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
“Grandma May.”Julian could not avoid her anymore. He greeted her happily. From Julian’s greetings, Quinn found out that the elderly woman walking over with a kind smile was Old Mrs. York. Based on her clothing, she looked plain and no different from an ordinary elderly woman. However, her natural classy aura was not something clothes could conceal. The old lady’s steps were steady, and she was in good health. She maintained her appearance well too, looking like a woman in her fifties or sixties, instead of her actual age. “Who’s this, Julian?”Grandma May’s gaze focused on Quinn. She pretended to be clueless and asked Julian. Julian dared not play tricks before an elder. He introduced Quinn to her earnestly. “Nice to meet you, Old Mrs. York,” Quinn greeted after Julian introduced them to each other. Grandma May smiled. “Hi, Ms. Crawford.”She eyed Quinn from head to toe. Her first impression of Quinn was great—young, beautiful, and down-to-earth. Grandma May was
Grandma May said to Quinn, “We’re all easy-going people, Ms. Crawford. You don’t have to be too cautious or feel you’re intruding. Just enjoy yourself here at this manor and come often if you like.”Quinn smiled. “I’ll definitely visit you again if my students have competitions here in the future.”She had finally met Grandma May in person, someone she had heard a lot about. The old lady was friendlier than she had imagined; also enthusiastic and hospitable, much like her own grandmother.“You can visit us without having to bring your students to Wiltspoon for competitions. Julian can pick you up, and you can be our guest and even stay overnight. We have plenty of rooms. You won’t get bored even after staying here for half a month.”Quinn simply smiled and gave a courteous reply. However, she dared not come as she pleased. She knew she owed Julian a huge favor just by visiting the manor once. Julian always talked about repaying her for saving his life. He took her and the childre
“Grandma May, you must be busy now as Zachary and Serenity’s wedding is coming soon. It’s your eldest grandson’s wedding after all. I shall not take up more of your precious time. I’ll stay with Quinn.”Julian was openly requesting the elderly woman not to steal his moments anymore. He needed a chance to show off his charms to Quinn. Grandma May smiled. “Zack’s wedding is coming, but I don’t have much to do. I’m old and even need a walking stick to move around. Do you think they’d dare order me around?“I simply have to move my mouth, and everything will be done accordingly. I have a lot of time, and people get bored easily when they’re too free.“Wildridge Manor hasn’t been this lively in a long while. I’ve never seen so many children having fun at my manor in so long. I like this atmosphere. You can show off all you want. I’m not stopping you.“If you can’t even win against an old woman, how will you fare when a rival appears? Will you admit defeat and give your destined woman
Quinn knew her students better than Julian did. She went with Julian’s suggestion and walked toward the tree he pointed at. There was a swing on the tree. “I noticed there are many swings around the manor,” Quinn said after sitting on the swing.“Indeed. Many of them were installed much later. Serenity likes to be on swings. Since Zachary is a doting husband, he installed many swings in the houses they owned.“That way, Serenity can sit on swings wherever they live.”“Mr. York treats Mrs. York so well. I’m so jealous.”There were many stories describing how Zachary spoilt Serenity. “Where’s Old Mrs. York?” Quinn asked curiously as she just saw the elderly woman here a moment ago.“Grandma May’s the anchor of the York family. She has to supervise many family matters. As Zachary’s wedding is around the corner, she’s busy planning for it. “By the way, can you extend your stay for several days?” Julian suddenly asked. “I can’t. The children have to return to school. Although
Julian said, “I’m not worried about my business. The company has a dedicated team. My only concern is only whether I can decline to be Zachary’s groomsman.”“Of course you can’t. Many people wish to attend Mr. York’s wedding but don’t have the chance to do so. You’re lucky to be able to be his groomsman.”Quinn secretly wished to attend Zachary and Serenity’s wedding, but she was neither their friend nor had she met them before. She also rejected Julian’s offer because she did not know anyone from that social circle. Besides, she really had to escort the children back as they had to go to school. Julian smiled and did not say a word. Without Grandma May being the third-wheeler, Julian and Quinn’s bond improved tremendously. Julian continued being a tour guide for the next two days. He brought Quinn and the children around and introduced them to experience local delicacies. Two days later, Quinn and the kids left Wiltspoon; happy times were always short-lived.Soon, it wa
