Hayden had no intention of reclaiming her identity as a woman at the moment.“We haven’t had a grand proposal yet,” Kevin honestly replied.Hugh chuckled. “I thought you already proposed. I mean, it’s such a big deal, how come none of us in the family knew? So, you haven’t had a grand proposal yet, huh? Then when are you going to grandly propose to Hayden?“You better make it grand and pick a crowded place for the proposal. The crowd might even cheer together for my sister to marry you.”As long as Kevin proposed splendidly and was seen by people, there would surely be many onlookers. Perhaps nobody would cheer for Hayden to marry him and instead, they would probably hurl unpleasant words or eggs at her.Some might remind Kevin that within the country, he and Hayden cannot become legally married.Unless Hayden regained her female identity, only then would the marriage proposal from Kevin receive everyone’s blessing.Kevin was also aware of this. “When Hayden is willing to marr
Kevin stared at his future brother-in-law and remarked, “No wonder we get along so well. We’re the same kind of people—shameless and unapologetically so.”Hugh remained silent as Kevin walked away.The future of Queen Enterprise and who would manage it were matters for the Queen family. Even if he became their son-in-law, he would neither interfere nor voice his opinion.This was mainly to avoid others thinking that he was after the Queen family’s money.To be honest, he did not really care about the Queens’ wealth. Although they were one of the elite families in Jensburg, they were not as financially powerful as his own family.As soon as Hayden stopped working, Kevin pushed the door open and entered.“Hay, are you done? Let’s go eat.”Kevin walked over with large strides, smiling at her while asking.Hayden nodded, neatly stacked the processed documents, and pressed the intercom. She informed her secretary to come in and collect them. She then got up and walked around her desk
Belinda did not immediately explode. She inquired, “May I ask if Hunter Clark is here?”“Who? Who’s looking for me?”Hunter happened to come out of the bathroom, having just finished showering.Holding a dry towel to wipe his hair, he asked upon hearing the question.When he saw his wife standing at the door, Hunter was dumbfounded.He thought he was seeing things and quickly rubbed his eyes. Looking again, he still saw his wife’s face, well-maintained but marked by the traces of age.“Darling, she’s looking for you.”The woman stepped aside and addressed Hunter.In her heart, she guessed that Hunter’s wife had come looking for him.She honestly could not care less. She lost count of the number of these men’s wives who came knocking on her door. As long as she did not get involved with men from high society, her true financial backers would not find out.After all, her main sponsor rarely came to see her. He had many women around him, and he might have forgotten about her. F
Belinda slapped Hunter ten times, leaving his face bruised and swollen with blood trickling from his nose and the corners of his mouth.He did not dare fight back.He endured the wrath of his wife.Hunter waited until Belinda stopped, then grabbed her hand and asked with a heartbroken expression, “Honey, did you hurt your hand? Are you tired? I’ll help you blow on it.”Belinda kicked him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.“Take both of them away.”Belinda coldly ordered the two bodyguards to take them home for further punishment.She would not let anyone who betrayed her off lightly.The two bodyguards immediately entered the room and dragged the woman out, following Belinda.Hunter did not need the bodyguards to help him up. He got up from the ground and obediently followed behind Belinda, begging for mercy as he walked, saying that he had been tricked by the woman. He absolutely denied he had been attracted to the woman and that he had come to the hotel with her cou
After the bodyguards restrained the woman, Belinda beat her up until her face was utterly bruised, so much so she was almost unrecognizable. “Belinda.”Hunter was worried that she would beat the woman to death. He also felt sorry for the woman he had been intimate with for some time and went to pull Belinda’s hand away. By doing so, he had redirected Belinda’s wrath onto himself. She turned and slapped him across the face. Belinda started hitting her husband without caring that they were in public. At that moment, Kevin, who had been watching the commotion unfold, stepped forward. “Madam Fisher,” said Kevin. Only then did Belinda stop hitting Hunter. She looked toward the person who called her and realized it was Kevin. She seemed to have snapped back to her senses and adjusted her clothes, which were messy from hitting her husband and the woman. She said, “Mr. Kevin.”“I just returned and had no idea what happened here, but this is my hotel. You should have some merc
After Hunter was taken away, the woman was left to suffer from the spectators’ criticisms. Knowing she was a homewrecker, no one sympathized with her despite her wounded state. She dragged herself up and left. She had no idea that Hunter was Belinda Fisher’s husband. If she had known, she would not have fooled around with him. The woman also did not expect that mentioning her other lover’s name did not help her at all and made her suffer a beating. It used to work every time. Kevin brought Hayden into a private room in the hotel. While waiting for the food to be served, Kevin asked, “Was the show interesting?”They had only arrived at the hotel minutes after Belinda did. Of course, Kevin did not let Hayden watch Belinda catch her husband cheating in front of the hotel room. Instead, they lounged in the hotel lobby for a while. If it were not for the woman attempting to escape, they would not have had the chance to witness the entertaining part. “It was exciting,” re
