Celine alighted the car and walked toward her mother. She pushed her and scolded, “Are you crazy? Even if you wish to die, don’t do it under my car and dirty it.“If you were to die because I couldn’t hit the brakes in time, what would people say about me? They’ll say I look down on the poor, and that I would rather stay with my adoptive mother than my birth mother for that very reason.”The woman’s gaze was fixed on Celine. She was no different from any other mothers who would never not miss their child.Carmen had always known that her daughter was the Fisher family’s successor. However, the truth was exposed just when she thought her husband’s scheme would succeed. Although Carmen was disappointed, her daughter could finally return to her side. With the education and training Celine had received from the Fishers, her daughter could bring their family out of poverty. Unfortunately, Celine refused to return while Caroline went back to the Fishers too. It was as if Carmen ha
Celine said coldly, “Spend this money on nicer clothes. Stop dressing up like an old-fashioned farmer. Oh, but you’re already one. Take the money and get lost. Never, ever, appear before me again.”After saying her piece, Celine walked to her car and drove off. Carmen was left crying on the street. Her biological daughter hated her. She knew she could not compare to Belinda Fisher. It was all that woman’s fault for snatching her daughter away. While crying, Carmen picked up the cash and started counting it on the spot. Her tears gradually stopped flowing as she counted the money. Celine often had about ten thousand dollars in cash inside her wallet. With a casual throw, Carmen obtained quite a lot of money. As a farmer’s wife, it was a cash windfall. She thought of Caroline, who had grown up in her home. The same girl had already become Belinda’s successor and snatched everything that was supposed to be inherited by Celine. Carmen resented Caroline for that. She go
Quinn was unaware she was Julian’s destined woman, the only one he was attracted to, and nobody else.“I just arrived, Ms. Crawford,” replied Julian with a smile. Seeing his hands full, Quinn said, “You could’ve come without bringing anything along.”“It’s my first time meeting my coach. It’s only appropriate to prepare some gifts. I can’t possibly come empty-handed.”Quinn smiled. “Are you so confident my dad will accept you as his student? Let’s go. My house is nearby. You can have a meal at my house and meet my dad. We can see if he’s willing to take you in.”“Sounds great.”Quinn led Julian to her house. “Didn’t you say you would be Mr. York’s groomsman? Why are you here?” she asked while she took some of the load Julian was carrying.She had just returned from Wiltspoon two days ago. Looking at the stuff he brought, she told him, “You bought so many expensive gifts. It must’ve cost a lot.”The cigarettes, alcohol, and supplements Julian bought were from well-known bra
Quinn brought Julian to her house. It was not far from Power Fitness, and she met many acquaintances along the way. They saw Quinn walking beside a handsome man who was holding lots of stuff. They naturally assumed that Julian was Quinn’s boyfriend. “Is this your boyfriend, Ms. Crawford? He’s handsome.”“Is he your boyfriend, Quinn? To think your parents were worried you couldn’t get married. I told them not to worry because there’s no way you can’t get married with your looks.”“Your parents will be happy that you’re bringing a man home. They won’t have to worry anymore.”The parents of Quinn’s students or her neighbors would greet her and ask about her and Julian’s relationship. Quinn quickly explained to one of her neighbors, “This is Mr. Bucham. He’s here to learn martial arts from my dad.”Mrs. Patterson said, “Oh, I thought he was your boyfriend.”After glancing at Julian, she pulled Quinn aside and whispered, “I recognize all of your father’s students, Quinn, but this
On the other hand, Julian would not tell Quinn about his illness if she had no feelings for him. She was the only one for him. “My guess was right. However, you should really take action soon to relieve your parents of their anxiety,” Quinn said.“While my parents don’t often urge me to get married, my brothers have it worse. They even wear earplugs at home to avoid listening to my parents’ nagging.“My brothers are too picky. Whenever they’re introduced to a girl, they would find the girl too weak for their liking. They want someone who’s on par with them in martial arts. My dad was so furious that he wanted to beat them up.”Julian could not resist laughing. “It’s normal for your brothers to think that way. After all, they’ve been training since they were young, and most of their friends were likely skilled in martial arts too. It’s normal for them to want a wife who knows how to fight.“Do you wish to look for a boyfriend trained in martial arts too?”After briefly consider
“We’re here. This is my home.” Quinn led Julian into a house that was built by hand. It has a yard too. Julian knew where the Crawfords lived. In fact, he had done his homework on his future in-laws. The Crawfords were not super wealthy in Summervale, but their family gym was well-known. Still, the Crawfords were more well-off than most families. They owned the house on the street and a few properties elsewhere. The Crawfords bought the land for Power Fitness. Dave, Quinn’s father, planned to leave the family home to the firstborn son as his son could take over managing the gym. The other properties would be split between his youngest and Quinn. If Dave could make enough money for another property, he would buy another piece of land and build his own house. That way, he would have more properties to share among his children and benefit from the rental income.The Crawfords’ house was wider than the neighbors'. There was an arbor covered in flowers at the front door, wh
