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
Liberty understood that Zachary needed time to think the matter through. Hence, she smiled and said, “Alright. Talk to Seren when you get home. Go ahead with your work. I’m going to check on the restaurant.” “You’re leaving so soon?” “I got to get going. You have a lot of work, and time is tight. I don’t want to take up too much of your time.” Since Serenity was pregnant, Zachary canceled their honeymoon trip. However, he did not withdraw his marriage leave. Instead, he planned to spend some quality time with his beloved wife for the whole month. They could take a drive around Wiltspoon or have walks. Wiltspoon was a huge city. They had not explored every nook and cranny of the city yet. Zachary had been busy, taking extra shifts and sorting out the important stuff so he could take his marriage leave in peace. “I’ll walk you out.” Zachary did not insist that Liberty stay. He escorted her out of his office and walked her to the elevator. Once Liberty was in the elevator, h
“Don’t worry, Boss. We’ll hold the fort.” The diner was relatively empty at this hour. Barely any customers came in after ten for breakfast but the early morning rush could be quite busy.Of course, the servers hoped the business did well as their livelihoods depended on it. All You Can Eat was located near Lewis & Co, a commercial space Liberty rented from Duncan.Mrs. Lewis was strongly against Duncan and Liberty being together when Duncan first confessed his feelings to Liberty. Liberty once thought about moving the diner elsewhere to avoid Duncan. In the end, Liberty decided to take the bull by the horns. Liberty drove to Lewis & Co., reaching the office building in mere minutes. The security personnel of Lewis & Co. immediately opened the gate for Liberty and watched with a smile as she drove past the gate into the compound. The security guard then shut the gate and returned to his post to say to his colleague, "Liberty just joined the company when I started working
After the divorce, her life went on an upward trajectory.Hank’s, on the other hand, went on a downward spiral, although that was due to Zachary. He had orchestrated Hank’s downfall behind the scenes, causing him to lose his job. No other employer dared to hire him either.Initially, Hank hoped to join Stone Group, as the Stones and the Yorks were sworn rivals.He thought that if he could make a name for himself within Stone Group, he could wield its influence to take revenge on Zachary.However, who could have expected that Audrey Stone was actually Liberty and Serenity’s biological aunt?Audrey had spent decades searching for her sister, only to find just her two nieces in the end. She doted on them as if they were her own daughters.Elisa and Serenity, who could have been considered love rivals, unexpectedly became close friends. Instead of fighting, they became as close as sisters, and Elisa even gave up on Zachary, whom she had admired for years.Now, she had found her own
Duncan held his wife’s hand and said, “Don’t worry about her. Fletcher’s secretly protecting her and she won’t be in any life-threatening danger.“You’ve been working all day. You must be tired.” Duncan patted his shoulder. “Lean on me.”Liberty smiled and rested her head on his shoulder as he immediately wrapped his arm around hers.“Duncan.”“Hmm?”“It’s wonderful to have you. I finally have someone to rely on too.”In the past, she had been the one her sister and son relied on. Now, she had someone to lean on as well.Duncan said affectionately, “It’s even more wonderful to have you. You’re my support too, my pillar of strength. I really thank God for bringing us together.”He thanked God that they met, got to know each other, fell in love, and would spend the rest of their lives together.“Do you remember the first time we met?”Duncan chuckled. “How could I forget? You were pushing a stroller with Sonny in it, and you accidentally bumped into my car.“My brand-new car g
It would prevent them from ending up with nothing.“Mr. Lewis is coming over. You should go to him.”As they entered the hotel, they saw Duncan slowly walking over. His two bodyguards followed behind him, pushing a wheelchair. People coming in and out of the hotel could not help but glance at Duncan. The hotel manager wanted to help him, but Duncan declined.Liberty took a deep breath and said to Caroline, “Call me if anything happens. Good luck.”“Thank you!” Caroline said and smiled. “We’ll both have good luck.”Liberty walked over to Duncan.Caroline, on the other hand, turned and walked out.“Duncan.” Liberty stepped forward to support him. “Let’s go home.”Duncan let her help him, and the couple slowly made their way out.“Ms. Fisher left.”“Yes, she didn’t tell me, but I think it’s probably happening tonight. Adrian Clark and his brothers left work on time this evening instead of staying late, and they’ve finished everything assigned to them.”Duncan whispered, “They h
