Liberty never told Duncan anything about her conversation with Mrs. Lewis. However, he still found out from his mother. Upon discovering that his mother had made Liberty move out, move away, and even leave Wiltspoon with Sonny, he quarreled with his mother in anger. Mrs. Lewis was furious, and so was Duncan. Ultimately, the mother and son were unwilling to compromise. None of them would give up and let go. Liberty glanced at Duncan and continued what she was doing. She said, โIf Iโm not the problem, then I wonโt make so many sacrifices.โDuncan laughed. He liked that side of Liberty. Sonny, who took the phone into a room, dialed Serenityโs number. He knew the first number in his motherโs contact list was Aunt Serโs. Serenity picked up the phone shortly. โWhatโs the matter, Liberty?โShe thought it was her sister who called. โAunt Ser, itโs me, Sonny.โHearing her nephewโs young voice, Serenity smiled and said, โHey, Sonny. Did you call me yourself?โโYeah. I too
โYes. He treats me well.โA childโs heart was pure. Despite their young age, they were aware of who treated them well or when someone was pretending. However, they could not express themselves due to their age sometimes. Duncan noticed Sonny first. He truly liked Sonny and would always want to carry him back then.At that time, Sonny was still young and scared of the scar on Duncanโs face. Therefore, he refused Duncanโs embrace. Duncanโs wish to carry Sonny only came true after they became familiar with each other. Duncan only paid attention to the mother and son duo because he adored Sonny. He gradually fell in love with Sonnyโs mother, Liberty. โIf Dunc treats you well and likes you so much, how will he bear to take your mother away? Believe in Duncan. Heโll only love you together with your mother. He wonโt steal her away.โSonny felt reassured. He said, โI wonโt call Dad then, Aunt Ser. Dad always says Dunc is evil.โDunc was so nice. He did not understand why Dad wo
Sonny treated Duncan as his backer. That act, which showed his trust, made Duncan happy. He grinned and Liberty was speechless. โDunc, Mom glared at me.โSonny even tattled. Duncan lifted Sonny with a smile. He asked him, โThink about why she glared at you. Iโm standing here, but she didnโt glare at me but you. What can be the reason for this?โLiberty walked over. Sonny glanced at his mother and said obediently, โI played on the phone after calling Aunt Ser. Mom snatched my phone away.โโThatโs not your phone. Itโs Momโs.โSonnyโs big eyes shone. He dared not argue over it because the phone indeed belonged to Mom.โI asked why Mom could be on the phone, but I couldnโt. She glared at me afterward.โSonnyโs voice gradually got softer. He knew that playing on the phone was wrong too. Duncan said gently, โYouโre still young. Being on the phone too often will hurt your eyes and cause short-sightedness. Your mom is doing this for your own good.โShe doesnโt usually play on th
โI asked where you went. Iโm in your office. Itโs working hours, but youโre neither in the office nor the building. Where have you gone? Donโt tell me you went to business meetings. Your secretary is still here.โDid you go looking for Liberty again? How many times have I told you? Liberty is not suitable for you. Sheโs a divorced woman with a three-year-old child. That child is even a son. You may be willing to raise a son for someone else, but I donโt want to be that childโs grandmother!โBesides raising someone elseโs son, youโll have to buy a house and car and get a wife for him. His father wonโt contribute anything and will laugh at you for being a doormat. Duncan, there are so many young, pretty ladies in Wiltspoon. Any one of them will be better than Liberty.โMrs. Lewis was about to be angered to death by her son. He would not listen to her at all. Mrs. Lewisโs words grew increasingly harsh. Duncan said in a deep voice, โYou donโt have to worry about my matters. Iโll t
Sonny asked in confusion, โWhy do we have to move, Mom?โHe had lived there for half a year with his mom and had gotten used to it. Liberty lied. She said, โYouโll start preschool in September. Your preschool is quite far from here. We can move to a place closer to it so itโs convenient for me to send you to school.โWhat opinions could a three-year-old child possibly have?With Libertyโs explanation, Sonny nodded his head. Therefore, she called a real estate agent, told the agent her requirements for renting a place, and asked for recommendations. She was not in a rush to buy a house. She could look around and only decide after finding a suitable place. Moreover, her priority was to pay for her sonโs education. Sonny was enrolled in Wiltspoonโs best preschool. The annual school fee was about a hundred thousand to two hundred thousand dollars. She had gotten some money from Hank when they got divorced. She used a portion of that money and invested in All You Can Eat. Alt
โMom!โโIโll be frank here. If you can break all ties with me, I wonโt bother with who you like or pursue anymore.โAfter speaking, Mrs. Lewis turned and left angrily. Duncan was exasperated by his mother too. He did not understand. His mother did not hate Liberty. Why was she being stubborn and refused to let him be with Liberty?He had not even succeeded in wooing Liberty. With his mother making such a big fuss, it would do nothing but hinder him. Liberty, who did not love him from the start, would be scared of his mother and dared not like him or accept his feelings. Duncan raised his head and took a look around. He did not return to Libertyโs apartment but walked toward his car. After getting in, he called Zachary and Josh to invite them out for a drink. He hung up after speaking, disregarding whether they agreed to it, and started the car. Meanwhile, in the Buchamsโ residence, Josh looked at the ended call on the phone. After a moment, he scolded, โIโm still on my m
