Lily held her cup and took a sip of coffee elegantly. After that, she smiled at Duncan and said, “You’re such an honest person. Your words do hurt my pride.“Can you tell me why you fell in love with Liberty? She’s divorced and has a three-year-old son. She isn’t even on equal social status as you. I just wish to know how I lost so I can overcome my shortcomings…”“To be honest, I have no idea either. I didn’t even know I had romantic feelings for Liberty. I only realized I had unconsciously developed those feelings after the panic, fear, and heartache I felt after she got hurt.“I don’t care that she’s divorced. I don’t mind that she has a son too. I like Sonny. As for social status… I don’t care about it. However, I won’t confess for now to not make her feel pressured. I’m willing to wait for her for two to three years and confess to her after her career takes off.”Duncan thought he would have higher chances of succeeding if he confessed to Liberty after her business flourished.
Duncan stared at Lily in silence. After some time, he said calmly, “This is your decision, Ms. Harmon. You can do as you wish, but I won’t reciprocate or accept your feelings just because of this.”He knew that Lily’s feelings for him had not extended to one of love. Therefore, she could remain alert and rational when facing his reply. She even accepted the fact that she lost to Liberty calmly. However, he still made things clear beforehand. No matter what Lily did, Duncan would never accept her. He did not have a big heart. It was only enough for one person. The woman who entered his heart first would be kept there forever. Duncan would feel happy if he could marry the person he loved. If he could not marry her, he would not forget her and store his feelings for her in the depths of his heart. Lily smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Duncan. I won’t expect you to repay me or accept my feelings for this. We’re all adults. We have to face the consequences of all the decisions we
‘How did Serenity conquer such a cold, arrogant man?’ Chelsea criticized inwardly. She would not be able to bear spending time with a man like that. He was too cold!She did not dare look at Zachary anymore. Instead, she smiled and said to Serenity, “Serenity, can I have a few words with you in private?”Serenity asked Chelsea, “What is it that you can’t say right now?”Chelsea took a quick glance at Zachary, then Serenity. Indeed, Serenity was more pleasing to the eye. Chelsea used to treat Serenity meanly and instigate her brother to quarrel with Liberty. It was an indirect way of forcing Serenity to move out. Firstly, it was because she wanted to make space for her children. She had planned to send her children to the middle school in the city. Secondly, Chelsea was jealous of Serenity’s youth and beauty. Liberty was beautiful before she married too. However, she did not bother maintaining it and bloated up like a ball. Her beauty before her marriage was gone. Serenity was
Chelsea did not know what was good about Jessica that bewitched her brother. His son almost got into an accident because of Jessica. His ex-wife was injured too. However, he was still partial to Jessica. Chelsea was greatly dissatisfied with her brother. She felt guilty too.It would have been nice if her brother and Liberty were not divorced. Chelsea made mistakes in the past and was trying to correct them for her brother and Liberty to remarry. “Just be straightforward, Chelsea. There’s no need to beat around the bush. I don’t like talking to people who go in circles, wanting me to guess their thoughts.”Serenity could more or less guess Chelsea’s intentions from her expression. The Browns simply wanted Hank and her sister to remarry. It was ridiculous. What did they take her sister for to be at their beck and call?The Browns would never have regretted it if Hank had not been in a dire situation.“Serenity, I like your frankness. I’ll be honest. Is Mr. Lewis pursui
“Hank’s still thinking of begging for mercy for Jessica’s sake, and his heart is on Jessica. He might’ve felt regret, but he would never mourn divorcing my sister. My sister doesn’t regret divorcing him too. Chelsea, I advise you not to look for my sister or me for this matter anymore.”After speaking, Serenity did not give Chelsea a chance to talk and left her behind. She walked toward Zachary, who was waiting for her at the door of the ward, without turning her head back. Zachary could not hear their conversation. When he saw his beloved wife’s dark expression, he knew that the chat did not go well. “Seren, should we make her leave?”“Not this time,” Serenity replied. Then, she told the bodyguards, “If the Browns come again in the future, chase them away. Don’t let them see my sister or Sonny before my sister recovers.”After recovering, Liberty would continue running All You Can Eat and be back in business. She would not be able to keep the Browns out. That family was shamele
