It took less than two minutes for Zachary to take a more active role rather than being passive. He carried his wife to the bed and demanded more. No words were needed for the rest of the night. The following day was when Jasmine would drop by her family home for a visit as Mrs. Bucham. Serenity and her sister were having lunch at the Soxes’ residence. Zachary would, of course, be with his wife. After the visit, Jasmine and Josh would travel for their honeymoon the next day. It would also mark the end of the brief public holidays. Then came the time to get back to work, back to school, and back to business as usual. For the mass public, they were to resume the normal routine. Apart from watching the shop, Serenity would find the time to return to her hometown with Elisa to check on agriculture progress. The seasonal vegetables had been planted as planned. Looking at the greens all around, Elisa told Serenity, “The administrator said that the vegetables will be read
Sam was snickering to himself.Zachary had completely become a slave to his wife.Serenity laughed on the other side of the line. “I’ll be home soon. Are you home?”“Yeah, I just got home. Where are you now? Let me pick you up.”“It’s okay, don’t trouble yourself. I can drive myself home. Besides, it’s too much of a hassle for you to come all the way from home just to bring me home. I’ll be back in ten minutes. Just wait for me at home, babe.”“Sure. Drive safe. Remember that you’re driving a car, not flying a jet.”Serenity chuckled. “I don’t even know how to fly a plane.”During late nights when there was less traffic, Serenity would sometimes speed on the way home and would soon be dissuaded by her two bodyguards.When Zachary knew of it, he gave her an ear-lashing. He then told Liberty about it too, which resulted in Serenity being reprimanded by Liberty.Serenity realized Zachary loved complaining to her sister.He would turn to Liberty whenever his advice for Serenity f
“Babe, I’m home!”Serenity yelled as she entered the room with some snacks.Zachary walked over to meet her.He saw that she was carrying a bag containing several disposable boxes.“I thought you said that you don’t eat at this hour. Why did you still pack supper home? Are you disgusted by my poor cooking skills? Is that why you rejected the idea of me making supper for you?”Zachary was petty and would magnify a small matter to the point where he thought Serenity loathed him.“No way! Babe, your cooking skills have surpassed mine. When I was passing by the night market, I just felt nostalgic and couldn’t help but stop by and buy some of the few snacks I used to eat.”Zachary did not know how to make these local delicacies. He only ate what the common folk ate for breakfast because he was pretending to be poor. Serenity was in the dark back then, so she always packed a local breakfast for him, and he ate it because he did not want his secret to get exposed.He still remembered
“Babe, I love you.”Serenity said the words that Zachary liked to hear the most.“From now on, I’ll buy you flowers every day, okay?”Buying flowers was easy.Serenity just had to tell Camryn to prepare a bouquet of flowers for her every day, then she would just give it to Zachary.“I only have one vase in my office. Alternate days will be good enough.” Zachary’s expression finally eased.Serenity said, “Why don’t I buy a few more vases for your office?”“I don’t want people to see me as a vase.”Serenity laughed and said, “You’re a man. Who would regard you as a vase? Alright, so instead of buying you more vases, I’ll just send you a bouquet of flowers every other day. It’s Friday tomorrow. Shall we go shopping on Saturday? I’ll buy you new clothes.”Zachary had plenty of new clothes in his closet. Every once in a while, a fashion designer would tailor new clothes for him.However, a certain someone still liked to receive clothes from his wife.Since Serenity learned of Zac
“You should get enough sleep. Health is more important than anything,” Liberty said in distress.“Liberty, I’m fine.”Serenity did not sleep enough last night because of her attention-seeking husband, and Serenity did not want to share what happened in their bedroom last night.“Has Jessica been released?” Serenity suddenly asked.Liberty was silent for a moment before she said, “She’s pregnant.“She had just conceived before she was arrested. After she was in jail, she was in a bad mood and didn’t find out until now. It’s been three months now, and Hank is helping her to apply for bail.”However, Jessica would still have to be sentenced after giving birth.Serenity said, “Her child came just in time.”Hank still had feelings for Jessica.He was pressured by his parents and sister to divorce Jessica, but he refused.He also wanted Liberty to issue a letter of understanding so that Jessica could have a lighter sentence.Hank was cognizant that even if he divorced Jessica, Lib
Duncan walked in but turned around and left before he said hello to the Hunt sisters.Serenity was puzzled and thought, ‘What does this mean?‘Is he retreating?‘Or did he leave because he saw me here?’Just as Serenity was guessing what Duncan meant by leaving so quickly, Duncan came in again.This time, he had a bouquet of flowers in his hand.It turned out that he forgot to take the bouquet from his car.Serenity was stunned.She looked at her sister, but she saw that Liberty’s face was stoic.Since it was still early, there were no other customers in the diner except Serenity. The two shop assistants were sitting beside them eating their breakfast.Seeing that there was a customer, the two of them wanted to get up and tend to the customer, but when they saw that it was Duncan, the two of them sat down again and continued to eat their breakfast.Duncan’s pursuit of Liberty was so obvious that they could not even pretend not to know.“Liberty.”Duncan came over holding t