Zachary remained silent too.Josh meant they knew Duncan well after having known him for so many years.Duncan appeared rough and carefree, seeming as if he did not care about anything.However, he was actually stubborn when it came to relationships.If Liberty chose not to remarry for the rest of her life, he would also not marry anyone for her sake.He was the kind of person who would rather be single forever if he could not marry the woman he wanted.โIf youโre busy, Iโll go and drink with him.โ Zachary was considerate of Josh, who was still on his marriage leave. With Jasmine pregnant, Josh would surely not be in the mood to do anything else too. Josh said, โJasmineโs in the bookstore. I assigned bodyguards to protect her. I donโt have much to do anyway. Letโs go together.โZachary hummed in agreement. After ending the call, Zachary looked toward his beloved wife, who was sitting on the sofa and reading magazines. Serenity did not pay attention to Zachary and Joshโs ca
Duncan had always gone to All You Can Eat for breakfast before eight oโclock. If she avoided that timing, she could avoid meeting him. Liberty asked Serenity for help. After reading her sisterโs message, Serenity sighed. Her sister was finally forced to run away. If not for Serenity marrying Zachary and living in Wiltspoon because the York family was here, Liberty might have really left Wiltspoon with Sonny secretly and distanced herself from Duncan as Mrs. Lewis wished. Even if Duncan could find Liberty no matter what it took, he would still require time to do so. Serenity replied to her sister that she would respect and aid in every decision she made. โIs it a message from your sister?โZachary guessed it was his sister-in-law. Serenity replied in the affirmative. โWhat did she say? Your expression looks serious.โโMy sister is moving now. She found a new house to rent in a hurry and would be relocating to East Hill neighborhood. Itโs a high-end area with excell
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. Isabellaโs 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 Austinโs 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 Louisโs place with his bag. โAustin.โLouis suddenly asked, โDid 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 Austinโs 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 fiancรฉes. 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 fiancรฉe. 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, โMs. Isabella, I only care about my future wife. Other young women are simply strangers to me.โIโm polite to other women when I need to be. If theyโre unimportant, Iโll ignore them. Even if that woman is my boss, I wonโt cross any lines. If I do, there must be a reason behind it.โGet some rest, Ms. Isabella. You might have a headache when you wake up tomorrow. Iโll prepare a warm honey drink for you in the morning.โAfter 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 fiancรฉe, 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. โMs. Isabella.โIsabella looked toward him and waited for him to speak. He asked, โThis may be abrupt, but may I ask what your ideal type is?โIsabella was stunned. Why did the question come to her? What was the type of man she liked?โSomeone like Austin,โ she thought. After a moment of silence, she said, โI like men who are capable, responsible, and have correct values. Even if his family isnโt as financially well-off as mine, I donโt mind so long as heโs honest, competent, and sincere about his feelings for me.โOf course, itโll be great if we have the same social status. That way, weโll have similar perspectives and more common topics. If we get married, weโll be joining forces instead of it being a one-way financial aid.โโAlthough you can accept someone who isnโt from a similar family backgrou
After a moment of silence, Isabella said, โItโs okay. I know I was forcing it.โThere 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 fiancรฉe was. He was already so protective of his fiancรฉe 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. โYou werenโt forcing me to tell you. You were simply curious. Most people have a curious side. Itโs only natural for you to be inquisitive as well.โAustin said gently, โItโs not just you. Those who knew that my nana had chosen fiancรฉes for my brothers and me were also curious about who the ladies were.โTo be honest, we didnโt even know Nana had been choosing fiancรฉes for us since a few years ago until she handed their pictures to us
โYou can drink it now. Itโll turn cold if left aside for longer.โIsabella took the ginger ale and drank it with elegance. She put it down after drinking half of it. โIโm drunk, but only slightly. I can walk, and my brain is still alert. I know what Iโm doing and saying.โIโve had enough ginger ale.โShe did not want to consume too much liquid late at night. โWhich family is your fiancรฉe from, Austin? Where is she? Do you mind telling me?โIsabella 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 fiancรฉe that year, he did not mind waiting for a few more years. Isabella suddenly felt jealous of Austinโs fiancรฉe, having had his heart without even doing anything. She wondered what Austinโs fiancรฉe had done to cat
Austin stared into Isabellaโs 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. โYouโre the best and most outstanding lady in my heart, Ms. Isabella. I admire you more.โAustin added gently, โYou give off a strict and cold aura sometimes, but youโre always a nice person in my eyes.โIsabella 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. โEven my parents are scared and avoid me when Iโm in a serious mode. Louis and Phillip w
Austin responded, โDonโt worry, Ms. Edith. Iโll take good care of Ms. Isabella.โEdith had come in a hurry and left just as quickly. The hidden meaning in her cousinโs 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 Austinโs 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, โMs. Isabella, would you like some ginger ale for a hangover remedy?โIsabella rubbed her temples and said, โYes, please. I donโt want to wake up with a splitting headache tomorrow.โAustin immediately went to prepare it for her.Isabella leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes to rest. After some time, she heard Austinโs