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
With a deadpan face, Duncan threw a fit about refusing to see Liberty. Now that he saw her in person, his greedy eyes locked onto Liberty’s face as if he was trying to etch her looks on his mind. Duncan opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came through his parted lips. Duncan was at a loss for words. He must be dreaming. Duncan said he did not want to see Liberty, so his parents would not let her in.He had to be dreaming. Duncan closed his eyes once more. The soft tissue brushing against his skin prompted Duncan to open his eyes. He was not dreaming. It really was Liberty.He could not believe that Liberty was here. Who let her in? With a chilling gaze and an aloof expression, Duncan raised his hand and roughly slapped Liberty’s hand away. He sternly questioned, “Who said you could come in? I don’t want to see you! Get out! Aren’t you happy enough that you got me in this sorry state? Go! Go now! The last person I want to see is you!” Liberty calmly retr
Mrs. Lewis wanted to get inside the ward. However, her husband held her back and said, “Since Liberty is in there, leave it to her to handle the situation.” The two bodyguards made a long face and uttered, “Sir, Mr. Duncan will punish us if we don’t get in there.” Mr. Duncan would not do anything to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis as they were his parents. Nevertheless, they were merely bodyguards. “Go inside and see what you can do about the situation.” Mr. Lewis believed the two bodyguards would dare not lay hands on Liberty anyway. Duncan may seem like he wanted Liberty out, but he could not stand anybody manhandling Liberty. He would feel bad. The two bodyguards went into the ward. Liberty had moved a chair to sit right beside the bed and quietly observed Duncan as he smacked the bed while not knowing what to do with her. “Kick her out and don’t let her in again!” With the two bodyguards entering the ward, Duncan ended the abuse on the bed and pointed at Liberty to get he
With a scowl, Duncan ordered Liberty. “Alright.” Liberty gladly obliged. Rising to her feet, Liberty put the food container on the bedside table before helping Duncan to get into a seated position. Duncan had a burly frame. Although he had lost a lot of weight, Duncan still weighed a ton. Liberty had to pick his weight up since Duncan was not even trying. Liberty had spent months recovering from an injury. During her recuperation, Liberty could not do any heavy lighting. Her strength was unlike before. It took a lot of effort for Liberty to prop Duncan up. Duncan was not enjoying any bit of it either. Liberty was not strong enough, and the agony in his legs drained Duncan of any energy. Sure, Duncan intentionally let Liberty do all the lifting in the beginning, but he soon could not wait to sit up. Liberty could barely lift him despite heaving, pulling, and tugging, so Duncan started to work with her. More importantly, Duncan could not stand Liberty getting too cl
Duncan took a deep breath and another to stop himself from blowing up. It did not matter to Liberty whether he was angry or not. Liberty sat by the bed undisturbed as Duncan pounded the bed and demanded that she leave. He was steamed up while she remained calm and watched him make a fool of himself. Duncan had his pride. He did not want to embarrass himself in front of Liberty like that again. “Liberty.” Duncan’s dark eyes locked on Liberty. Hiding his feelings behind his eyes, he coldly uttered, “You have seen how I am now. I don’t need your help. You can leave.” Liberty drew close and sat on a chair next to the bed before looking at him with a smile. She had slimmed down and looked as beautiful as she was before entering her last marriage. Her smile was pretty and soothing, easing the fury in Duncan. “Mr. Lewis, are your hearing and comprehension fine?” Liberty asked. With a stern face, Duncan answered, “I’m covered in injuries, but they do not affect my hearing
Surely, Liberty would leave if Duncan could give her the brush off and throw fits. She would think differently about him. That way, she would have no qualms about marrying another when she met the right person.With that in mind, Duncan vowed to himself to make it happen. So what if Liberty would come by every day to care for him? He had ways to get Liberty to give up on the daily wages of ten thousand dollars and stay away from him. Since it was quiet in the ward, Mrs. Lewis gently pushed the door open to take a peek inside. Her son cocked his head and quietly watched Liberty sleeping in the bed for dependents. Mrs. Lewis believed she made the right call to hire Liberty as her son’s carer. So long as her son was still in love with Liberty, Liberty could get Duncan to eat, sleep, and carry on with physiotherapy. Sensing another presence in the room, Duncan turned to look at his mother. He fell silent for a bit before uttering, “Mom, Liberty mentioned that you hired her for
