Belinda’s expression softened. She said, “You don’t have to mind what others say. They don’t want you or Celine to be the next matriarch.“The Fisher family has been around for a century. We’ve been through ups and downs. What else out there that we’ve yet to encounter?“We’ve overshadowed our distant relatives for many years, so of course they’d be dissatisfied and want to move up the hierarchy whenever possible. They must’ve been the ones who spread the rumors too.”Belinda could never tell Caroline that she herself was the one who had caused her sisters' deaths. Those who knew about it were all dead and all evidence was destroyed by her. Thinking about it, did she forget anyone?It had been decades since the incident. She would never admit to her crime if there was no concrete evidence. Her nieces were young back then, so any recollection they had was vague at best. Plus, they were difficult to locate. For decades, she had been keeping an ear to the ground about her nieces
Belinda sighed and said, “She’s indeed different from us, but the multiple DNA tests and results tell us that she’s our daughter.“Caroline’s features do resemble us. It’s just her way of doing things is too soft. She’s too weak for someone with Fisher blood flowing in her veins. I’m getting older, but I don’t know when she’ll be ready to succeed me. Otherwise, I could retire and take care of our grandchildren with you.“I wonder when our daughters-in-law can give us a granddaughter. I hope our first grandchild is a girl. I’ll feel reassured that way. If Carol isn’t capable enough, I can nurture our granddaughter to be the successor while I’m still alive.”Hunter started having ideas upon hearing this. Caroline was a better fit as the matriarch than his granddaughter. However, she did not grow up by his side. Their relationship as a father and daughter was distant.If Caroline were the matriarch, he would have to behave and be cautious.On the other hand, if his granddaughter were
Caroline had no idea what her parents were talking about. She returned to her room and sent a message to Darren to inform him that Belinda found out about her visit to Wiltspoon. Immediately, he replied: [I’m sorry, Ms. Caroline. I was incompetent.]Caroline texted him: [It’s normal that something was discovered since my mom’s assistant was the one investigating. You don’t have to blame yourself. They were just some receipts proving my spending in Wiltspoon. This outcome is good enough.]Darren still felt bad about it and replied: [I made a mistake, Ms. Caroline. Please deduct my salary and bonus for this month.]Knowing his personality, Caroline replied: [I’ll deduct your bonus but not your salary. You still need to survive. I can’t possibly pay for your living expenses, right?]Darren stared at Caroline’s message for a long time before replying: [I accept this punishment.]He did not want Caroline to pay for his expenses. Instead, he wished to become her right-hand man. From
As Grandma May used to say, they rarely had the chance to taste Zachary’s cooking. Only she would dare to request him to cook while the rest would not have the guts to do so.After Serenity joined the family, Zachary became a permanent crew in the kitchen. They got lucky because of her. If they were at Wildridge Manor, Zachary would ensure anything Serenity wished for would be fulfilled to make her happy. He promised he would make every woman envious of Serenity, and he delivered. Zachary entered the kitchen to prepare breakfast.After standing in silence for two minutes, Dylan walked out of the main house to look for Grandma May in the garden. She was dancing to the music played on a speaker instead of exercising. Dylan was speechless. He hated dancing. Once he started working and earned his first salary, he bought a house in a neighborhood near his company. He thought it would be convenient for him to travel to and fro his work but alas, the ladies in the neighborhood w
Dylan’s face twitched. Grandma May returned the drawing to him after taking a look at it.“Nana.”The old lady raised her hand to stop him from talking. She said, “It was your dream. If you have questions, you should be the one looking for answers. What use is there in asking me? I’m not a know-it-all.”With a bitter face, Dylan said, “But you’ve already chosen a wife for me and handed me her picture. I’m going to look for her anytime now, but both she and the woman in my dreams aren’t the same person.“The men of the York family never divorce or have an affair. I don’t want to be the first York to dishonor his wife.”Grandma May still looked uninterested. “I’ve said that it’s your problem. You should investigate it and find the issue. If you’re having those dreams because I’ve chosen someone for you, you should look for her.”“Nana!”Dylan sat beside her and held her arm to whine. “Don’t you love me anymore, Nana? You always say that I’m your favorite. Can you put up with mak
Grandma May did not budge. She said, “Dylan, you can ask Kevin about this and learn from him.”“I’m not running away, Nana. How can I do that when you’re doing all of this for our sake? I have really been having those dreams for some time now, and they have all been about the woman in my drawing.”He could swear that he was telling the truth. The dreams were real while wanting his nana to let him off the hook was also true. “Let me reiterate. I’ve done lots of research before picking someone and finally deciding on your future wife because she matches you. You’ve never met her nor tried to understand her. How could you be sure she’s not suitable for you?“Why not do it this way? If you can find the girl in your dreams, you can give up on the lady I’ve chosen for you. I won’t hold it against you.”Dylan said, “How can I find her from a sea of people?”Initially, his plan was to use this matter to convince Grandma May to withdraw her matchmaking for him. This would grant him the
