Jasmine pursed her lips. “He’s a little ugly. I’m scared that my baby will turn out hideous if I marry an ugly man. Your situation is the best. Since you and your husbands have the looks, your baby will turn out beautiful.” She would rather marry a motivated wage earner like her best friend. So what if Mr. York was not born with a silver spoon? He worked hard to get to a senior white-collar position at York Corporation. Anyone who could get into the York Corporation’s headquarters was an elite among elites. Serenity replied after a brief pause, “You should spend less time on your chick lits. I think you read too much and now you imagine yourself meeting a young, handsome, and rich CEO like the female characters in your books. The young CEO only has eyes and the hots for the leading lady. Jasmine, that’s all fiction. Where are you going to find that many young CEOs in real life?“The CEO of York Corporation is young, but he took over the family business that has been around for y
It was eleven o’clock at night by the time Serenity closed the shop. She rode her e-bike home. “Drive safe, Serenity.” The female store owner from next door graciously said. Serenity replied with a smile, “I will.” Watching Serenity’s receding figure, the female store owner muttered, “She’s such an independent child with a sad past. It was a good thing she stood up to her bloodsucking relatives and refused to succumb to their absurd demands.“Just watch her. Serenity will rise above all the bad. Her good fortune is written in the stars, and she’s bound for success. Things are difficult before they are easy. Those who picked on her will be sorry.” The female store owner then glanced at her husband and pursed her lips. “You’re always into the mystic mumbo jumbo. Why don’t you start a business on fortune telling or something? Why don’t you give me a reading? When will I be rich?“Hurry up and move the stuff into the shop so we can close for the day. We should wash up and get som
“I’ve made the maneki-neko, but Ms. Stone saw and loved the creation when she suddenly came to visit me. I thought since we live together, I can make it up to you at any time.” Black in the face, Zachary fixated his profound eyes on her. Serenity asked cautiously, “Are you angry, Mr. York?” Zachary scowled and spoke in an icy tone, “How can I not be angry when you gave something meant for me to someone else without my permission?” To make things worse, Serenity gave it to Elisa! Did Serenity know that Elisa was chasing her husband? How could she give away his maneki-neko to her competition? That was generous of her! Serenity stopped looking at her phone. Holding her plate of mac and cheese, she made her way toward Zachary while eating. She sat down next to Zachary and said fawningly, “I’m sorry, Mr. York. It’s my fault. I’ll make it up to you tomorrow. Don’t be mad.” Zachary glared at her rather grimly. His lips were pressed together tightly. Since Zachary had not c
Peering at Serenity’s pasta dish, Zachary was feeling bummed out. There she was, eating well. How could she be sitting next to him, enjoying her meal while he was upset? The girl… was heartless. Ultimately, they were different from other couples. Theirs was a marriage of convenience without feelings involved. Bottling up his frustration, Zachary asked glumly, “Isn’t Ms. Stone the heiress of Stone Group? Why did she look for you? Since when have you two been acquainted?” Zachary played dumb despite knowing the answer as he got his intel directly from Elisa. He never once mentioned Elisa in Serenity’s presence. Serenity recounted the story of how she met Elisa to Zachary. It aligned with Elisa’s version of events. “Ms. Stone came and opened up to me about her feelings for the heir of the Yorks. Her decision to chase after Mr. York wasn’t quite well received by her family. She was feeling down and asked me for ideas to make advances at Mr. York.” Zachary raised his brow.
