A few minutes later, Serenity mumbled to herself, “Do you think I want to go into your room? If one day you were to beg me, I wouldn’t set foot inside at all.” Having realized that she also had the habit of locking her bedroom door, Serenity stopped rambling. Ultimately, this was the aftereffect of marrying at first sight. After guzzling down the hangover cure Zachary made for her, Serenity returned to her room and turned in for the night. It was a quiet night throughout. The following day, Serenity woke up to the sun shining on her face. She felt around the nightstand for her phone and looked at the time. It was past seven o’clock. Even as an early riser, Serenity barely got up at this hour today. She was usually awake by six in the morning. This was the result of having one glass of wine last night. It was a good thing she did not wake up with a headache. She was hungry though. Serenity felt bad for her sister last night and that resulted in her not much eating at h
“I’m not saying that you can’t stand up for your sister, but there’s no turning back once your sister and your brother-in-law have a falling out. I definitely am on your side with you sorting it out with your brother-in-law.” Serenity grimly ate her mushroom and replied, “You have a point. I will control my temper and refrain from hitting anyone, but I’ll still leave him a warning. I don’t want the Browns to think they can pick on my sister just because she doesn’t have a family.” Seeing that she took his advice, Zachary left the conversation at that. After filling their bellies, they sat for a little while before heading out together. Knowing that Serenity was worried about her sister, Zachary took a detour to Liberty’s place so Serenity could check on her sister before dropping her off at the shop.Serenity was touched by his thoughtfulness. She had cautioned herself against hitting on Zachary last night, but his kindness led her to throw that decision out the window. J
“Mr. York, can you stop flaunting your relationship? I have no plans on getting married now.” Now that Zachary bade his single life goodbye, he should not drag Josh into a married life. For Zachary to persistently show off the perks of having a wife, he was trying to persuade Josh to ditch his wonderful singlehood too. “Huh? Why did you pick this outfit today?” Josh’s keen eyes picked up on Zachary not wearing his usual suit label. He asked out of curiosity, “Why the change of brands?” Zachary was a stubborn man. He would stick to the same brand for years once he had a penchant for a certain brand. He was not one to switch between labels. With Zachary’s taste, the price of the suits he wore were exorbitant. However, the one he had on today did not cost more than a few hundred bucks. This was so unlike Zachary. Following Zachary’s footsteps, Josh asked with concern, “Mr. York, is our company facing a financial crisis? Are you wearing clothes from the outlet store to save
Serenity nearly burst into an outrage when Chelsea said that in her face. Still, Serenity had class and did not slam the table in front of Chelsea. She unhurriedly went behind the cash register and sat down before looking Chelsea in the eye and bombarding her with questions, “Chelsea, you mentioned my sister hit my brother-in-law? Did you witness it? Did my sister start it? Did my brother-in-law fight back? How bad was he beaten? Was he hospitalized?” Chelsea replied shamelessly, “So what if Hank started it? Your sister ought to be taught a lesson, and Hank wanted to discipline her the other day. However, he didn’t want to make your sister look bad since you came over with your husband. We even talked him out of punishing your sister. “Any man would’ve slapped their wives for all the things your sister had done. Your sister deserved a beating for her mistakes. She had the audacity to hit Hank back until he was black and blue. He couldn’t bring himself to go home. “Serenity, you
Chelsea cut in while Serenity was still talking. “We should be responsible for the children we give birth to. The parents-in-law have no obligation to look after the grandkids.” “That’s right. Children should be their parents’ responsibility. Why don’t you care for your own children then, Chelsea?”Chelsea opened her mouth and retorted, “My parents are happy to take care of my children. You could tell your sister to ask your parents to care for hers too.” Serenity picked up the glass of water in front of Chelsea and splashed it on her face. “Ah! What the hell was that, Serenity!” “I was helping you to rinse your filthy mouth.” Serenity shot an indifferent glare at the mother and daughter. Livid, Chelsea wanted to put violence into action when Mrs. Brown held her back. Mrs. Brown said to her daughter, “Your sister-in-law’s parents are gone for over a decade. You can’t blame Serenity for being angry since you made a hurtful comment.” “But she shouldn’t have splashed me wit
“Of course, I have no problem if you want to be a slave to your husband, Chelsea. However, my sister is not one. Men and women are both equals in this day and age. There should be equality between spouses. No one is better than the other.“It’s your choice to be under your husband’s thumb, but don’t force your values on my sister.“Hank struck my sister first and bashed her real bad. My sister only retaliated to stay alive. She was acting out of self-defense. There’s no way my sister will apologize, much less with gifts! You should be talking sense into Hank and get him to apologize to my sister.” Serenity reflected indifference and assertiveness on her face without fear of offending Liberty’s in-laws. She added. “You can send my sister back if you think she spends money without earning it, but don't ever use force on her. You might care about your son and brother, so do I. I cherish my sister more than anything.“And one more thing. My sister spent over a thousand bucks on clothe
