After Corey left with Sonny, Duncan asked Serenity, “Did your sister really ask you to come see me when she left? How is she? Have I become too sensitive, and emotional, and affected her?“Serenity, do you think I’m being unreasonable? I’m almost thirty-seven years old and acting like a child.”The more Duncan spoke, the more self-blaming he became.He felt genuinely unreasonable this time.“Duncan, Liberty really worries about you. It’s just that she had a tight schedule, so she couldn’t make it here. She repeatedly asked me and Zachary to come and comfort you. Sonny is very honest. Don’t you believe what he said?“Duncan, I’m not afraid of you getting angry or feeling vulnerable. But this time, you are genuinely being unreasonable. Look at the way you’ve shut yourself in this room for a day without eating or drinking. You’ve not only caused my sister to worry before she left but also Mrs. Lewis. I’m sure you don’t feel good about it either.“It’s not just about you being unwell
“Alright, I’ll go downstairs by myself. No need to help me.”Duncan’s mood had gone from a snowstorm to a clear sky.Quite a drastic change, ha-ha.He grabbed the sofa armrest and stood up on his own, taking a step before sitting back down in his wheelchair.Zachary said, “I won’t help you, you’re on your own.”Despite saying that, he steered the wheelchair in the right direction before letting Duncan take control.The three of them left the room together, heading toward the elevator.“You take the elevator down, Serenity and I will take the stairs.”Duncan nodded, “As you wish. I still need to use it for now.”Once he could walk like a normal person, the elevator at home would get a break.As Duncan entered the elevator, Zachary pulled Serenity toward the stairs and said, “Duncan cares too much about Liberty, that’s why he couldn’t help but get lost in his thoughts.”“I hope he gets better soon. Actually, Liberty has accepted him from the bottom of her heart. It’s not her pr
At Jensburg Airport, Kevin was waiting for Liberty’s arrival.He dared not defy Zachary’s orders, though he would have still fetched Liberty from the airport even if Zachary had not entrusted him with the task. She was Serenity’s sister and Sonny’s mother after all, and that made her family.Kevin occasionally checked his watch.The sky was getting dark, and Liberty only arrived when night fell. She turned off airplane mode on her phone once she landed and sent a voice note to Serenity, “Seren, I just landed in Jensburg. I’ll be getting off the plane soon. I’ll call you back once I’m at Fortress Hotel.”Liberty would be staying at Fortress Hotel during her trip, the same one she stayed with Audrey for her last trip to Jensburg.Audrey had told her to keep a lookout for houses to purchase. It would be much more convenient to live in her own place instead of the hotel all the time. Audrey asked her to choose a nice house and even offered to pay for it. The house Liberty currentl
Kevin led the way with Liberty’s luggage in hand. As he walked, he said, “I reserved a private room at the hotel and ordered some food beforehand. We can dig in as soon as we get there.”The renovation works on the house he bought at Lake Edge were not done yet, so he could not host Liberty there. Besides, Liberty would not want to stay at his private villa. Therefore, he arranged rooms for Liberty and her bodyguards at Fortress Hotel. “Thanks, Kevin.”“No problem. It’s no trouble at all. Let me know if you run into any difficulties here. I’ll definitely help you as long as it’s within my capabilities. If I can’t handle it, I’ll think of a way to get someone else to help you.”Liberty smiled. “I’m here to survey the market. I may need you to provide me with some suggestions.”“That won’t be an issue. Ask away.”The scene of Kevin walking out of the airport with Liberty and the rest had been captured by paparazzi secretly. It was news to the entertainment journalists. Kevin
After thinking about it, Hayden decided to only tell Kevin about the “scandal” after he returned. She had already told her secretary to handle it anyway. The news would be removed soon. Kevin’s secretary dealt with the matter as soon as he learned about it. The news disappeared within minutes of its publication. Back in Wiltspoon, Serenity, Zachary, and Sonny had dinner with the Lewises. Once she got news of Liberty’s safe arrival, Serenity relayed the information to Duncan. She said, “She’ll contact you once she reaches the hotel.”Duncan, who was in the wheelchair pushed by Zachary, smiled and said, “I know. She sent me a message.”Serenity replied, “That’s great. You two have to sort things out. Sonny, come down and take a walk. You shouldn’t let Duncan hold you all the time.”“It’s okay. I like having Sonny in my arms.”Duncan had promised that he would treat Sonny as his own. Nevertheless, Sonny got off Duncan’s lap. He said, “Aunt Ser, you told me walking after ea
Serenity got tired after walking around for some time, so Zachary brought her and Sonny back to the villa where he lived during his bachelor days. As their holiday was coming to an end and they would resume their work life, they decided not to stay in Wildridge Manor anymore for convenience. Once they entered the door, they heard Grandma May’s booming voice. Zachary and Serenity exchanged glances. They did not think she would be here. “Great-Nana.”Sonny was excited to see Grandma May. He ditched his aunt and uncle, running toward Grandma May immediately. The old lady waited for Sonny with open arms. “Zachary, Serenity.”Dylan was in the house too. The booming voice they heard earlier was Grandma May scolding Dylan. It seemed like he had angered her somehow. After greeting Grandma May, Zachary and Serenity sat and asked Dylan, “Did you anger Nana? We heard her from outside.”Dylan looked helpless and aggrieved. Zachary immediately knew what the issue was. He pa
After thinking about it, Emma said, “Come in.”She turned around to enter her room and Ava followed suit. Once the door was closed, Emma whispered to Ava, “We can join hands to chase Celine out. I have the urge to rip her apart whenever I see her now. Unfortunately, even though Mom’s angry at her, she still loves her very much.“After all, Mom and Dad had raised Celine with lots of love. They didn’t know Celine wasn’t their daughter.”“Do you have a plan, Emma? As long as Mom becomes disappointed in Celine and hates her, Celine will no longer be the Fisher family’s daughter. It’ll be better if she loses everything and struggles in Jensburg.”Emma and Ava were not exactly saints. Indeed Celine had helped her brothers and offended her sisters-in-law, but they were also plotting to make Celine lose everything she had. Emma said, “I have a plan. Hear me out and let me know what you think. We can execute it right away if you find it doable.”“Go on.”Emma said in a low voice, “Why
Those people were stingy as well. They would take everything and sweep the house clean at every visit. Luckily, Belinda did not seem to like them a lot. Those thieves dared not visit without her permission. Otherwise, Emma would have gone crazy if she had to interact with them often. “Do you have a way to obtain the aphrodisiac, Emma?”Ava grew angry upon the mention of her husband’s affair and Hunter and Celine’s biased judgments, so she made up her mind to work with Emma to frame Celine and have her kicked out of the family.Their husbands had no hope of becoming a patriarch anyway. Since it was so, they would take Caroline’s side and give her a hand by chasing Celine away. In the event Caroline had a score to settle with them in the future, they hoped she would have mercy on them after having helped her now. “That’s easy. I know some people. We should get Ellie to join in our plan. I believe we’ll be able to handle Celine with the three of us working together.”“Should
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