Meanwhile, Elisa and Serenity took their own cars and drove into the Stones’ residence. Remy, who had been keeping an eye out from next door, immediately drew close the moment the girls pulled up at the driveway. He arrived with a bouquet of beautiful roses and a set of jewelry. Elisa got out of the car and took notice of a familiar car parked not too far away. While the vehicle looked familiar, Elisa could not put her finger on the owner of the car. She cocked her head to ask the maid who opened the gates for her, only to find Remy approaching with flowers and a red bag of stuff. Elisa chuckled. Elisa went up to Remy. The Stone family’s maid was about to close the gates. Mr. and Mrs. Stone had informed in advance to close the gates before Ms. Elisa saw Mr. Remy. Mr. Remy was not allowed in the residence. However, now that Ms. Elisa saw him, there was no point in closing the gates now. “You’re here, Remy.” Since Remy got back from Annenburg, the pair only had one di
“If Mom said she would create an opportunity for you to get with the king, would you really believe her? It’s just talk—nothing actually happened.” Trenton could not resist poking Carrie’s forehead a few times. “Carrie, can you please come back to earth? In your current state, forget about finding a great guy like Callum—even a regular, decent guy would be turned off by you.”Carrie swatted away her brother’s fingers, irritated and embarrassed. “Am I really that bad? I’m young, beautiful, have a great figure, and a dignified heiress. If the monarchy still existed, I could marry the king and be his queen without a problem.”“Carrie, you have sky-high ambitions, but be careful, don’t fly too close to the sun and end up like Icarus.”As soon as he said that, Trenton was met with a smack from his sister.“Is there a brother who curses his own sister like that? What do you mean by that? I’m destined to have the princess life. I’ll be fine.”However, deep down, she was still worried bec
Camryn was right—he was just too soft-hearted. If he were as ruthless as her, Carrie would have found a job long ago after running out of money.To encourage Carrie to become independent, Trenton decided that after Christmas, he would stop giving her living expenses. He would also tell their parents during his visit to prison that Carrie was truly hopeless.“Trenton, you keep siding with her, and one day you'll regret it. She’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing who has deceived who knows how many people. Do you really think she cares about you? She just wants to win your complete trust to take everything that belongs to you for herself. By driving us out of our home, she’s not only seeking revenge on Mom and Dad but also on us—especially you. She’s just pretending to be nice to you to sow discord between us siblings.”“Carrie!” Trenton said seriously, “Don’t talk about Camryn like that. She’s not that kind of person. I believe in her, one hundred percent.”Carrie was so furious she wanted
“Alright, alright, I can't win with the two of you against one,” Carrie sulked. “Give me money to spend. I'm out of money.”She reached out her hand toward Camryn, wanting her to give her money. Camryn slapped her hand away. “Even Trenton knows to take advantage of the winter break to find a part-time job and earn some pocket money. You’re perfectly capable, yet you don’t look for a job.“To put it bluntly, if you’ve gone to sweep the streets, you'd still have a source of income. I have money, but I won’t give it to you. Don’t think that just because we’re sisters—estranged, too, at that—I have an obligation to support my adult sister. I’ve said it before: if you want money to spend, earn it yourself.” With that, Camryn walked away to tend to her plants.As Christmas approached, the flower market was bustling. Every day, many people came to buy flowers, and all her employees were out delivering flowers to clients. Sometimes, when it got too busy, she even had to ask her two bodyguar
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