“Ms. Stone,” Mrs. Lane greeted Elisa with a smile. “Why are you here, Mrs. Lane?”A grin lit up Elisa’s face when she saw a familiar face. “Mrs. York has moved back here, so Mr. York assigned a few of us here to look after her. Jim is here too.”Zachary had sent them over as they were most familiar with Serenity and Liberty. He told Mrs. Lane that she and Jim would be working at Liberty’s villa in the future. They could continue drawing their salary from him, which he had even raised.Liberty and Sonny were closest to Mrs. Lane and Jim out of all the helpers and bodyguards working for Zachary. That was the rationale behind his arrangements. Serenity would only be in a good mood if Liberty and Sonny were doing well. Elisa said, “That does sound like something Zachary would do. He gets all the nitty-gritty right when it comes to Seren. What an attentive man.”She used to think Zachary was cold and heartless. Her many years of crush on him was never reciprocated.Zachary did
“That’s how children are.”Mrs. Lane said, “It’ll get better once they grow up. Although Sonny doesn’t want to attend school, he doesn’t make a big fuss about it. At most, he would purposely move slowly to waste time. Even someone as good-tempered as Ms. Liberty could not stand his dilly-dallying.“She said despite Sonny’s slow movements, he was afraid of being late because it was embarrassing.“Sometimes, Ms. Liberty deliberately leaves Sonny behind and walks off with his bag. He would then panic and cry.”Elisa said, “I guess it’s better to watch other people’s kids than have one myself.”Sonny was an obedient kid to her. She could not believe that what she saw was only the tip of the iceberg. She would probably go crazy from looking after a child every day. Mrs. Lane laughed. “That’s true. We often find other people’s children adorable and want many of our own. However, when we raise our own, they’re like little devils.”Elisa decided she would let Remy be in charge of the c
“But as time passed, we treated you decently, no? Yet, you’ve never had any regard for us, your brothers, and not even for Dad.“You’ve been back with us for several years now. Even if we weren’t particularly close to you, we weren’t exactly terrible either, but you’ve always shut us out, never treating us as family. It’s you who couldn’t integrate into this family, not us who rejected you.”Every time Adrian saw Caroline, he had a lot to say. He always complained that Caroline was not close to them and that she was not on their side.Caroline wore a neutral expression. “Adrian, you might be much older than me, but you’re only middle-aged. Has your memory already started failing? Do I need to remind you of all the things you’ve done behind my back?“It’s not that I didn’t want to integrate into this family, it’s you who’ve always excluded me. You never treated me as your sister. “In your hearts, Celine was your sister, while I was just an intruder who shouldn’t have come back, wh
Adrian’s housekeeper was long bribed by Darren. Whenever he needed them, they would do his bidding. The video and audio recordings were sent by the housekeeper to Darren, who then forwarded them to Caroline.After reviewing the evidence, Caroline no longer felt like resting. She got out of bed, went into the bathroom, and quickly freshened up. When she came out, she grabbed her phone and left the lounge.She first brewed herself a cup of coffee, then carried the steaming cup to her desk and sat down, leisurely sipping it.Then, a knock sounded at the door.“Come in,” Caroline said.The door opened, and in walked Adrian.Seeing him enter, Caroline’s beautiful eyes flickered slightly, but her expression remained calm. She continued sipping her coffee as she watched her eldest brother approach.“Carol,” Adrian said with a forced smile, his tone somewhat affectionate.Caroline stopped drinking her coffee. She casually placed the cup on the table, straightened up, and said, “Adrian,
“You’re new here, so you wouldn’t know. I’ve been working here longer, and since the eldest son lives here, I’ve been able to hear the latest news about the Fisher family.”After all, family matters like these were not usually spread all over the city. Only major events that caught the media’s attention would get leaked. Adrian had no idea about the two security guards’ conversation. He believed he had executed his plan perfectly and was now just waiting for the final step to be carried out tonight in eliminating Caroline to avenge Celine and his mother, as well as reclaiming all of his mother’s private assets.He could not let Caroline take everything for herself.Adrian blamed Caroline for the deaths of Celine and Belinda, convinced that Caroline was responsible for their demise. However, in reality, even without Caroline, Audrey would have returned to seek justice for her mother, and the Fisher family would still have ended up in the same situation. Belinda’s descendants woul
“If you ever encounter any difficulties in the future, come to us. If we can help, we will. If we can’t, then there’s nothing we can do,” Adrian said.The Dott brothers pretended to decline the money, but after some back-and-forth, they eventually accepted, repeatedly expressing their gratitude.“I’ll call a car to take you back,” Adrian said, pulling out his phone to arrange transportation for them.Of course, they were not actually leaving Jensburg. They planned to start their operation tonight, aiming to deal with Caroline quickly to avoid any complications.“Thank you, Mr. Clark. You've already done so much for us,” the Dott brothers said, continuing to play their roles. They had come this far in their act and did not mind keeping up the charade a little longer.Soon, a black car really did arrive and stopped nearby. The driver stepped out and approached, respectfully greeting the three Clark brothers.“Take these two gentlemen home. They are Ms. Celine’s biological brothers,
