Zachary remained silent. The person who chipped the paint off Duncan’s car was his new sister-in-law. Zachary had not met his sister-in-law. “It’s late, Mr. York. I’m going to turn in for the night.” Despite having reassured her sister that everything would be fine, Serenity was feeling the blues as she did not know what to expect from the damages. She said goodnight to Zachary and went to her room. By the time Zachary opened his mouth to say something, Serenity had already disappeared into her room. The flowers on the balcony… Well, Serenity would sort out the floral arrangement when she saw them in the morning. However, Zachary was feeling weird about it. It was as though he was waiting to be praised after doing a good thing. “Mr. York.” With the door swung open, Serenity popped back out and asked, “I see you got the washing machines. How much were they?” “I spent seven thousand on two washing machines.” Serenity did a comparison to the washing machine at her si
“It’s only a minor issue, so I can’t be bothered to submit a claim. Why the sudden question, Zachary?” Zachary fell silent before uttering, “The woman who scratched your car this morning is the sister of my nana’s lifesaver. The sisters only have each other, and the woman is a housewife without an income. They’re worried they can’t pay for your car’s repairs.” Duncan replied, “… Talk about a coincidence. I can’t believe she was the sister of your grandma’s lifesaver. How did you find out?” Zachary lied. “My nana is fond of her lifesaver and often seeks companionship in her. Nana had to ask why she was looking blue today, so Hunt told her what happened.” “Hunt? Is that her last name? The woman who damaged my car is Liberty Hunt. What’s the name of your grandma’s lifesaver?” “Serenity Hunt.” “They must be sisters, judging by the name. I’ll drop the matter since she’s the sister of your grandma’s lifesaver. The money means nothing to me, but I’m the victim after all. I can’t b
Serenity tossed and turned all night as stressful dreams were triggered. The disturbed sleep drained her energy by the time she woke up the following morning. As usual, Serenity hung her laundry on the balcony after turning the washing machine on before bed. It was then she realized that stainless steel rods had been installed on the balcony. They were for her to air the laundry. There were also a variety of potted plants stacked on the huge balcony. Many of them had bloomed and budded. No matter the size, the petals were all the intricate kind. Serenity’s attention was immediately drawn to the flowers. She hung her clothes out and got straight to assembling the flower stands she bought yesterday morning. Serenity then displayed the potted plants on the stands. While busting her gut over the task, Serenity got a crawling sensation of a pair of prying eyes. She looked up and met Zachary’s unfazed gaze. His eyes were nothing short of piercing and emotionless. Serenity had lea
“What’s the matter, Mr. York?” Serenity’s voice was heard from the balcony. Chewing on the wrap, Zachary made his way to the balcony. “Your sister’s thing is nothing to worry about. The car in question happens to belong to one of our important clients. It dawned on me last night, so I gave Mr. Lewis a call. He said the repairs cost about ten thousand dollars.” Although she appeared rather lively dabbling the plants, Zachary could tell that she was not at her best, likely due to a lack of sleep last night. The matter with her sister was the cause of trouble in slumberland. Serenity lifted her chin and observed him munching on the wrap. While thinking to herself that Zachary was easy to appease in the food department, Serenity asked, “How can you be sure it’s the car of your company’s client?” Her sister was clueless about the car owner’s name. All she knew was that he was big, strong, and had an intimidating scar on his face. Sonny was scared stiff of the man. “I attended to
On the other hand, Zachary spoke to Mr. Lewis on behalf of Liberty and probably put in the good word for her too, so Mr. Lewis knocked a thousand dollars off. Of course, nine thousand bucks were a great deal of money to Liberty now. It would serve as a painful lesson to keep her eyes peeled on the street and stay away from luxury sedans! “Is your husband coming back soon?” asked Liberty.“Yeah. He’ll be back tomorrow.” “Great. My husband and I will be there ahead of time. Are you cooking? I’ll help out.” Having lived independently with her sister for many years, Liberty had so much on the ball from her career, and social life, to domestic life. Now that she was held down by a child and without an income, her husband put her in a position where she could be nothing more than a housewife. The sisters exchanged small talk on the phone before ending the call. “Mr. York, do you work late every day?” “Why?” “It’s almost the weekend that Nana and your parents will come over f
