“Let’s stop talking about her. We should go on with our lives.”“That’s right. The law has already punished them for what they did. By the way, since Carrie is out, she’ll probably look for Trenton. You should call him to inform him of this.”After a short silence, Camryn said, “She and Trenton are siblings by blood. Of course she’ll look for him. Trenton can make his own decisions now that he has come of age. I’ve always told him that I’ll respect all his choices.”Serenity said, “We’ll just let them be then.”Not all siblings had a close relationship like the York brothers or the Hunt sisters. Although Carrie and Camryn had different fathers, they shared the same mother. Moreover, their fathers were brothers. Despite the same Newman blood flowing in them, Carrie and Camryn were like enemies. Grandma May and Lilian returned to Wildridge Manor before the sky turned dark. Remy brought Elisa over too. The York brothers who were in Wiltspoon, save for Rowan still in school, came
At that time, Belinda had no idea that Celine was not her biological child. She simply felt that Celine was still not up to her expectations despite years of nurturing, so there was no hurry to arrange an assistant for Celine.Fortunately, she waited it out.Otherwise, new personnel selection and training would be required for Caroline’s assistant, which could take a long time to train such a specialized assistant.Once a successor was confirmed in the Fisher family, the process of grooming a special assistant for them began. It often took ten to twenty years for the successor to take over. Additionally, it was also challenging to find suitable assistant candidates. To meet the criteria, they had to be exceptionally talented and loyal.“I understand.”Mr. Gordon promptly left the room.He did not stay long and was meeting a man; one would assume he was just going to meet a friend.He did not draw any attention to himself.Once Mr. Gordon had left Wiltspoon Hotel, Belinda’s bod
Belinda furrowed her brows and finally answered Celine’s call.“Mom…”As soon as the call connected, Celine cried out.“What happened, Cece? Who’s bothering you? Tell Mom, and when I get back, I’ll take care of it for you.”Despite her frown, Belinda’s words were filled with affection, as if nothing in the world could harm her adopted daughter with her protection.“Mom, when are you coming back? While you’ve been away, I’ve been tormented by Caroline. She bullies me and constantly infuriates me. She’s wicked. Every time she harms me, she puts on an innocent act.“Not to mention me, even Dad can’t eat or sleep well because of her. He’s lost weight because of her. I feel so sorry for him.“She’s also sowing discord between my brothers and their wives. She made them argue every day to the point where Emma asked Adrian for a divorce.”Belinda sighed. “Does Caroline have that much influence? She’s just a klutz. If she had that kind of ability to drive all of you crazy, I wouldn’t ha
After listening to Celine’s complaints, Belinda responded, “Cece, did you intentionally crash into Caroline’s car? Her car is new, and it’s a luxury car. I specially bought her that luxury car to appease her. You damaged it and refused to pay for the repairs. She froze your bank account, and that’s entirely warranted.“You always make mistakes and don’t reflect on your own errors. You constantly think that you’re right and everyone else is wrong.“Imagine if you were Caroline—your new car was damaged and the other party refused to pay for the repairs. Wouldn’t you be angry? Knowing your personality, if someone crashed into your car and refused to compensate, you might even feel like tearing down their house.”Belinda silently scolded Celine for not knowing her place. Caroline was her biological daughter and the heir to the Fisher family. She had the authority to freeze anyone’s bank account in the family and even reduce their allowance.Of course, as Belinda was still the head of t
Even though he harbored a great deal of dissatisfaction, Hunter never dared to deceive his wife ever since that incident.Luckily, his children were rather understanding and would secretly give him some money to spend, so he could live relatively comfortably.His children’s filial piety was something that Belinda did not interfere with. Of course, if he dared to flirt behind her back, Belinda would not be lenient with him.Belinda had warned him before that if he had the guts to have affairs, she would ruin him.Hunter believed that his wife could put her words into action.For decades, no matter how many attractive women tried to get close to him, he dared not make a single move.“It’s not a matter of having money or not, it’s a matter of who’s right and who’s wrong,” Belinda said seriously.Celine ceased her complaints.After a while, she continued. “Mom, even if I was at fault, Caroline shouldn’t freeze my bank account. Who gave her the right? She hasn’t become the head of
“You’ve rented out all the properties under your name, and the shops are also on lease. The monthly rent amounts to tens of thousands, which is more than the annual income of many ordinary people. Cece, you’re already doing better than many.”Celine, feeling wronged, asked, “Mom, are you blaming me for spending money?”“That’s not what I mean. I’m just telling you that you’re ahead of thousands of others, better off than most.“Alright, don’t be upset. I will be back in a couple of days, and when I return, I’ll unfreeze your bank account. I’ll also give Caroline a piece of my mind for you. However, since you damaged Caroline’s car, it’s better to compensate her. Otherwise, it would be hard for me to help you. After all, she is my biological daughter.”Celine reluctantly replied, “I’ll pay for the repairs, and when you’re back, you can comfort my wounded soul.”Belinda chuckled. “Good, I will bring you some gifts when I return, just for you. Cece, my feelings for you run deep. You’
