Quinn was unaware of it. She did not even know that she had already fallen into Julian’s trap. On the way back to the hotel, the straightforward and eloquent Quinn had a pleasant conversation with Julian. It felt as if they had known each other for years instead of this being their first meeting. Julian had grown to like his fated partner more. As expected of his woman, Quinn was not only skilled in fighting but she was also outspoken and had a frank personality. A woman like her was suitable for him. “Since you’re a CEO, Mr. Bucham, did you have a chance to work with Mr. York? I’ve heard of Mr. York and his wife’s love story even though I was in Summervale.”Summervale was a small city that paled in comparison to Wiltspoon. It was a distance away from Wiltspoon too.Julian was not surprised that Quinn mentioned Zachary and Serenity. From his investigation, Quinn had a hobby of reading novels aside from coaching and exercising. His sister-in-law, Jasmine, shared the same
“Frankly speaking, even I want to hire you as my bodyguard. I’m short-staffed right now. With your skills, I believe you’ll be able to single-handedly ensure my safety.”Quinn said with a smile, “Don’t mention it, Mr. Bucham.”Julian did not have to call her his benefactor. He was the most polite person among all the people she had helped before. As expected of a CEO, he had good manners. Quinn could sense that Julian was a person who knew how to express gratitude. The heavens would bless someone like him. She believed his business would improve. “If I were to get tired of my job one day, please give me a job as a bodyguard, Mr. Bucham. I can be a security guard too. I won’t be picky about the job as long as I can earn money through my efforts. I can accept any job that’s legal and doesn’t involve stealing or robbing.”Quinn knew she had no other specialties aside from martial arts. Therefore, she was fine with any job as long as she could get one. Anyone could become an
Julian got out of the car and bid Quinn goodbye. He watched as she walked into Wiltspoon Hotel and only got back into the car after she disappeared from sight. Next, he took his phone and called his trusty assistant. The call connected and he asked, “How’s everyone’s injuries?”“Mr. Julian, our future missus was ruthless. Everyone has injuries of different severity and needs to be hospitalized.”Julian was happy when he heard his assistant addressing Quinn as the future missus. He liked the ring of it. She was destined to be his. Quinn was growing on Julian. The heavens have treated him well by leading such an outspoken girl to him. He finally had the chance to become a real man. However, he was older than her by ten years. Would Quinn dislike him for being too old?Julian had never felt old. Men his age were still at their primes. Moreover, he kept himself in good shape and looked like he was in his twenties. No one could tell that he was thirty-four years old from hi
The night passed and morning came.At East Hill Apartments, Liberty held Sonny’s bag as she walked to the door. She urged him, “Quick, Sonny. You’re going to be late.”Sonny was dawdling. He took his shoes from his room, sat on the sofa, and put them on slowly. “Can I not go to preschool today, Mom?”Before preschool started, Sonny had always thought going to preschool was fun. He had so much fun on registration day that he did not want to go home. He even cried when Liberty wanted to take him home. However, after some time, Sonny felt being at home was much more satisfying. If his Mom could not look after him, he could go to Aunt Ser’s place, Uncle Zak’s office, or Grandaunt Audrey’s home.All of those options were better than going to preschool. Most importantly, Sonny needed to wake up early every day to attend school. He could no longer sleep in as he did in the past. As Mom had to head to work, she would take him to preschool early in the morning. He was always the
Liberty hugged him back. She spoke gently, “I’ve neglected you and haven’t been accompanying you much because I’ve been too busy lately. Why don’t I take you to the seaside this weekend?”“Is Aunt Ser coming?”“We can invite her and Aunt Elisa too.”Sonny said happily, “Okay. I’m sorry, Mom. I won’t say anything about not wanting to go preschool anymore.”Liberty pulled away from him and smiled. “I’m happy you can understand me and correct your mistakes. You’re my good boy.”She then pecked his cheek and Sonny kissed her back. “Let’s go to preschool now, Mom.”Sonny pulled Liberty’s hand and walked toward the door. “I can carry my own bag, Mom.”Liberty passed the bag to him. He carried it and exited the house with her. Sonny waited as Liberty locked the door. Then, Liberty turned around and was about to hold Sonny’s hand when she saw a man looking at them from a distance. That man was the drunkard she bumped into in the elevator last night. The drunkard looked more
That lady immediately stood in front of Liberty to block the drunkard’s sight. Then, she pretended to chat with Liberty and asked, “The child’s dad is coming back soon, right?”Liberty replied, “Yes.”Hank would be discharged soon and he would be going home, but not to her place. They had been divorced for a year after all.The lady teased Sonny, “Do you miss your dad?”He replied honestly, “I do. My mom brought me to visit Dad last weekend.”The lady smiled, “Oh, you went to visit your dad.”Sonny nodded vigorously. Liberty knew the lady was doing it on purpose to let the drunkard know she had a man in her house who was about to return from a business trip and not to think about doing anything to her. The drunkard did not say anything upon hearing that. The elevator doors opened when it reached the first floor. The lady quickly pulled Liberty and Sonny out. The drunkard remained where he stood. When Liberty walked past, he whispered, “I looked for you all night. I know y
