Carrying her nephew, Serenity walked alongside Shawn into the shop. “Oh, Sonny’s here. Come, Sonny. Give me a hug.” Jasmine got up and took Sonny from Serenity’s arm. She sat down and asked Sonny, “Do you want some pastries?” Sonny looked at his aunt. “Give him a piece. Don’t let him have too much or he won’t eat his lunch.” Serenity took the diaper bag from Shawn and put it under the cash register. “My sister decided to look for a job today. She asked me to look after Sonny. She’ll come here in the afternoon.” Jasmine gave Sonny a piece of pastry. Instead of accepting it, Sonny opened his palms and said, “Deety.” Jasmine put down the food and carried him to the kitchenette to wash his dirty hands. She believed Liberty had raised Sonny well. As for the claim about Sonny being naughty, that was just kids being kids. Parents would be worried that something must be wrong with their kid’s head if the child simply sat in a corner all day like a bump on a log. Kids had it
With Shawn gone, Jasmine expressed her concern. “Seren, did your sister have another argument with your brother-in-law?” While caressing her nephew’s head, Serenity replied, “Hank is still at his parents’ home. He told my sister to return his portion of the living expenses because he wasn’t eating at home. He wants his cut back.” Jasmine responded after a brief pause, “He’s not much of a keeper, isn’t he?” Serenity fell silent for a moment before answering, “My sister needs to find stability before she can think about the future.” Jasmine was without a word. “How was Mrs. Dawson’s party? Did you have chemistry with her son?” “My head is still aching.” Serenity blinked her eyes and burst out laughing. “Don’t tell me you faked being drunk at the party?” It was all about poise and grace within the higher society. Jasmine could forget marrying up if she threw a drunken fit at Mrs. Dawson’s birthday party.“Well, I didn’t get drunk or go crazy, but I pretended to be intox
Sonny snacked on the pastry and played in the shop. His favorite toy was in the diaper bag. He could sit there all day and just play with the toy. Jasmine told her best friend, “Sonny has a good focus. Just look at him playing with the toy.” “That’s just because he’s in a new environment. He’ll tear the roof of the shop down when he’s familiar with the place. Serenity often looked after Sonny for Liberty, so she had firsthand experience of Sonny’s mischievousness. Taking out her tools, Serenity began a rush job crafting and said, “I gave the maneki-neko to Ms. Stone since she likes my knick-knacks. So, I was thinking of making another one for Zachary because we’re husband and wife, and we live together. He could’ve waited. “Instead, he got angry at me when he found out. I apologized and admitted my mistake. I even soothed him and offered to make him an extra craft before he was able to let the whole thing go. I’m going to try to get his presents ready today. I don’t want to
Serenity said, “Not at all, Nana. I’ll let him know tonight. Are you getting Callum to drive you over tomorrow, or should we pick you up?” “I’ll get Callum to drop me off, probably in the afternoon. Callum sleeps until noon during the weekends.” Her grandsons would have their much-needed break on the weekends. Not wanting to disrupt their rest early in the morning, Grandma May often let them sleep in. She planned to get to Serenity’s place in the afternoon. “Alright then. What do you fancy eating? I’ll cook dinner.” Since Grandma May was coming in the afternoon, her lunch with Shawn could go on as planned. Still, Serenity would bring Grandma May along to the luncheon if the latter came in the morning. It did not matter as Serenity was buying lunch anyway. “I enjoy your cooking. Your food is the best.” Having tasted Serenity’s cooking, Grandma May mentioned in private that her eldest grandson was lucky to have a terrific cook in the house. The whole family thought Sereni
The hospital bills were covered by Old Mr. and Mrs. Hunt’s savings for now. Old Mr. Hunt said that his children and grandchildren should chip in to pay the bills once Old Mrs. Hunt could be discharged from the hospital. As for the cost that Old Mr. and Mrs. Hunt had borne, the children and grandchildren were to return the money to them. It did not feel right for old folks like them to carry on living without any money at hand. The old folks might be money-hungry, but they knew their children and grandchildren would not be so nice if they had nothing left to their name. It was better to count on a wad of cash than their birth children. Since the old couple had savings of several hundred thousand dollars, the children would only receive about a hundred thousand bucks per family if split evenly. Still, nobody was going to say no to free cash. With the nurse coming in with yesterday’s charges, Old Mr. Hunt picked it up for a look. Scowling, he said, “It hasn’t been a few days, bu
The only adverse effect Old Mr. Hunt noticed was inflicted upon his most valued and successful grandson, John. Due to the Twitter issue, John was suspended by his company. It never occurred to him that Serenity’s retaliation would bring about John’s suspension. John was a senior executive in the company, only second to the managing director and deputy managing director. Following a call from the headquarters, John was placed on an administrative leave. John’s annual salary was over a million bucks. “Not yet. John treated his boss to a meal and found out that the sister of Stone Group’s CEO demanded that John be put on leave without pay and kicked out of the company. It was a good thing John that is good at what he does and only got a suspension. The company didn’t fire him, so things could change for the better.” Old Mr. Hunt asked out of concern, “Why is the CEO’s sister out to get John? Don’t tell me the brat found herself an ally?” “Nah. Ms. Stone is an heiress of the seco
