What was he doing at Queen Manor?Thinking about how much her parents liked Kevin, Hayden could not stay in bed any longer. She was afraid that if she did not go home, mealy-mouthed Kevin might charm her parents and make them happy enough to sell her off.Hayden knew her parents were now worried about her marriage.She had been living as a man for over twenty years and had long grown accustomed to the life of a man.Marrying a wife was impossible for her; she was a woman after all.Even if Hayden had a wife, she could not give her a real married life.She did not want to get married either. She was not used to being a woman and she had never worn a skirt her whole life.Moreover, she had never met a man who could make her heart skip a beat and make her take off her disguise.Her parents also thought she was so outstanding that men could rarely match her.They did not urge her although they were worried about her marriage.If it were not for Kevin coming into her life, she wou
With an irritated expression, Hayden said helplessly, “Mom, I only get to rest on weekends, and I want to sleep in until I wake up naturally. Besides, I usually only take one day off and go out to play, which is more tiring than working.“Moreover, Mr. York is also busy. How can I bother him all the time?”Donald took over the conversation and said, “It’s not that Kevin should take Hay out to play, it should be the other way round. This is Jensburg, Hay is more familiar with it than Kevin, no?”Hayden kept a straight face and did not say a word.Kevin laughed and said, “When there is a need, I’ll have to trouble Mr. Hayden to be my guide.”“Kevin, just tell Hay wherever you want to go. He may seem cold, but he knows everything about Jensburg, where the good places and the best food are in town.”“If that’s the case, Mrs. Queen, don’t mind if I do.”Sophia smilingly said, “Of course, go ahead. I like you the most.”Both of her children could not compare to Kevin’s eloquence. He
“I see.”Sophia laughed and said, “Kevin, don’t blame your parents. All parents are like this. I even urge Hay and her brother, but they don’t listen to me. Maybe it’s because we love to nag, and Hay rarely comes home.“As for Hugh, that boy has many female friends, but none of them are serious girlfriends. Sheesh, children really are a liability.”“Mom, didn’t you say we’d have breakfast together when I’m here? I came back on an empty stomach.”Hayden had to interrupt her mother again.“Yes, yes, let’s go have breakfast. You and Kevin had planned to go horseback riding, right? Kevin, there’s a hot spring near our ranch. In this kind of weather, you’ll be covered in sweat after horse riding. You can go get a good soak.”Hayden did not say a word.Her mom almost said it outright, “Kevin, Hay is actually a girl.”Kevin said with a smile, “Great! So there’s actually a hot spring near the ranch. I bet it’ll be comfortable taking a soak in the hot spring after our horse riding sessio
Hayden replied, “Does that mean you can only pursue the person chosen by your grandmother? Can’t you choose someone else?”Kevin nodded and said, “It can only be the person my nana chose.”Mr. and Mrs. Queen’s eagerness dampened completely.All that enthusiasm was for nothing!Hayden looked for her parents’ reaction while questioning Kevin. Seeing their enthusiasm drained, Hayden decided not to pursue the topic any further.Sophia was unwilling to accept this and asked Kevin, “Kevin, you and your brothers are all capable and outstanding individuals. Why should your grandmother make decisions about your marriage?”Donald chimed in, “Young people nowadays should pursue freedom in love and marriage. Unlike in the old society, parents cannot make decisions for their children’s marriages. They can only offer suggestions.“Your parents remained silent, but you let your grandmother decide for you. Marriage is not child’s play, it is a lifelong event and the wife you marry will be wit
Camryn was more envied than Serenity because she was blind.Callum was the eldest child to the second son of the York family and was also very outstanding in various aspects. Countless wealthy ladies had their eyes on him, hoping he would become their son-in-law. However, he was different from others and fell in love with Camryn, a blind woman.Hayden’s parents believed that Kevin would eventually become someone else’s son-in-law, and would not be related to their family. Their attitude towards him remained unchanged on the surface, but they actually lost a bit of intimate affection toward him.Kevin noticed this but he did not mind it.The point was to disappoint them, and then bring them hope and surprise.He could say that the Queens would never have thought that the bride chosen for him by his nana was Hayden.“Kevin, which family’s heiress did your grandmother choose for you?”Hayden’s mother asked curiously, “You said you came to Jensburg to escape the pressure of being fo
Kevin said with a smile, “I haven’t helped match Mr. Hayden with anyone yet, so you don’t need to thank me.” He looked at Hayden and said jokingly, “Mr. Hayden, you must work harder. When you get married one day, you must invite me to your wedding.” Hayden responded calmly, “If that day comes, I’ll surely invite you to the wedding, Mr. Kevin.” She had made up her mind not to marry anyone in her life. After having breakfast, Sophia asked the maid to help pack all kinds of food and drink for them. Although there was now little hope for Kevin to become her son-in-law, she still wanted her daughter to follow him to the ranch to ride horses and exercise instead of staying at home all day. Hayden said rather helplessly, “Mom, I don’t stay at home all day. I only have one day off a week.” Sometimes she would not even get to rest when she needed to attend parties and social events on weekends. It was not easy to be a member of the Queen family. Donald remained the nominal hea
