“Liberty, you shouldn’t think ten thousand dollars daily is too much. Duncan has a terrible temper now. He’ll throw tantrums frequently and toss things around. We can tolerate him because we’re his parents, and I was the one who caused him to be involved in the accident.“If it were other people, who would be willing to be on the receiving end of Duncan’s anger? Even if we offer a sky-high salary to hire a caregiver for him, no one’s willing to earn that money. He’s really difficult to take care of now.”Mrs. Lewis thought spending over three hundred thousand dollars a month to hire Liberty to care for Duncan was not expensive at all. She was willing to spend any amount of money as long as her son could get better. Three hundred thousand dollars was the price of one bag of hers. Some of her handbags were even worth more than that. Mrs. Lewis thought paying ten thousand dollars per day was not a lot, but Liberty thought it was too much. Her business was booming, but even the max
Going to Liberty was useless. The source of the problem was her son. Mrs. Lewis also did a series of extreme actions against her son. After that…What was left was only regret. Liberty said magnanimously, “I don’t remember the words you’ve said to me before, Mrs. Lewis. I understand you.“It’s better to have a marriage between people of equal social standing. I’m also a mother. If my son were to like a girl whose standards differ from his too much, I might find it hard to accept too.”She would consider herself an open-minded mother before it happened. However, if it were to happen, not many people could truly be open-minded in allowing their children to get married to whomever they wanted.The parents in the York family stood out because only a handful of people could do that. Liberty often told Serenity to cherish everything both of them had. Putting Zachary’s attitude aside, how many people could be as open-minded as the York family’s parents?Therefore, she was not a
Liberty passed the phone to her son. She looked at her store. The employees were done packing, so she told them to leave first. Afterward, she thanked Jim. “Jim, thank you for picking Sonny up again.”“Stop saying thank you, Liberty. This is the task assigned to me by Mr. and Mrs. York. It’s my responsibility.”Jim chuckled warmly. “I’m happy to be of help to you. Sonny is so cute too. I’ll start missing him if I don’t see him for a day.”Upon hearing Jim’s words, Sonny raised his chin and said confidently, “Jim, am I the most lovable and adorable child ever?”Jim smiled and said, “You’re right. You’re lovable, adorable, and the cutest child I’ve ever seen.”Liberty walked out with Sonny’s hand in hers. She laughed and said, “Stop praising him, Jim. His imaginary tail will point upward to the sky if you keep doing that.”“I’m telling the truth. Sonny is the cutest child I’ve ever seen.”Jim insisted he was speaking the truth. Of course, after many years, he would say the sam
Serenity asked concernedly, “Liberty, what is it?”“It’s nothing serious. I just found a highly-paid job.”After rinsing the quinoa, Liberty added water and turned on the right heat setting before turning to face her sister. “Liberty, your diner is doing great. Why do you still have to look for a job? Are you stressed because Sonny is going to a learning center? It’s okay. I can help to pay for his school fees. I can’t even finish spending the allowance Zachary gives me every month. Everyone in his family receives an allowance each month too. The last thing I’m lacking is money.”Serenity thought her sister had looked for a job because she was too stressed.“No. Sonny’s school fees aren’t a problem. The money Hank gave me back then is enough for Sonny’s education. I have an income every day as well. It’s not because I lack money.”Liberty looked outside and saw Jasmine playing with Sonny. She said, “Mrs. Lewis came to look for me just now.”Upon hearing that, Serenity frowned.
“I’ll make stew. I can bring Mr. Lewis some when I head to the hospital in a bit.” Liberty turned around and got the ingredients out of the bags for prepping to make the stew. “I should respond to Mrs. Lewis.” Having recalled that she would give Mrs. Lewis a reply, Liberty paused in motion and whipped out her phone to call Mrs. Lewis. She let Mrs. Lewis know of her decision. Mrs. Lewis was grateful and insisted on giving Liberty some sort of payment. It was not like Mrs. Lewis could do anything if Liberty refused to take payment. With that in mind, Liberty went on to make lunch. The food was ready when it was close to lunch break. “Seren, I’m delivering some stew to Mr. Lewis. Sonny will stay here with you.” Liberty carried a food container out of the kitchen. “Lunch is ready and in the pot. Help yourselves when you and Jasmine are done with work.” “Have you eaten, Liberty?” Serenity asked with concern. It had not been busy at the bookshop lately. However, with th
“Don’t yell at Duncan, Charmaine. He doesn’t mean it.” Mrs. Lewis pulled Charmine outside the room. “Don’t criticize him. Duncan has it hard enough.” Charmaine answered, “I know Duncan is in low spirits, but so are we. We are concerned about him and his health. He gave up on himself before the doctor did.“You can’t continue to enable him, Corey. We must get him back on his feet.” Corey had been beating herself up and stayed by Duncan’s side to nurse him since his accident. Charmaine could understand where Corey was coming from. All they could do was visit and deliver food to the hospital every day. Sometimes, Duncan would refuse to see them when they came around. Since Charmaine’s husband assumed the leadership role of the Lewises family business, he was swamped with work every day while fretting over Duncan’s injury. However, Duncan was too caught up in his sorrow to care about his family’s feelings. Mrs. Lewis’s eyes welled up. She choked with sobs. “I want him to
Mrs. Lewis, who was in the living room outside the ward, answered the door. The door was open, and there was a bodyguard. “Ms. Liberty is here again, ma’am.” The bodyguard reported to Mrs. Lewis. Mrs. Lewis did not have a chance to answer as Duncan’s keen ear picked up on the announcement from inside the ward. No longer keeping a straight face, he shouted, “Tell her to leave. I don’t want to see her! Tell her never to come back to the hospital! She can get lost for all I care!” Following Mr. Duncan’s resounding yell, the bodyguard sighed to himself.Mr. Duncan had behaved as such every time Ms. Liberty came by. Only Ms. Liberty was capable of invoking such emotions from Mr. Duncan.Any dummy could tell that Ms. Liberty could influence Mr. Duncan emotionally. “Let Liberty enter.” Mrs. Lewis went against her son’s wishes. It put the bodyguard in a difficult spot. Inside the ward, Duncan anxiously tried to turn over and get out of bed. Nevertheless, his legs were
“Duncan,” said Mrs. Lewis. She asked Liberty to come and take care of her son. Mrs. Lewis felt bad now that Liberty was left standing outside. Duncan closed his eyes, refusing to talk. There was nothing Mrs. Lewis could do about it. The cold sweat dripping from her son’s forehead gave Mrs. Lewis great distress. She grabbed a tissue and dabbed the sweat off her son. “I know that you still have feelings for Liberty, Duncan. Why do this to yourself?” Duncan kept his eyes closed and his mouth shut. He was more upset than anyone else to leave Liberty out in the cold, and the heartache was hard to bear. Still, Duncan did not want Liberty to see him like this. Liberty did not fall in love with him when he was in the best health. There were lesser chances of Liberty ever falling for him now that he was crippled. The only feelings he would get from her were pity. Seeing that her son was not in the mood to talk, Mrs. Lewis did not pursue the subject further. After a brief
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