It was said that Ms. Stone was all over Mr. York. She was livid that the Hunts stole her thunder when she finally had her name next to Mr. York’s on the trending news. Ms. Stone did not seem like an heiress as she acted like she had never met a man in her life! It was revolting that Ms. Stone quashed the Hunts time and again just to woo a man. Despite the Hunts’ efforts to stick and work together, there was nothing they could do about Ms. Stone. After coming to the city and going through all those unpleasant experiences, Old Mr. Hunt realized that the world was bigger than he knew. He thought his grandson was impressive and amazing, but there were people out there who were ten times better than his grandson, if not more. “How did that happen? Wasn’t everything agreed upon and underway? Your uncle and I got the script ready to put on a show during the mediation so the public would know we see the error of our ways, whereas Serenity would be seen as someone holding a grudge for
“Mr. York, I’m outside your office. Are you on your lunch break yet? I’m here to take you to my shop for lunch. Surprise!” Zachary was lost for words. Sure, it was a surprise, but not the good kind. Thank goodness he was good at staying composed because that was quite a scare. “Mr. York?” Serenity said as she did not get a response from the man. Tugging on his tie, Zachary replied in a husky voice, “I’m on my break but the client hasn’t left. We’re still ironing out the business details with the client, so it’ll probably take a while. Why don’t you go ahead, and I’ll meet you at your shop for lunch?” “How long more do you need? I didn’t drive. I took a cab. It’s okay. I’ll wait for you outside your office building. We can go back together when you’re finished with your work.” Zachary lifted his arm to look at his watch before responding, “There’s a dessert shop right across the office. Wait for me there. I’ll see you in a bit.” Serenity turned her head and saw the desse
“If you ever encounter any difficulties in the future, come to us. If we can help, we will. If we can’t, then there’s nothing we can do,” Adrian said.The Dott brothers pretended to decline the money, but after some back-and-forth, they eventually accepted, repeatedly expressing their gratitude.“I’ll call a car to take you back,” Adrian said, pulling out his phone to arrange transportation for them.Of course, they were not actually leaving Jensburg. They planned to start their operation tonight, aiming to deal with Caroline quickly to avoid any complications.“Thank you, Mr. Clark. You've already done so much for us,” the Dott brothers said, continuing to play their roles. They had come this far in their act and did not mind keeping up the charade a little longer.Soon, a black car really did arrive and stopped nearby. The driver stepped out and approached, respectfully greeting the three Clark brothers.“Take these two gentlemen home. They are Ms. Celine’s biological brothers,
Justin returned to the dining room and packed up all the leftover dishes they had not finished, along with the opened but unfinished bottle of wine. He stuffed everything into several bags and carried them out. Handing the leftovers to Jacob, he said, “If we’re going to keep up appearances, we need to make it look like we’re really giving you our charity, so take these leftovers back with you. You can heat them up for dinner tonight, otherwise, just toss them in the trash after you leave, but don’t throw away the wine—only you two had it. We haven’t touched it.“This wine is really good stuff, too. Where you’re from, even if you had the money, you wouldn’t be able to buy such fine wine. And if you did find any, it’d probably be fake.”Jacob took the leftovers and the unfinished bottle of wine from Justin. The wine was indeed excellent. In fact, he would have asked for it himself even if Justin had not offered it. In all his life, he had never tasted such good wine.“Once you’re re
Adrian beckoned Celine’s brothers closer in a low voice. The two had had some alcohol, and it was going to their heads. Their faces reddened in excitement and they hurried over.Adrian handed the suitcase to Jacob by the handle. He watched as Jacob laid it on the ground and opened it, exposing the thick wads of cash within.The Dott brothers' hands were trembling from excitement, for they had never seen so much cash before. At the thought that the bagful of cash was theirs now, wide smiles broke out across their faces. They each took a bundle and kissed it a couple of times.“I love this the most,” Jacob exclaimed excitedly. “The more, the better, and the more, the merrier.”“Me, too. Jacob, we’ll take ten bundles each. Let’s just keep the cash in this bag for now and when we get home, we’ll secretly divide it. For now, let’s not tell Mom, your wife, or any others.”The more people knew, the more talk there would be, so it was better for as few people as possible to know.Actuall
Ever since Belinda passed away, they were worried their cruel sister would cancel their bank cards. Therefore, they withdrew all the remaining money from the accounts from which they received their monthly allowance. Adrian rarely used the money on that particular card of his because it was a meager sum to him. Tens to hundreds of thousands a month was not even enough to buy a high-quality watch. In the past, he would only transfer the money from that card to another account every one or two years. Otherwise, he would withdraw the money and use it to flirt with women; cash could always draw many gorgeous women to him. Not many people could resist someone who could take out bundles of cash. Adrian recalled that he had withdrawn a few million dollars. He kept it all in a safe. When their mother was still alive, they spent money extravagantly. When they switched cars, they would get cars that cost millions and pay for them in full. They also made full payment when buying houses.