Furthermore, Zachary was only thirty years old. How did that make him old? Serenity mentioned more than once that he was a middle-aged man. Zachary had his power of meditation to thank as Serenity’s words could have stung him to the point of blowing his cover. “My boss isn’t old. He’s not a middle-aged man!” Pulling himself together, Zachary defended himself. Serenity looked at him. “I thought you never met your boss. How do you know he isn’t a middle-aged man? Do you think someone young can run a huge company like York Corporation? Although the business world is not my thing, I know what a big deal York Corporation is in Wiltspoon. York Corporation is neck to neck with that something & Co. in Annenburg.” Zachary replied after what seemed like an imaginary eyeroll, “FC & Co.”Like York Corporation, FC & Co. of Annenburg was a giant in its respective city. Behind FC & Co. was the multi-billionaire Johnson family. The present CEO, Ben Young-Johnson was a year younger than Zach
“I have a suggestion, but I’m on Ms. Stone’s side, so I can’t tell you about it.” Grabbing her plate and utensils, Serenity got up and went to the kitchen. Zachary quietly watched as her figure disappeared into the kitchen. A while later, he rose to his feet and walked over. Leaning against the kitchen door frame, he asked solemnly, “You’ve only just met Ms. Stone. Why are you on her side already?” “Ms. Stone and I might not have known each other for a long time, but I’ve never even met your boss. Whose side would you think I’ll take? Ms. Stone is my type of gal. What’s wrong with supporting her to go for Mr. York?“Your boss must be a lofty person. Wait till Ms. Stone has him wrapped around her little fingers. He’ll be all over her. Hahaha. Let’s see if he’s going to be haughty then. Isn’t it a fun storyline? I can write a book out of it.“I have a lot of free time at the shop. If the sales of my online business aren’t doing too well, I should try to write a book. That’s ano
Josh would be the first to quit and stay as far away as possible if Zachary were interested in men. Problem with his manhood? Zachary had not fallen head over heels for Serenity. Well, he would show her once he took a fancy to her and consummate the marriage! It took a while before Zachary got up and made an abrupt exit to his room. He slammed the door behind him. The loud bang was a reflection of his foul mood. Serenity waited until he closed his bedroom door before getting up. She picked up the paper, crumpled it into a ball, and tossed it into the bin while mumbling under her breath, “It was a good thing I thought it through. Otherwise, I’d have lost to him.” The lesson today was not to make a bet before getting full intel on the opponent. There was a risk of things blowing up in her face. As for her proposal of a wager and her sudden change of heart, Serenity was not concerned at all. It was normal to back out of a deal since they had not signed a contract. While hu
The couple walked down the stairs together. Zachary went for his morning run while Serenity rode her e-bike to the market. She was mounting the bike when Zachary reminded her, “Get extra groceries to bring to your shop. You can cook your lunch. You should stop ordering takeout.” “Got it.” “I’ll have the Wiltspoon Hotel deliver meals to you every day if I catch you with another takeout.” Serenity turned her head to shoot him an angry look. “Squanderer!” Zachary made a wry face. Not too far away, the bodyguard, who pretended to pass by, nearly snickered after overhearing Serenity. Refusing to spend another minute with the squanderer, Serenity rode her bike away. “The girl doesn’t know what’s good for her!” Zachary waited until she was long gone before making that snide comment. Serenity looked around the marketplace and bought a lot of fresh vegetables and long-lasting melons to stuff the fridge. The potatoes, carrots, and onions were placed in a ventilated bag on the flo
Caroline smiled gently. “I do quite like Sonny, he's really cute. Liberty, you've done a great job raising your son. It's easy to see that in ten or twenty years, Sonny will be very successful.”The only little one in Wiltspoon who had a familial connection to her was Sonny, as well as Clive’s son. Serenity's baby had not been born yet, after all.“Oh, by the way, I've prepared Christmas gifts for all of you, and I've written your names on them so it's clear whose gift is which. One of them is for Serenity's unborn baby. That generation will call me ‘grandaunt’, right? I'm not sure whether Serenity’s having a boy or a girl, so I've prepared a gift for both a boy and a girl. If it's a boy, then the other gift will be for her second child.”Caroline smiled and said, “Considering how much the Yorks wish for a daughter, I think Serenity and Zachary will probably give it another go and try for a daughter.”In this case, giving double the gifts was not excessive.“My nephew isn't even b
Caroline sighed internally once again. She would not ruminate about the past, and neither could she bring herself to. Mr. Foster was still alive, but he had returned to seek revenge for his master, and in doing so, he made Belinda fully realize that she would never receive his love in this lifetime. Now that Belinda was dead, all the love, hatred, and grudges had dissipated with her. Fortunately, she came to a realization before she passed on and regretted the things she had done to Tiara.Liberty said, “Your mother truly was very shrewd.”Belinda was ruthless, but when it came to making her posthumous arrangements, she had been meticulous, especially in preventing Hunter and his sons from plundering the Fisher family's assets. It had to be said that Belinda had truly done her duty as the head of the Fisher family, though as a mother, she had been too biased. She appeared very good to her three sons on the surface, but when dividing the family estate, she was very objective. “Did
