Jessica Yates was not repulsed by it and seemed like she could not be happier.Hank thought Jessica was truly in love with him and was not after his money. He thought she truly wanted to grow old with him and was not playing around—that was why she kept her last line of defense and would not have sex with him. She was serious about it, so Hank got even more serious about it. He also promised Jessica that once he saved even more money, he would give her a new car.Jessica was so grateful that she fiercely kissed him a good number of times, dazing him into forgetting which way was up and which way was down.Liberty still wanted to say something but Hank had already hung up and promptly transferred the thousand two hundred dollars to Liberty for her to buy formula with.Although she did not manage to get the full amount of two thousand dollars and four hundred bucks and had only gotten half of that, Liberty immediately accepted the money he had transferred.“What’s wrong? Was it yo
Jessica said, “It takes both husband and wife to have a child. You’re not wrong to only pay for your half.” Of course, Hank felt that he was above any fault. He took a sip of wine and replied, “The Wiltspoon Hotel lives up to its name as the finest hotel. The red wine here is more exceptional than what we usually have.” Jessica responded with a smile, “Well, considering the event, I wouldn’t expect any less. It’s a pity that only small-time CEOs and elites of our field are here. Major CEOs like Mr. Stone and Mr. York aren’t attending.” She would love to check out an influential man like Mr. York again. Jessica stumbled upon the man of the hour the last time. Alas, she could not get a look at Mr. York’s face. She wondered if Mr. York was as distinguished, aloof, and handsome as described in the rumors. “We’ll always have the chance to meet people like Mr. York and Mr. Stone in the future.” Hank consoled Jessica. It was a situation he found regrettable, more so than Jessic
There would be a change of senior executives every time the head of the company was replaced. The new boss would want his own people around him. Following Mr. Stevens’ explanation, Hank took an instant liking to Shawn. Hank asked Mr. Stevens with a smile, “Are you close with Mr. Lowe? Can you introduce us? Lowe Enterprise has a subsidiary company dealing with electronics. There are opportunities for us to work together, but we’d need someone to hook us up.” Waltham Electronics did business with the company Mr. Stevens was working in. That was how Mr. Stevens came to know Shawn. Mr. Stevens smiled and replied, “Shawn seems to be getting weary from the flattery. He’ll soon find a spot to sit down. I’ll hook you up and introduce you to him when he comes over.” Hank beamed. Grateful to Mr. Stevens, he raised his glass and said, “To you, Mr. Stevens.” Mr. Stevens clinked glasses with Hank and took a couple of sips of wine before glancing at Jessica suggestively. He said to Han
“Hello, Mr. Lowe.” Hank extended his right hand to shake Shawn’s hand. During the handshake, Shawn remarked, “I believe I’ve heard of your name before, Mr. Brown.” Hank’s name sounded familiar. Hank was flattered. “Have you heard of me, Mr. Lowe?” It was a pleasant surprise that Hank made a name for himself among the professionals to the point that the unacquainted Mr. Lowe had heard of his name. Shawn replied with a grin, “Your name rings a bell. I must’ve heard it from someone, but I had never met you in person. Well, that’s changed tonight.” Hank quickly pulled out his business card and handed it to Shawn. Curling his lips, he responded, “Mr. Lowe, it’s an honor to meet you. This is my business card. I look forward to working with you if we have the chance.” Shawn took the business card from Hank for a glance before putting it away. His eyes then shifted toward Jessica who had a broad smile on her face. Although the woman was a stunner, Shawn only took a fleeting
“Sonny.” Without time to pick up the can of formula that rolled to the middle of the road, Liberty flew to pick up her son and examined him for any injuries. She asked, “Where does it hurt, Sonny? Do you feel pain anywhere? Tell mama.” “Mama.” Sonny bawled and clung to Liberty’s neck, refusing to let go. He was not hurt, but it was quite a scare. “Bang!” It was a loud noise. Liberty turned her gaze to the source of the noise. A car knocked the can of formula away, but as luck would have it, the can of formula smashed onto the car’s windshield on its way down from the air. The weight of the can and the gravity of the fall cracked the windshield to smithereens. The driver of the car slammed hard on the brakes. Startled by the sudden turn of events, Sonny stopped crying and latched tightly around the nape of his mother’s neck. Liberty had a good look at the car’s logo. It was a Porsche! It was a high-performance sedan! Uh… Was she supposed to compensate for the c
Duncan stared at Liberty who clammed up at that point. Since his best friend married Serenity and this plump woman was his best friend’s sister-in-law, Duncan was not going to let Liberty pay for the repairs. Liberty did not mean for it to happen anyway. It was partly his fault for driving too fast. His eyes on her made Liberty nervous. Holding her son tight, Liberty was about to speak when Duncan jumped in with questions. “Why did you get so many things? Can’t you call your husband to help? Maybe don’t get so much stuff all at once.” “I’m a little far from home, so I called my husband, but he was too busy to pick me up. I thought I should just carry everything home. I didn’t see the brick there, and the stroller flipped over when I bumped into it. I didn’t think you would knock onto the can of formula that rolled out to the road.” Liberty murmured, “I had to attend to my child since he was crying. I didn’t have time to pick up the things that were scattered on the ground.
