After some hesitation, Zachary told Serenity the truth.“Seren, I’m not going over anymore. If the food has been delivered, you can dig in first. I… I’m at the hospital. Duncan met with an accident.”Upon hearing the news, Serenity’s expression changed. She quickly asked, “How did it happen? Did it occur when you two were together? Did you both drink and drive again?”Zachary explained, “No. We didn’t drink today. That was yesterday. All of us didn’t drive. I still don’t know what happened. I came to the hospital right after Josh informed me. Duncan’s still in the emergency room. They say his legs were injured the worst, and it’s uncertain whether they can be saved.”Toward the end, his tone turned heavy, and his speech slowed. He sounded sad. “I’m done with my work now. I’ll head to the hospital after closing the store.”Zachary did not stop his wife from coming over. He reminded her, “Drive slowly.”“I’ll have a bodyguard drive. Don’t worry. Mr. Lewis is a good person. He’ll
“I’ll bring him with me.”Liberty could not find anyone to babysit Sonny at that moment. Therefore, she was taking Sonny to the hospital with her. She hung up, carried her son, and started walking. As she walked, she told her son, “Sonny, we must go to the hospital now. Dunc got into an accident. We’re going to visit him.”“How’s Dunc? Nothing will happen to him, right?”Upon hearing that Duncan had gotten into a car accident, Sonny imagined lots and lots of blood. His small face turned pale instantly. Liberty’s bloody figure back when she was stabbed traumatized Sonny. He would feel dizzy when he saw lots of blood. “Dunc will be fine.”Liberty reassured her son and herself. Sonny hugged her neck tightly. He hoped Dunc would be okay and not bleed so much as Mom did. In the hospital, the number of people waiting outside the emergency room grew. When Serenity and Liberty arrived, Zachary’s bodyguards brought some food as instructed. He asked everyone to eat something fi
Mrs. Lewis’s body swayed. Two of her daughters-in-law quickly supported her. “Mom.”They exclaimed worriedly. “Duncan out of the woods is a good start. He’ll recover eventually.”Mrs. Lewis hit her chest out of remorse. She said guiltily, “It’s my fault. I caused his misfortune. Why wasn’t I the one who got into an accident? I’d rather it be me in the accident.”If Duncan became disabled…Mrs. Lewis did not dare to think about what would come after. “Mom, Duncan will get better. The doctor said he can recover.”Emmett consoled his mother. Mr. Lewis’s expression was grim. He told his sons and daughters-in-law, “Take your mother to rest. I’ll watch over Duncan.”“I’m not leaving. I won’t leave. I want to wait for Duncan to come out and take care of him.”Mrs. Lewis refused to leave. Her son’s operation had ended, but he was not out of the emergency room yet. She was worried. He had gotten into such an unfortunate accident because she had been extreme as a mother. How c
Josh was considerate not to smoke because his wife was pregnant.“What happened, Mr. Lewis? Why did Mrs. Lewis say that it was her fault for what happened to Duncan?” Zachary asked in a low voice.Josh also looked at Mr. Lewis, waiting for him to tell them the truth.“Sigh… It’s our fault. Duncan went out drinking yesterday. After you sent him home, Duncan didn’t answer Corey’s call, so she called the housekeeper only to find out that Duncan was drunk. This morning, Corey insisted on going to his house, so I went with her.“Duncan only woke up at noon. He saw us at his place and quarreled with Corey again shortly after. Duncan didn’t want to get into a row with his mother, so he got up and left.”Derek recalled the scene at that time. If he knew that it would cause Duncan’s accident, he would have dragged Corey back with every ounce of his strength.As Duncan’s father, he felt he did not do well in persuading Corey to be more open-minded, which caused the conflict between the mot
Zachary supported Duncan after finding out about his feelings for Liberty. However, Liberty was not interested in remarrying anyone, and she did not have any romantic feelings for Duncan. In addition, Mrs. Lewis was strongly against Liberty and Duncan together, so Zachary wanted to persuade Duncan to give up.He felt that even if Liberty agreed to be with Duncan, they would not be happy in the future because of Mrs. Lewis’s objection.Duncan was Zachary’s best friend, and Liberty was his sister-in-law, which put Zachary in a tough position. If he persuaded Duncan to give up, Duncan would think that he was not a good friend. On the other hand, if he persuaded Liberty to accept Duncan, he would feel like he was pushing his sister-in-law into a fire pit.Zachary felt that his relationship with Serenity was not as difficult as Liberty and Duncan’s.Duncan discovered his feelings for Liberty when she was injured. Liberty fully recovered after around three months. This was the duration t
Liberty put Sonny down.Sonny walked to the hospital bed and said to Duncan, “Dunc, you’ll be fine. You’ll get better, just like my mom.”Duncan smiled weakly and did not speak.After the doctors and nurses came to check on Duncan, the doctor suggested not crowding the ward because the patient needed to rest well. Since the patient was awake, everyone should go home and rest too.It was not necessary to cram up the ward because it would affect the patient’s recovery.In the end, only Duncan’s parents insisted on staying with him. The others left the hospital one by one after making sure that Duncan was alright.The sky was getting darker.Everyone was in a heavy mood because of Duncan’s car accident.Under Serenity’s insistence, Liberty took Sonny back to Serenity’s hilltop villa with Zachary and Serenity.Along the way, Serenity silently held Liberty’s hand. The two sisters did not speak, but they understood each other’s feelings.The next day, Wiltspoonians learned that the