The backing Liberty had was too strong.Although Caroline was familiar with the family business and internal affairs, she had no backing. The number of people supporting her within the family had also decreased. It was not because she was incompetent but because she was Belinda’s daughter. Whatever Belinda did was exposed by the media and circulated among the people of Jensburg. It would be a lie to say that the Fisher family members did not hold a grudge at all. Even if Caroline was kinder than Belinda, they could not support Belinda’s daughter as the next matriarch. People would change. When Belinda first assumed the position decades ago, she was friendly to the family. However, once her position was stabilized, she started eliminating those who were capable and those who disagreed with her. She wanted to monopolize power. Therefore, nobody wanted Caroline to take over as matriarch. On the other hand, Liberty received much more support. Unless Liberty gave up on the
At that moment, the office phone rang. Liberty picked up the call and was informed by the secretary that Caroline had arrived.“Please let her in,” replied Liberty before hanging up. “Caroline is here.”Liberty told Duncan. He said calmly, “So what? We aren’t doing anything shameful. There’s nothing to hide.”He was Liberty’s fiancée. Most people in WIltspoon and Jensburg were aware of this. Seeing him in Liberty’s office would be completely normal to Caroline. Besides, he was one of the shareholders of Liberty’s company. Therefore, the company was also Duncan’s territory. He was uninvolved in the operations and only invested his money. He believed that Liberty could manage the company well. Liberty smiled and did not say anything else. She went to prepare a pot of tea. Soon, Caroline entered. Darren was behind her with multiple shopping bags in his hands. When Liberty saw the bags upon exiting the pantry with a pot of tea, she told Caroline, “What did you br
“What’s wrong?”Duncan replied softly, “I’m fine. I thought you caught a cold because you kept sneezing.”He wanted to fuss over her, yet he received her concern instead. That was the kind of relationship he wanted—mutual concern, understanding, and trust. Liberty understood why he suddenly came to her. She said, “You got so worried over an occasional sneeze. Don’t worry. I’m fine. I’ve gotten used to the winter in Jensburg after staying here for some time.“Maybe I was sneezing because someone said something bad about me behind my back.”Duncan immediately said, “Who dares to badmouth my fiancée?”Liberty feigned anger with a glance, but she was clearly happy. Duncan was very protective of her. Even Hank was not as protective as when she was dating him back then. The difference between true and fake love was so apparent. Duncan guessed, “I can’t think of anyone who’d scold you besides your previous in-laws.”Liberty replied, “You shouldn’t think about them. I no lo
“Anyway, you’re not allowed to take advantage of Sonny. He’ll catch on because he’s growing up. Don’t offend Serenity either. Otherwise, your hardware store that has finally stabilized will have to close down.”Chelsea’s expression changed when she recalled why she and her husband lost their jobs. “One more thing. If Liberty and Duncan get married, don’t be ignorant and stir up trouble at their wedding.”Olivia was worried that her daughter would be unreasonable and make a fuss. Chelsea was unhappy. “Do I look like someone who likes to create trouble? Liberty is different and isn’t as gullible as before. I don’t have the guts to make a ruckus at their wedding.“Do you think I’m that fearless? I’m afraid of losing everything too.”Nevertheless, Chelsea was still jealous that the sister-in-law she used to bully was able to marry into a wealthy family two years after her divorce. Olivia knew well of the daughter she birthed. She said, “Think about who rescued Lucas when someth
Chelsea muttered, “Even if you do that, Sonny isn’t close to you, Mom.”Olivia was speechless for a second. She said, “Even if we aren’t close, he’ll call me grandmom when he sees me. He doesn’t even greet me now.“Sonny may be young, but he’ll be four years old next year. He knows everything he needs to and is clever. He must’ve inherited Hank and Liberty’s best genes because they used to be smart people.”Liberty was not stupid. She even had a better career than Hank before she got married. What were they thinking back then?The Browns wanted to suppress Liberty to ensure she was less dominant than Hank. Therefore, Liberty was persuaded to leave her job after marriage to stay home throughout her pregnancy. She ended up becoming a housewife and lost the sharp edge she had in her workplace. Her world only revolved around her husband and son, causing her to lose her identity gradually. The Browns were changing Liberty bit by bit, yet they were not treating her well. Ultimately
“I’m not using Sonny. Since Hank and I are siblings and he only has one son, Sonny and Lucas can get along as cousins. If Sonny hangs out with his cousins more often, he’ll have brothers who have his back in the future.“If he runs into any problems, we can help him. He won’t be alone.”Chelsea guessed Hank must have told their parents something to have caused the change in their mother’s attitude. Olivia favored Sonny and no longer wished to work toward the future of Chelsea’s children.Olivia glanced at her daughter and chuckled. Then, she looked toward Lucas, the grandson she raised. Lucas was a naughty boy. He would never stay still and had already made a mess of the house in a short period. “Look at how Lucas behaves now and compare it to Sonny’s personality. Although Sonny can get mischievous sometimes, he’s more mature and sensible despite his young age. He’ll only be more composed in the future.“Even if he does run into trouble, he won’t require your help. You guys
“Even if my husband and I work tirelessly for another decade, we can never achieve the wealth of the Lewises.”Chelsea was mentally cursing Hank for being ignorant and not mending his relationship with Sonny. He even brainwashed their parents until they stopped siding with her. She could only imagine Sonny’s bright future, where he would be living in a large villa, driving luxury cars, and inheriting a megacorporation. Meanwhile, her children could only get a decent nine-to-five job. Their monthly salary could even be lower than the price of one of Sonny’s meals.Chelsea was jealous. She was anxious about getting her son to build a close relationship with Sonny.“Why don’t we file a case to regain Sonny’s custody, Mom? Liberty and Serenity won’t ignore us so long Sonny is in our house. They’ll help us so that Sonny lives a good life too.“That way, Sonny will have a deeper connection with us. He won’t forget us when he becomes a capable person.”Chelsea had a pipe dream. O