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
Caroline looked toward Hunter in disbelief. Hunter felt ashamed. Most parents would conceal their mistakes and keep their children in the dark. They did not want their children’s impression of them to be ruined. However, Belinda had made his children and daughters-in-law witness his shame. His wrongdoings were exposed, and he could never raise his head proudly around them again. Luckily, his grandchildren were not around. Otherwise, he could never face them too. “Mom.”Caroline quickly sat beside Belinda and consoled her. “Mom, Dad may not have been thinking clearly at that time. He loves you so much. He might’ve fallen into a trap or was set up by that woman.”Hunter went along with Caroline’s assumption and pushed all the blame to that woman. Belinda was about to light up another cigarette but was stopped by Caroline. “Smoking isn’t good for your health, Mom.“I know you’re angry and sad, but you can’t punish your own body over Dad’s betrayal. You should stop smoki
The Clark brothers dared not breathe heavily. Belinda had been nice to them all along. Although neither of them was an heir to the Fisher family and they took on their father’s surname instead, they were still young masters of the Fishers. Most people regarded them with respect as well. They also held important positions in Fisher Enterprise, which had provided them with money. While Caroline also held a high position in the company, she had to bear Belinda’s wrath every day. On the other hand, Belinda had never scolded the brothers unless they brought it upon themselves or committed a grave mistake. Nevertheless, they desperately wished to turn invisible when dragged into their father’s mess. They did not want to face their mother’s anger. The brothers knew how possessive she was of Hunter. Hunter was the poorest person in the family; even a maid had more money on their hands than him. “Which of you gave Hunter money? You better come clean with the exact amount you gav
When the Fisher siblings were young, the three brothers often got into trouble and therefore scolded or punished. On the other hand, Celine always got away unscathed. Belinda glared at Celine coldly. A wave of fear swept through her. She had no choice but to go to her brothers’ side and kneel unwillingly. She scolded Hunter mentally for dragging her into the mess. Never had she thought he would ask for money to hook up with other women. She had given him the money to relax while Mom was not around at the thought of how he had been restrained by Mom all these years.However…She felt wronged. “Slap yourselves,” Belinda ordered. Hunter was bitter. “Honey, my face is all swollen from the beating you gave me just now.”“Are you going to do it yourself? Or should I do the honors?”“I’ll do it myself. You don’t have to move, Honey. I’ll feel bad if you get tired or feel pain from hitting me.”Hunter quickly slapped himself. However, the hatred in his heart for the woman gr
“Yes, Mom.”Emma finally had a chance to get revenge on her fake sister-in-law. Ava and Ellie said, “Mom, we want to help Cece too.”Celine glared at her sisters-in-law. Did they think that Mom would back them up?She was her mom’s daughter, while they were just daughters-in-law. In most cases, daughters would be favored over daughters-in-law.Belinda glanced at them and said, “Emma is enough. You two can watch.”They replied, “Okay.”Emma walked up to Celine. Celine raised her head and said, “Please be gentle, Emma. I’m scared of the pain.”“If you don’t want Emma helping you, you should put in more strength yourself.”Celine was speechless. Emma would surely make her face swell.“I’ll do it myself, Mom. I don’t want to trouble Emma,” said Celine hastily. Belinda did not say a word. Celine thought it would be worse for Emma to hit her than exert force herself, so she no longer pretended and slapped herself hard as her brothers did. Slap!It hurt. Slap.Celin
“Once you’re outside, your survival will depend on you alone. Don’t think I’ll go soft on you just because you’re my children. Those who betray me never end up well.”“We’re sorry, Mom. We’ll never give Dad any money again.”Adrian quickly repented and made a promise. The rest followed his lead. As Belinda mentioned, she had provided everything they owned. If they were to lose their identity as a young master of the Fishers and be expelled from the family and company, they would be nothing. No matter how deep their relationship with Hunter was, they would still choose money and status over family. Their father was a disappointment. He had the audacity to take their money to flirt with other women. Did he not know how fierce their mom was?“Break off all the love affairs you have. I’ll kick anyone who has lovers or mistresses out of the family.”When Belinda knew her sons were cheating on their wives, she did not say much or punish them. At most, she would give Caroline acce
Caroline stuffed the ice pack she brought into Hunter’s hands for him to place on his face back in his room. He took it and hurried upstairs. Belinda and Caroline were the only ones left in the living room. Caroline sat beside her mother and comforted her. “Dad knows he’s wrong, Mom. He’ll never do it again. Don’t be sad.”Belinda sighed. She said, “Your dad must have a lot to say about me, but he doesn’t dare to resist me out of fear of my power. While we may look like a loving couple to the public, I know better.”“Since you’re aware of it, why did you choose to continue the marriage?”After a moment of silence, Belinda said, “Your dad is easy to control. He has no future, and his family relies on the Fishers to survive. He has to think for their future.“I also have to take you and your siblings into consideration. As long as Hunter doesn’t make any major mistakes, I won’t divorce him.“I thought he wouldn’t be able to do anything so long I didn’t give him money, but I ov
“When I was beating them up back then, it should have been captured on surveillance.”Caroline said, “Mom, asking Kevin to delete the footage wouldn’t work anymore. There were so many witnesses at the hotel. Besides, Kevin might not be willing to delete it; he has never shown respect to our family.”Belinda was taken aback.True, what was the point of asking Kevin to delete the footage?With so many onlookers, the incident must have been recorded by someone. By then, the internet would most probably be full of videos of her catching her husband in the act.Her daughter's words rang true too. Even if others had not recorded it, Kevin was unlikely to delete the surveillance footage. He truly never showed respect to the Fisher family.Serenity was Tiara’s granddaughter and carried the Fisher family's blood. There was a deep-seated grudge between them.Her cousin, Audrey, had been doing well in Wiltspoon; she was the wife of Darrell Stone. Although she had retired, she still had inf
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