Upon exiting the inpatient department and getting into Zachary’s car, Serenity took her phone and removed her granddad’s number from her list of blocked contacts. Next, she called him. She rarely got in touch with her extended family ever since she solved the problem of her old house. After experiencing Serenity’s ferocity first-hand, her extended family, who had always been aiming to gain benefits through her, ceased to take advantage of her anymore. They had numbers, but all the people around Serenity were wealthy and powerful—they stood no chance. Additionally, Old Mr. and Mrs. Hunt were hurt by their children’s and grandchildren’s attitudes toward their elderly care. They suddenly did not want to make a fuss anymore. In the past, Old Mr. and Mrs. Hunt treated Serenity and Liberty heartlessly. They took so much of the sisters’ compensation and used it all to support their other children. It was so that their children would have money to start a family. Every family ended u
Serenity’s words pleased Old Mr. Hunt because she was willing to come to them for help when she had a problem. “My sister got into an accident and was injured.”“What accident? How’s her injury? How did she get hurt? Did it happen a week ago? Mike and John had asked whether you contacted me during those few days. They refused to say anything when I asked them what they wanted.”Old Mr. Hunt never paid attention to the internet, so he did not know Liberty was injured. The younger generation in the family knew, but no one told Old Mr. and Mrs. Hunt. People of the town did not talk about it either. They thought things were awkward between the Hunt sisters and their grandparents. If Old Mr. and Mrs. Hunt were to know that Liberty was hurt, they probably would be delighted. Therefore, no one in the town informed him. “It happened a week ago. Liberty is recovering well, but her previous in-laws keep pestering her. They want her to remarry her ex-husband. However, my sister was hurt
After ending the call with her granddad, Serenity held the phone in her hand and said to Zachary, “I got external help to go against the Browns and return my sister peace according to your suggestion, but I don’t know how things will turn out.”“We’ll find out after some time. I think the effect will be great.”Zachary was confident in his idea. “Seren, you don’t have to be so worried. We should think now about what dress and jewelry you’ll wear tonight.”Serenity glanced at him. “You sound like you want to steal everyone’s attention away from Mr. Bucham.”Zachary said smugly, “I don’t even have to steal. I’m in the limelight in every venue I appear in, and I make Josh pale in comparison.”Serenity was speechless. He was confident that he could beat Josh, but she had no intentions of taking the spotlight away from her best friend. She smiled and said, “My dresses are the ones you or Aunt Audrey bought. I’ve only worn the dresses I purchased several times. Will I have the cha
The night went by peacefully. The next morning, Liberty could hear her gates opening when she stirred in her bed. Soon, she heard her housekeeper talking. “You’re early, Mrs. York.”“Mm. My sister is getting married today. I couldn’t go back to sleep after I woke up, so I decided to come over.”While Serenity could not help Liberty and Zachary out with anything, she was excited to the point she could not sleep. It took Zachary a lot of effort to persuade her to sleep. However, she woke up at dawn after having a dream about her parents. She could not go back to sleep afterward and insisted on going to her sister’s place. Zachary thought he could sleep in since he was on break, but his wife just could not fall asleep. There was no helping it. The doting husband accompanied his wife to her sister’s house early in the morning. The housekeeper smiled. “Ms. Hunt isn’t awake yet.”“It’s okay. I won’t wake my sister.”Serenity finally felt at ease when she was at Liberty’s ho
After a pause, she said, “Let’s meet at nine in the morning. Seren and Zachary will come over to my place. They’ll be looking after Sonny for me. I’ll head out after they arrive. You can wait for me at the City Hall’s entrance.”“No. I want to go to the City Hall with you.”Duncan did not want to wait for her at the City Hall. He wanted to go together.“Bring Sonny along.“We’ll be a family of three from tomorrow onward. We should bring him along.”He would officially become Sonny’s father tomorrow. It did not matter that he was a stepfather. It was Duncan’s first time adoring a child that much, and he did not expect that he would later become that child’s father.After giving it some thought, Liberty said, “Okay. Let’s take Sonny with us.“By the way, Sonny won’t change his surname after we get married. That was Hank’s condition when we got divorced. Since I promised him, I’ll keep to my word.”Sonny would still be the grandson of the Browns. He would not become a Lewis.
