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
Out of habit, Zachary took a moment of silence before asking, “Has the Brown family left? Did they do anything excessive?” “They didn’t do anything overboard, but they did say a lot of nasty stuff. I was so angry I nearly beat them up. They’re just as ridiculous as my relatives. All they did was blame my sister and say it was my sister’s fault. They want my sister to go to their place and apologize to Hank with gifts. As if that’s going to happen!” The mention of the Browns saw a rise in Serenity’s blood pressure. Before she knew it, Serenity clicked her tongue on the phone and quickly realized how embarrassingly she behaved. She said, “I got too angry, Mr. York. I hope you didn’t mind my language.” Zachary replied tenderly, “Did you have a stern word with them? You should chase them out with a broom. They had the audacity to tell your sister to apologize when she was a victim of abuse.” “I roasted them to kingdom come, and they fled the scene. Jasmine took out the broom, but I
Zachary said all the right words to console Serenity even if he did not believe them himself. Although he was in a high position, Zachary knew that the requirement had grown stricter when it came to talent acquisition. Liberty had been out of touch with society for three years, and even if she had experience, her skills would be rusty. It probably would not be easy for Liberty to find a job. “Are you at work? Carry on with your work. I’ll hang up.” “Sure.” Zachary waited for Serenity to disconnect the call. After the conversation with her husband, Serenity gave her sister a call to plan for her future. Serenity only ended the call when it was time for Liberty to start cooking. With her phone almost out of battery, Serenity pulled out a charger for her phone. As afternoon drew close, Zachary phoned the Wiltspoon Hotel’s manager to prepare two sets of lunch. He also ordered a few extra accompanying dishes to be delivered to Bookit, a bookshop near Wiltspoon High School. The l
Perhaps it would not be long before Serenity and Zachary turn into a real couple and live happily ever after. Snapping out of her thoughts, Serenity thanked the hotel manager and saw him off at the door. She watched as the manager got into the car and drove away before heading into the shop. As there were two lunch sets, the other share was without a doubt for Jasmine. By the time Serenity got back in, Jasmine had washed her hands and was seated behind the cash register. With her best friend approaching, she said with a smile, “Come on and eat. The Wiltspoon Hotel is a seven-star hotel. We tried their food at the dinner party the last time. I couldn’t stop thinking about the delicious food after I got home.“Thanks to you, I finally get to relive the taste.” Jasmine shoved the cutlery into Serenity’s hands while complimenting Zachary with glee, “I can’t believe Mr. York can be so thoughtful. He bought you lunch and had it delivered to you. He must feel bad that you’ve been hav
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