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
When Caroline returned to the Fisher Enterprise, her takeout had also arrived.She entered the office building while carrying her takeout.The employees working overtime in the company were surprised to see Caroline returning at this hour, but they did not inquire further.In her office, Caroline enjoyed her meal and then poured herself a cup of water. Sitting back at her desk, she sent a message to Darren.“The plan was perfect.”After receiving a reply from Darren, she promptly deleted the message and reminded him to do the same.“How is Mr. Clark?”Darren sent a voice message.“Not good at all. He’s in a miserable state, and his marriage with my mom is definitely shattered. However, he doesn’t dare to divorce, and my mom doesn’t want to divorce at the age of seventy. They’ll probably endure each other for the time being.”For her mother, it was still a significant blow.Hunter's mistreatment, orchestrating harassment, and his absence of fatherly affection contributed to th
“No need, I have my own car. Oh, if we’re going to drink, I can’t drive. I’ll have the driver come over.”Darren said, “No need to call the driver. I'll take you home. I don’t drink.”“Suit yourself.”Caroline wanted to have a couple of drinks to celebrate the success of her revenge plan.She immersed herself back into work.By the time she finished, it was already eleven o'clock at night.The employees working late in the company had long gone home.When she walked out of the office building, she saw Darren leaning against the car, waiting for her. As she approached, Darren straightened up and quickly walked toward her.“How long have you been here?” Caroline asked as she got into the car.“Not too long, about ten minutes.”After both of them fastened their seat belts, he started the engine.Caroline told him to go to a popular food truck. Darren chuckled. “Do you fancy food trucks for late-night snacks?”“I used to go there often.”Darren fell silent.He knew Caroline's
The night went by and darkness quietly slipped away in dreams.As the sun rose in the east, a new day began.At Wildridge Manor in Wiltspoon, Serenity came down from upstairs.“Liberty!”Hearing that her sister had arrived, she quickly rushed downstairs.Tania was chatting with Liberty.Upon hearing Serenity’s voice, both of them turned to look at her.Serenity approached, greeted her mother-in-law, and then sat next to her sister, asking, “Liberty, how come you’re free to come and see me today?”As the words fell, Liberty playfully tapped her forehead with a finger.“Isn’t it a good thing that I came to see you? Don’t you welcome me?”Serenity immediately embraced Liberty’s arm and laughed. “Very much welcome! It’s just that you have been so busy lately, always too occupied to come and see me. When I visit you, you always say the restaurant is crowded, afraid someone might accidentally bump into me, so you don’t let me stay there for too long.”“I’m just concerned about you
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