“Bro, the more you’re wary of Kevin, the easier you’ll show your slip,” Hugh said very softly. He knew why Hayden was guarding against Kevin. It was because she was afraid that Kevin would find out about her identity as a woman. “I wonder who Kevin’s wife candidate is.” They enquired, but Kevin did not reveal who that was.Hugh chuckled and said disinterestedly, “Who cares who she is? It has nothing to do with us anyway. He’s from Wiltspoon, so Old Mrs. York must’ve chosen a rich heiress from Wiltspoon. Even if she’s not from a rich family, she must still be from Wiltspoon. “The first missus and the soon-to-be second missus of the Yorks are both from Wiltspoon.” Hugh looked at Hayden, who understood the look in his eyes. In any case, it would not be Hayden, so Hugh did not want her to be suspicious. Hayden would seldom be so wary of a man, much less suspicious of a man. She was behaving more like a man than a man would at the moment. All the old bosses who were acqua
Kevin rode on a high horse. When Hayden and Hugh came forward, he smiled and said to them, “Mr. Hayden, Mr. Hugh, let’s race.” Hugh smiled and said, “We came here just for horse racing.” “Mr. Kevin, we heard that you and your brothers have the brains and brawn. We’re here to learn a thing or two from your riding.” “I hope you’ll go easy on me, Mr. Hugh. I haven’t ridden a horse for a long time. I’m afraid I’ll lose to you brothers.” Hugh responded, “Mr. Kevin, you’re our honored guest, so I’ll give you a one-minute head start.” Kevin looked at Hayden. Hayden said coldly, “I also haven’t ridden a horse for a long time. If I give you a head start too, you’ll have an unfair advantage. Let’s have a fair competition.” “Okay.” With that, Hugh stayed where he was with his horse while Kevin and Hayden went ahead. Hugh was speechless. Why did he agree to it so quickly? Kevin and Hayden had gone far away, but it had not been a minute yet. Moreover, Kevin and Hayden said it
“She lost the child when she fell on her own. That was our family’s flesh and blood, too!”Since Sonny did not live with the Browns, and despite her many objections, Olivia did not voice her criticisms toward Jessica when she was pregnant, out of consideration that Jessica was carrying the Brown family’s child.It was Jessica’s bad luck that she fell and lost the child, which made Olivia lose a grandson. If she had just one more grandson, she would not be waiting so eagerly for Sonny to return. It was all karmic retribution! “Mom, that's all in the past. I'm doing fine now. If the child wasn't meant to be, then it wasn't meant to be. They just didn't want to come into our lives. Anyway, Jessica is still my wife. I should go and see her. If I hadn’t corrupted her, she wouldn’t have ended up like this. It’s my fault, I ruined her.”When Jessica first became his secretary, she was still innocent and never thought of seducing him. It was he who fell for Jessica, and it was also he wh
Unfortunately, their regret and realization came too late. “I heard from Sonny that you and Mr. Lewis are getting married soon. When will the marriage be?”Olivia tried to make herself sound calmer. “We’ll be heading to the City Hall to complete the procedures later.”Olivia went silent. After some time, she said, “Oh, today? Congratulations, Liberty. I wish you both a happy marriage.”“Thank you.”Olivia initially had a lot of things to say. However, upon discovering Liberty and Duncan were getting their marriage license that day, the words got stuck in her throat. Saying anything was meaningless.Soon, Olivia hung up. Once the call ended, Luke, who had been sitting beside his wife, asked, “How did it go? Did Liberty agree to Sonny staying with us for a few days?”Olivia was still stunned and did not immediately reply to her husband’s question. At that moment, Hank came out of his room in his pajamas. When he saw his parents sitting on the sofa, he yawned and asked, “Wha
Serenity asked, “Duncan has no comments about it, right?”“No. He said that Hank would always be Sonny’s biological father. Sonny’s surname won’t be changed to Lewis as well. He’ll remain a Brown. That’s part of Hank’s and my divorce agreement.”Since Liberty had signed the agreement, she would keep her promise. No matter Sonny’s surname, the fact that he was a member of the Brown family would not change. If so, there was no point in changing his surname. “Duncan is so easygoing.”At that moment, Liberty’s phone rang.It was Olivia. When Liberty recognized her voice through the phone, she whispered to Serenity, “Speak of the devil. Olivia is calling me.”“What did you say, Liberty?”Olivia heard Liberty whispering but could not hear her clearly. She asked Liberty to repeat herself.“I was talking to my sister, Olivia. Why did you call?”It was still early in the morning. “You’re back from Jensburg, right, Liberty?”“Yes.”“That was what I heard. Look. The year is almo
