“Grandmom and Granddad, these supplements are very expensive, but they’re suitable for old people like you to consume. Keep them for yourself and don’t share them with others.”Liberty could not eat that much anyway. She did not give her grandparents money, but she could give them supplements.They harmed the sisters too much in the past. Even if they wanted to help her solve her troubles now, she could not forgive them immediately.Her sister must have given them benefits as well to have persuaded them to help her.“Liberty, you’re in the hospital now. You should keep the supplements for yourself.”Although Old Mrs. Hunt refused verbally, she let her youngest grandson go up and take the large bag.Liberty sent the three of them out of the ward and instructed Noah to take care of his grandparents. Then, she went back to the ward and called her sister again....Back at Lewis & Co., Duncan had just finished talking to a client about a deal and was about to send the client downst
It was only the mother and son when they entered the CEO’s elevator, so Mrs. Lewis spoke impolitely.She snapped, “You don’t have to marry Lily. I’ll find you another lady who’s a good match for you. In short, you can only marry a noble lady. You can’t marry Liberty!“I’m serious, Duncan. I’m not joking. Unless hell freezes over, I’ll never agree to you being with Liberty.”Duncan did not get angry at his mother’s stubbornness and said, “Mom, did you come here just to say all that to me again? I think there’s no need for us to talk about this.“You don’t have to care about my business or my marriage. If you want me to give up on Liberty, bring Granny back to life. If Granny also doesn’t approve of me being with Liberty, then I’ll give up on her.”Mrs. Lewis was so angry that she yelled, “Your granny passed away many years ago. If she could come back from the dead, she would definitely scold your ear off. In fact, your granny might actually rise from her grave if you get together w
[There are perks to being single. Cheer up.]Josh comforted his friend.When there was no woman he liked, Duncan also thought that it was good to be single.Now that there was someone he liked, he wanted to be like Josh. He wanted to end his status as a bachelor soon.In the future, he wanted someone to care for him and give him warmth when he came home after work.Liberty would definitely be a good wife!Hank did not know how to cherish her, but if Duncan got together with Liberty, he would certainly treasure her.“Who’s sending you messages, Duncan? Is it Zachary? Duncan, Zachary still feels a sense of novelty with Serenity, so he’ll side with his wife and sister-in-law. You should keep your distance from him until you marry Lily.”Mrs. Lewis was confident that Zachary would stand on his sister-in-law’s side.Josh’s fiancée was Serenity’s best friend. The Sox family was not bad; they were locals of Wiltspoon and owned several buildings and streets of stores for rent. Jasmine
Ring, ring, ring…Duncan’s phone rang. It was Zachary who called. Duncan immediately answered it. “Josh is inviting us to dinner tonight.” Duncan beat Zachary to it as he assumed Zachary was going to ask if he was free. The three of them were the closest of friends. Since Josh was no longer a bachelor and invited them to dinner, Duncan would go even if he was busy. “I know, he sent me a message long ago.” Zachary held his phone in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He called Duncan while he was drinking coffee. “My wife saw through you.” “Saw through me?” Duncan did not get it at first. He soon understood and responded, “She saw through me? That’s good. I was wondering how I can say it.” Initially, Duncan wanted to act on his feelings after realizing them. It was Zachary who persuaded him to hold back. Zachary told Duncan that it was inappropriate to tell Liberty about his feelings at the moment because she was injured and still weak. He asked Dunca
Zachary went back to work. His wife would pick him up from the office in the afternoon, and they would go and celebrate Josh and Jasmine’s marriage together. Zachary could dive right back into his work, but Duncan could not focus on his. Duncan’s mom asked him right after Zachary ended the call, “Duncan, what did Zachary tell you?” “Mom, do I need to tell you the content of my calls? You didn’t even take me seriously when I was a child. Now that I’m in my thirties, you’re here to control me. Don’t you think it’s too late?” Mrs. Lewis choked. “Mom, you’ve finished what you wanted to say. I have to get back to work.” Duncan wanted his mom to leave. Mrs. Lewis said after a moment of silence, “Since Josh is treating you to dinner tonight, take Lily with you and let her slowly integrate into your circle of friends.” “No!” Duncan directly refused. Mrs. Lewis asked, “Do you hate Lily that much? What about her that is inferior to Liberty? She’s better than Liberty—be it h
If Old Mrs. Lewis were alive, she would not stop Duncan from pursuing Liberty. In Duncan’s words, his granny only wanted him to be happy. If he truly loved Liberty, his granny would definitely support him to pursue Liberty. “Ms. Harmon, you don’t have fantasies about me still, do you?” Lily responded, There’s no such thing. I now know what kind of person you are, Duncan. Since you don’t love me, why should I harbor fantasies about you? You’re not the only outstanding man in this world. “Why should I cling to you when you don’t belong to me? Wouldn’t it be good for me to find someone else? I can also find more than one man. “Alright, then I’ll stop acting too. I’ll have dinner with Mrs. Lewis later and make things clear, then I’ll move out of your house and live in Wiltspoon Hotel. We might not end up as a couple, but we can still be friends.” Lily was well-intentioned. Even so, Duncan was also reasonable. It would be better for Lily to make things clear to Mrs. Lewis an
