saw you, I was so happy that I forgot everything else. I even forgot that I’m still disabled,” Duncan said.As he spoke, he pressed her hand against his lips.Liberty looked at him disapprovingly. “Don’t say you’re disabled again. You’re just temporarily impaired, and you will get better.”Duncan smiled. “Okay, okay, from now on, I won’t say I’m disabled. I’ll get better for you. I’ll stand up again.”“You already have—you just can’t walk very far yet,” Liberty said as she supported him. “Should we head back to my office first?”“Are you done with work?” Duncan looked up at the darkening sky. “It’s almost completely dark.”“It’s only five o’clock. It just gets dark quickly in winter, plus today was a cloudy day. It feels gloomy even before six. Anyway, I’m done with work.”“If that’s the case, let’s get something to eat. I’m hungry,” Duncan said.He did not want to go into her office because if he did, he might end up staying for a while. He thought it wo