“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
“Mr. Lewis, it’s late. You should get some rest.” “Okay. You should rest soon too. I don’t really have much to do, so I can sleep late and have a lie-in tomorrow.” The pair said their good nights. Duncan needed to exit the car. His bodyguard first removed the wheelchair from the trunk before helping Duncan out of the car. Once Duncan was seated in the wheelchair, the bodyguard wheeled him into the main residence. His parents, Derek and Corey, should be fast asleep at this hour. Nevertheless, the light came on before the bodyguard could reach for the switch after they stepped inside the house. Corey turned on the lights. She just came downstairs. “Mrs. Lewis,” the bodyguard greeted with respect. “It’s late, Mom. Why aren’t you asleep?” Corey drew close and relieved the bodyguard of his duty. She proceeded to push the wheelchair. “I couldn’t rest until I knew you were home safe. I kept my ears peeled for any outside noise and checked the balcony when I heard the g
Now that Liberty was a businesswoman, she upgraded her wardrobe to reflect the change. Liberty was gorgeous, to begin with. She managed to shed the extra pounds and shine through it all like a phoenix rising from the ashes. She was radiant and became the center of attention wherever she went. A beautiful woman always attracted attention. Besides, Liberty was a divorcee who lived alone with her son; a fact those who knew her were aware of. This made her more desirable to many men. One of them might act with ill intent, but there was no way to know for sure.“I advised her to accept Zachary’s gift and move into The Oasis. I have a villa there too, so I can live in the area if she decides to move there. We can look after each other. I can keep her company or have our bodyguard escort her.” “Liberty can be stubborn.” Corey remembered the time she met with Liberty to persuade her to leave Wiltspoon. Liberty refuted her to the point of speechlessness. She knew Liberty was a woma
The mention of Sonny softened Duncan’s facial muscles. Duncan said to his mother, “I held Sonny to sleep tonight. My heart just melted when I saw him settling down in my arms. The kid is cuter by the day, and I can’t help but grow fonder of him. I don’t expect him to call me Dad. It makes me happy enough when he calls me Dunc.” Hank was still alive. Even though Sonny was not close to his father, it did not change the fact that Hank was his father. In the past, Duncan would comfort Sonny, expressing his desire to be his stepdad. However, Sonny said he already had a father and did not need another one. Sonny mentioned he was not greedy enough to have two dads. Sonny showed Duncan that the boy would never call him dad. That was why Duncan would not ask for more. It was enough for Duncan if he could marry Liberty and raise Sonny together with her. Sonny could call him Dunc since he did steal the boy’s mommy.“Sonny is the most adorable thing. He is such a delight and a ball of sun
“Is Duncan home?” “Yeah, he’s back. He’s resting in his room.” Corey drew near. “Why are you up?” Derek closed the magazine. “You’re worried about our son, and so am I. I can’t get a good night’s rest until Duncan is home. I need to hear the sound of his car to know he’s back before I can sleep.” “I know, right? Neither of us can sleep until he’s home.” “Did he say why he was late home tonight? What did you talk to him about?” Corey sat in bed and pulled the covers while saying, “He was waiting for Liberty. He came home from escorting Liberty home after she was finished with work. Liberty was really busy today, but she won’t work this late anymore. Our son is doing well. Don’t worry. It’s late. Get some sleep. We didn’t talk much, only a little about his future with Liberty.” Derek waited until his wife was down and cozy before killing the lights. “What’s the point of talking about that? Duncan hasn’t fully recovered yet. He won’t be together with Liberty for fear he woul
There were still traces of blood at the corners of her mouth and under her nose.Justin and Jason worked together to pull Caroline out, and Adrian immediately tied her legs together before binding her hands behind her back.“Are you going to feed me to the fish, Adrian?”Hearing the sound of the waves and feeling the cold sea breeze, Caroline shivered.She did not stand up and remained lying on the ground.Adrian kicked her several times, venting his pent-up anger.Caroline silently endured it.After kicking her a few times, Adrian squatted, gripping Caroline's chin forcefully with one hand, and said coldly, “Caroline, there’s nothing more to say between us.“Don’t blame us for being heartless. You’re the one who pushed us to this point.“You only have yourself to blame.“Where are the passwords and keys to Mom's private assets? Tell us, and we’ll make it quick for you, so you won’t suffer too much.“If you don’t, we have plenty of time to slowly cut you piece by piece and m
“We can’t just keep giving them money, now can we?”Adrian replied, “That’s not a priority for now. We can burn that bridge when we come to it. If they do dare blackmail us, we’ll just send them on to meet their maker.“The only thing is they both have families. If we kill them, we have to kill their families too. That way, there’ll be no one who’ll report it to the police.“And it’s best to make it seem like an accident too, or else it’ll seem suspicious.”Justin and Jason both felt Adrian was right. If they were going to kill the Dott brothers, they might as well kill their families too.Caroline internally cursed how merciless they were. The Dott brothers thought they could earn some money from Adrian to live a better life but little did they know, it would bring destruction upon themselves and their families.What the Clark brothers did not know was that the Dotts were forced to say what they did earlier.It was not that they had not left yet. Rather, they could not, because
