Kevin and Hayden were the only ones left in the private dining room. Hayden tried to pull her hand away, but Kevin had a good hold of her. He would not let her go. “How long are you going to keep up with the act, Kevin?” Kevin lay on the table, refusing to release Hayden’s arm. “Come on. Let’s drink! One more!” Hayden scowled at him. She took a while to calm herself. Whether Kevin was faking his intoxication or not, she had to take him back to his hotel across from Jensburg Hotel. Hayden gave in and got up, then helped the drunk man out of the room. She planned to take him back to Fortress Hotel. Several minutes later, Hayden helped Kevin to a bed and laid him down. He finally let go of her hand. Since Kevin dozed off right away, Hayden believed that he must be drunk for real. Hayden bent over to remove his shoes and socks. She repositioned his sleeping posture and tucked him in before sitting by the bed to watch him. While watching him, Hayden gave him a squee
Hayden’s parents and brother were supportive of Kevin’s pursuit of her. They encouraged and helped him along the way.In fact, Hayden could not stand Kevin in the beginning but had now accepted him into his life. His unyielding pursuit finally wore her down. “Our relationship is not affected by whether or not I live my life as a woman. You know that I am a woman. If you cared what other people think, you would have left me a long time ago. Who cares what people think? The most important thing is that we are happy together.“The most I can promise you is that if we do get married, I will marry you in a wedding dress. I will be a woman that day. It is basically telling the world that you are a straight man.”After much thought, Hayden smiled. “I wonder if people will think that you make me dress up as a woman.” Kevin would be speechless to hear the comment if he was not asleep. It was possible since people thought Kevin and Hayden held the insertive and receptive roles, respec
Hayden looked callously at Celine before leaving. Her team of bodyguards worked together. Some of them stopped Celine from getting close while the rest escorted Hayden to leave. The scene was a spectacle, drawing a crowd of onlookers who gathered outside the hotel to watch the drama unfold.The hotel guests and staff had seen it all before, but they could not help but be drawn to a good juicy drama.The staff members of Fortress Hotel were proud that their boss managed to beat all his competition. They believed Hayden was meant to be with their boss. They were gleeful. “Mr. Queen! Mr. Queen! Don’t leave! I just want to have a word with you. Just a quick moment.” Celine struggled to break free from Hayden’s security detail. She tried to catch up to Hayden, but she was no match for the bodyguards. Her smile faded. She watched Hayden’s receding figure and yelled, “Mr. Queen, I just want to accompany you to attend Mr. York’s wedding.” Hayden was attending the wedding in Wil
Belinda’s secretary informed Caroline through the call, “Madam Fisher wants to see you, Ms. Fisher. She said to drop whatever you are doing and come to her immediately.” “Got it.” Caroline put down the phone, got up, walked around the desk, and strode out of her office. She was now the COO of Fisher Enterprise. Caroline was the successor to Fisher Enterprise, no matter what other people said. She was destined to take over the family business and the household.At least, that was the image Caroline projected.Secretly, Caroline was trying to pass Fisher Enterprise on to her aunt’s descendants as the company rightfully belonged to them. However, neither Audrey nor Liberty gave her a response. Carline guessed that the lack of response must be because Audrey was waiting for Zachary and Serenity’s wedding to be over. It was always calm before the storm. Caroline hoped that she could bond with Audrey and that Liberty and Serenity would see her as their aunt.She soon arri
After a pause, Belinda added, “You should stay at home and take care of the company and family matters. I hope you can produce good results.”She wanted to investigate her nieces’ whereabouts in Wiltspoon. Rumors had it that Audrey Stone was her eldest niece. She appeared not to be aware of it but she was simply pretending to do so.Zachary’s wedding presented an opportunity for her to conduct a thorough investigation.Caroline asked Belinda, “Will you be heading there alone? What about Dad?“I thought of accompanying you there. Wiltspoon is a big city with many business opportunities. Should we expand our family business there?”Caroline visited Wiltspoon but it was done secretly. Her mother discovered evidence of her expenses there.Luckily, the fact that she had met with the Stone family was still hidden, and so was her gift delivery through Darren to Liberty during the opening of her new restaurant. Otherwise, the hawklike Belinda would have guessed her motives behind mee
“Caroline, I hope you can bring our family to greater heights and back to its prime. That way, you will be respected instead of receiving their faux courtesy. For all we know, they could be badmouthing us behind our backs.”After a moment of silence, Caroline said, “Mom, even you couldn’t lead the family back to what it was before after all these years. I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to do it. Fisher Enterprise has much room for improvement in various aspects. However, those in charge of the respective departments are my brothers and children of other elders in the family.”Caroline had not gained enough foothold in the company, so there was nothing she could do to those people yet. “With them around, it’ll be difficult for the company to return to its peak. They’re only thinking about filling their own pockets instead of putting the company before themselves.”It was all because of Belinda. Although she obeyed the family tradition of handing down the position of matriarch to
