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
Liberty turned up right outside Duncan’s office. She knocked on the door and only entered the room once given permission. Duncan sat behind his desk while his wheelchair was parked to the side. If he needed to leave the office, Duncan could leverage the table to transfer himself to his wheelchair.His two personal bodyguards were nowhere to be found. They were probably on standby in the lobby. Duncan was back in the office to take care of business, so his bodyguards could not possibly stay by his side all the time. He had his secretary when he needed help in the office. Hearing the familiar footsteps, Duncan lifted his head and saw Liberty. He stood up with the support of the table and tried to make his way around. Liberty immediately stopped him. “Sit there. Don’t move. I don’t want you to fall.” Duncan said with a grin, “Alright. I'll stay put. My legs aren't quite cooperating yet.”Nevertheless, Duncan's recovery was progressing, and he was doing much better than whe
Liberty said, “The novelty has worn off, I guess. He has to wake up early for preschool every day and has homework after school too. He doesn’t have time to go to his aunt’s place for some fun.” “You can't cram too much into Sonny's schedule. He already has self-defense classes on weekends. Three-year-olds learn through play. We want to make sure he has a happy childhood. Putting too much pressure on him to study will take the joy out of it.”“I don’t think I’m pushing him too hard. He only has to complete a page of homework every day. I signed him up for self-defense classes before preschool started. My hope is that he plays and enjoys his childhood years. I didn’t sign him up for other classes unless he’s interested to learn.”Duncan said with a smile, “You know, kids. They can’t make up their minds about preschool. Give it time, and he’ll get used to it and stop talking about not attending.” Liberty remembered how the young Elisa refused to go to school so much that her parent
Duncan had his own selfish reason too. He wanted to bond with Sonny like father and son, and be a better father than Hank had been, even though he was already ahead of him. He wanted all Wiltspoonians to know how fond he was of Sonny. Duncan wanted to be Sonny’s stepfather. If his dream came true, he would be the father that Sonny deserved.In fact, Liberty was aware of Duncan’s little sneaky plan. Still, she did not stop him. Liberty responded, “You can pick Sonny up from preschool later if you don’t mind Sonny bugging you.” While enjoying breakfast, Duncan said, “I will never mind. Sonny might have his moments, but he’s a sensible kid. He plays with himself when the adults are at work.” Three-year-olds were curious and emotional creatures, so it was understandable that they would act up sometimes. They were still learning how to control their emotions and express their curiosity in a constructive way.Sometimes, Duncan would receive silly and strange questions from Sonny that
“Sonny’s fine, but I don’t think it’s safe to live there anymore. Don’t be mad. The drunk man didn’t do anything to me,” Liberty comforted Duncan. Duncan tensed his facial muscles. “He has targeted you.” Many men would have their eyes on Liberty since she was young, single, and beautiful. Though most people were interested in Liberty, they would back off knowing that Duncan was courting her. Only the unsuspecting others, like the drunk man, would go after Liberty. Liberty was his! Duncan had waited so long for Liberty to accept him. The last thing he wanted was for somebody to step in and take her away from him. “You should move, Liberty. You should do it right now. I’ll contact a moving company for you,” Duncan uttered. If he had his way, Liberty would move out of East Hill Apartments right away. “I told Zachary that I will buy the property off his hands, but I can’t pay in full. I don’t have a lot of available funds since I need some operating funds for my two outlets.