“I think, like us, you hope Liberty and Hank’s relationship will turn out fine. You know how couples are. They might have a tiny spat every now and then, but it will pass. Don’t fuss about it too much.” Serenity uttered coldly, “Did Hank break his legs or forget his way home? Why does my sister need to bring him home?” The Browns might come down hard on her sister if Liberty went to their residence to bring Hank home. Besides, it would show that Liberty was admitting her fault. Serenity would never allow her sister to admit anything she had not done wrong. Hank was free to return home as he pleased. He could stay at his parents’ place for all she cared. Her sister could enjoy some peace and quiet in the house. “Why are you being difficult?” Mrs. Brown told Serenity off. “Hank’s not giving a dime to your sister for the living expenses so long as he’s not living at his own home. Your sister can forget ever stepping in our house if she can support herself.” With that, Mrs. B
“I’ll have a talk with my sister. This can’t go on. She’ll only be treated like dirt.” Liberty would always be at a disadvantage without a source of income. “How about we ask your sister to work at our shop? I’ll pay your sister’s wages. You don’t have to fork out the money. Liberty would be able to take care of Sonny too. That’s an added bonus.” Jasmine had Liberty’s interest at heart. Serenity sighed. “My sister won’t come. She believes our business is not doing well because I run an online business for additional income.” As a matter of fact, the shop was making a bit of profit. However, Liberty refused to make money out of Serenity, and no amount of words could persuade Liberty otherwise. “Liberty used to work in finance. I’ll ask Shawn if Lowe Enterprise is hiring at the moment. It’d be great to get Liberty into my uncle’s company. Although the company can’t compare to York Corporation and Stone Group, it’s a big business. The employees’ perks and welfare aren’t to
Caroline smiled gently. “I do quite like Sonny, he's really cute. Liberty, you've done a great job raising your son. It's easy to see that in ten or twenty years, Sonny will be very successful.”The only little one in Wiltspoon who had a familial connection to her was Sonny, as well as Clive’s son. Serenity's baby had not been born yet, after all.“Oh, by the way, I've prepared Christmas gifts for all of you, and I've written your names on them so it's clear whose gift is which. One of them is for Serenity's unborn baby. That generation will call me ‘grandaunt’, right? I'm not sure whether Serenity’s having a boy or a girl, so I've prepared a gift for both a boy and a girl. If it's a boy, then the other gift will be for her second child.”Caroline smiled and said, “Considering how much the Yorks wish for a daughter, I think Serenity and Zachary will probably give it another go and try for a daughter.”In this case, giving double the gifts was not excessive.“My nephew isn't even b
Caroline sighed internally once again. She would not ruminate about the past, and neither could she bring herself to. Mr. Foster was still alive, but he had returned to seek revenge for his master, and in doing so, he made Belinda fully realize that she would never receive his love in this lifetime. Now that Belinda was dead, all the love, hatred, and grudges had dissipated with her. Fortunately, she came to a realization before she passed on and regretted the things she had done to Tiara.Liberty said, “Your mother truly was very shrewd.”Belinda was ruthless, but when it came to making her posthumous arrangements, she had been meticulous, especially in preventing Hunter and his sons from plundering the Fisher family's assets. It had to be said that Belinda had truly done her duty as the head of the Fisher family, though as a mother, she had been too biased. She appeared very good to her three sons on the surface, but when dividing the family estate, she was very objective. “Did
The backing Liberty had was too strong.Although Caroline was familiar with the family business and internal affairs, she had no backing. The number of people supporting her within the family had also decreased. It was not because she was incompetent but because she was Belinda’s daughter. Whatever Belinda did was exposed by the media and circulated among the people of Jensburg. It would be a lie to say that the Fisher family members did not hold a grudge at all. Even if Caroline was kinder than Belinda, they could not support Belinda’s daughter as the next matriarch. People would change. When Belinda first assumed the position decades ago, she was friendly to the family. However, once her position was stabilized, she started eliminating those who were capable and those who disagreed with her. She wanted to monopolize power. Therefore, nobody wanted Caroline to take over as matriarch. On the other hand, Liberty received much more support. Unless Liberty gave up on the