“He doesn’t even want kids and said having Sonny was enough.”Duncan did not care about blood relations. Liberty believed him. He only cared about her. If Liberty had not had to manage the Fisher family, she probably would have taken more time to consider whether she wanted a second child. However, Duncan's love for her ran deep. She decided to try for another child so that he could have a child of his own. Liberty did not want to be selfish. She could not prioritize only herself and Sonny. She had to be considerate of Duncan as well. “By the way, there’s something that I need your help with.”Serenity said, “Oh you, don’t sound like a stranger. We’re sisters. I’m ready to help with whatever you need.”“I have to go to Jensburg next year. I think I’ll leave Sonny here in Wiltspoon for his studies. I’ll ask for Sonny’s opinion again once my situation in Jensburg is stable. If he wants to move to Jensburg to live with me, I'll bring him over.“If he says no, I’ll need y
“Morning, Liberty. The housekeeper said you weren’t out yet, so I didn’t want to disturb you.”Serenity stood and smiled when she saw Liberty enter. “I woke up when you arrived.”Liberty whispered, “Sonny is still asleep. Let’s go downstairs. You can accompany me on a walk outside too.”“What time are you and Duncan meeting?”Serenity was worried that Liberty would be late. Liberty said, “We still have to wait until the City Hall opens. Duncan and I agreed to meet at nine. It’s still early.”The three adults exited the child’s bedroom and went downstairs. Zachary remained in the house while Liberty and Serenity went on a stroll in the garden. Liberty’s villa initially belonged to Zachary. Although he sold it to Liberty, it was also considered a gift. She was the one who insisted on paying and refused to accept it as a gift. Therefore, Zachary accepted some money from her so that she would take it. The villas Zachary owned were never small. They usually came with garden
“As expected of a child’s skin. It’s so smooth,” said Serenity. “Catch me if you can, Isaac…”Sonny spoke in his sleep and even giggled. He dreamt of him and Isaac playing tag. When Isaac started running after him, he quickly turned to escape while laughing. He did not realize that he was dreaming. “I have two dads, Isaac…”Sonny spoke again.Serenity laughed and told Zachary, “Sonny must’ve had a blast yesterday. Even his sleep talking is related to playing.”She pinched Sonny’s face lightly. “You do have two dads, Sonny. They love you a lot, so you have double the love.”Serenity spoke gently, regardless of whether he could hear her. She bent over and left a soft kiss on his cheek. “That’s why you must be happy. I wish you a carefree life ahead.”She hoped he would grow up healthily and be worry-free. Sonny was in a deep sleep and did not reply to her. Liberty watched them from the door with an affectionate gaze. She felt content. Zachary and Serenity had a st
The night went by peacefully. The next morning, Liberty could hear her gates opening when she stirred in her bed. Soon, she heard her housekeeper talking. “You’re early, Mrs. York.”“Mm. My sister is getting married today. I couldn’t go back to sleep after I woke up, so I decided to come over.”While Serenity could not help Liberty and Zachary out with anything, she was excited to the point she could not sleep. It took Zachary a lot of effort to persuade her to sleep. However, she woke up at dawn after having a dream about her parents. She could not go back to sleep afterward and insisted on going to her sister’s place. Zachary thought he could sleep in since he was on break, but his wife just could not fall asleep. There was no helping it. The doting husband accompanied his wife to her sister’s house early in the morning. The housekeeper smiled. “Ms. Hunt isn’t awake yet.”“It’s okay. I won’t wake my sister.”Serenity finally felt at ease when she was at Liberty’s ho
After a pause, she said, “Let’s meet at nine in the morning. Seren and Zachary will come over to my place. They’ll be looking after Sonny for me. I’ll head out after they arrive. You can wait for me at the City Hall’s entrance.”“No. I want to go to the City Hall with you.”Duncan did not want to wait for her at the City Hall. He wanted to go together.“Bring Sonny along.“We’ll be a family of three from tomorrow onward. We should bring him along.”He would officially become Sonny’s father tomorrow. It did not matter that he was a stepfather. It was Duncan’s first time adoring a child that much, and he did not expect that he would later become that child’s father.After giving it some thought, Liberty said, “Okay. Let’s take Sonny with us.“By the way, Sonny won’t change his surname after we get married. That was Hank’s condition when we got divorced. Since I promised him, I’ll keep to my word.”Sonny would still be the grandson of the Browns. He would not become a Lewis.
Although Sonny was backed by a few wealthy families and would be well-supported even if he was incompetent, they still hoped he would turn out to be an outstanding individual. That way, he could be independent and achieve his goals without much help. Duncan had not thought about Sonny’s education plan. However, he knew Liberty had high hopes for Sonny. Even Serenity had never neglected Sonny’s nurturing. Despite only being in preschool, Sonny had started various hobby classes. It was to build a solid foundation and develop his interest in certain hobbies while still young. The only time he could fully enjoy playing was during winter and summer vacations. Liberty and Serenity had similar philosophies when it came to children’s education. They believed children had to study hard and play hard. Liberty nodded and said, “Sonny can have all the fun he wants when he’s young. Once the situation in Jensburg is stable, he’ll have to study and live there.“I wonder if he’ll be willing