After a moment of silence, Liberty said, “Zachary gave a villa to us as a present. It’s a huge and pretty house, like the one Aunt Ser is living in now. I haven’t accepted it until now.“I’m working hard to earn more money to pay for your education and improve your living conditions. I want to become someone Serenity can rely on too. I feel like I’ll burden her if I keep accepting Zachary’s kindness.“People will think that we’re taking advantage of the Yorks just because Serenity has married into a wealthy family. If I work hard to earn money, I believe we can move into a villa with our abilities.“Dunc and Uncle Jul have a house in that neighborhood too. If we accept Serenity’s offer and move there, it’ll definitely be much safer than our current place. I’m also in a dilemma about whether to accept that house.“Your aunt will be worried about our safety if we tell her about the man we met earlier. Let’s not let her know, okay? She’ll get shocked if anything were to happen. She ha
It did not take long for Zachary to pour a glass of water for Liberty. He handed the glass to her. “Liberty, Seren and I will be having the wedding ahead of schedule. Please accept the villa at The Oasis. It’s a little something from me and Seren.” The Oasis would be a second home to Serenity because that would be where Liberty lived. Liberty took the glass and replied with a smile, “That's what I wanted to talk to you about today, Zachary.” Zachary was ecstatic. He returned to his desk and took out a bunch of keys from one of the drawers. He then approached Liberty and put the keys in front of her. “Liberty, I have kept the keys to the house here for you, available whenever you feel comfortable accepting the villa.”Liberty took a sip and glanced at the keys, feeling touched by his thoughtful gesture. Her sister and brother-in-law always had her best interest in mind. Despite being an heir to a wealthy family, Zachary never treated Liberty with disdain. In fact, he treate
Hank’s parents had always been biased toward his sister, Chelsea. It would be difficult to change them. Their father, Luke, was a slightly better case because he had felt regretful ever since knowing Serenity was the York family’s missus. He regretted letting Hank date Jessica. After going through so much, he was more convinced that Liberty suited Hank better. Unfortunately, it was already too late. Hank could no longer return to the past. On the day Serenity and Zachary brought Sonny to the Browns’ place for a meal, Chelsea also brought Lucas back to visit her family. When Chelsea entered the house, Olivia was sitting on the sofa watching TV. She said, “I heard Liberty and Duncan getting married soon, Mom. The Lewises are preparing for the wedding. The couple will most likely get their marriage license after she returns from Jensburg.”Olivia looked indifferent. “That’s bound to happen sooner or later. Why are we still talking about her?“Even if she gets a boost in her
Next, she posted the pictures on social media. Many of her followers were her students’ parents. Only a minority of them were her friends or ex-classmates. She was flooded with blessings from them as well. One of Zoey Crawford’s worries was finally resolved. Since her daughter had gotten married, she would continue urging her sons to do the same. Zoey had been anxious that Quinn could never find a suitable partner because of her easy-going personality and proficiency in martial arts. Although she was introduced to a few men through matchmaking services, the men usually refused to show up. They were scared of the potential domestic abuse they could face since Quinn was good at fighting. They had heard of her countless accomplishments as well. Therefore, no one was interested in Quinn despite her decent figure, looks, and family background. This was where Zoey’s constant urging for her to find a life partner came from. Quinn had felt frustrated about Zoey’s nagging. She did not
Julian said gently, “You can meet Serenity, Jasmine, and Elisa often in the future.“By the way, don’t trust anything Elisa says. Take her words with a grain of salt.”Quinn asked, “What will Ms. Stone say to me? Why are you specifically asking me not to listen to her?”Julian cleared his throat. As he drove, he said embarrassedly, “I pretended to pursue Elisa for some time to help Remy back then.”Quinn said, “I didn’t know I had a love rival.”“Elisa isn’t your love rival. She and her family don’t fancy me anyway. When they knew I was pursuing her, Mrs. Stone immediately changed her mind and agreed to Remy and Elisa’s marriage. To her, I’m like a fierce beast unsuited for her baby daughter.”Quinn got invested and asked, “Why did helping Remy involve pursuing Elisa?”Julian came clean and recounted everything to Quinn. He did not want her to misunderstand.“Even your parents fell for your acting. I didn’t think you’d do such a thing.”“Don’t misunderstand, honey.”Quinn smi
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