At that moment, the office phone rang. Liberty picked up the call and was informed by the secretary that Caroline had arrived.“Please let her in,” replied Liberty before hanging up. “Caroline is here.”Liberty told Duncan. He said calmly, “So what? We aren’t doing anything shameful. There’s nothing to hide.”He was Liberty’s fiancée. Most people in WIltspoon and Jensburg were aware of this. Seeing him in Liberty’s office would be completely normal to Caroline. Besides, he was one of the shareholders of Liberty’s company. Therefore, the company was also Duncan’s territory. He was uninvolved in the operations and only invested his money. He believed that Liberty could manage the company well. Liberty smiled and did not say anything else. She went to prepare a pot of tea. Soon, Caroline entered. Darren was behind her with multiple shopping bags in his hands. When Liberty saw the bags upon exiting the pantry with a pot of tea, she told Caroline, “What did you br
“What’s wrong?”Duncan replied softly, “I’m fine. I thought you caught a cold because you kept sneezing.”He wanted to fuss over her, yet he received her concern instead. That was the kind of relationship he wanted—mutual concern, understanding, and trust. Liberty understood why he suddenly came to her. She said, “You got so worried over an occasional sneeze. Don’t worry. I’m fine. I’ve gotten used to the winter in Jensburg after staying here for some time.“Maybe I was sneezing because someone said something bad about me behind my back.”Duncan immediately said, “Who dares to badmouth my fiancée?”Liberty feigned anger with a glance, but she was clearly happy. Duncan was very protective of her. Even Hank was not as protective as when she was dating him back then. The difference between true and fake love was so apparent. Duncan guessed, “I can’t think of anyone who’d scold you besides your previous in-laws.”Liberty replied, “You shouldn’t think about them. I no lo
“Anyway, you’re not allowed to take advantage of Sonny. He’ll catch on because he’s growing up. Don’t offend Serenity either. Otherwise, your hardware store that has finally stabilized will have to close down.”Chelsea’s expression changed when she recalled why she and her husband lost their jobs. “One more thing. If Liberty and Duncan get married, don’t be ignorant and stir up trouble at their wedding.”Olivia was worried that her daughter would be unreasonable and make a fuss. Chelsea was unhappy. “Do I look like someone who likes to create trouble? Liberty is different and isn’t as gullible as before. I don’t have the guts to make a ruckus at their wedding.“Do you think I’m that fearless? I’m afraid of losing everything too.”Nevertheless, Chelsea was still jealous that the sister-in-law she used to bully was able to marry into a wealthy family two years after her divorce. Olivia knew well of the daughter she birthed. She said, “Think about who rescued Lucas when someth
Chelsea muttered, “Even if you do that, Sonny isn’t close to you, Mom.”Olivia was speechless for a second. She said, “Even if we aren’t close, he’ll call me grandmom when he sees me. He doesn’t even greet me now.“Sonny may be young, but he’ll be four years old next year. He knows everything he needs to and is clever. He must’ve inherited Hank and Liberty’s best genes because they used to be smart people.”Liberty was not stupid. She even had a better career than Hank before she got married. What were they thinking back then?The Browns wanted to suppress Liberty to ensure she was less dominant than Hank. Therefore, Liberty was persuaded to leave her job after marriage to stay home throughout her pregnancy. She ended up becoming a housewife and lost the sharp edge she had in her workplace. Her world only revolved around her husband and son, causing her to lose her identity gradually. The Browns were changing Liberty bit by bit, yet they were not treating her well. Ultimately
“I’m not using Sonny. Since Hank and I are siblings and he only has one son, Sonny and Lucas can get along as cousins. If Sonny hangs out with his cousins more often, he’ll have brothers who have his back in the future.“If he runs into any problems, we can help him. He won’t be alone.”Chelsea guessed Hank must have told their parents something to have caused the change in their mother’s attitude. Olivia favored Sonny and no longer wished to work toward the future of Chelsea’s children.Olivia glanced at her daughter and chuckled. Then, she looked toward Lucas, the grandson she raised. Lucas was a naughty boy. He would never stay still and had already made a mess of the house in a short period. “Look at how Lucas behaves now and compare it to Sonny’s personality. Although Sonny can get mischievous sometimes, he’s more mature and sensible despite his young age. He’ll only be more composed in the future.“Even if he does run into trouble, he won’t require your help. You guys
“Even if my husband and I work tirelessly for another decade, we can never achieve the wealth of the Lewises.”Chelsea was mentally cursing Hank for being ignorant and not mending his relationship with Sonny. He even brainwashed their parents until they stopped siding with her. She could only imagine Sonny’s bright future, where he would be living in a large villa, driving luxury cars, and inheriting a megacorporation. Meanwhile, her children could only get a decent nine-to-five job. Their monthly salary could even be lower than the price of one of Sonny’s meals.Chelsea was jealous. She was anxious about getting her son to build a close relationship with Sonny.“Why don’t we file a case to regain Sonny’s custody, Mom? Liberty and Serenity won’t ignore us so long Sonny is in our house. They’ll help us so that Sonny lives a good life too.“That way, Sonny will have a deeper connection with us. He won’t forget us when he becomes a capable person.”Chelsea had a pipe dream. O