Belinda had done everything other mothers would have. She loved them, yet the three of them had gotten a smaller portion of her wealth than their own children did. Indeed, Belinda left her grandchildren with more money.After all, her grandchildren still had a long life ahead of them.Therefore, she distributed more wealth to them. The Clark brothers loved spending lavishly and kept losing money whenever they tried to establish businesses. They also had many mistresses and never hesitated to spend money on them. Belinda was partial toward her sons about their affairs and also persuaded her daughters-in-law not to get a divorce. In truth, she resented her three sons for being promiscuous and inheriting their father’s flirtatious traits. While Hunter may have been interested in other girls, he dared not cheat on Belinda because she was strict. However, he still had an affair the moment he spotted an opportunity.Later, Belinda chased the Clark brothers’ mistresses out of
Celine, whom they had cared for all long, was not their biological sister but the daughter of the previous butler. Celine’s father was ambitious. He tried making his daughter the Fisher family’s successor. Justin was speechless.“Free me, Jason. I’m already in your hands. Are you still scared that I’ll escape? Let me out. It’s too stuffy in the sack. I feel terrible.”Caroline made a request. Jason seemed to be the one with some lingering feelings for his sibling. Well, that was not really the case.If he truly had even a sliver of sibling love for Caroline, he would have stopped Adrian and Justin from kidnapping her instead of joining the plan. If Caroline had been fortunate, she could have had five brothers doting on her. Sadly, she was unlucky. None of the five brothers had cared for her. They all wanted her dead. Was she a failure as a person, or were they too cruel?Jason said, “Just stay put, Caroline. We’ll let you out when we arrive.”They could not release Car
Caroline could not beat them. Then, her mouth was gagged with a cloth, and her head was covered with a sack. Someone forced her into a car. She heard Adrian saying to his brothers, “Let’s go.“Tell Celine’s brothers to follow us. Assign a few people to clean up and leave quickly.”After that, Caroline heard the sound of an engine starting. The car moved. She could not see what was happening. While she was shoved into the backseat, her arms and legs were unbound. She removed the cloth from her mouth but not the sack from her head.Someone held the sack tightly and started hitting and kicking her. “Tie the sack, Justin,” said Jason in a hurry. The person beating her up was Justin. “I know it’s you guys, Justin and Jason. What are you doing? Let me go. Mmph…”Caroline grunted in pain. She suffered a punch from Justin. She held her head tightly to prevent any injury to it. Many blows landed on her body. “It’s fine even if you know it’s us, Caroline. You better stay
“Ms. Caroline.”The bodyguards looked toward Caroline. Caroline opened her eyes and said calmly, “Stop the car, but don’t get out. Only get out when the situation gets out of hand. Remember to protect yourselves.”“Ms. Caroline…”“I’ll keep myself safe. Don’t worry. I treasure my life. There’s still a long life ahead of me. I haven’t even started enjoying good days. I won’t want to die.”Caroline chuckled, but her smile did not reach her eyes. There was sorrow in those eyes. In the end, she and her brothers could not coexist. It made her realize how bad her luck was with families. She was switched at birth and mistreated by her adoptive family. She thought her biological parents would treat her well after returning to them, but it turned out to be the opposite. Caroline had many family members, yet somehow, she was still alone. The people who truly cared about her were Darren, Liberty, and some others. Caroline’s bodyguards knew she had been waiting for that moment.
The bodyguard in the passenger seat turned and informed Caroline. Caroline remained calm. She said, “Speed up and let them chase us. The road ahead has many curves. A truck will turn over if it goes too fast.”The people in the truck were probably her brothers from the Dott family. She wondered how much money Adrian had given them. Were they planning to drive the truck to chase her and create an accident?Caroline’s driver immediately acted on her orders. The truck behind them accelerated as well. Soon, they arrived at the section of the road with many curves and downhills.Accidents could happen easily if a car drove too quickly at a curve. The truck driver was not ready to give up his life. He decelerated when he saw the curved road ahead. By the time the truck turned, Caroline’s car was gone. The truck driver immediately stepped on the brake. He stopped by the roadside and made a call. He was not one of the Dott brothers but someone else they hired. The driver c
“They’re my biological brothers and father, Em. Although they had attacked me with their words before, they never hurt me physically.“It’s okay. I have bodyguards with me.”Caroline was letting Emma know that she would still be heading home. After sighing, Emma said, “Be careful. Call the police if something feels off. We didn’t treat you well in the past, Carol, but I saw through your family and came to a realization.“You helped me a lot, and you’re the aunt of my children. I wish you well.”Caroline knew Emma was genuinely concerned about her. Ever since she exposed her brothers’ affairs and took her sisters-in-law’s side, her sisters-in-law, especially Emma, have changed their attitudes toward her. When Adrian and Emma were fighting on the verge of divorcing, Caroline stood by Emma unwaveringly. She had also assisted Emma in many instances. Although Emma had left the Fisher family, she would always be Caroline's sister-in-law. “I will be careful and live well, Em.
Since it would be a sleepless night, drinking some coffee could help them stay awake. At eleven o’clock, Caroline and her bodyguards left the cafe. She sensed some people had been following her the entire night. The bodyguards had also noticed it, but Caroline prevented them from alarming those people and let them continue following her. It would be none other than Adrian’s people anyway. Adrian, Justin, and Jason had finished their tasks early and got off work on time. They had the entire night to themselves as they did not have to work or attend events. After Caroline got in her car, she suddenly received a call from Emma. She picked up the call. “Hi, Emma.”“You can call me comfortably, Carol. I’m not your sister-in-law anymore.”Caroline immediately switched to Emma’s nickname. “Why aren’t you asleep but calling me at this hour, Em? I hope my nieces and nephews are obedient. Now that the school term has started, you should be able to relax when they’re at school