That would be an issue. On the other hand, Caroline was on her way home. She had received news from Darren that her mother had returned to Jensburg. She also knew her mom had gone to Fortress Hotel right after touching down to catch Hunter in the act. Caroline had pretended to know nothing about her father’s affair. However, as Kevin had mentioned, she was the mastermind. Kevin was simply giving her a helping hand. Belinda had informed everyone to gather at home. Caroline guessed that Belinda’s anger had reached its limit. She silently wished Hunter the best of luck. Caroline’s brothers were nervous as they had no clue why Belinda suddenly summoned them back to the house. Not only that, they were puzzled by her early return. Did she not say she would only return a few days later?When Caroline arrived, Celine and her three sisters-in-law were already there. Her brothers arrived shortly after. When their gazes met, Adrian scolded Caroline, “Were you aware that Mom w
Everyone held their breath upon seeing Hunter’s state. Belinda sat on the sofa with a cigarette in hand. She did not even spare Hunter a glance despite his sobs. The room stood in silence. Even Celine, who was Belinda’s favorite, did not say a word. Adrian crept to his wife’s side and asked softly, “What happened to Dad? Who beat him up?”Emma replied, “Mom did.”After a pause, she turned to look at Adrian. There was a hint of glee in her whisper. “Dad cheated on Mom and got caught red-handed. The woman was beaten up too.”Adrian’s expression changed upon hearing those words. He was reminded of his own affair. Although his parents had known about it and chose to turn a blind eye, Hunter’s affair was a grave issue. It would affect him and his brothers, who had committed the same mistake. Adrian kept quiet as he stood beside Emma. “Mom.”Caroline broke the silence. She glanced at Hunter whose handsome face was unrecognizable before setting her eyes on the frowning Belin
Austin quickly left the CEO’s office. Just as he stepped out, he ran into Tati, who was looking for Isabella.“Ms. Tati,” Austin greeted politely.Tati nodded and waited for Austin to leave before she knocked on the office door and entered.“Austin came early today to cook for you,” Tati said, holding a folder in her hand and opening it as she walked toward Isabelle.She sat down at the desk, handed over the folder, and said, “Isa, this is urgent. Please take a look.”Isabella took the document, glancing through it as she replied, “He comes around this time every day, neither early nor late.”“That Longbottom fellow came by again?” Tati asked.It was only after Mr. Longbottom had directly asked to see Isabella that Tati found out the old lecher had come again.“Yes, but I didn’t meet him. He brought some gifts, claiming they were holiday presents for us. I had them sent back. He’s too ambitious, and he has bad intentions. We’re absolutely on guard against him. Why would we give
Isabella turned her head to look at Austin.Austin stopped the massage and asked in a gentle voice, “Are you feeling any discomfort? I can work on it. I don't give people massages often, so I don’t have much experience. I'll keep giving you more massages as practice so I'll be able to serve you better.”“It's not that,” Isabella smiled. “It's actually very comfortable. It’s just that I really want to meet your grandmother every time you mention her.”In Isabella's mind, Austin's grandmother had already become something of a legendary figure.Austin thought to himself, ‘Nana’s already met you. You probably met her before, you just didn't know it was her.’His nana had surely spent a lot of time observing Isabella, getting to know her, and confirming that her character and abilities were suitable for him before choosing Isabella for him.“When you’re less busy, if you’re willing, you can come visit us in Wiltspoon. Lots of flowers bloom in spring, and there’s beautiful scenery ever
When Isabella first took over the family business, many of her grandparents' and parents' friends and relatives openly tried to sabotage her. They played dirty tricks, schemed, and tried various ways to undermine her.They wanted to take advantage of her, and they also did not want her to take control of the family’s legacy. They tried to prevent her from establishing herself in the company, even going as far as to collaborate with outsiders to trap her.She had suffered countless setbacks, faced numerous conspiracies, and even experienced several so-called accidents, nearly losing her life. It was only after all this that she truly understood the treachery of human nature. From that point on, she learned to arm herself with cold indifference.Though she was taking over her own family’s business, it felt like she had to fight through a bloody battle to secure her place, as if she were a king striving to ascend the throne. It was exhausting and disheartening.However, she endured an
