Sonny treated Duncan as his backer. That act, which showed his trust, made Duncan happy. He grinned and Liberty was speechless. “Dunc, Mom glared at me.”Sonny even tattled. Duncan lifted Sonny with a smile. He asked him, “Think about why she glared at you. I’m standing here, but she didn’t glare at me but you. What can be the reason for this?”Liberty walked over. Sonny glanced at his mother and said obediently, “I played on the phone after calling Aunt Ser. Mom snatched my phone away.”“That’s not your phone. It’s Mom’s.”Sonny’s big eyes shone. He dared not argue over it because the phone indeed belonged to Mom.“I asked why Mom could be on the phone, but I couldn’t. She glared at me afterward.”Sonny’s voice gradually got softer. He knew that playing on the phone was wrong too. Duncan said gently, “You’re 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.“She doesn’t usually play on th
“I asked where you went. I’m in your office. It’s working hours, but you’re neither in the office nor the building. Where have you gone? Don’t tell me you went to business meetings. Your secretary is still here.“Did you go looking for Liberty again? How many times have I told you? Liberty is not suitable for you. She’s 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 don’t want to be that child’s grandmother!“Besides raising someone else’s son, you’ll have to buy a house and car and get a wife for him. His father won’t 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.”Mrs. Lewis was about to be angered to death by her son. He would not listen to her at all. Mrs. Lewis’s words grew increasingly harsh. Duncan said in a deep voice, “You don’t have to worry about my matters. I’ll t
Sonny asked in confusion, “Why do we have to move, Mom?”He had lived there for half a year with his mom and had gotten used to it. Liberty lied. She said, “You’ll start preschool in September. Your preschool is quite far from here. We can move to a place closer to it so it’s convenient for me to send you to school.”What opinions could a three-year-old child possibly have?With Liberty’s 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 son’s education. Sonny was enrolled in Wiltspoon’s 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
“Mom!”“I’ll be frank here. If you can break all ties with me, I won’t bother with who you like or pursue anymore.”After 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 Liberty’s 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 Buchams’ residence, Josh looked at the ended call on the phone. After a moment, he scolded, “I’m 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.“If you’re busy, I’ll go and drink with him.” 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, “Jasmine’s in the bookstore. I assigned bodyguards to protect her. I don’t have much to do anyway. Let’s go together.”Zachary 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 Josh’s ca
Duncan had always gone to All You Can Eat for breakfast before eight o’clock. If she avoided that timing, she could avoid meeting him. Liberty asked Serenity for help. After reading her sister’s 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. “Is it a message from your sister?”Zachary guessed it was his sister-in-law. Serenity replied in the affirmative. “What did she say? Your expression looks serious.”“My sister is moving now. She found a new house to rent in a hurry and would be relocating to East Hill neighborhood. It’s a high-end area with excell
Liberty thanked Zachary. Zachary said, “We’re family, Liberty. You don’t have to be so courteous.”He even feared that she would not accept his help. Luckily, she was rushing to move places and took up his offer. With her brother-in-law’s assistance, Liberty moved out of her apartment quickly while Zachary left work to accompany Duncan for drinks. Aside from Zachary and Serenity, no one knew Liberty’s new address. She did not inform Aunt Audrey either. Meanwhile, in a hotel’s private room, a table was filled with dishes Duncan ordered along with many bottles of strong liquor. At that moment, Zachary and Josh were by his side, watching him down one glass of alcohol after another. “Eat something, Duncan.”Zachary took some salad for him. Maybe he felt guilty toward his best friend because he had taken his sister-in-law’s side. He wished he could help Duncan, but his sister-in-law did not love Duncan at all. Moreover, Mrs. Lewis was stubborn in opposing the relationship.
Serenity did not say a word. Among the people around her, only Jasmine’s relationship was smooth sailing without a hitch. Josh and Jasmine tied the knot very quickly. Elisa’s love and her sister’s second chance at love had many obstacles. Serenity was considered lucky. Although she and Zachary had conflicts, silent treatments, and even almost got divorced, they understood, respected, and trusted each other in the end. They had been living a blissful life since then. Serenity cherished everything she had at the moment. Zachary regulated his emotions quickly. He said softly, “Sleep, honey. Don’t overthink. Let’s go with the flow.”Serenity hummed in agreement. They slept in each other’s embrace soundly throughout the night. Duncan woke up the next afternoon. He slept long enough that he did not have a bad headache but just hunger after waking up. When he realized it was already noon, he got up immediately and showered. After changing into clean clothes, he went downsta
Trenton was relieved that Dalton was indebted to Camryn. That was why Dalton had been loyal to Newman Enterprise.If Newman Enterprise did not fall into Camryn’s hands, there was no doubt that Dalton would leave the company. If that happened, the company was doomed.When his parents went to prison, he was merely 18, and Carrie only knew how to spend money. Not only that, their relatives were hungry to get a share of the Newman family’s assets. He and Carrie could not have protected their family’s wealth alone.After Camryn regained her sight, she still could not strain her eyes for long hours. Therefore, Dalton remained in charge of the company.Luckily, they had Callum as well. Even if anything were to happen, Callum would not leave Newman Enterprise to fall because many of the Newman family’s assets belonged to Camryn.He would not let Camryn lose anything.“You’ve been brainwashed by Dalton after working with him. Our dad treated him well and trusted him, yet Dalton betrayed
Camryn said, “She’s just using her lack of money as an excuse to start a fight with me.“Do you really think she has no money?”Carrie had somehow become Mrs. Longbottom yet she was still hiding her identity. Camryn had not understood the entire situation yet.Nevertheless, she was certain that Carrie did not need money.After she spoke, a familiar car arrived.It was the car Carrie had always used in the past.When she returned to the Newman family’s villa after getting out of prison, she only drove that car. She could not take other cars. The cars were still parked in the garage. “Come out, Camryn.”Carrie had gotten out of the car and started shouting for Camryn.When the York family’s bodyguards saw her, they simply glanced at her and did not stop her from entering the store. They knew Camryn had always been lenient with her younger sister.Since Camryn did not give any orders to stop Carrie from entering, the bodyguards simply kept an eye on Carrie to ensure that sh
“I want to go to Spring Blossoms as Carrie,” she told the bodyguard who was driving. “Your sister’s people are keeping an eye on your apartment. She’ll get suspicious again if you head over in your outfit. Everything Mr. Longbottom arranged will go to waste,” the bodyguard reminded her.Carrie thought it over. “Okay. Let’s head home first. I’ll change my clothes and remove my makeup before heading over.”She would also check if her stand-in had damaged any of her stuff.If she did, Carrie would tell the stand-in to compensate her.The bodyguard remained silent.Once they arrived at Longbottom Villa, Carrie took off her hyper-realistic mask and removed her makeup. After changing her clothes, she returned to being Carrie and went out with her bag.Her two bodyguards did not stop her from leaving.She could do anything as long as it would not rouse Camryn and other people’s suspicions.Besides, Carrie had just gotten scolded by their boss on the phone. Although Mr. Longbottom
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