Since Liberty had the ambition to establish a chain of restaurants across the country, she needed to have her own signature dishes. Hence, Liberty needed to dedicate herself to learning and push forward with determination while Duncan would have her back all the way. Liberty soon left Duncan’s office and once she was gone, Duncan quickly finished his breakfast. A full stomach improved the mood. Duncan grabbed his phone to call his best buddy. He said to Zachary, “Liberty just delivered breakfast to me. She told me about the villa. Just take the payment since Liberty is insisting on buying the place. At least then she would feel right to accept the property. Buying a house with her own money gives her a sense of ownership and belonging. However, living in someone else's house can make her feel like she’ll always be a guest.”Zachary held the phone in one hand while twirling his pen in the other, chuckling. “I expected you to tell me not to accept Liberty's money, or that you wo
This was the main reason he insisted on his daily morning runs. Austin did not have much time alone with Isabella because she was always busy. She left for work early and came back late too. He could only see her during mealtimes, but even then, she only had a short time to eat. After finishing her meal, she would try to squeeze in a bit of rest. Austin did not want to disturb her rest, so the only time they could have some quiet moments together and chat was during their morning runs. Fortunately, back in Wiltspoon, he had already gotten into the habit of going for a morning run. “Good morning, Ms. Isabella.”As Isabella approached, Austin smiled and greeted her. Isabella, a bit tired after running for a while, stopped when she saw Austin. She walked over to him and smiled. “Good morning.” Isabella already had a good impression of Austin when she learned that he was a member of the York family, the wealthiest family in Wiltspoon. Now, knowing more about him, her attitud
Zachary had told him that the old pervert from the Longbottom family wanted to take over the O'Connors’ family business and turn it into his own private property because the pervert did not have actual inheritance rights to the Longbottom family headship, nor did he have the family head’s seal, token, or totem.“Dylan, I don’t have much advice for you. As Zachary said, we should trust Nana. As long as you follow what she says, you won’t suffer any losses.”“We’re beyond the age where Nana can make us suffer now anyway.”When they were younger, they often got the short end of the stick, largely because their grandparents would discipline them. They were told that if their abilities and plans were not sufficient, it would make them vulnerable to being taken advantage of.“Dylan, I think I’ll clock in a couple more hours of sleep before my morning run. After that, I have to prepare breakfast for Ms. Isabella.”“Okay, go to bed then. Don’t overwork yourself.”“I’m not. I’m enjoying i
Austin would not admit that he wanted to hear the gossip about Dylan’s love life.Dylan asked, “Are you free to talk right now?”“Sure. I have a whole dormitory unit to myself, and it’s quite spacious. I live quite comfortably. My salary comes on time every month, and I’m well-fed. My cooking skills have improved a lot, too.”Dylan was silent for a moment before he responded with another voice message.“You’ve only been focused on cooking? It’s been several months since you went there, and you didn’t even come back for the Christmas holidays. All you have in your brain is cooking.”“I came here specifically to cook in the first place.”Dylan was speechless.Indeed, Austin had heard that Isabella had an extremely picky palate, which he viewed as a challenge. Their nana had not even urged him once when he had eagerly gone to Satbury of his volition.Occasionally, Dylan heard his family mention Austin, saying that he was always busy researching new recipes and cooking, but seemed
Chameleon Fox turned to look at Dylan.After some time, she said, “Thanks for returning the token to me.”It was the end between him and Fox.Dylan stared at her and said, “Don’t be outside at midnight this often in the future. You should have a good rest.”It would make her fatigued in the morning. She would have to drink a few cups of coffee to stay alert.Fox smiled. “I like going out at midnight. It’s become a habit. Goodbye, Dylan.”She waved at him and opened the door. Soon, she disappeared from his sight.Since Imogen knew her token was in Wildridge Manor, she was no longer in a rush to get it back.It was because Dylan was still in Huntington. If she were to go to Wiltspoon and Dylan could not find her at the company, he would link her to Chameleon Fox. He already had suspicions that they were the same person.Wildridge Manor was a safe place anyway. She was not worried that the token would go missing.Dylan had hidden the token at the manor to keep it safe and preven
