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
Duncan tightened his hold around the boy, then abruptly opened his eyes. Seeing that it was Liberty, Duncan let out a big smile and asked, “Are you finished with work, Liberty? Can we go home? Sonny is tired. I held him so he could sleep for a while, but I fell asleep too.”Liberty pulled her arm away from her son’s face. Duncan lamented his slow reflexes. He could have snatched her hand and pulled it to his face when she was withdrawing her arm. He beat himself up for being a light sleeper too. If he slept like a log, Liberty would have probably snuck a kiss on him. Duncan wondered if it was too late to fall back asleep. “I’m finished for the day. I appreciate you looking after Sonny till this late, Mr. Lewis.” Duncan said, “Always happy to help, especially since Sonny’s warming up to me.” Back then, Sonny would not even let Duncan hold him because of the scar on his face. To this day, Duncan had not gone under the knife to remove the scar. Liberty knew the story be
“I believe you have better prospects in expanding your restaurant chain since you love cooking and want to make delicious and affordable food for people. However, you must be stricter with management and develop your own management style because a good leader is like a glue that holds the team together. Liberty, I believe you will succeed, but don’t be in a hurry. Take things slow. Rome wasn’t built overnight. We will gain more experience as we move forward.” Liberty nodded. “You have a point, Mr. Lewis. I will pace myself. The last thing I want is a costly mistake of losing everything.” Age was still on her side. She could work her way in the industry for another decade before considering diversifying into a five-star hotel. Liberty wheeled Duncan out of the restaurant and stopped to shut and lock the glass door before pulling down the security shutters. “I’ll do it, Ms. Hunt.” The Lewises’ bodyguard came forth and pulled down the shutters for Liberty. Liberty performed the
The other bodyguard had taken personal leave, leaving Duncan with only one bodyguard today. Liberty was concerned that a single bodyguard would have trouble getting Duncan into the car. The bodyguard did not refuse. He and Liberty helped Duncan into the car. Once Duncan was inside, Liberty considerately secured his seat belt while the bodyguard fit the wheelchair into the trunk. Duncan kept his eyes on Liberty as she buckled him up. Since the pair was in such close proximity, he nearly gave in to his urge to hold her tight. In the end, he managed to stop himself. Liberty was becoming more like a family to him. His one-time reckless behavior might cost him all he had worked for. “Mr. Lewis, you don’t have to take us home. The journey isn’t far.” Duncan looked deeply into her eyes. “I can’t rest until I see you and Sonny safely inside the house.” It was difficult for Duncan to let the mother and son out of his sight, let alone a ten-minute driving journey. Liberty locke
Zachary and Serenity gifted Liberty a villa, but she refused the generous gift. The property had yet to be transferred to her name, and she had not moved in either. Liberty was without a word. Faced with Liberty’s silence, the Lewises’ bodyguard knew better than to offer more unsolicited advice. As Liberty opened the door to her home, he said, “Ms. Hunt, don’t forget to lock the door. I got to go.” “Sure, thank you. Drive safely,” Liberty urged. She laid her son down on the sofa before checking the front door. By then, the bodyguard had already left. She quickly locked the door and returned to the sofa to pick her son up and take him to the bedroom. “You’re out like a light. You haven’t even showered.” Liberty gave her son a gentle squeeze on the cheek. She let him sleep instead of waking him up. Sonny could have a nice, hot shower when he wakes up in the morning. “Sonny.” Liberty leaned forward to kiss her son on the cheek. “It must have been hard for you to leave
Serenity was only ten when her parents passed away and since then, Liberty had practically raised her. The bond between the sisters went deep beyond that. Liberty was like a mother to Serenity.Since Serenity became Mrs. York, Liberty was glad to accept help from her sister and Zachary on major matters. However, she firmly refused any handouts when it concerned her everyday life. Zachary and Serenity were at their wit’s end when it came to Liberty’s stubbornness. No one, not even Audrey, could shake her attitude and talk her out of it. “Mr. Lewis, I’ve been living here for a long time. It’s a safe area, and nothing ever happened. I ran into a drunk man tonight, but that’s all. I’ll be careful not to come home late like this again. Today’s incident was an exception. “It’s bad enough I can’t be a safety net my sister can fall back on, but you can’t expect me to mooch off her. A property in The Oasis cost tens of millions, and Zachary bought the biggest villa in the area. I belie
Fortunately, Quinn herself was strong, and her family was not pushovers either. She turned to look at Julian.Without asking, Julian knew exactly what she was thinking, and he quickly reassured her, “Quinn, you don’t have to worry. That kind of thing won’t happen to us. I’m your rock. As long as I’m around, no one can bully you. In my family, apart from my parents, everyone else has to accede to me, and you know how my parents feel about you. They’re so grateful to you that they practically worship you like a goddess.“You’re familiar with the York family now and have seen the way they operate, right? Well, my family and the Yorks are old family friends. Birds of a feather flock together. The reason our two families are so close is we have similar family values.“Setting aside the fact that your family is powerful enough and supportive of you—even if you were like Serenity in the beginning, my family would never look down on you or mistreat you. They would only love and cherish you.