Liberty instinctively responded. She did not read too much into the situation. Firstly, Liberty was past the age of dreaming. Secondly, she was married, and thirdly, she was no longer the belle she was before marriage. Liberty had now gained some weight and her appearance had changed.Duncan grinned. “Let’s talk about the repairs.” It threw Liberty into a tizzy. She did not have much savings left. Judging by the damages this time, the repairs must cost a lot more. She would have to drain her bank account to pay Duncan and endure Hank’s name-calling for being pathetic. The stroller merely scraped Duncan’s vehicle in the last incident, but she had to fork out nine thousand bucks. “Where do you live?”“Bright Boulevard.” “That’s a good catchment area. You made a good choice and bought the place quickly.” The houses at Bright Boulevard were all sold. “My husband bought the house before we got married. He’s still paying the mortgage. Mr. Lewis, how much would the repairs
Liberty looked at Duncan. Duncan knew that she was overthinking it again. The woman was rather distrustful of him. He explained, “My point is, don’t leave your son home alone while you come down to take the things if there’s no one else in the house. It’s not safe.” Her son looked to be around two or three years old. Kids that age tended to be active and cheeky, intrigued to touch and play with anything and everything. There was no turning back if something happened to the kid for fooling around with something dangerous. “Thank you for your advice, Mr. Lewis. I’ll head upstairs now.” Liberty carried the packs of diapers and thanked Duncan before hurrying back upstairs. She thought to herself that Duncan might not look the part of a nice guy since he was big, strong, and had a terrifying scar on his face, but he was a considerate and attentive man. It was a reminder never to judge a book by its cover. Duncan waited until Liberty was gone before returning to his car and
“She lost the child when she fell on her own. That was our family’s flesh and blood, too!”Since Sonny did not live with the Browns, and despite her many objections, Olivia did not voice her criticisms toward Jessica when she was pregnant, out of consideration that Jessica was carrying the Brown family’s child.It was Jessica’s bad luck that she fell and lost the child, which made Olivia lose a grandson. If she had just one more grandson, she would not be waiting so eagerly for Sonny to return. It was all karmic retribution! “Mom, that's all in the past. I'm doing fine now. If the child wasn't meant to be, then it wasn't meant to be. They just didn't want to come into our lives. Anyway, Jessica is still my wife. I should go and see her. If I hadn’t corrupted her, she wouldn’t have ended up like this. It’s my fault, I ruined her.”When Jessica first became his secretary, she was still innocent and never thought of seducing him. It was he who fell for Jessica, and it was also he wh
Unfortunately, their regret and realization came too late. “I heard from Sonny that you and Mr. Lewis are getting married soon. When will the marriage be?”Olivia tried to make herself sound calmer. “We’ll be heading to the City Hall to complete the procedures later.”Olivia went silent. After some time, she said, “Oh, today? Congratulations, Liberty. I wish you both a happy marriage.”“Thank you.”Olivia initially had a lot of things to say. However, upon discovering Liberty and Duncan were getting their marriage license that day, the words got stuck in her throat. Saying anything was meaningless.Soon, Olivia hung up. Once the call ended, Luke, who had been sitting beside his wife, asked, “How did it go? Did Liberty agree to Sonny staying with us for a few days?”Olivia was still stunned and did not immediately reply to her husband’s question. At that moment, Hank came out of his room in his pajamas. When he saw his parents sitting on the sofa, he yawned and asked, “Wha
Serenity asked, “Duncan has no comments about it, right?”“No. He said that Hank would always be Sonny’s biological father. Sonny’s surname won’t be changed to Lewis as well. He’ll remain a Brown. That’s part of Hank’s and my divorce agreement.”Since Liberty had signed the agreement, she would keep her promise. No matter Sonny’s surname, the fact that he was a member of the Brown family would not change. If so, there was no point in changing his surname. “Duncan is so easygoing.”At that moment, Liberty’s phone rang.It was Olivia. When Liberty recognized her voice through the phone, she whispered to Serenity, “Speak of the devil. Olivia is calling me.”“What did you say, Liberty?”Olivia heard Liberty whispering but could not hear her clearly. She asked Liberty to repeat herself.“I was talking to my sister, Olivia. Why did you call?”It was still early in the morning. “You’re back from Jensburg, right, Liberty?”“Yes.”“That was what I heard. Look. The year is almo