“Thanks for your concern, Mr. Charles. My sister is doing much better now and is recovering quite well,” Serenity replied. “That’s good, that’s good.” Mr. Charles ate some of the vegetables in his bowl again. “Serenity, I’ll tell you something. Can you give me some advice and tell me if it’s reliable or not? I told Mrs. Charles, and she scolded me.” Serenity chuckled and said, “Mr. Charles, go ahead. What is it? I’ll listen to it and give you some advice.” “You know I can tell fortunes, right? But I didn’t learn it from a teacher and somehow learned from others to get into it. I also read some books and figured it out myself.” Mr. Charles stopped eating and said softly, “But I think I can now set up a fortune-telling stall by the road or in the park. I’ll just do it during my free time so I can get some extra money for my family, though I still have to tend to our grocery store. “It’s just that as our children and elders grow older, middle-aged people like us are under mo
Serenity visited her sister in the hospital first. When she arrived at the hospital, Liberty and Sonny had finished their dinner. “Aunt Ser.” Sonny was delighted to see Serenity. He ran to her asking her to carry him. Serenity picked him up and saw her sister getting ready to wash the insulated lunch boxes. She quickly said, “Liberty, I’ll wash them.” “You don’t need to. I’m also bored now, so I’m just looking for things to do.” Otherwise, Liberty would have let Mrs. Lane wash the lunch boxes long ago. “You closed the bookstore pretty early today.” Serenity stood at the bathroom door with her nephew in her arms. While watching her sister wash the lunch boxes with hot water, she responded, “Jasmine is treating us to dinner. Sonny, you’re full from dinner already. I was going to take you to dinner.” Liberty chuckled and said, “I’m being raised like a pig now. I eat, sleep, and repeat every day. Moreover, the food brought by Sam every day is delicious. If I keep going at t
Austin quickly left the CEO’s office. Just as he stepped out, he ran into Tati, who was looking for Isabella.“Ms. Tati,” Austin greeted politely.Tati nodded and waited for Austin to leave before she knocked on the office door and entered.“Austin came early today to cook for you,” Tati said, holding a folder in her hand and opening it as she walked toward Isabelle.She sat down at the desk, handed over the folder, and said, “Isa, this is urgent. Please take a look.”Isabella took the document, glancing through it as she replied, “He comes around this time every day, neither early nor late.”“That Longbottom fellow came by again?” Tati asked.It was only after Mr. Longbottom had directly asked to see Isabella that Tati found out the old lecher had come again.“Yes, but I didn’t meet him. He brought some gifts, claiming they were holiday presents for us. I had them sent back. He’s too ambitious, and he has bad intentions. We’re absolutely on guard against him. Why would we give
Isabella turned her head to look at Austin.Austin stopped the massage and asked in a gentle voice, “Are you feeling any discomfort? I can work on it. I don't give people massages often, so I don’t have much experience. I'll keep giving you more massages as practice so I'll be able to serve you better.”“It's not that,” Isabella smiled. “It's actually very comfortable. It’s just that I really want to meet your grandmother every time you mention her.”In Isabella's mind, Austin's grandmother had already become something of a legendary figure.Austin thought to himself, ‘Nana’s already met you. You probably met her before, you just didn't know it was her.’His nana had surely spent a lot of time observing Isabella, getting to know her, and confirming that her character and abilities were suitable for him before choosing Isabella for him.“When you’re less busy, if you’re willing, you can come visit us in Wiltspoon. Lots of flowers bloom in spring, and there’s beautiful scenery ever
When Isabella first took over the family business, many of her grandparents' and parents' friends and relatives openly tried to sabotage her. They played dirty tricks, schemed, and tried various ways to undermine her.They wanted to take advantage of her, and they also did not want her to take control of the family’s legacy. They tried to prevent her from establishing herself in the company, even going as far as to collaborate with outsiders to trap her.She had suffered countless setbacks, faced numerous conspiracies, and even experienced several so-called accidents, nearly losing her life. It was only after all this that she truly understood the treachery of human nature. From that point on, she learned to arm herself with cold indifference.Though she was taking over her own family’s business, it felt like she had to fight through a bloody battle to secure her place, as if she were a king striving to ascend the throne. It was exhausting and disheartening.However, she endured an