After all, Wildridge Manor belonged to the Yorks; not just anyone can stay there. Belinda stared at Caroline. If Caroline had been by her side all this while, she would have become more outstanding than she was now. Heck, she could have been chosen by Old Mrs. York to be the York family’s granddaughter-in-law. “You’re still young. There’ll be many opportunities for you in the future. I’m old. I might not even go to Wiltspoon anymore after this.”Caroline smiled. “You’re right. Since you’re heading there to relax, why don’t you bring Dad along? He can’t do much, but he can accompany you and make you happy.”Belinda chided Caroline, “How can you talk about your father that way? No matter how incompetent, he’s the reason you’re even born.”Caroline pouted. “It’s a fact. You should’ve looked for a better man back then.”“A capable man would’ve refused to be a live-in son-in-law for our family. It’s fine if you dislike the man Hunter brought last time. I can introduce someone else t
Things would have been different if so. Belinda only had one option now—Caroline. Moments later, Celine barged in. Belinda frowned upon seeing her adopted daughter while she was reminiscing about her past. Frustration overtook her expression, and she said, “How many times have I told you to knock before entering? You never listen.”The daughter she had spent much effort raising did not even have basic etiquette. She had spoiled Celine rotten. Belinda was glad that Celine was not her biological daughter. Otherwise, she would have been angered to death upon seeing the successor she spent over two decades nurturing being such a failure.”“Sorry, Mom. I forgot.”Celine immediately went out and closed the door. Then, she knocked on the door again and only entered after obtaining Belinda’s permission. She sat opposite Belinda. “I want to ask you something, Mom. Did our family receive the York family’s invitation?”Since Celine could not attend the wedding as Hayden’s partner,
Austin replied, “Both Mr. Louis and Mr. Phillip woke up very early, especially Mr. Phillip. He gets up earlier than Mr. Louis every morning. It’s really hard on him, getting up so early in such cold weather.”Sometimes, he himself felt like staying in bed a little longer, reluctant to leave the warm comfort of his blankets.Even after the New Year, Satbury remained quite cold. In contrast, over in Wiltspoon, the temperatures had begun to reach a high of over seventy degrees Fahrenheit in the daytime, with nighttime lows around fifty degrees.The two provinces and cities were simply incomparable. The temperatures in Wiltspoon were just so very comfortable for Satbury locals.Isabella smiled and said, “Phillip is just afraid he’ll get here too late and that you’ll assume he’s not coming over for breakfast, then not prepare any for him. He's such a little foodie.”The house was never short of snacks for the little ones. In fact, any goodies were always reserved for them first.Yet,
Even when she attended banquets, she would show up in formal clothing. Isabella did not remember the last time she wore a dress. Perhaps it was when she was in third grade. In fact, she liked wearing pretty princessy dresses when she was young. Her mother had told her that.As Isabella was the first child and extremely adorable, Delphine had dolled her up like a princess. Her pretty dresses filled the closet. Her parents, aunts, uncles, and relatives would always gift her many beautiful dresses. As she grew up, perhaps when she was in fourth grade, she stopped wearing dresses. Regardless of who gave her new pieces, she would refuse to wear them and give them to her cousins instead. After everyone realized she disliked dresses, they gradually stopped giving her them. Delphine had asked Isabella why she disliked wearing dresses. Isabella reasoned that she could not walk quickly enough while wearing one. She valued speed and efficiency. Delphine said she had alway
While the private chefs Ms. Isabella had hired in the past were respectful, they were leaning toward flattery instead of sincere dedication, like how Austin was toward Ms. Isabella.Dominic was experienced. He could sense that Ms. Isabella treated Austin differently. She was also a special existence to Austin. It was normal for young people to be attracted to each other. Initially, Dominic wanted to advise Austin not to even think about dating Ms. Isabella. However, upon discovering that Austin was a young master of a wealthy family, he decided not to interfere. Dominic was glad that he did nothing.Austin returned to the house. Instead of heading straight to the kitchen, he went upstairs. He stopped outside of Isabella’s room and knocked on the door lightly. No response came from within the room. Perhaps Austin was too soft when he knocked. He knocked on the door again with more force and asked, “Are you up yet, Ms. Isabella? It’s time to have breakfast.”Isabella w