Dave pulled himself together and got acquainted with Julian through Quinn’s introduction. Then, he courteously welcomed Julian into the house. Quinn’s brothers, Will and Mark, had not returned home. Julian stepped into the house and put down the gifts he brought. Dave asked him to have a seat and said, “You didn’t have to, Mr. Bucham.” “Your daughter saved me. I was nearly robbed on my way home from an event. Your daughter happened to come by the same way and beat up the robbers. She even called the cops for me. “I’m sorry to intrude, Mr. Crawford.” Dave smiled at the mention that Quinn had saved Julian. He said, “We always help out when we can. It was no biggie. You don’t have to get us anything when you visit.” “Why don’t you serve our guest a drink, Quinn?” Zoey emerged from the kitchen in an apron. Quinn introduced Julian to her mother. Julian stood up as Zoey approached. After Quinn’s introduction, he politely said hello. Zoey did not hear the conversation t
Zoey was disappointed, but she quickly regained her spirits. She told her daughter, “I bet Julian is single, Quinn. Whether or not he joins our gym, you can make an effort to get to know him and see if there's a connection.” Dumbfounded, Quinn said, “Mom, Mr. Bucham is a CEO. He drives multi-million-dollar fancy cars. I bet the bar is set high, and I don’t come close to his expectation of an ideal woman. Besides, I don’t want to marry into money.“Also, he’s a lot older than me. He’s thirty-five and at least ten years older than me. In a few more years, he could pass for my father.” Zoey poked Quinn’s head and replied, “Don’t talk like he’s your father’s age. Will is older than you by eight years. Julian is around Will’s age anyway, with about two, three years of age gap.“Plus, Julian looks younger than Will. I would’ve thought he’s in his early twenties.”Quinn said amusedly, “Mom, he’s just here to join our gym. Just keep this between us, and don’t talk about it again. Peop
There were still traces of blood at the corners of her mouth and under her nose.Justin and Jason worked together to pull Caroline out, and Adrian immediately tied her legs together before binding her hands behind her back.“Are you going to feed me to the fish, Adrian?”Hearing the sound of the waves and feeling the cold sea breeze, Caroline shivered.She did not stand up and remained lying on the ground.Adrian kicked her several times, venting his pent-up anger.Caroline silently endured it.After kicking her a few times, Adrian squatted, gripping Caroline's chin forcefully with one hand, and said coldly, “Caroline, there’s nothing more to say between us.“Don’t blame us for being heartless. You’re the one who pushed us to this point.“You only have yourself to blame.“Where are the passwords and keys to Mom's private assets? Tell us, and we’ll make it quick for you, so you won’t suffer too much.“If you don’t, we have plenty of time to slowly cut you piece by piece and m
“We can’t just keep giving them money, now can we?”Adrian replied, “That’s not a priority for now. We can burn that bridge when we come to it. If they do dare blackmail us, we’ll just send them on to meet their maker.“The only thing is they both have families. If we kill them, we have to kill their families too. That way, there’ll be no one who’ll report it to the police.“And it’s best to make it seem like an accident too, or else it’ll seem suspicious.”Justin and Jason both felt Adrian was right. If they were going to kill the Dott brothers, they might as well kill their families too.Caroline internally cursed how merciless they were. The Dott brothers thought they could earn some money from Adrian to live a better life but little did they know, it would bring destruction upon themselves and their families.What the Clark brothers did not know was that the Dotts were forced to say what they did earlier.It was not that they had not left yet. Rather, they could not, because
Belinda had done everything other mothers would have. She loved them, yet the three of them had gotten a smaller portion of her wealth than their own children did. Indeed, Belinda left her grandchildren with more money.After all, her grandchildren still had a long life ahead of them.Therefore, she distributed more wealth to them. The Clark brothers loved spending lavishly and kept losing money whenever they tried to establish businesses. They also had many mistresses and never hesitated to spend money on them. Belinda was partial toward her sons about their affairs and also persuaded her daughters-in-law not to get a divorce. In truth, she resented her three sons for being promiscuous and inheriting their father’s flirtatious traits. While Hunter may have been interested in other girls, he dared not cheat on Belinda because she was strict. However, he still had an affair the moment he spotted an opportunity.Later, Belinda chased the Clark brothers’ mistresses out of