Stacy was actually hoping that Julian and Quinn could get their marriage license today and hold the wedding right away. However, the date they had picked was after Christmas and they still had to wait over a month for the actual wedding. At least once they signed the papers, there was no need to worry about Quinn changing her mind. Stacy was afraid that Quinn and her family might have second thoughts, especially since her son was afflicted with a disorder.“Hey, sweetie.”When Stacy addressed Quinn, her tone was very gentle. Quinn thought that her future mother-in-law was even kinder and more considerate than her own mother. Her father had looked into the Buchams' character and knew that Stacy was actually quite formidable. To Quinn though, Stacy appeared so gentle and kind that she did not seem like the kind of person who would be overly strict or tough. Of course, anyone who could hold fast the position of the Buchams’ head missus and secure her husband’s love for decades as if
Quinn could not stop laughing when she saw him.Julian blushed a little in response. He asked, “What are you laughing at? Is my outfit ugly? Does it not look good?”He was used to wearing black clothes all the time. Although he had a white suit, he rarely wore it. Today, for the special occasion of legally getting married to Quinn, he had specifically chosen to wear white, a color symbolizing purity, to proclaim how his feelings were as pure as snow.“It’s not ugly, it looks great! You look even more handsome than usual. I’m just not used to seeing you in a white suit. Now, you look like a prince from a fairy tale—my prince.”Julian smiled indulgently. “That’s right. I’m your prince charming and yours alone. You look great in white, too, my dear wife.”It was Quinn’s turn to blush slightly. She was not used to being called his wife, especially since they had not even registered yet. Since they were about to go get their marriage license though, she might as well start getting used
Serenity laughed and said, “I hope I’ll be toasting at your wedding soon.”Peter replied, “I think I'll get married before Dylan does.”Dylan’s romantic path had been much more complicated because he had not wanted to follow the smooth, well-paved road that Grandma May had arranged for him.“We have lots of happy occasions lined up after Christmas, then,” Camryn remarked.“Yes, lots,” Serenity agreed.The courtyard was lively, with the elders occasionally joining in on the fun. Meanwhile, inside the house, Dylan was thinking about what Serenity had told him. She had repeatedly said that the person Grandma May picked for him would definitely be the right one, someone who would suit him well.She also suggested that he look into Imogen and that there might be a pleasant surprise in store for him, but that he was not to let Imogen know. The implication in Serenity’s words was that Imogen might be Fox and that Fox’s real identity was Imogen Doyle herself.After understanding Serenit
Dylan frowned as he pondered deeply.“The scent from outside is wafting in. I think the food’s ready. I’m going out to have a couple of skewers to satisfy my cravings. You can stay here and think things through.”Seeing that Dylan had finally grasped the main point, Serenity stopped the conversation and went out to have some barbecue. It had been a long time since she had eaten barbecue.After getting pregnant, although she was not as strictly monitored as Jasmine was, she still paid close attention to her diet and would do her best to avoid things she could not eat or had to limit. Liberty called her every few days to remind her to be careful.When Zachary saw Serenity come out of the house, he immediately picked up a plate of freshly grilled skewers to his beloved wife, saying, “I deliberately used less seasoning on these for you, so you can eat them with peace of mind. Sonny’s asleep now, right?” “He fell asleep long ago, after playing so hard today,” Serenity replied, then gr