A moment later, Dylan said, “Are you hungry, Nana? Let’s head back for breakfast. Zack’s making it.“He truly treats Serenity well. Rarely do we have the chance to taste his cooking, but she can have it every day.”Dylan sounded jealous of Serenity. Zachary was really devoted to her. Grandma May stood up with Dylan’s support. She gestured for him to move the speaker back into the house. She said, “Are you jealous of Zack and Seren’s relationship? You can be the object of envy too.”Dylan followed Grandma May back to the main house along with the speaker. He said, “I’ve never seen the woman you picked for me, Nana. How will I know if I can get along with her? Besides, I’m involved with another woman in my dream.“I don’t know who I’ll marry in the end. If I marry the one you chose, I might betray her, because the woman in my dream isn’t her.“This is too hard, Nana.”Grandma May said, “Everything will fall into place eventually. You’ll know how to make your choice when the t
However, those ladies were not as healthy as Grandma May. Despite being old, she often traveled by plane to pick wife candidates for her grandsons. ‘We’re unfilial,’ Dylan thought. If his nana had not given them the task, he would have gotten married after he turned thirty-five years old instead of twenty-eight. Although he was envious of Zachary and Serenity’s happy marriage, he preferred freedom and being unrestrained. Grandma May had most likely guessed their thinking and knew they would only wed after hitting thirty. Therefore, she tasked them with pursuing their wives. “Nana can stay in shape by dancing. Besides, her dancing at home won’t disturb anyone.”Zachary was aware that Grandma May had learned dancing from the old ladies in group dancing sessions. The elderly had always led a carefree life, unrestrained by their status or identity. As her grandsons, they simply wished for her happiness and supported anything she did that brought her joy. “Why were you lookin
“I’m sorry. I have a business appointment tonight.”Tati rejected Manny’s invitation without hesitation. Manny had been pursuing her relentlessly. If she were to have a meal with him, the paparazzi stalking them would take pictures and she would be on the local entertainment headlines the next day. She would not give Manny any chances to advertise false information about their relationship. Manny looked disappointed. “Another day then.“By the way, you’ll be attending a banquet two days later, right? Can I be your escort?”Tati and Isabella would not attend just any banquet. Families who could invite them were wealthy and close to the O’Connors. Ordinary banquets could never have Tati and Isabella as guests. Manny had gathered information for two days. He heard that one of the wealthy families in Satbury would be holding a banquet to celebrate their old missus’s eightieth birthday, and many guests were invited to liven up the celebration. A missus of that family was clos
“My family isn’t inferior to yours, sweet Tati. The Longbottoms even surpass the O’Connors. As a young master of the Longbottoms, why will I go after your family’s money?“Money has never been a problem for the Longbottom family. In fact, you and I are the best match for each other. Our families are equally rich. If we get together, it’ll be a joining of two strong forces.”Tati wanted to say that while the Longbottom family surpassed the O’Connors, Manny was not the true person in power within his family. Even his father was not the legitimate head. The power and wealth of the Longbottom family belonged to the true head of the family. Tony and Manny Longbottom were simply managing the family in the interim. Did they think the family had become theirs?If the son of the previous Longbottom family head grew up and returned to take charge of the family, Tony and Manny would no longer have any influence. They would only receive some compensation for their hard work. Without the L
Tati looked toward Manny and said in a serious tone, “If you love someone, you’d be considerate of her and do what’s best for her.“Meanwhile, you’re disregarding any inconvenience this might cause me just to appear romantic. You know I’m busy, yet you put flowers here and blocked my way, wasting my time.“Do your actions truly reflect your love for me? Are you being considerate of me?”Tati would not have said a word if Manny had asked his people to place the flowers in an empty spot. However, he just had to do it at the entrance of the company, attracting many people. Her company security team could not even chase them away. They knew Manny’s identity and that he was pursuing her. If the security chased him away, the Longbottom and O’Connor families could end up enemies. Secondly, they were worried about getting fired if Tati were to accept Manny’s feelings one day and decide to punish them. Tati would not blame the security for failing to execute their duty. After Manny s