Jacob said, “Add one more million to it and make it six. My brother and I will get three million each. We won't do the job if you offer anything less than this.“After all, we’re the ones solving a problem for you guys. The benefits you’ll obtain from this are more than ten times the amount you’re offering us.“Besides, you three are adamant about killing Caroline, not us. We might even go to prison for this.“If we get three million each, we can consider helping you out.”Michael added, “That’s right. We may be poor, but our lives aren’t worth any less. There’s no such thing as wanting us to sacrifice our lives for you without giving us money.”Adrian went to take a fine bottle of wine and poured a glass each for Jacob and Michael. Meanwhile, he took a sip of his juice and told them, “We won’t be drinking alcohol since we have to drive and go to work. This is a precious wine I’ve been keeping. It’s sold for a high price outside.“Help yourselves to it. If you think it’s good,
It could not satisfy their appetites. After all, the Clark brothers were asking them to commit a crime. If they were caught, they had to pay the price and go to jail for several years. Losing their freedom for a few years in exchange for a million dollars was not worth it at all. “Mr. Adrian, we do hate Caroline, but she won’t do anything to us if we remain in the countryside away from Jensburg and avoid offending her.“We can still live a peaceful life. Although we’ll face financial difficulties, we can still afford basic necessities and be free.“You guys are the ones in a rush to eliminate Caroline. Her existence affects your benefits the most. Of course, you can choose to accept reality by resigning from Fisher Enterprise, selling your assets, and leaving Jensburg.“If you flee to the countryside like us, you can enjoy a comfortable life away from Caroline’s control. You won’t have to reward us for doing your bidding and can save that money.”Jacob could accept not gett
Twenty million dollars!It was the Clark brothers’ turn to exchange glances. They did not expect Jacob and Michael to name such a high price. While they could pay that amount, they did not want to hand the money to Jacob and Michael. After all, it was no longer a small sum to them, given their situation. Adrian was nervous that he would have to fork out the money himself. While he had significantly more assets than an ordinary person, most were fixed assets, and he only had a few tens of millions of savings. Therefore, he was unwilling to pay twenty million dollars out of the blue. After exchanging glances, Adrian said, “Twenty million is too much. We don’t have that much. We may be wealthy people to you, but it’s all fake. We aren’t as rich as you think.“You’re aware of the Fishers family rules—only daughters can be the successors. Sons can’t even take on the Fisher surname, let alone inherit the family assets.“When my mom was alive, she would support us financially in
“If the plan fails, we have a backup plan—hit her bodyguards’ car and force her car to stop. That way, you two can take Caroline away and leave the rest up to us.”Adrian was prepared for various scenarios.If the car accident did not succeed, then they would first eliminate Caroline’s bodyguards. Without them, and with Darren on a business trip, they could easily take down Caroline, who did not know how to fight. After kidnapping her, they would kill and cut her to pieces before throwing her into the sea. No one would be able to find her. If Caroline were dead, the inheritance from Belinda would belong to the Clark brothers. They still could not take over Fisher Enterprise and the Fisher family or do anything to Liberty. However, with Caroline dead, there would be no one to teach the new and inexperienced Liberty. Whether Liberty could hold her ground was an unknown variable. After a discussion between Adrian and his brothers, they set two goals. Firstly, they would kill Car
“Caroline will definitely receive retribution for this.”Adrian said with spite, “I shall see how she meets her death. The people in Wiltspoon will kill her sooner or later.“Does she think they’ll treat her well just because she betrayed her family? They despise us. She’s still my parents’ biological daughter. There’s no way she can be spared.”“You’re absolutely right.”The three men kept cursing Caroline throughout their journey. Upon arriving at Adrian’s villa, he parked the car. Jacob and Michael looked around after getting out of the vehicle. They thought Adrian’s place was luxurious. Adrian mentioned it was a small place, but it was already a lavish place to them. It was many times bigger than their house in the countryside. Adrian invited Jacob and Michael into the villa and they followed suit.Jacob whispered to Michael, “The Clark brothers are fighting with Caroline for the inheritance, Michael. They must be up to no good, calling us here.“No matter what request