Justin returned to the dining room and packed up all the leftover dishes they had not finished, along with the opened but unfinished bottle of wine. He stuffed everything into several bags and carried them out. Handing the leftovers to Jacob, he said, “If we’re going to keep up appearances, we need to make it look like we’re really giving you our charity, so take these leftovers back with you. You can heat them up for dinner tonight, otherwise, just toss them in the trash after you leave, but don’t throw away the wine—only you two had it. We haven’t touched it.“This wine is really good stuff, too. Where you’re from, even if you had the money, you wouldn’t be able to buy such fine wine. And if you did find any, it’d probably be fake.”Jacob took the leftovers and the unfinished bottle of wine from Justin. The wine was indeed excellent. In fact, he would have asked for it himself even if Justin had not offered it. In all his life, he had never tasted such good wine.“Once you’re re
Adrian beckoned Celine’s brothers closer in a low voice. The two had had some alcohol, and it was going to their heads. Their faces reddened in excitement and they hurried over.Adrian handed the suitcase to Jacob by the handle. He watched as Jacob laid it on the ground and opened it, exposing the thick wads of cash within.The Dott brothers' hands were trembling from excitement, for they had never seen so much cash before. At the thought that the bagful of cash was theirs now, wide smiles broke out across their faces. They each took a bundle and kissed it a couple of times.“I love this the most,” Jacob exclaimed excitedly. “The more, the better, and the more, the merrier.”“Me, too. Jacob, we’ll take ten bundles each. Let’s just keep the cash in this bag for now and when we get home, we’ll secretly divide it. For now, let’s not tell Mom, your wife, or any others.”The more people knew, the more talk there would be, so it was better for as few people as possible to know.Actuall
Ever since Belinda passed away, they were worried their cruel sister would cancel their bank cards. Therefore, they withdrew all the remaining money from the accounts from which they received their monthly allowance. Adrian rarely used the money on that particular card of his because it was a meager sum to him. Tens to hundreds of thousands a month was not even enough to buy a high-quality watch. In the past, he would only transfer the money from that card to another account every one or two years. Otherwise, he would withdraw the money and use it to flirt with women; cash could always draw many gorgeous women to him. Not many people could resist someone who could take out bundles of cash. Adrian recalled that he had withdrawn a few million dollars. He kept it all in a safe. When their mother was still alive, they spent money extravagantly. When they switched cars, they would get cars that cost millions and pay for them in full. They also made full payment when buying houses.
Jacob said, “Add one more million to it and make it six. My brother and I will get three million each. We won't do the job if you offer anything less than this.“After all, we’re the ones solving a problem for you guys. The benefits you’ll obtain from this are more than ten times the amount you’re offering us.“Besides, you three are adamant about killing Caroline, not us. We might even go to prison for this.“If we get three million each, we can consider helping you out.”Michael added, “That’s right. We may be poor, but our lives aren’t worth any less. There’s no such thing as wanting us to sacrifice our lives for you without giving us money.”Adrian went to take a fine bottle of wine and poured a glass each for Jacob and Michael. Meanwhile, he took a sip of his juice and told them, “We won’t be drinking alcohol since we have to drive and go to work. This is a precious wine I’ve been keeping. It’s sold for a high price outside.“Help yourselves to it. If you think it’s good,
It could not satisfy their appetites. After all, the Clark brothers were asking them to commit a crime. If they were caught, they had to pay the price and go to jail for several years. Losing their freedom for a few years in exchange for a million dollars was not worth it at all. “Mr. Adrian, we do hate Caroline, but she won’t do anything to us if we remain in the countryside away from Jensburg and avoid offending her.“We can still live a peaceful life. Although we’ll face financial difficulties, we can still afford basic necessities and be free.“You guys are the ones in a rush to eliminate Caroline. Her existence affects your benefits the most. Of course, you can choose to accept reality by resigning from Fisher Enterprise, selling your assets, and leaving Jensburg.“If you flee to the countryside like us, you can enjoy a comfortable life away from Caroline’s control. You won’t have to reward us for doing your bidding and can save that money.”Jacob could accept not gett