“Whether it’s Imogen, Chameleon Fox, or Sugar—aren’t they all you?”“I said I’m not Ms. Doyle.”Chameleon Fox’s expression hardened. “You’re a bastard, Dylan York. You flirted with me and Ms. Doyle before figuring everything out. This is two-timing. I won’t accept you, and neither would Ms. Doyle.”Dylan’s heated gaze focused on her face. He said, “You’re saying that you aren’t Imogen. Do you dare to remove your makeup, tear off your hyper-realistic mask, and show me your true face?”“Do you know what happens to those who have seen my true appearance? Death.“Everyone who has seen my face is already dead. If you wish to die, I can fulfill that wish for you. However, I don’t want to offend the York family and be their enemies. Don’t make me kill you.”She had only put on a layer of hyper-realistic mask that night. If she tore it off, it would reveal her true appearance.Dylan smiled. “That’s because you feel guilty. You dare not show me your true face because you’re Imogen and Su
Both Sugar and Chameleon Fox were not her true identity—her true self was Imogen Doyle. Dylan had to love her as Imogen. Imogen could not handle Dylan’s intense stare. She stood and asked, “When are you going to return my item? Give it back to me now. We should cut ties and never cross paths again.”“I don’t have it with me. I used to bring it along with me wherever I went, but you never came to get it. I left it at home. I didn’t bring it over.“Are you that desperate to cut off all communication with me? We’ve known each other for over half a year. Although we didn’t start on a good note, didn’t we get along afterward?”Dylan thought Imogen was trying to remove Fox from his life so he could get used to her being Imogen.“Do you have some misunderstanding toward the concept of ‘getting along’? We’ve only been quarreling or fighting whenever we met. Is that considered ‘getting along’? If it were not for you taking my thing and not returning it to me, I wouldn’t have had to chas
Dylan walked over and stood by the table. He did not stand beside her as he feared she would toss him over her shoulder.She did not like him being too close to her.“Are you still not admitting that you’re Imogen? I got the answer from my Nana. You’re Imogen. You’re also Sugar.”Imogen closed the book. She raised her head to look at Dylan. Her eyes were bright, and she had a smile on her face. “Are you sure your Nana said so? Do you have evidence that I’m Imogen Doyle?“Do I resemble her a lot?“Are our voices similar? What about our figures?”After a moment of silence, Dylan said, “Your face and voice aren’t like Imogen’s, but you two do have similar body shapes.“You’re called Chameleon Fox. It means you’re cunning and a master at disguising your looks. The only group of people who can disguise themselves perfectly in this world are the students of the legendary masters in the Imperial Force.“Sugar is Silver’s student, and Chameleon Fox is one of your fake identities. I don
Leticia knocked on the door of Imogen’s room but did not receive a response.“Jen is probably asleep. Stop knocking on the door. Look at the time now.”Winston reminded his wife that she should not wake their daughter as it was already late at night. Leticia stopped knocking and said, “I just wanted to talk to Jen because I haven’t seen her lately. I guess I’ll have to wait till her next day off if she’s asleep.”Although the Doyle family lived in the same mansion, the youngsters were always busy with company matters.They would always head out early in the morning and only be back late at night. Even during holidays, they barely had time to themselves because they had to meet clients.While Davidson Group was one of the best megacorporations in Huntington, the clients who worked with them were equally strong. There were also many competitors who would like to snatch business deals from Davidson Group.Therefore, Davidson Group had to maintain good relationships with their clie
However, Zachary was punished the least among the York brothers.He already started behaving like the eldest since he was young. He was calm and composed, unlike his naughty younger brothers. Gramps and Grandma May punished them often. Nevertheless, the York brothers liked being with their grandparents.“Enough of that. Let’s talk about you and Ms. Doyle. Have you wondered why she isn’t admitting that she’s Chameleon Fox? That’s just another alias of hers. Her true identity is Imogen Doyle, a young lady of the Doyle family.“She wants you to fall in love with Imogen instead of treating her as Fox. Although she’s also Fox, that isn’t her original self but simply an identity created through makeup.“If you two were to get married, you’d have to spend the rest of your lives as husband and wife. Ms. Doyle can’t possibly live with you as Chameleon Fox forever. She has already returned to her family. She’s no longer going on adventures with her teacher as Sugar either.“Everyone knows h