Austin was extremely patient with the boys. Although they occasionally caused trouble, most of them were minor issues. They would never do something they were not allowed to do.After breakfast, Austin brought them their bags. With a boy in each hand, he left the house. It was to prevent the boys from saying he was playing favorites. Dominic was used to that scene. Initially, Austin was simply Ms. Isabella’s private chef. However, he gradually took on more responsibilities.He would take the two young masters to school. If he had time in the evening, he would also fetch them from school. Austin also made sure Louis and Phillip did their homework, supervised their hobby classes, and played with them. Sometimes, he would even teach them martial arts and train with them. Dominic felt Austin was an all-rounder. It seemed like there was nothing Austin could not do. No wonder Ms. Isabella thought highly of Austin. However, Austin was a young master of a wealthy family. He w
Louis and Phillip were downstairs having the breakfast Austin had prepared for them. The food was different every morning, and everything was delicious.Having gotten used to Austin’s cooking, Louis and Phillip could no longer stand the food provided in the school. They thought the food there was terrible. Louis was enrolled in an elementary school not far from home. As he was a first grader, he did not need to stay in the dormitories and could have his lunch and dinner at home. Phillip, who was a year younger than him, was still in preschool. He would have breakfast and dinner at home. Actually, the preschool did provide breakfast, but Phillip refused to eat in school and insisted on having breakfast at home. In order to eat the breakfast Austin made, he would get up early in the morning without the adults waking him. After putting on his clothes and washing up, he would head to Louis’s place with his bag. “Austin.”Louis suddenly asked, “Did my sister come back last n
Isabella had always thought Tati was teasing her. Therefore, she did not take her words seriously. She thought it was completely normal for Austin to treat her well as she was his boss. From Austin’s perspective, she was his source of income. Now that Isabella pondered about it deeper, she realized perhaps Austin did come to Satbury for her. It was not just to be her chef. He always said Grandma May only gave the York lads a year to pursue their fiancées. However, Austin had never left since he started working for Isabella. Even if he did, it was to accompany her on business trips. He was busy feeding and taking care of her every day and had never gone to pursue his so-called fiancée. He did not even try to gather information on her. Was he not anxious?A year would go by pretty quickly. Although it felt like it had not been long since Austin started working for Isabella, three months had passed. Time really flew. Three months had gone by in the blink of an eye. Neve
When Austin reached the door, he stopped and turned to say, “Ms. Isabella, I only care about my future wife. Other young women are simply strangers to me.“I’m polite to other women when I need to be. If they’re unimportant, I’ll ignore them. Even if that woman is my boss, I won’t cross any lines. If I do, there must be a reason behind it.“Get some rest, Ms. Isabella. You might have a headache when you wake up tomorrow. I’ll prepare a warm honey drink for you in the morning.”After speaking, Austin left. Isabella turned to look at where he last stood. What did his words mean?He said he only cared about his future wife.Aside from this lady, he would not step out of line with any other young woman, even if she were his boss. What did he mean by crossing lines?Was it showing concern? Did he mean that if his boss was a young woman but not his fiancée, he would simply do what was required of him without any personal feelings involved? Was that what he meant?If so, was
Isabella was cold sometimes, but that was not her true personality. She was a reasonable person. Austin was not worried that he would be mistreated as a live-in son-in-law. “Ms. Isabella.”Isabella looked toward him and waited for him to speak. He asked, “This may be abrupt, but may I ask what your ideal type is?”Isabella was stunned. Why did the question come to her? What was the type of man she liked?‘Someone like Austin,’ she thought. After a moment of silence, she said, “I like men who are capable, responsible, and have correct values. Even if his family isn’t as financially well-off as mine, I don’t mind so long as he’s honest, competent, and sincere about his feelings for me.“Of course, it’ll be great if we have the same social status. That way, we’ll have similar perspectives and more common topics. If we get married, we’ll be joining forces instead of it being a one-way financial aid.”“Although you can accept someone who isn’t from a similar family backgrou
After a moment of silence, Isabella said, “It’s okay. I know I was forcing it.”There was no point in asking Austin if he did not want to reveal anything. If he wanted to tell her, he would do so without her asking. However, her curiosity spiked with his silence. She was eager to know who his fiancée was. He was already so protective of his fiancée even though he had not met her before. It made Isabella jealous. It was her first time feeling that kind of emotion throughout her life. Although it was not a strong feeling, she still felt it. “You weren’t forcing me to tell you. You were simply curious. Most people have a curious side. It’s only natural for you to be inquisitive as well.”Austin said gently, “It’s not just you. Those who knew that my nana had chosen fiancées for my brothers and me were also curious about who the ladies were.“To be honest, we didn’t even know Nana had been choosing fiancées for us since a few years ago until she handed their pictures to us