Nevertheless, Serenity could not pry information out of Dylan’s mouth if he refused to divulge anything. Dylan was bound to bring home the wife Grandma May had chosen for him. While picking out potential wives for Zachary’s younger cousins, Grandma May would consider whether these women would get along with Serenity. Of course, integrity was an important criterion in choosing partners for the family because only the nice women would have a great relationship with Serenity. At the end of the day, Grandma May favored Zachary and Serenity the most. Zachary was the eldest grandson after all. Of course, he was on a different level than the rest of them in his generation. Zachary was the head of the York family, and Serenity was his wife. Serenity must work to build a relationship with the other ladies too. She should lead by example to be a leader among the ladies. It was the way to go to earn their respect. “Zack, Seren, I’m going to say hello to my parents before they tell m
“I got it, Liberty. I’m almost there.” Serenity said with a smile, “Zachary’s driving. He’s steady behind the wheel.” Liberty felt assured as Zachary was trustworthy. The sisters ended the phone conversation. Duncan waited until Liberty put away the phone before asking, “Are Serenity and Zachary nearly here?” “They said they were five minutes away, so they should be here in no time. The ceremony will go on as planned. Mr. Lewis, do you want to go inside for a break?” The dark bags under Duncan’s eyes tugged on Liberty’s heartstrings. The man had put a lot of effort into getting her new restaurant set up. He often stayed up late with her. After the divorce, Liberty stopped believing in love and marriage. Now that she was faced with Duncan’s affection, she felt that she should not have tarred every man with the same brush. There were still good men around. Well, for starters, Zachary was a good man. Not everybody was like Hank. Duncan was way better than Hank. Ev
Serenity asked Liberty multiple times whether she was short of cash after putting her money into All You Can Eat. Liberty was supposed to let Serenity know if her bank account was drained. Liberty poured her profits back into the restaurant chain and kept some as savings. Nevertheless, Liberty did not run out of funds. She did not need financial assistance from her sister. Serenity and Zachary knew Liberty well and held back from giving Liberty handouts. Liberty would not accept the cash even if they gave it to her anyway. The opening of a new restaurant gave them a good excuse to stuff money to Liberty. Hence, the couple slipped money inside the cards and gave them to Liberty individually. “It’s time to cut the ribbon.” “Okay.” Liberty stood front and center of the ribbon since she was the owner. She shared a moment with her parents in her mind. ‘Mom, Dad, I opened another restaurant. I hope you will look over me and my business from Heaven. Please watch over me as I g
Chelsea expressed her displeasure to her husband and was tempted to take out three thousand dollars from the gift of five thousand dollars. George gave Chelsea a lecture about how short-sighted she was in taking steps to repair the family’s relationship with Serenity and Liberty. To think she wanted to take her parents’ gift to Liberty for herself. Well, she was not one to hesitate when it came to making decisions. Chelsea handed the card with five thousand dollars inside to Liberty even if it hurt her. “Liberty, my parents sent their regards, and here is a card from them. Mom, Dad, and Hank hope your business goes well.” Chelsea was hoping Liberty would refuse the card. She could go back and tell her parents that Liberty took the card, and Chelsea would keep the five thousand dollars. Liberty took the card from Chelsea and said, “Mr. and Mrs. Brown are too kind.” Chelsea forced a smile as Liberty accepted the gift. “Have a spot to sit down, Chelsea. Enjoy the drinks and
Liberty sent the servers to wait on Chelsea and her husband. Serenity was helping her sister out too. She spotted an opportunity to ask Liberty, “Did you invite Chelsea, or did she show up uninvited?” “Uninvited.” Liberty faintly said, “Well, she and her husband are here now. I’m not going to tell them to leave out of respect for Sonny.” Women must be wise when choosing a partner. Otherwise, they would end up like Liberty. Liberty married a sc*mbag, and her child was related to unbelievable relatives. “Liberty, I noticed Chelsea’s reluctance when she handed you a well-wishing card.” Serenity added with a muffled laugh, “I wanted to laugh when I saw the ache in her face from parting with cash. She probably thought you wouldn’t accept the gift.” Liberty cheerfully replied, “The money is from Sonny’s grandparents, and Chelsea is only delivering their regards. She didn’t chip in one bit. There were five thousand dollars inside the card. I don’t expect anything less from
After much silence, Liberty said, “They won’t now, but they might do it in the future. We can raise Sonny well, so Sonny can make his own decisions. His father paid for child support after all. I won’t stop the boy from having a relationship with the Browns.” “Yeah. Let’s end this conversation here, Liberty. Today is the opening of your new restaurant. We should keep the mood uplifted for a booming business.” Liberty smiled. “I appreciate it. My restaurant will thrive.” She was confident with her business management and cooking. “Ms. Hunt.” A server entered the restaurant with a strange man. “Ms. Hunt, this mister insists on meeting you. He said he came all the way from Jensburg.” Jensburg? The sisters turned to look at the strange man. The man politely extended his right hand to Liberty. After the handshake, he turned to Serenity, who was next to Liberty, and asked with a smile, “You must be Ms. Serenity Hunt, the wife of Zachary York. I heard a lot about you in Jens
