Zachary placed the phone on the table and said to Serenity, “Nana is getting craftier.”He wanted to call her devious instead but was afraid that she would get back at him if word got to her.In the end, he decided to keep to himself.“A matchmaker is only responsible for introducing two people to each other, not to guarantee that the couple will have a child.”Serenity teased Zachary.Grandma May was only responsible for helping her grandsons choose their wives. How they pursued their wives was their business; it was not something for her to worry about.She still had several grandchildren at home who were still single.Recently when Dylan and the others learned about their nana’s method of choosing their wives, all of them grew nervous. In fact, they were shivering in fright.Every day, they wondered what kind of wife their nana would choose for them.Recently, they tried sweet-talking and coaxing their nana every day, wanting her to let them remain single for a few more yea
While Sonny went to class, Serenity went to the hospital accompanied by Zachary.She asked Zachary to stop when they passed by Spring Blossoms. She got out of the car and went into the store to buy a bouquet of flowers.Camryn was not in the store.“Is your boss making a delivery?” Serenity asked the store assistant.“Our boss went to get the goods early in the morning and will probably only be back at around ten o’clock. Do you have anything important to ask her, Mrs. York? I can ask her to call you when she comes back.”Serenity hummed. “Okay, tell her to ring me when she’s back.”The assistant agreed and saw Serenity out of the store.Serenity held the bouquet and got into the car, saying to Zachary while closing the door, “Camryn isn’t in the store. She went out first thing in the morning to get some goods and won’t be back until around ten o’clock. Tell Callum that I might not be able to leave at ten. I can only come over if Jasmine is at the store.”Zachary said, “Don’t w
Upon hearing what Serenity said, he could not help but think, ‘As expected of Zachary’s wife.’The husband and wife said almost the exact same thing.“Serenity, I can only say that I won’t give up as long as your sister doesn’t remarry.”Duncan spoke solemnly.There was nothing else Serenity could say.Putting aside everything else, she held quite an admiration for Duncan.The three of them entered the in-patient building together. When they arrived at Liberty’s ward, they saw Hank standing by the door early in the morning.This time, Hank came alone.Olivia and Chelsea did not tag along.Hank was also holding a bouquet and an insulated lunch box.His parents asked him to do this.Serenity was a little surprised when she saw Hank. Did her grandparents not stop him from coming out?However, Olivia and Chelsea did not come, so it was still better than before.Hank was a walking contradiction now and could easily be driven away.“Hank Brown, are you here to disturb Liberty’s
Zachary shot a look at the bodyguard. The bodyguard got the hint.Duncan was the last person to enter the ward.Hank noticed that Duncan too had bought flowers and that the latter was holding an insulated box. Obviously, Duncan was trying to pursue Liberty! Hank immediately felt bitter about it.“Liberty, Liberty…”After Hank called Liberty twice, Noah covered his nose and mouth to stop him from screaming.Noah was young. Besides, he had spent a short period of time with some hooligans, so he was ruthless. He would not show Hank mercy when dealing with him. Considering that Hank was used to sitting in the office, he was no match for the youngster who just turned eighteen. It was only until Noah dragged Hank far away while covering his nose and mouth that Noah let go of Hank.“Are you trying to suffocate me?” Hank criticized Noah. “Don’t be rude. Technically speaking, you need to acknowledge me as your brother-in-law.”“Pah. Brother-in-law? What gives you the right to be my b
Serenity watched Duncan walk out of the ward.After that, she turned her eyes to her husband. Zachary looked very calm as though Duncan’s reaction was within his expectation.Zachary saw Duncan off.“Seren, your store must be busy. You should return to your store.”“Liberty, let me accompany you.”“I don’t need you to. I can walk around on my own. I’m fine. If it hadn’t been for the doctor who insisted on having me stay in the hospital, I would’ve wanted to be discharged right now.”She missed All You Can Eat.“Listen to the doctor.”Serenity said, “Stay in the hospital for a few more days. Once you’re discharged, you can’t return to the store and work straight away. You need to have a good rest at home.”“I’ve been lying on the hospital bed for nearly half a month. If I continue to do so after being discharged, my body will fall apart. Once I’m out, I’ll keep an eye on the breakfast place and help collect money without doing things on my own, okay? Don’t worry. It’s my body.
Serenity asked Zachary, “Callum took a day off, and Josh might not return to the office today.”Zachary laughed. “I can have the secretary postpone the meeting. Let’s go. I’ll send you to your store. As for your car, I’ll ask Harry to drive it there straight away.”Serenity did not turn him down.“I’ll pick you up in the evening. There’s a social gathering at night, and I’d like you to go with me.”“Okay.”Serenity readily agreed.Only after Zachary sent Serenity back to her bookstore did he rush to his office and start his busy day of work.Jasmine came to the store today.Serenity mocked her playfully. “Why don’t you stay at home and prepare for the wedding? Your other half is desperate. I thought you might not come to work today.”“There’s nothing much I need to do. Plus, it’s boring to stay at home, so I came.”Jasmine looked radiant. Serenity felt that her best friend had become much prettier.Serenity stretched out her hand and pinched Jasmine’s face while complimentin
Jasmine smiled. She called River by his name so that he would not feel awkward.Deep down, she thought that Serenity’s brothers-in-law had different temperaments. Despite that, all of them looked attractive and photogenic.They were even more handsome than the male lead in the novel she had been reading every day.“Nana, you brought a lot of things. What are they?” Serenity placed the bags on the counter and unpacked them.“Nothing much. There are plenty of supplements at home. I’ve had a lot of them, and I can’t take too many. I’m worried that overconsuming supplements may backfire, so I sent some over. Young people like you work every day and feel exhausted. You need to improve your health.”Nana added, “Also, there’s some seafood. Your mother-in-law asked me to bring it for you as she knows you love seafood most.”“Now, Zachary and I are staying in the hilltop villa. There’s nothing we’re short of.”However, Tania remembered her favorite food and sent over so much food. Ser
Deep down, River was hoping that Zack would not assign the most unmanageable company to him. York Corporation was huge and had many subsidiary companies. There were quite a lot of small companies under its subsidiary companies too. Some were not doing well, whereas some were about to close down.When Zachary’s younger brothers first entered the workforce, it was usually either Grandma May or Zachary who assigned tasks to them. Sometimes, Zachary’s brothers would directly join York Corporation and work at the grassroots.Sometimes, they would be trained by being sent to those companies that were not doing well or about to close down.These kinds of companies were the most challenging.If his brothers could revive a small company and expand its territory, it would mean that they were capable of doing business. After they passed the preliminary training, Zachary would get them to handle some great subsidiary companies.At last, he would arrange for his brothers to take over certa
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