“It’s okay if you don’t want my bouquets. Can you feel my sincere love for you through these letters?“I fell in love with you at first sight, and I fell even harder the second time I saw you.”Manny’s gaze was affectionate as if he truly loved Tati. To be honest, Tati was outstanding in various aspects. She was good enough for him, a young master of the Longbottoms. They were also close in age and definitely had common topics to talk about. However, Tati refused to give him a chance and rejected his confession. That did not matter. After all, it had not been long since he started pursuing Tati. As the O’Connors had more daughters than sons, he could understand that their daughters would be especially cautious regarding romantic relationships. They did not want men dating them solely for the O’Connor family’s money. Although that had been Manny’s initial intention, he was satisfied with Tati after meeting her in person. He was willing to marry her. Besides, Tati was com
Meanwhile, in Satbury, Tati returned to the company but was forced to stop her car at the entrance. Some people were decorating the entrance with flowers. Security tried to chase them away, but they did not even budge. The security guards seemed wary of something and did not force those people to leave. A few cars were parked nearby, including a truck that still carried fresh flowers.Tati did not honk. There were people and flowers on the road before her and honking was useless anyway, or she could simply drive past without a care. She got out of the car to have a look. “Sweet Tati.”An unfamiliar voice rang. Tati looked toward the person who called her and frowned. She recognized that person. He was Manny Longbottom, the eldest son of the interim head of the family.Mr. Longbottom had come over several times for business negotiations. However, it was not yet his scheduled timing. Even if he were the Longbottom family’s interim head, there would be no special treatmen
First, Adrian poured himself a glass of water. He then sat down at his desk, pulled out his phone, and made a call to Jacob while sipping his water.When the call connected, he spoke in a low voice, “We’re going ahead with the plan. Caroline will be heading to Fortress Hotel later to meet with a client. After the meeting, she’ll have dinner there.“The discussion and dinner will take a long time. By the time she leaves the hotel, it’ll already be nighttime. She probably won’t go anywhere else after that.“Wait for her on the route she usually takes home. Her license plate is CA 201. Got it?”Adrian made sure Jacob remembered Caroline’s license plate number. He had also sent the information via text, so unless the person had an exceptionally bad memory, they should be able to recall it.Jacob replied, “Got it. We’ll have to start preparing, then. Try to get Caroline to drink some alcohol. If she’s drunk, it’ll be easier to handle her.”After all, they could not guarantee that the
Adrian snapped, “Are you saying that I don’t do real work? Caroline, I was working at Fisher Enterprise long before we even knew you existed.”Caroline said neutrally, “Yes, yes, Adrian, you’ve been at Fisher Enterprise for a long time, but what achievements have you made? I mean, achievements that you accomplished on your own.“The results credited to you in the past weren’t actually your doing. You know better than anyone how they came about, so I won’t spell it out. I may have joined Fisher Enterprise only recently, but look at the position I’m in now.“Adrian, I’ve made it very clear. If you want to keep your job, do it well and take it seriously. Stop trying to take credit for other people’s work.”Adrian’s expression darkened. “I only said a couple of things, and you fired back with dozens. Can’t you give me some grace? I have pride, too.”“Adrian, go back to work. I need to get ready to head out soon.” Caroline was done talking to her brother.Adrian fell silent for a mo
Adrian was sullenly quiet. Was he really that incompetent? He thought he had done a pretty good job.Back when their mother was still around, he had not even needed to lift a finger. He just had to vaguely outline the requirements, and the elite team under him would come up with a proposal that satisfied everyone upstairs.All he had to do was wait for the praise and the compliments about how capable he was.After doing this for so long, Adrian had started to believe that he truly was talented.Then, he found out that Celine was not his biological sister and that Caroline was, but the latter had grown up in the countryside, appearing weak and timid, and seemed useless to the company—a good-for-nothing. Thus, Adrian began to harbor ambitions. He wanted to replace his sister and become the successor of the Fisher family.He had repeatedly expressed to his mother his desire to take over, to become the first male successor in the Fisher family’s history. He even said he was willing
Adrian tried several times to interrupt his sister, but Caroline’s barrage came at him like a machine gun, rapid and relentless. All he could do was glare at her, his face flush with anger. If looks could kill, Caroline would have been torn to pieces long ago.After finishing her lecture, Caroline picked up her cup and took a few sips of her coffee. She then said, “Adrian, look at me, I’m parched from all this talking. I’ve really gone out of my way to persuade you for your own good, just like how you tried to persuade me not to hand over control of the Fisher family. “To be honest, even if I didn’t give it back to Audrey and the rest, do you think I could hold onto the position of the matriarch?“The rest of the family doesn’t support us. They might not necessarily side with the Wiltspoonians either, but they definitely won’t side with us. They’ve long been dissatisfied with Mom and us.“Without their support and unable to win against Audrey, the Fisher legacy would eventually be