Mrs. Lewis sat by the hospital bed like she did yesterday. When she saw Liberty coming in, she quickly got up and said softly, “Liberty, you’re here.”“I came to see Mr. Lewis.”Liberty also spoke in a soft voice for fear of waking Duncan, who was lying on the hospital bed.She handed the bouquet to Mrs. Lewis, who took it and put it beside her son. This was so Duncan could see the bouquet from Liberty as soon as he woke up, and it would definitely cheer him up. That way, Duncan would have the confidence to go through rehab.As soon as Mrs. Lewis put the bouquet next to Duncan, he woke up.When Duncan opened his eyes and saw Liberty standing in front of the bed, he was silent at first. Shortly after, he turned cold and said some harsh words.“Mom, kick her out! I don’t want to see her!”All three standing in front of the bed were stunned when they heard this.Mrs. Lewis looked at her son and then at Liberty. She suspected that her son did not see Liberty clearly.She carefully
Mrs. Lewis had not revealed her intentions yet, but Duncan knew that the moment he was discharged from the hospital and did not persist in continuing his rehabilitation, his mother would definitely look for Liberty.Thus, Duncan wanted to stop that possibility ahead of time.As the ward door closed, Mrs. Lewis let go of Liberty’s hand, turned around, and cried as she leaned against the wall and covered her face.Liberty was silent, took two steps forward, patted Mrs. Lewis on the back, and comforted her. “Mr. Lewis will get better. Don’t worry too much.”She took out a napkin and handed it to Mrs. Lewis.Mrs. Lewis accepted it, turned around, and apologized to Liberty while wiping her tears.“Liberty, this accident has nothing to do with you. It’s all my fault that Duncan got into a car accident. I stopped him from going to see you. It’s all my fault…“After Duncan found out about the severity of his injuries last night, he looked dead inside. I think he just can’t accept this f
Liberty smiled. “Not yet. Maybe you can continue sleeping in the car until the sun rises.“We’re home. Let’s get out of the car. Even if you’re sleepy, you should still take a bath first. The year is ending in a few days. The weather isn’t that cold now. I checked the weather forecast. It says it’ll rain a little on New Year’s Day, so the temperature might drop slightly.”Duncan sat up and touched his forehead. Indeed, there was some sweat. “It really isn’t cold. I’m even sweating.”Liberty did not turn on the car’s air conditioning. In that weather, it would be cold if the air conditioning was turned on and hot if it was turned off. Thanks to the wind, it was still cooling when the car was moving. However, once the car stopped, it became stuffy inside. Liberty got out of the car and went to the passenger seat to help Duncan. Duncan declined her help and insisted on doing it himself. Then, he held her hand and walked into the house slowly. After heading upstairs, he belatedl
Liberty did have a fatty liver back then. However, that was resolved after she lost weight. Indeed, having an unhealthy weight could bring about health issues. Purchasing plus-sized clothes was also a problem. Once she started maintaining a healthy weight, she looked fantastic in whatever she wore and often received compliments for having a great figure when shopping for clothes. Most people marveled at her healthy and youthful complexion. She did not look like she was already in her thirties with a four-year-old son. “Do you want to take a nap? There’s heavy traffic ahead.”Liberty saw a stretch of road highlighted in red on the navigation app, signaling slow traffic. “Aren’t most people on holiday and traveling? Why is the traffic still congested?”Duncan muttered, “Maybe there was a car accident.“I don’t need a nap. I’m energetic now. I won’t be able to fall asleep.”He was extremely excited. “If you think I’m too talkative, you can play some music. We can liste
Since Audrey would take care of Sonny, Liberty and Duncan were in a good mood as they exited the Stones’ residence. Duncan’s bodyguards were to return home instead of following him around. He had Liberty anyway. Besides, it was his and Liberty’s wedding night. They even left Sonny with the Stones, so there was no way he would be letting his bodyguards follow him home. Liberty was the one who drove as Duncan’s legs were still recovering. She would glance at him from time to time. She said, “You’ve been staring at me the entire night. Haven’t you seen enough?“It’s not our first time meeting each other. What’s there to look at?”“You’re beautiful. You’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen.”Duncan was particularly generous with sweet words that night. To him, his wife was the most beautiful woman in the world. “I can’t get enough of watching you. I controlled myself in Aunt Audrey’s house because I didn’t want her to laugh at me. Now that there’s only the two of us,