“He doesn’t even want kids and said having Sonny was enough.”Duncan did not care about blood relations. Liberty believed him. He only cared about her. If Liberty had not had to manage the Fisher family, she probably would have taken more time to consider whether she wanted a second child. However, Duncan's love for her ran deep. She decided to try for another child so that he could have a child of his own. Liberty did not want to be selfish. She could not prioritize only herself and Sonny. She had to be considerate of Duncan as well. “By the way, there’s something that I need your help with.”Serenity said, “Oh you, don’t sound like a stranger. We’re sisters. I’m ready to help with whatever you need.”“I have to go to Jensburg next year. I think I’ll leave Sonny here in Wiltspoon for his studies. I’ll ask for Sonny’s opinion again once my situation in Jensburg is stable. If he wants to move to Jensburg to live with me, I'll bring him over.“If he says no, I’ll need y
“Morning, Liberty. The housekeeper said you weren’t out yet, so I didn’t want to disturb you.”Serenity stood and smiled when she saw Liberty enter. “I woke up when you arrived.”Liberty whispered, “Sonny is still asleep. Let’s go downstairs. You can accompany me on a walk outside too.”“What time are you and Duncan meeting?”Serenity was worried that Liberty would be late. Liberty said, “We still have to wait until the City Hall opens. Duncan and I agreed to meet at nine. It’s still early.”The three adults exited the child’s bedroom and went downstairs. Zachary remained in the house while Liberty and Serenity went on a stroll in the garden. Liberty’s villa initially belonged to Zachary. Although he sold it to Liberty, it was also considered a gift. She was the one who insisted on paying and refused to accept it as a gift. Therefore, Zachary accepted some money from her so that she would take it. The villas Zachary owned were never small. They usually came with garden
“As expected of a child’s skin. It’s so smooth,” said Serenity. “Catch me if you can, Isaac…”Sonny spoke in his sleep and even giggled. He dreamt of him and Isaac playing tag. When Isaac started running after him, he quickly turned to escape while laughing. He did not realize that he was dreaming. “I have two dads, Isaac…”Sonny spoke again.Serenity laughed and told Zachary, “Sonny must’ve had a blast yesterday. Even his sleep talking is related to playing.”She pinched Sonny’s face lightly. “You do have two dads, Sonny. They love you a lot, so you have double the love.”Serenity spoke gently, regardless of whether he could hear her. She bent over and left a soft kiss on his cheek. “That’s why you must be happy. I wish you a carefree life ahead.”She hoped he would grow up healthily and be worry-free. Sonny was in a deep sleep and did not reply to her. Liberty watched them from the door with an affectionate gaze. She felt content. Zachary and Serenity had a st
The night went by peacefully. The next morning, Liberty could hear her gates opening when she stirred in her bed. Soon, she heard her housekeeper talking. “You’re early, Mrs. York.”“Mm. My sister is getting married today. I couldn’t go back to sleep after I woke up, so I decided to come over.”While Serenity could not help Liberty and Zachary out with anything, she was excited to the point she could not sleep. It took Zachary a lot of effort to persuade her to sleep. However, she woke up at dawn after having a dream about her parents. She could not go back to sleep afterward and insisted on going to her sister’s place. Zachary thought he could sleep in since he was on break, but his wife just could not fall asleep. There was no helping it. The doting husband accompanied his wife to her sister’s house early in the morning. The housekeeper smiled. “Ms. Hunt isn’t awake yet.”“It’s okay. I won’t wake my sister.”Serenity finally felt at ease when she was at Liberty’s ho
After a pause, she said, “Let’s meet at nine in the morning. Seren and Zachary will come over to my place. They’ll be looking after Sonny for me. I’ll head out after they arrive. You can wait for me at the City Hall’s entrance.”“No. I want to go to the City Hall with you.”Duncan did not want to wait for her at the City Hall. He wanted to go together.“Bring Sonny along.“We’ll be a family of three from tomorrow onward. We should bring him along.”He would officially become Sonny’s father tomorrow. It did not matter that he was a stepfather. It was Duncan’s first time adoring a child that much, and he did not expect that he would later become that child’s father.After giving it some thought, Liberty said, “Okay. Let’s take Sonny with us.“By the way, Sonny won’t change his surname after we get married. That was Hank’s condition when we got divorced. Since I promised him, I’ll keep to my word.”Sonny would still be the grandson of the Browns. He would not become a Lewis.
Although Sonny was backed by a few wealthy families and would be well-supported even if he was incompetent, they still hoped he would turn out to be an outstanding individual. That way, he could be independent and achieve his goals without much help. Duncan had not thought about Sonny’s education plan. However, he knew Liberty had high hopes for Sonny. Even Serenity had never neglected Sonny’s nurturing. Despite only being in preschool, Sonny had started various hobby classes. It was to build a solid foundation and develop his interest in certain hobbies while still young. The only time he could fully enjoy playing was during winter and summer vacations. Liberty and Serenity had similar philosophies when it came to children’s education. They believed children had to study hard and play hard. Liberty nodded and said, “Sonny can have all the fun he wants when he’s young. Once the situation in Jensburg is stable, he’ll have to study and live there.“I wonder if he’ll be willing