Austin said, “He’s definitely here to discuss a potential partnership with your company.“He's just the acting head of the Longbottoms. He doesn’t truly control the family. If the real head returns, everything he’s worked for will go to someone else.“The downfall of Belinda Fisher probably gave him a wake-up call and he doesn’t want to end up like that.“He’s definitely seeking to cooperate with you regarding his personal business. He’s just using the Longbottoms’ name, since their influence in Windermere is enormous.”In terms of wealth, the O'Connors and the Longbottoms were on equal footing, but the O'Connors had fewer members and did not have the same level of influence in Windermere as the Longbottoms.Isabella said, “He’s very ambitious. A partnership would only just be the beginning. Once it’s established, he’ll start thinking about how to cheat us and steal our business.“Plus, he’s very lecherous. Nobody can put a number to how many women he’s toyed with. Some even lost
Tony was aware that whenever his wife had to play the villain, it was always to protect him. He said, “You're right, I misspoke. Your mother isn’t that kind of person.”“Manny, I’ll be leaving soon. You stay here, and I’ll leave half of my men with you. If anything comes up that you can't handle, contact me. I’ll be waiting to hear good news from you.” Tony decided to fly to Wiltspoon in the afternoon. He would only stay for two or three days before returning to Havenmill to handle business.However, as he thought about how he was working like a horse for Longbottom Corporation when many of the benefits did not even belong to him personally, Tony felt a bit disgruntled.“Got it.” Manny did not reject his father’s arrangement.As the Longbottom father and son were discussing how to deal with the O’Connors, Austin entered Isabella’s office.Isabella was busy, so Austin did not disturb her. He quietly sat at the tea table and made some tea.“It seems you’ve learned the art of tea-
Manny had never been to Wiltspoon, but he knew from his father that several prominent families in Wiltspoon had close ties with the Johnsons from Annenburg. It was possible that the child adopted by the Johnsons’ young missus was Laurence. Unfortunately, he could not meet that child, so he could not be a hundred percent certain. The child was currently out of sight and well-protected, hidden so effectively that even the Longbottoms’ information network could not find anything. The other prominent families in Wiltspoon were also helping to keep the child hidden, so Manny deeply disliked the people from these families. Even though they were thousands of miles away, they were still an obstacle to him and his father in their pursuit of becoming the true head of the family.“That's right. If we can conquer the O’Connors, we’ll have a backup plan,” his father said. “You must put your all into it, son. If you need help, just let me know, though this is also an opportunity for you to ge
Tony Longbottom was the only person who would put on such a parade. The big shots in Satbury usually had entourages of their own, but none would put on a spectacle as big as Tony would.As they departed in their car, Tony’s gracious demeanor utterly shattered.His face twisted into an ugly, cruel expression as he said, “I’ve never been treated like this before, even when the legitimate branch of the family still lived, and those two ignorant little girls actually refused to see me multiple times.”Manny was very angry too and he said, “Pops, since they refuse to go about this the easy way, we’ll have to show them the hard way. We can approach it from other angles, and once they’re completely out of business and they have nowhere else to turn to, they’ll be at our mercy.“Won’t they have to do as we please then? I want to marry them, they’ll have to marry me, and if I don’t, I’ll just make them my mistresses. Don’t the O’Connors have plenty of daughters? I’ll fuck every one of them
“Isabella O’Connor is so outstanding, so why are you asking me to go for Tati O’Connor instead?” Manny said under his breath in puzzlement.He had seen photos of the two ladies and Isabella’s appearance was more striking. She had a cold and aloof aura that easily triggered his desire to conquer her, and after just a few glances, he was captivated.If it were up to him, Manny would choose Isabella.Tony looked at his son, smiled, and said, “You can’t control her. Of course, if you manage to make her fall for you, we can talk about switching. But for now, focus on Tati O’Connor.”Tati was also beautiful. However, she did not have Isabella’s cold demeanor. She seemed much gentler, like she smiled often.“Marrying Tati O’Connor would be a big advantage for both you and our family.”Manny thought for a moment and then nodded in understanding. “Got it, Dad.”Manny’s good looks, wealth, honeyed tongue, and generosity toward girls made him good at winning them over. Pursuing a rich youn
After testing the O’Connor sisters and realizing they were not like other women, Mr. Longbottom thought of having his son marry Tati.He knew that his son would not be able to handle or control Isabella, so he set his sights on Tati. Tati probably did not realize she was considered an easy target. Most people underestimated her because she had always kept a low profile.At that moment, a young man got out from the other side of the Rolls-Royce. He resembled Mr. Longbottom. Indeed, he was Mr. Longbotton’s eldest son, Manny.“Dad.”Manny went to his father’s side and glanced at the building before him. He asked, “Aren’t we driving inside?”In Havenmill, Manny could do whatever he wished because his father was the interim head of the Longbottom family. While he had no respect for ordinary people at all, he was clever enough not to offend people he should not.He never parked his car outside the places he wanted to go and simply drove his car through the gates. However, Manny