Liberty said, “Please thank your miss for me.” In the end, she reached out to accept the card. Liberty intended to return the bank card to Caroline on her next trip to Jensburg. “I will relay your kind words to the miss. Ms. Hunt, now that my task is complete, I should get going. Once again, I wish you all the success in your business.” “Aren’t you staying for the food, Mr. Fletcher?” Mr. Fletcher smiled and replied, “Considering the precarious situation the miss is in, we must tread carefully in our endeavors, Ms. Hunt. It will be wise not to stay too long. I hope you can understand, Ms. Hunt.” He gave Serenity a nod and waved the sisters goodbye before turning on his heel and taking off. By the looks of his straight back and steady footsteps, the sisters could tell that Caroline cared a lot about Mr. Fletcher. In fact, Caroline trusted him enough to send him to Wiltspoon. “He must be Caroline’s right-hand man,” Serenity murmured. “I believe he’s more than her right-
Liberty drew close and stared at Duncan and Sonny, who could be mistaken for father and son. She did not wake them both up. Instead, Liberty looked around the room. The servers had completed a round of cleanup before their shift ended, leaving the restaurant in tip-top shape. It was the restaurant’s opening day. In addition to the invited friends and family, the restaurant opened its doors to many customers. Liberty offered a discount and a small souvenir to all patrons. Liberty had just balanced the book for today, and the profits were a lot more than her breakfast diner’s. Nevertheless, the restaurant was only packed on its first day of business, thanks to the VIP guests. Only time would tell if her business would continue to thrive. Liberty was confident that her restaurant would surpass the success of her breakfast diner. She would then move on to the next goal once she achieved the one at hand. Liberty gently pulled a chair and sat down, quietly watching the man
Isabella’s bodyguard had only called out to her, not daring to touch her, so she had not woken up. However, when Austin gently patted her face and called her, she woke up almost immediately. When she opened her eyes and saw Austin’s handsome face, Isabella was momentarily dazed, thinking she was dreaming about him.She had actually dreamed about Austin. Had she developed feelings for him? If she had not, why would she dream about him? In all her life, this was the first time she had dreamed about a man. Isabella wanted to touch Austin’s face, but as she raised her hand, she realized she was not dreaming.Austin was real. She could smell the fresh scent on him because they were so close.He had showered.Isabella quietly lowered her hand, hoping Austin had not noticed her earlier intention, lest he misunderstood.“Ms. Isabella,” Austin’s warm and pleasant voice reached her ears, making her want to close her eyes and go back to sleep. With him around, she felt safe and secure.
Hunter had neither money nor power. What could he possibly use to save his sons?“Dad, go home. When the trial starts, we’ll send someone to pick you up so you can attend and observe.”Hunter stood up angrily and stormed off.After he left, Ellie asked Ava, “Are we really not going to do anything? My child is still young. Having a father in prison will always be a stain on their life.”“What can we do? Even if we wanted to save them, we don’t have the means. We know what Caroline is like. She’s not going to let this go lightly this time,” Ava replied. “Anyway, think about last year, when they were caught cheating. How did they treat us then?”Remembering the events from last year, Ellie said, “Let them serve a few years in prison, then. Ava, Caroline is in the hospital. Should we go visit her?”“We should. Let’s go tomorrow. We’ll call Emma and visit Caroline together. The Fisher family is full of terrible people, but Caroline still has some conscience. She’s always been kind t
Hunter was momentarily speechless. He did not have much money. When Belinda was alive, he never had more than five hundred dollars on him. After his children grew up, he secretly asked them for money. During that time, he had money to spend freely, living a lavish life outside.However, all that money had been spent. He had no savings, mainly because he was used to spending extravagantly.He had been unable to save money. He did not own any shops or properties either; Belinda had kept him on a tight leash.The house in their hometown had been built with Belinda’s money, but it was not under his name. It was under his three sons’ names.After Belinda’s death, his sons supported him. Each son gave him over a hundred thousand dollars a month for living expenses.Combined, that was several hundred thousand dollars a month, allowing him to live comfortably in Ashford. He had managed to save a little, but not much, just over a million dollars in total. Hiring the best lawyers for h