Austin said, “He’s definitely here to discuss a potential partnership with your company.“He's just the acting head of the Longbottoms. He doesn’t truly control the family. If the real head returns, everything he’s worked for will go to someone else.“The downfall of Belinda Fisher probably gave him a wake-up call and he doesn’t want to end up like that.“He’s definitely seeking to cooperate with you regarding his personal business. He’s just using the Longbottoms’ name, since their influence in Windermere is enormous.”In terms of wealth, the O'Connors and the Longbottoms were on equal footing, but the O'Connors had fewer members and did not have the same level of influence in Windermere as the Longbottoms.Isabella said, “He’s very ambitious. A partnership would only just be the beginning. Once it’s established, he’ll start thinking about how to cheat us and steal our business.“Plus, he’s very lecherous. Nobody can put a number to how many women he’s toyed with. Some even lost
Tony was aware that whenever his wife had to play the villain, it was always to protect him. He said, “You're right, I misspoke. Your mother isn’t that kind of person.”“Manny, I’ll be leaving soon. You stay here, and I’ll leave half of my men with you. If anything comes up that you can't handle, contact me. I’ll be waiting to hear good news from you.” Tony decided to fly to Wiltspoon in the afternoon. He would only stay for two or three days before returning to Havenmill to handle business.However, as he thought about how he was working like a horse for Longbottom Corporation when many of the benefits did not even belong to him personally, Tony felt a bit disgruntled.“Got it.” Manny did not reject his father’s arrangement.As the Longbottom father and son were discussing how to deal with the O’Connors, Austin entered Isabella’s office.Isabella was busy, so Austin did not disturb her. He quietly sat at the tea table and made some tea.“It seems you’ve learned the art of tea-
Manny had never been to Wiltspoon, but he knew from his father that several prominent families in Wiltspoon had close ties with the Johnsons from Annenburg. It was possible that the child adopted by the Johnsons’ young missus was Laurence. Unfortunately, he could not meet that child, so he could not be a hundred percent certain. The child was currently out of sight and well-protected, hidden so effectively that even the Longbottoms’ information network could not find anything. The other prominent families in Wiltspoon were also helping to keep the child hidden, so Manny deeply disliked the people from these families. Even though they were thousands of miles away, they were still an obstacle to him and his father in their pursuit of becoming the true head of the family.“That's right. If we can conquer the O’Connors, we’ll have a backup plan,” his father said. “You must put your all into it, son. If you need help, just let me know, though this is also an opportunity for you to ge
Tony Longbottom was the only person who would put on such a parade. The big shots in Satbury usually had entourages of their own, but none would put on a spectacle as big as Tony would.As they departed in their car, Tony’s gracious demeanor utterly shattered.His face twisted into an ugly, cruel expression as he said, “I’ve never been treated like this before, even when the legitimate branch of the family still lived, and those two ignorant little girls actually refused to see me multiple times.”Manny was very angry too and he said, “Pops, since they refuse to go about this the easy way, we’ll have to show them the hard way. We can approach it from other angles, and once they’re completely out of business and they have nowhere else to turn to, they’ll be at our mercy.“Won’t they have to do as we please then? I want to marry them, they’ll have to marry me, and if I don’t, I’ll just make them my mistresses. Don’t the O’Connors have plenty of daughters? I’ll fuck every one of them
“Isabella O’Connor is so outstanding, so why are you asking me to go for Tati O’Connor instead?” Manny said under his breath in puzzlement.He had seen photos of the two ladies and Isabella’s appearance was more striking. She had a cold and aloof aura that easily triggered his desire to conquer her, and after just a few glances, he was captivated.If it were up to him, Manny would choose Isabella.Tony looked at his son, smiled, and said, “You can’t control her. Of course, if you manage to make her fall for you, we can talk about switching. But for now, focus on Tati O’Connor.”Tati was also beautiful. However, she did not have Isabella’s cold demeanor. She seemed much gentler, like she smiled often.“Marrying Tati O’Connor would be a big advantage for both you and our family.”Manny thought for a moment and then nodded in understanding. “Got it, Dad.”Manny’s good looks, wealth, honeyed tongue, and generosity toward girls made him good at winning them over. Pursuing a rich youn
After testing the O’Connor sisters and realizing they were not like other women, Mr. Longbottom thought of having his son marry Tati.He knew that his son would not be able to handle or control Isabella, so he set his sights on Tati. Tati probably did not realize she was considered an easy target. Most people underestimated her because she had always kept a low profile.At that moment, a young man got out from the other side of the Rolls-Royce. He resembled Mr. Longbottom. Indeed, he was Mr. Longbotton’s eldest son, Manny.“Dad.”Manny went to his father’s side and glanced at the building before him. He asked, “Aren’t we driving inside?”In Havenmill, Manny could do whatever he wished because his father was the interim head of the Longbottom family. While he had no respect for ordinary people at all, he was clever enough not to offend people he should not.He never parked his car outside the places he wanted to go and simply drove his car through the gates. However, Manny