Although Sonny was backed by a few wealthy families and would be well-supported even if he was incompetent, they still hoped he would turn out to be an outstanding individual. That way, he could be independent and achieve his goals without much help. Duncan had not thought about Sonny’s education plan. However, he knew Liberty had high hopes for Sonny. Even Serenity had never neglected Sonny’s nurturing. Despite only being in preschool, Sonny had started various hobby classes. It was to build a solid foundation and develop his interest in certain hobbies while still young. The only time he could fully enjoy playing was during winter and summer vacations. Liberty and Serenity had similar philosophies when it came to children’s education. They believed children had to study hard and play hard. Liberty nodded and said, “Sonny can have all the fun he wants when he’s young. Once the situation in Jensburg is stable, he’ll have to study and live there.“I wonder if he’ll be willing
Although Corey’s daughters-in-law were not her biological children, she would love them as if they were. After all, they had married into the family and gave birth to the family’s future generation. The jewelry she gave them would be passed down to her grandchildren anyway. Her daughters-in-law came from wealthy families themselves and had many assets to their names. They had more than enough jewelry. Nevertheless, they still happily accepted their mother-in-law’s gift and promised to pass it down to their future daughters-in-law.Of course, they would also gather sufficient wealth and jewelry to be given to their daughters. Anyway, the Lewises treated boys and girls equally in the family. There was no gender discrimination. However, Corey preferred having granddaughters. She had only given birth to four sons and no daughters. After her sons got married, their first children were all sons. She had been afraid that men would outnumber the women in the Lewis family, just like how it
After Corey scolded Ezra, she looked toward Duncan and Liberty. She said gently, “When are you two planning to get your marriage license? Tomorrow?“The City Hall will be closed at the end of the year. It’s best to get the procedure done within these few days.”Getting their marriage license soon would also reassure Duncan. The wedding could be held later. Once they got their marriage license and became legitimate husband and wife, Duncan would no longer have to be alone. He and Liberty could love each other as a married couple. There was also a chance that Liberty might already be pregnant with Corey’s grandchild by the time the wedding was held. Corey wished Liberty could give birth to a child for Duncan. The gender did not matter so long as the baby was Duncan’s biological child. If Liberty truly did not want to get pregnant again, Sonny would probably take care of Duncan in his old age. Duncan had always treated Sonny well, and Sonny was a reasonable child. Sonny would no
Liberty looked at him again. To be honest, she had not known that Duncan had already arranged for a tailor to custom-make a wedding dress for her. As for her size, well, Duncan probably knew.He had sharp eyes and could probably estimate her measurements just by looking at her, not to mention how many times he had hugged her. He could also have asked her sister for her clothing size and preference.As for her preference, he probably had not needed to ask. They had known each other for two years, and Duncan knew very well what she liked and did not like. Serenity had not mentioned anything about the dress to her, so it seemed like they were keeping it from her as a surprise.Duncan met her gaze and softly explained, “After you agreed to register our marriage before Christmas, I immediately contacted the fashion designer Zachary and Josh recommended me. I asked Serenity about your clothing size, and I also secretly took your measurements myself to make sure there wouldn’t be mistakes
Liberty had looked over the dates Corey had chosen. The closest was in less than half a month. The timing for that one was a bit tight, while the farthest was in the early fall of the next year. Liberty actually wanted to choose this one because by then, her sister would have already given birth and could attend her wedding. Things in Jensburg would also be settled, and she would be able to take the time to handle her own wedding, but she decided to let Duncan take a look first and see how he would choose.After looking at the dates, Duncan turned to his parents and said, “Dad, Mom, I think the early fall date is better. Let’s go with that one.”Liberty gave him a slightly surprised look. She thought he would be eager to have the wedding right away. However, she soon realized why. Duncan had mentioned before that he wanted to fully recover before the wedding, not wanting to be in a wheelchair. By early fall, he believed he would be able to walk normally.He was already recovering
For a four-year-old child to write like this was quite impressive.Liberty also noticed her son’s handwriting and said, “Sonny mentioned that at FC Manor, he copied books and practiced writing with Laurence every day, so his handwriting has become neater and prettier.”She did not expect her son to be able to write a lot at his age. He was still young, and she was worried that excessive writing might deform his fingers. However, since Sonny liked writing and drawing, she did not stop him. Plus, at the age of four, he could not sit still for long. After writing for a while, he would go off to play. The time he spent writing was not long enough to worry about his fingers becoming misshapen.They had stayed at FC Manor for about half a month. In that time, he had not spent very long actually writing with Laurence, but perhaps just with Laurence accompanying him, Sonny had improved. After copying medicinal books for a few days, his handwriting had become much neater compared to before.
Isaac addressed Liberty as “aunt” and at first, she felt a little embarrassed, but she quickly regained her composure and responded. Then, she said to the two children, “Sonny, you need to listen to Isaac. Isaac, keep an eye on Sonny.”“Don’t worry, Aunt Liberty. I’ll take good care of Sonny,” Isaac reassured her. Duncan also gave a few instructions before letting them go.“Liberty.”“Duncan’s back.”Everyone wore smiles when they saw the two of them walk inside. Looking at how close and affectionate the two were now, the Lewises could not help but feel a wave of emotions. They had once thought that Duncan would never marry and would stay a bachelor for life, but unexpectedly, he fell in love with his good friend's sister-in-law, Liberty, who was a divorcee.At first, the elders in the family strongly opposed the relationship, but he did not give up, determined to be with Liberty. With his persistence and after going through hardships, the two of them finally made it to this point