Meanwhile, in a private room at Fortress Hotel in Jensburg, Caroline and Liberty stood up together and shook hands with their client, having successfully closed a business deal.The two of them escorted the client downstairs.After the client got into their car and left, Caroline turned to Liberty and said, “Liberty, it's getting late. Mr. Lewis is still waiting for you inside, so go get him and head home early to rest. The weather is really cold.“He still has trouble with his legs and isn’t used to the cold here, after all.”Duncan had caught a cold on his third day here.After seeing a doctor and taking medication, he was still coughing a little.Liberty did not move. Instead, she asked Caroline, “Are they making their move tonight?”“How would I know? They’ll act whenever they want. I’m just waiting. It’s likely to be soon, though. I’ve spread the word that Darren is on a business trip for half a month.”She did not want Liberty to worry, so she did not tell her that her fi
How long had it been since she last truly appreciated the night view of Satbury?Every day, she left home early and returned late, rushing from one place to another, with endless meetings, piles of documents to process, and countless business deals to negotiate.It always felt like there was not enough time.Before she knew it, time had flown by.It seemed just yesterday she had taken over the family business, but in the blink of an eye, several years had passed.Back when she first took over, many people had looked down on her, doubting her ability to manage the O'Connors’ vast empire. Many had wanted to devour the O'Connor family, to carve it up and take a share for themselves.Her parents’ generation was utterly mediocre, and after her grandparents passed away, they could not hold things together.As a result, the O'Connors’ family business declined and they lost a significant amount of money.On top of that, their extended relatives tried to exploit the situation, digging p
Isabella smiled, “Every time I hear you talk about your family, my heart gets restless, and I feel like going to meet them myself.”She even felt the urge to join their family, but she could not bring herself to say that out loud.Austin treated her very well. Tati said that when Austin looked at her, there was a sparkle in his eyes, and she kept saying that Austin had come here for her.Technically, Austin could indeed be considered to have come here for her, but it was really because of her picky palate and because she was hiring a private chef.To put it bluntly, Austin had come for the sake of culinary art.Sometimes, when Isabella locked eyes with Austin and saw him looking at her so intently, she could not help but wonder if he felt something for her.However, such thoughts were always quickly brushed aside.She and Austin were simply employer and employee.Austin treated her well because she was his employer. If there were any issues with the dishes he prepared, she coul
Austin smiled meaningfully, “My entire family will be very happy and warmly welcome you if you come with me to attend my nephew's sip-and-see shower.”In fact, his family would likely treat Isabella as his future wife, extending the kind of hospitality reserved for a daughter-in-law.However, Austin did not voice this thought.He and Isabella had not reached the stage where they could openly flirt like that.In any case, he was not in a hurry. Like a good stew, he would gradually win Isabella’s heart with time, and everything would fall into place naturally.“Your sister-in-law hasn’t given birth yet, so why are you already saying it’s a nephew?” Isabella teased belatedly. “Are you all hoping for a boy?“I heard from Ruth that your family elders are all hoping for a baby girl, though.”At the mention of that, Austin smiled wryly. “Ms. Fuller’s been to Wiltspoon and has heard about my family. She knows that our elders have always wanted a baby girl, so she must have also heard ot
Isabella asked, "When is your sister-in-law due?"She did not have a private chef who could fill in for Austin. If he took a leave of two or three days, she could manage, but if he requested a longer leave, she might not approve it.Zachary York’s wife was pregnant. Isabella had learned about the Yorks’ situation through a friend. Since she was Austin’s sister-in-law, it was natural for him, as the uncle, to want to go back and see his nephew.“I’m not sure. I asked my brother, and he said it might be in about two months. It could be earlier or later, it’s hard to say. I’ll go back when my sister-in-law is hospitalized. Once she’s discharged and returns home for postpartum recovery, it won’t be convenient to visit, so I’ll come back to work.“Then, when the baby is one month old, I’ll definitely go back for another couple of days. After all, he’ll be my first nephew and the eldest in the family’s new generation.”Isabella thought for a moment and said, “If it’s just two or three d
Austin knew she said that because she was afraid he would not agree, but how could he not? Rather, he wished for it.“Alright. If you don’t mind, I’ll eat with you from now on. Ms. Isabella, please go ahead and eat. I’ll quickly prepare some fruits for dessert.”Isabella glanced at him but said nothing and left.In the past, unless it was a social engagement, she would rarely have dessert.Usually, after finishing her meal, she would hurry back to her lounge to catch some rest, never bothering with fruits.Isabella realized belatedly that Austin had subtly influenced some of her small habits into changing.These small changes allowed her a bit more time to rest, which in turn improved her health.Soon, Austin came out.He had sliced some of the fruits and arranged them into the shape of a phoenix spreading its wings, while the smaller fruits were left whole to serve as the finishing touches.“In just this short time, you actually managed to create a phoenix,” Isabella praised.