Duncan smiled and said, “Oh.”Serenity looked at her sister’s back, lowered her voice, and asked Duncan, “The florists aren’t even open at this hour. Did you bring this bouquet from home?”Duncan replied, “Yeah, I cut all the flowers that I could in the yard and made them into a bouquet myself.”“No wonder.”Serenity glanced at the bouquet of flowers.There were all kinds of flowers in the bouquet, not just roses.Duncan was a rough man. Although there were flowers and trees in his villa, he never once admired them. The butler had arranged for someone to buy them so as to add a bit of color to the landscape.Thus, not all of them were roses.Duncan cut all the flowers that bloomed in the villa to make this bouquet.The butler felt distressed when he found out that Duncan had cut off all the blooming flowers in the villa. However, he supported Duncan in pursuing his crush. Thus, the butler decided to go to the flower field at Wildridge Manor to buy a full load of roses to put i
Liberty was busy until after nine o’clock in the morning. As the number of people eating breakfast reduced, she was able to relax.Lily chose to enter the diner when Liberty was free.Seeing her come in, Liberty froze for a moment before she showed a polite smile. “Ms. Harmon.”“Ms. Hunt, you’re not busy anymore, right?”“I’m not busy now, but I’m ready to pack up and close the store. Ms. Harmon, what can I do for you?”Liberty and Lily did not interact much.Seeing Lily, Liberty thought that it must be because of Duncan.“Nothing much. I went to Lewis & Co. to sign a contract with Duncan and happened to pass by, so I came in to have a look. How’s your business going?”Liberty smiled. “It’s alright. I can still earn some after paying off the rent and workers’ wages.”“You make a really good breakfast. Duncan said that he likes to come over for breakfast. Take your time. You’ll get better and start earning more in the future.”Making breakfast was hard work because one had to
Austin was extremely patient with the boys. Although they occasionally caused trouble, most of them were minor issues. They would never do something they were not allowed to do.After breakfast, Austin brought them their bags. With a boy in each hand, he left the house. It was to prevent the boys from saying he was playing favorites. Dominic was used to that scene. Initially, Austin was simply Ms. Isabella’s private chef. However, he gradually took on more responsibilities.He would take the two young masters to school. If he had time in the evening, he would also fetch them from school. Austin also made sure Louis and Phillip did their homework, supervised their hobby classes, and played with them. Sometimes, he would even teach them martial arts and train with them. Dominic felt Austin was an all-rounder. It seemed like there was nothing Austin could not do. No wonder Ms. Isabella thought highly of Austin. However, Austin was a young master of a wealthy family. He w
Louis and Phillip were downstairs having the breakfast Austin had prepared for them. The food was different every morning, and everything was delicious.Having gotten used to Austin’s cooking, Louis and Phillip could no longer stand the food provided in the school. They thought the food there was terrible. Louis was enrolled in an elementary school not far from home. As he was a first grader, he did not need to stay in the dormitories and could have his lunch and dinner at home. Phillip, who was a year younger than him, was still in preschool. He would have breakfast and dinner at home. Actually, the preschool did provide breakfast, but Phillip refused to eat in school and insisted on having breakfast at home. In order to eat the breakfast Austin made, he would get up early in the morning without the adults waking him. After putting on his clothes and washing up, he would head to Louis’s place with his bag. “Austin.”Louis suddenly asked, “Did my sister come back last n
Isabella had always thought Tati was teasing her. Therefore, she did not take her words seriously. She thought it was completely normal for Austin to treat her well as she was his boss. From Austin’s perspective, she was his source of income. Now that Isabella pondered about it deeper, she realized perhaps Austin did come to Satbury for her. It was not just to be her chef. He always said Grandma May only gave the York lads a year to pursue their fiancées. However, Austin had never left since he started working for Isabella. Even if he did, it was to accompany her on business trips. He was busy feeding and taking care of her every day and had never gone to pursue his so-called fiancée. He did not even try to gather information on her. Was he not anxious?A year would go by pretty quickly. Although it felt like it had not been long since Austin started working for Isabella, three months had passed. Time really flew. Three months had gone by in the blink of an eye. Neve