Despite this, lying in bed and enduring the pain, Caroline could not help but start to cry, feeling deeply wronged.When Darren came in and saw her crying, he walked over, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently wiped her tears with a tissue.“They’re not worth your tears,” he said, his heart aching for her.Caroline sat up and buried herself in his arms. “Darren, you’re all I have now.”Darren held her tightly, his voice filled with tenderness. “I’ll always be by your side, no matter what happens, Ms. Caroline. Even if the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you.“If you’re really hurting and need to cry, then cry. Let it all out.”It would also help her sever ties with the past and the family bonds that had caused her so much pain.Caroline did cry—a long, cathartic cry. It would be the last time. From now on, she and the Clarks would go their separate ways.Meanwhile, Hunter went to Justin’s house and called Jason’s wife, Ellie, over. He said to his two daughters-in-law, “By no
After a moment of silence, Hunter repeated the same line. “But you didn’t die, did you? You only got a little hurt, and it’s not even serious.”Caroline almost laughed in anger at this.Sure, she had not died. She had only been injured. Did that erase the fact that her brothers had tried to kill her, though?She retorted, “Dad, if I had tried to kill your three sons, but they didn’t die and only got a little hurt, would you say the same thing to them? Would you tell them it’s just a family dispute, ask them to forgive me, not to sue me, and not to send me to jail?”Hunter instinctively replied, "If you had the intent to kill, how could I let you continue down that path? Of course, I’d have to let you serve a few years in prison…“Carol, I’m old, really old. I only have the boys to rely on in my old age. Are you trying to leave me with no one to depend on in my later years?”Caroline said coldly, “I’ll provide for your living expenses. I’ll make sure you don’t starve. You can even
Darren did not let go even after being struck.Seeing Darren get hit, Caroline’s expression darkened. She coldly said to her father, “Dad, if you really want to kneel, go kneel at the hospital entrance and shout at the top of your lungs that your daughter is unfilial.“Tell everyone that your sons tried to kill your daughter, and your daughter refuses to forgive them, so you’re kneeling there to force her to forgive your sons.“Let’s see if I give in.”Hunter stopped struggling. After slapping Darren, he felt a pang of fear. He was afraid Caroline might retaliate by slapping him to avenge Darren. Fortunately, while Caroline was furious, she did not lay a hand on him.He began to cry. “Carol…” He wept bitterly.Darren released him, and Hunter sat on the sofa, sobbing, “Carol, I’m old. I have no income, my parents are long gone, and your mother is no longer here. I only have your three brothers to rely on.“If you send all three of them to prison, what will happen to me? Who w
Caroline hummed. “I do plan to visit Wiltspoon to see her sometime soon. I just don’t know if I’ll be kicked out when I get there.”“And I should visit Mr. Foster too. How is he, by the way?" Patrick was the longest-living person she had ever met. Back when she lived with her adoptive family in the countryside, the oldest people in town usually lived into their eighties, and few made it to ninety. Patrick was nearly a hundred years old. What was more, he could walk without support and even travel long distances with his old friends.Liberty replied, “He’s doing quite well. Aunt Audrey accompanies him on walks every day. When they don’t go out, he sits by the cradle and watches baby Elias for hours on end.”The bond between generations was strong. When Patrick looked at Clive’s son, Elias, he felt like he was looking at his great-grandson. As Tiara’s great-grandson, Elias was naturally like his own great-grandson, too.“Dr. Carden comes by periodically to check on him and adjus
Liberty had already called Audrey to inform her about what had happened and also mentioned it to Serenity.Knowing the Clark brothers had all been captured, Serenity felt thoroughly relieved and stopped worrying that her sister would run into trouble in Jensburg.She told Zachary that Caroline never let people down.Zachary did not comment.Caroline’s fever had completely subsided, but her coughing had worsened. The doctor had changed her prescription, but the effects were not immediate.When Liberty entered, Caroline was out of bed and walking around, supported by Darren.“Caroline, why are you out of bed?”Liberty scolded her, “Get back in bed and lie down. You’re injured. If you don’t rest properly and keep moving around, you’ll aggravate your wounds, and you’ll regret it.”She did not blame Darren, though. She knew Caroline always came first to him. He always followed her lead and was unable to influence her decisions.“I’ve been lying down all day. My back is sore, and I’m
The housekeeper replied, “Yes, sir.”They did not have much work in the first place, so they did not need to slack off. Once they were done with their work, they had tons of time to entertain themselves.Hunter rushed out the door with his car keys. Despite being over seventy years old, his driving skills were still quite good. Not needing to hire a driver, he drove himself straight to Jensburg.Upon arriving at the city, Hunter did not immediately go looking for Caroline. He was unaware that she had been injured.Instead, he went to meet his old friends to ask them to help him find out if anything had happened in relation to the Fisher family last night.After he finished speaking, one of his friends said, “We were about to ask you the same thing. Your three sons attacked your daughter with knives and even kidnapped her, intending to chop her up and feed her to the fish.“Luckily, that Mr. Fletcher, who works for your daughter, arrived with the police and rescued her, but she wa