Celine, whom they had cared for all long, was not their biological sister but the daughter of the previous butler. Celine’s father was ambitious. He tried making his daughter the Fisher family’s successor. Justin was speechless.“Free me, Jason. I’m already in your hands. Are you still scared that I’ll escape? Let me out. It’s too stuffy in the sack. I feel terrible.”Caroline made a request. Jason seemed to be the one with some lingering feelings for his sibling. Well, that was not really the case.If he truly had even a sliver of sibling love for Caroline, he would have stopped Adrian and Justin from kidnapping her instead of joining the plan. If Caroline had been fortunate, she could have had five brothers doting on her. Sadly, she was unlucky. None of the five brothers had cared for her. They all wanted her dead. Was she a failure as a person, or were they too cruel?Jason said, “Just stay put, Caroline. We’ll let you out when we arrive.”They could not release Car
Caroline could not beat them. Then, her mouth was gagged with a cloth, and her head was covered with a sack. Someone forced her into a car. She heard Adrian saying to his brothers, “Let’s go.“Tell Celine’s brothers to follow us. Assign a few people to clean up and leave quickly.”After that, Caroline heard the sound of an engine starting. The car moved. She could not see what was happening. While she was shoved into the backseat, her arms and legs were unbound. She removed the cloth from her mouth but not the sack from her head.Someone held the sack tightly and started hitting and kicking her. “Tie the sack, Justin,” said Jason in a hurry. The person beating her up was Justin. “I know it’s you guys, Justin and Jason. What are you doing? Let me go. Mmph…”Caroline grunted in pain. She suffered a punch from Justin. She held her head tightly to prevent any injury to it. Many blows landed on her body. “It’s fine even if you know it’s us, Caroline. You better stay
“Ms. Caroline.”The bodyguards looked toward Caroline. Caroline opened her eyes and said calmly, “Stop the car, but don’t get out. Only get out when the situation gets out of hand. Remember to protect yourselves.”“Ms. Caroline…”“I’ll keep myself safe. Don’t worry. I treasure my life. There’s still a long life ahead of me. I haven’t even started enjoying good days. I won’t want to die.”Caroline chuckled, but her smile did not reach her eyes. There was sorrow in those eyes. In the end, she and her brothers could not coexist. It made her realize how bad her luck was with families. She was switched at birth and mistreated by her adoptive family. She thought her biological parents would treat her well after returning to them, but it turned out to be the opposite. Caroline had many family members, yet somehow, she was still alone. The people who truly cared about her were Darren, Liberty, and some others. Caroline’s bodyguards knew she had been waiting for that moment.
The bodyguard in the passenger seat turned and informed Caroline. Caroline remained calm. She said, “Speed up and let them chase us. The road ahead has many curves. A truck will turn over if it goes too fast.”The people in the truck were probably her brothers from the Dott family. She wondered how much money Adrian had given them. Were they planning to drive the truck to chase her and create an accident?Caroline’s driver immediately acted on her orders. The truck behind them accelerated as well. Soon, they arrived at the section of the road with many curves and downhills.Accidents could happen easily if a car drove too quickly at a curve. The truck driver was not ready to give up his life. He decelerated when he saw the curved road ahead. By the time the truck turned, Caroline’s car was gone. The truck driver immediately stepped on the brake. He stopped by the roadside and made a call. He was not one of the Dott brothers but someone else they hired. The driver c
“They’re my biological brothers and father, Em. Although they had attacked me with their words before, they never hurt me physically.“It’s okay. I have bodyguards with me.”Caroline was letting Emma know that she would still be heading home. After sighing, Emma said, “Be careful. Call the police if something feels off. We didn’t treat you well in the past, Carol, but I saw through your family and came to a realization.“You helped me a lot, and you’re the aunt of my children. I wish you well.”Caroline knew Emma was genuinely concerned about her. Ever since she exposed her brothers’ affairs and took her sisters-in-law’s side, her sisters-in-law, especially Emma, have changed their attitudes toward her. When Adrian and Emma were fighting on the verge of divorcing, Caroline stood by Emma unwaveringly. She had also assisted Emma in many instances. Although Emma had left the Fisher family, she would always be Caroline's sister-in-law. “I will be careful and live well, Em.
Since it would be a sleepless night, drinking some coffee could help them stay awake. At eleven o’clock, Caroline and her bodyguards left the cafe. She sensed some people had been following her the entire night. The bodyguards had also noticed it, but Caroline prevented them from alarming those people and let them continue following her. It would be none other than Adrian’s people anyway. Adrian, Justin, and Jason had finished their tasks early and got off work on time. They had the entire night to themselves as they did not have to work or attend events. After Caroline got in her car, she suddenly received a call from Emma. She picked up the call. “Hi, Emma.”“You can call me comfortably, Carol. I’m not your sister-in-law anymore.”Caroline immediately switched to Emma’s nickname. “Why aren’t you asleep but calling me at this hour, Em? I hope my nieces and nephews are obedient. Now that the school term has started, you should be able to relax when they’re at school