Julian gleefully said hello to all the kids, then invited them to have a buffet breakfast at the hotel café. Since the kids had been staying at Wiltspoon Hotel for a few days now, they were familiar with the place. They walked ahead in droves, knowing where to get breakfast. Julian and Quinn followed behind the kids. Seeing the children happy, Quinn said with a smile, “I envy them. They are a lot happier than I was when I was a kid. I competed frequently at their age. My father wouldn’t take me anywhere for fun. “The best I got was a free trip to the park after the competitions. I would get ice cream there too. I had to go straight home after though.” Now, Quinn would pay out of her pocket to give the kids a fun experience. Of course, she was enjoying it too. It was a rare trip, and she wanted to make the most out of it for herself. “You’re a great coach. Your students respect you.” Julian complimented, “Your sacrifices won’t go unnoticed. Your students will remember
“Don’t worry. I will promote your family gym after I learn from you. I won’t do anything to break the law.” Julian, who was a good fighter, pretended like he was a defenseless man. He showed his interest in joining the Crawfords’ gym. That way, he could be with Quinn every day and she was bound to fall in love with him. Only Quinn could make him feel like a man again. He was determined to keep her for himself, and not lose her to someone else.Quinn tilted her head and looked at Julian. While walking, she said with a smile, “You’re a little old, so training can take time. If you’re interested in building strength and nothing else, you can ask my dad or my brother if they would accept you as a student.” Julian asked, “You’re not going to teach me?” “I usually teach kids. My dad teaches the adults. As I’ve told you, late learners usually take up self-defense for fitness. My dad can teach you the basics. “The basics go a long way. You always work behind the desk. You will fee
By then, the kids had grabbed their favorites and sat down to eat at two tables. Quinn was a foodie, and the local cuisine was right up her alley. She grabbed two plates and loaded them with food. Since there was no vacant seat with the kids, she sat at a nearby table. She put her plates down and went to grab a plate for fruits and another for dessert. She also poured herself a cup of coffee.Julian had grabbed a lot of food too. Quinn would not enjoy her meal unless Julian did too. She might even try to be ladylike and stay hungry next time.Julian wanted to give his future wife everything even though they were not married yet. He could not possibly let her go hungry. After grabbing the food, Quinn sat down and realized that she might have taken too much to eat. However, she stopped feeling embarrassed when she saw the amount of food Julian took from the buffet. Quinn was not the only one who could eat. Her students were big eaters too. It must be due to all the exercis
Josh was the administrative executive to the CEO of York Corporation. He was well-known in Wiltspoon, appearing on TV more often than Julian. It was easy for the public to search for his photos and basic information on the web. Julian was a different story. He had always been elusive. Whenever Zachary wanted to meet with Julian, he would have to book an appointment through Josh. There were no pictures of Julian on the internet. People who had not met Julian in person would walk by him, unaware that he was the heir to the Buchams. Josh assumed that Julian was afraid of Quinn learning his identity and getting cold feet. “Did you see the group of men in suits? The man in the front looked awfully familiar,” Quinn said as she looked back at the hotel.Julian answered, “Those men were executives from York Corporation. They are probably here on business. Wiltspoon Hotel belongs to the same company. Zachary and his employees have meetings with clients at the hotel.” “Oh. That explai
“Mr. Bucham.” Julian had brought along two bodyguards to act as drivers. With Julian stepping out of the hotel, they immediately drew close. They were instructed not to tell Quinn that Julian was the heir to the Bucham family for fear of scaring her away. The bodyguards believed Julian was paranoid as his future wife feared nothing. Quinn would not be afraid to learn who Julian was. Julian gave a nod and told Quinn, “My car can’t fit everybody, so I hired two drivers. We can all travel comfortably in three cars instead of one.” “Thank you for going through all that trouble, Mr. Bucham. You have everything thought out.” Julian grinned. “It was no trouble at all. You weren’t afraid about getting into trouble when you saved me. You didn’t even know me then. All I did was help with the logistics and the pleasure’s all mine.” Quinn smiled. “Alright. We should stop thanking each other like we’re strangers. I’m not used to it.” She would rather cut to the chase. The pair w
Julian said to Quinn, “As far as I know, there’s a rose garden, sunflower garden, and another one with an assortment of flowers. But it’s October now, so there aren’t many flowers in bloom. Come spring, the gardens are a sight to behold.”Quinn rolled down the window and looked into the distance. She gasped in amazement and asked, “Is that the Yorks’ residence? Are those people from the family?” “The place there is the Yorks’ family home. The people you see are mostly their employees. They take care of the gardens and orchards. It takes a village to run the estate. “Some of them are distant relatives of the Yorks. “The family members stay in some of the houses there. The rest of the buildings are the workers’ lodging. The Yorks provide generous housing for their employees. Single employees get a unit with a separate kitchen and bathroom.“The employees with families get an apartment, which isn’t huge but spacious enough and well-equipped.” Quinn’s eyes widened in marvel. She
Julian said, “Ms. Crawford, you don’t have to be so polite. We’re friends now, and you also saved my life.”Quinn smiled. “Okay. Let’s not be too polite with each other. I find it awkward too. I prefer being casual, so being overly courteous makes me uncomfortable. You don’t have to keep mentioning that I’m your savior too, Mr. Bucham. I simply lent a hand by fighting while I was on a stroll after a meal.”Both of them laughed. Since Quinn had no intention of getting out of the car to admire the flowers, Julian drove straight up the hill. He guessed Quinn did not fancy flowers much. The car stopped midhill. Quinn spotted a security post that was meant to carry out car inspections. The security guards stationed at the post allowed Julian’s car to pass as soon as they saw him. Quinn was curious. “Why is there a roadblock?”“Well, Wildridge Manor belongs to the York family. Outsiders are prohibited from entering. There used to be only one security post at the manor’s gates. H
Julian grinned in return. He then introduced the butler to Quinn. “Ms. Crawford, this is Wildfridge Manor’s butler, Sam.“Sam, this is Ms. Crawford. Her family owns Power Fitness, and she saved my life.”Sam thought, ‘Are you kidding me, Mr. Bucham? Will a person like you require saving?’With Julian’s identity, who would dare to touch him? No one would be bold enough to offend him too. However, Zachary had specially instructed Sam to play along with whatever Julian said. “Hi, Ms. Crawford,” Sam greeted politely.Quinn replied embarrassedly, “Sorry for the sudden visit and all the trouble, Sam.”Sam smiled and said, “It’s a small matter. Mr. Bucham and Mr. Zachary are friends. Mr. Zachary had appointed me as your tour guide to show you around the manor today.”“Thank you, Sam.”Julian said, “I’ve been here twice, Sam. Although I don’t know this place well, I won’t lose my way. I think I can be Ms. Crawford’s tour guide. We shall not bother you since you’re busy.“Though w
“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