In that case, Grandma May would not even need to step in to teach him a lesson. His older brothers would beat him up multiple times for tarnishing the York family’s reputation and dragging their names in the mud with his own.“Dylan, I told you that if you didn’t trust Nana, you’d face the consequences. Look, you’re starting to suffer now, aren’t you?” Serenity said. Who was Grandma May? She was a kind-hearted but cunning old fox who could sell someone out and still make them feel grateful for it as they counted the money she made for her. How could she pick a bad match for her grandsons? There was no way they would be unsuitable. “Serenity, it’s not that I don’t trust Nana, it’s just that I really couldn’t fall in love with Imogen. I feel like if I couldn’t fall for her in almost three months then I just won’t. And I always thought about Fox when I was with Imogen. I’m not some naïve kid who doesn’t understand what that means.” Dylan smiled bitterly. His family always compla
“Callum and Camryn came with Trenton, so they’re all having a barbecue together.”Serenity hummed in response. She closed the door to Sonny's room and said to Dylan, “Is it something you don’t want Zachary to know? If so, let’s go to his study to talk." “It’s not that. It’s fine if he knows, but I’ve talked to him, and he couldn’t be bothered. Then I asked Julian, but he said he was busy. He’s taking Ms. Crawford to register their marriage tomorrow. I just wanted a little help from him; I didn’t need him to do it personally.” Dylan grumbled a little about Julian being unhelpful.If Julian could hear this, he would retort, “Why should I help you? Even Zachary isn’t that demanding.”If it were not for the fact that Zachary and his cousin, Josh, were best buddies, Julian would not be so obliging either. Among the Yorks, Grandma May was the person the Buchams most respected. Of course, if it were something important, the Bucham family would definitely help, but Dylan’s request se
“I haven’t felt like snacking lately.”“Is the stuff made at home not to your taste anymore?” Whenever Serenity said she did not want to eat something she usually loved, Zachary would wonder if it was because the chef’s skills had declined, causing his beloved wife to lose her appetite. “It’s not that, I just don’t feel like eating them. I think maybe the baby is like you and doesn’t like sweets.”Zachary smiled. “If our son is like me, that’s fine. He’ll be steady, and in the future, the two of us will protect you.” If they had a daughter, he hoped she would be like Serenity. If she had his personality… Well, it would not be the most charming. Zachary wanted his daughter to be very likable. “I don’t need you guys to protect me, I can protect myself.”“Honey, don’t say that. I’m your husband, your man. You have to give me a chance to show off, or else people will say you married a useless husband. That would be so unfair to me.”Serenity chuckled.“Do you want to go watch So
“I can be just as considerate and attentive to you.”Quinn looked at him and could not help but laugh. “I don't mean anything else by that, you don’t need to be so defensive.”“You envy Serenity,” Julian said. “I don't want you to envy anyone. I want you to be someone others envy.”Uh, this sounded exactly like something Zachary would say. It looked like, occasionally, he really had learned a thing or two from Zachary.Quinn instantly felt smitten. She looped her arm through Julian's and whispered, “I already am someone others envy. I’m not envious of Serenity—I was just making an observation. They say Mr. Zachary dotes on his wife, and Serenity is very lucky. Now that I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes, I believe it. So, I genuinely sighed with admiration. I know I’m very lucky as well. You treat me so well, and I am content. I really don’t envy anyone.”The young couple’s conversation went unnoticed by Zachary. He waited for his wife to settle before answering a call from Dylan.