Sonny asked Liberty, “Mom, is it okay? I want to stay at Grandaunt’s house for one night. Tomorrow, you can come pick me up and take me to Dad’s house.”After receiving a call from her former mother-in-law, Liberty had already asked Sonny after he woke up that morning if he wanted to stay with the Brown family for a couple of days, to spend time with his grandparents. Tomorrow, she would take him to the Browns.Liberty smiled, “You can stay the night if you want. Tomorrow, I’ll come pick you up and take you to your dad’s house for lunch.”She planned to call Hank soon and let him know that she was not taking Sonny there early in the morning, so the Browns would not have to get up early to wait.Sonny jumped up happily and said to Audrey, “Grandaunt Audrey, my mom agreed! I’m going to stay here tonight and play with Elias."With that, he rushed upstairs. Elias was getting cuter. When he talked to him, the baby would respond with cooing sounds, which was really fun.“Aunt Audrey, I
After a long while, Jessica finally asked, “You have swollen eyes because Liberty is getting remarried? You’ve lost your chance to remarry her.”“Jessica, I’ve never thought about remarrying Liberty. That’s impossible. I’ll wait for you to be released. No matter how many years it takes, I will wait for you,” Hank quickly explained. “It’s true that I’m upset that Liberty is remarried, but it’s mainly because of my son.“In the future, Sonny will call someone else ‘Dad’, and I’m not around him often. I’m afraid that one day, he’ll only end up closer to his other dad and not me, his biological father.”Jessica quietly looked at him for a moment before coldly replied, “If you have time, you should spend more time with Sonny. Even a biological father and son need to nurture their relationship.”“Who did Liberty marry?” Jessica asked. “Is it Duncan Lewis?”“Who else could it be? It’s Duncan. He kept Liberty close, never letting anyone else near her. Whenever any other man got close to L
Why was he crying? He knew the reason deep down but could not bring himself to say it out loud. Instead, he simply slumped over the steering wheel and cried his heart out. After he was done crying, he finally started the car and left the city hall, heading to the prison to visit Jessica.When Jessica saw him, she noticed his eyes were red and swollen. Thinking something bad had happened in his family, she immediately grabbed the phone and asked, “Hank, why are you crying? Your eyes are all swollen. Did something happen to your parents?”She still harbored hatred toward Olivia and Chelsea, hoping something would happen to that mother-daughter pair. Ideally, she wanted the old woman to face judgment in hell.Back when she stabbed Hank and Chelsea came to the rescue, Jessica felt she should have made sure to stab Chelsea to death. It was because of Chelsea’s incitement that she and Hank ended up like this. The two women had torn apart Hank and Liberty’s marriage, and now that Liberty’s
Liberty did not need them to push her husband. She continued to push Duncan toward the car, and only then did the bodyguards help him into the vehicle. Soon, the luxurious car carrying the family of three drove away from the city hall and merged into the street traffic, gradually disappearing into the distance.It was not until the car was out of sight that the car parked not far from the city hall slowly began to move.The driver was Hank.He would not stop Liberty and Duncan from registering their marriage and neither did he have the right nor the standing to do so. He had intended to take customers but had not received any orders, and without any particular destination in mind, he ended up at the city hall by chance, arriving before Liberty and Duncan.However, his car was parked farther away, and many other cars were occupying spaces near the city hall. After the divorce, Liberty no longer paid much attention to him and did not notice that Hank’s car was already there, waiting.
Liberty was his wife now.Sonny was completely confused. He had come here with his mother and Dunc. Everyone here was so friendly and smiled at them as they congratulated Liberty and Duncan. Why, though, did they not congratulate him?“Mom, Dunc is smiling so brightly. What’s so special about that paper? Mom, can I see it?” Sonny asked, looking up at Liberty, curious about what was so interesting about the marriage license that made Dunc smile so widely.Liberty glanced at Duncan and teased him, “Duncan, the corners of your mouth are almost reaching your ears.”“I’m happy. Very happy,” Duncan responded with an even brighter smile.The weather today was cloudy, though occasionally, the sun took a peek while sometimes it became overcast. Still, the power of the sun today certainly could not compare to the beam of Duncan’s smile.Liberty handed the marriage license to Sonny to view.Sonny eagerly took it and started reading it. Some of the words he recognized, but overall, he did n
“That brat is already at that age and still doesn’t think about settling down. Every time we pressure him, he hides away.” When Audrey talked about Anthony, who did not want to get married, she could not help but feel a headache coming. Out of her three children, the one who worried her the most was Anthony.Serenity walked over to Audrey and affectionately linked arms with her, smiling, “Aunt Audrey, you don’t need to worry. Anthony’s a good man. When the right person comes along, he’ll get married.”“Let’s hope so—he’s not young anymore. Children are always a worry, aren’t they? There’s always something to be concerned about. What about Sonny? Why didn’t he come along?” Audrey asked. “Didn’t you come from your sister’s place?” “Sonny went with my sister and Duncan to the city hall. They said they wanted to go as a family of three,” Serenity replied.Audrey laughed, “Duncan doesn’t mind bringing along a little third wheel, huh? Well, that’s fine. They’re going to be a family, aft