When Austin reached the door, he stopped and turned to say, “Ms. Isabella, I only care about my future wife. Other young women are simply strangers to me.“I’m polite to other women when I need to be. If they’re unimportant, I’ll ignore them. Even if that woman is my boss, I won’t cross any lines. If I do, there must be a reason behind it.“Get some rest, Ms. Isabella. You might have a headache when you wake up tomorrow. I’ll prepare a warm honey drink for you in the morning.”After speaking, Austin left. Isabella turned to look at where he last stood. What did his words mean?He said he only cared about his future wife.Aside from this lady, he would not step out of line with any other young woman, even if she were his boss. What did he mean by crossing lines?Was it showing concern? Did he mean that if his boss was a young woman but not his fiancée, he would simply do what was required of him without any personal feelings involved? Was that what he meant?If so, was
Isabella was cold sometimes, but that was not her true personality. She was a reasonable person. Austin was not worried that he would be mistreated as a live-in son-in-law. “Ms. Isabella.”Isabella looked toward him and waited for him to speak. He asked, “This may be abrupt, but may I ask what your ideal type is?”Isabella was stunned. Why did the question come to her? What was the type of man she liked?‘Someone like Austin,’ she thought. After a moment of silence, she said, “I like men who are capable, responsible, and have correct values. Even if his family isn’t as financially well-off as mine, I don’t mind so long as he’s honest, competent, and sincere about his feelings for me.“Of course, it’ll be great if we have the same social status. That way, we’ll have similar perspectives and more common topics. If we get married, we’ll be joining forces instead of it being a one-way financial aid.”“Although you can accept someone who isn’t from a similar family backgrou
After a moment of silence, Isabella said, “It’s okay. I know I was forcing it.”There was no point in asking Austin if he did not want to reveal anything. If he wanted to tell her, he would do so without her asking. However, her curiosity spiked with his silence. She was eager to know who his fiancée was. He was already so protective of his fiancée even though he had not met her before. It made Isabella jealous. It was her first time feeling that kind of emotion throughout her life. Although it was not a strong feeling, she still felt it. “You weren’t forcing me to tell you. You were simply curious. Most people have a curious side. It’s only natural for you to be inquisitive as well.”Austin said gently, “It’s not just you. Those who knew that my nana had chosen fiancées for my brothers and me were also curious about who the ladies were.“To be honest, we didn’t even know Nana had been choosing fiancées for us since a few years ago until she handed their pictures to us
“You can drink it now. It’ll turn cold if left aside for longer.”Isabella took the ginger ale and drank it with elegance. She put it down after drinking half of it. “I’m drunk, but only slightly. I can walk, and my brain is still alert. I know what I’m doing and saying.“I’ve had enough ginger ale.”She did not want to consume too much liquid late at night. “Which family is your fiancée from, Austin? Where is she? Do you mind telling me?”Isabella was insistent on getting answers. Austin had never told her when she had asked him about it before. He kept saying he would focus on working and that he was not in a rush to get married. After all, he was only in his twenties; Zachary only got married at thirty years old. If he was unsuccessful in wooing his fiancée that year, he did not mind waiting for a few more years. Isabella suddenly felt jealous of Austin’s fiancée, having had his heart without even doing anything. She wondered what Austin’s fiancée had done to cat
Austin stared into Isabella’s eyes. He could detect some feelings in her gaze, but it was not obvious enough. What she felt for him was still mostly admiration. It was not the right time for him to confess yet. He would continue to wait. “You’re the best and most outstanding lady in my heart, Ms. Isabella. I admire you more.”Austin added gently, “You give off a strict and cold aura sometimes, but you’re always a nice person in my eyes.”Isabella had treated him well ever since he became her private chef. It only got better after she discovered he was a young master of the Yorks. Austin believed her when she said she viewed him as a friend because her actions reflected it as well. However, he was not content with being just friends. He wanted to be her husband. He wanted her to trust him and love him forever. He would also reciprocate her feelings and trust. Isabella smiled. “Even my parents are scared and avoid me when I’m in a serious mode. Louis and Phillip w
Austin responded, “Don’t worry, Ms. Edith. I’ll take good care of Ms. Isabella.”Edith had come in a hurry and left just as quickly. The hidden meaning in her cousin’s words was not lost on Isabella, but she did not comment on it.She allowed Austin to accompany her into the house. The lights were still on inside, but the first floor was empty. Everyone else had already gone to bed.Since Isabella had not returned yet, the housekeeper had left the lights on for her.The house was warm, so once inside, Isabella took off Austin’s coat and handed it back to him.Austin accepted the coat and followed her to the sofa. After she had sat down, he asked gently, “Ms. Isabella, would you like some ginger ale for a hangover remedy?”Isabella rubbed her temples and said, “Yes, please. I don’t want to wake up with a splitting headache tomorrow.”Austin immediately went to prepare it for her.Isabella leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes to rest. After some time, she heard Austin’s