Belinda had personally attended Zachary’s wedding in Wiltspoon and extended her stay for nearly two weeks. The purpose was clear to Caroline and everyone else.During this time, Caroline did not dare to send anyone to Wiltspoon to gather information, fearing that Belinda might catch them in the act. Nevertheless, she could guess that her mother would not have a smooth time over there.Wiltspoon was the territory of the Yorks, Lewises, Buchams, and the Stones. These four major families had formed a united front, making it difficult for her mother to achieve anything significant there.Upon hearing that Caroline was still working late at the company, Belinda’s tone softened a bit as she asked, “Celine said that you exposed your brothers’ extramarital affairs to their wives. Also, did you freeze Celine’s bank account?”Caroline admitted honestly, “Yes, I did both things. Did I do something wrong?“My brothers are all married with families. Shouldn’t married men be loyal to their fami
“As for her personal bank card, I have no means to freeze it. Couldn’t she spend her own money though? Recently, she’s been swiping the credit card you gave her quite recklessly, so I decided to take some action.”“Her personal savings aren’t that much.”Caroline laughed, “Not that much? With a net worth of ten million, do you think everyone is a millionaire? There are people who will never earn that much in their lifetime, and is she still not satisfied? Did she ask you to compensate her when you get back?“She intentionally hit my car. I’ve asked people at the car dealership, and they said it will cost tens of thousands to repair. If I don’t ask her to pay up, then who should I ask? She said it shouldn’t matter as we’re sisters. Is she really my sister? Does she have Fisher's blood coursing through her veins? If she has, then I won’t ask for compensation. But does she really?”Belinda fell into silence.“All those properties and commercial lots belong to her. When they’re rented
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
“You can drink it now. It’ll turn cold if left aside for longer.”Isabella took the ginger ale and drank it with elegance. She put it down after drinking half of it. “I’m drunk, but only slightly. I can walk, and my brain is still alert. I know what I’m doing and saying.“I’ve had enough ginger ale.”She did not want to consume too much liquid late at night. “Which family is your fiancée from, Austin? Where is she? Do you mind telling me?”Isabella was insistent on getting answers. Austin had never told her when she had asked him about it before. He kept saying he would focus on working and that he was not in a rush to get married. After all, he was only in his twenties; Zachary only got married at thirty years old. If he was unsuccessful in wooing his fiancée that year, he did not mind waiting for a few more years. Isabella suddenly felt jealous of Austin’s fiancée, having had his heart without even doing anything. She wondered what Austin’s fiancée had done to cat
Austin stared into Isabella’s eyes. He could detect some feelings in her gaze, but it was not obvious enough. What she felt for him was still mostly admiration. It was not the right time for him to confess yet. He would continue to wait. “You’re the best and most outstanding lady in my heart, Ms. Isabella. I admire you more.”Austin added gently, “You give off a strict and cold aura sometimes, but you’re always a nice person in my eyes.”Isabella had treated him well ever since he became her private chef. It only got better after she discovered he was a young master of the Yorks. Austin believed her when she said she viewed him as a friend because her actions reflected it as well. However, he was not content with being just friends. He wanted to be her husband. He wanted her to trust him and love him forever. He would also reciprocate her feelings and trust. Isabella smiled. “Even my parents are scared and avoid me when I’m in a serious mode. Louis and Phillip w
Austin responded, “Don’t worry, Ms. Edith. I’ll take good care of Ms. Isabella.”Edith had come in a hurry and left just as quickly. The hidden meaning in her cousin’s words was not lost on Isabella, but she did not comment on it.She allowed Austin to accompany her into the house. The lights were still on inside, but the first floor was empty. Everyone else had already gone to bed.Since Isabella had not returned yet, the housekeeper had left the lights on for her.The house was warm, so once inside, Isabella took off Austin’s coat and handed it back to him.Austin accepted the coat and followed her to the sofa. After she had sat down, he asked gently, “Ms. Isabella, would you like some ginger ale for a hangover remedy?”Isabella rubbed her temples and said, “Yes, please. I don’t want to wake up with a splitting headache tomorrow.”Austin immediately went to prepare it for her.Isabella leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes to rest. After some time, she heard Austin’s