Last night, Serenity stayed up late for Zachary to come home so she could make plans with him to shop for groceries on Saturday morning. Serenity called Nana the night before to get a headcount. As it turned out, Zachary’s brothers and cousins were also coming along. The way Nana saw it, Serenity was part of the York family now that she was married to Zachary. By meeting the family, Nana wanted to bring together everybody to introduce the family tree. Since there was going to be a lot of food, Serenity would not be able to carry all the groceries on her own. Hence, she requested Zachary to take her to the market by car. Like the other day, Zachary was startled awake by Serenity’s morning call at six o’clock sharp. Feeling grumpy from the early rise, Zachary had to bottle up his grievance to stop himself from yelling at Serenity. “Mr. York.” Serenity’s clear voice washed away some of the unpleasantness in the morning. With eyebrows pinched together, Zachary answered gruffl
The shopping trip took two hours. Accustomed to the convenience of five-star transportation, Zachary was exhausted from the two-hour shopping as Serenity’s personal porter despite taking self-defense classes and keeping a fitness routine. He would rather be buried under a pile of work and meetings than go shopping with a woman. As the car came to a stop, Serenity got a call from Grandma May before she stepped out of the car. “Are you home, Serenity? We’re downstairs.” Serenity replied with a smile, “We just returned from the market, Nana. Wait for us. We’ll be right there.” “Did you go to the market with Zack?” That put a smile on Nana’s face. Nana thought to herself, ‘To think my callous and stuck-up grandson put aside his pride and go shopping with Serenity at the market.’ Since he wanted to play the pauper, Zack might as well step into the shoes of an ordinary person. “Yeah. We went to get groceries.” “Zack has always been busy with work, so he’s never been to th
It was an inconceivable mental image. “Be alert and don’t expose our identities to Serenity. Son, say that you don’t have pensions. You grow vegetables and flowers for a living.“Get your stories straight. Zack will go after you if you blow your cover. Don’t come crying to me then.” Seeing the fun in her grandson’s plans, Nana was committed to helping Zack stay in character. Nana had no doubt that Serenity was a good kid and not driven by greed. At her age, Nana was a good judge of character. “Got it,” answered everyone. The Yorks were no stranger to Serenity as the latter saved the old lady's life. In fact, Grandma May's sons and daughters-in-law were the ones who expressed their gratitude toward Serenity back then.Zachary’s mom mostly kept to herself as she was not in favor of Grandma May nagging her son into marriage. Nevertheless, her resistance was futile as the old lady managed to sell her proud son the idea. Sure, Zachary’s mom was grateful that Serenity saved Grand
Dylan said, “Go ahead.”He was a bit hungry too and wanted to eat.Imogen called for Wendy and instructed her to make a fresh pot of tea and serve some of the snacks she usually ate.Once Wendy finished preparing the tea, Imogen poured a cup for Dylan and said, “You can start your story now.”“Ms. Doyle, I’m not making up a story, I’m—Ms. Doyle, you are Fox, aren’t you?” Dylan asked again.“Mr. York, I’ve told you, I don’t know who Fox is. I only know a fox is an animal, like in the zoo. If you ask me again if I’m Fox, I’ll think you’re calling me a vixen.”“‘Fox’ is just a nickname, meaning she’s very cunning and deceptive. I call her Chameleon Fox for her ability to shape-shift into many different identities. She changes so much that people mistake her for many different people, but in reality, she’s only one person.”Imogen looked quite interested and said, “Oh, so you think I’m Chameleon Fox, who likes to deceive people? Do you have any evidence for this?”“No, I don’t.”“
Couples always talked about eternal love, but how many could truly last forever?Dylan stammered, unable to say anything. Could he say that he suspected she was Fox? It was just a guess, with no evidence.Under Imogen’s gaze, Dylan steeled himself and spoke honestly, “I came to apologize to you.”Imogen raised an eyebrow. “Apologize? You already apologized to me the last time we spoke. There’s no need to apologize again. I’m not angry at you. When it comes to matters of the heart, it’s all about reciprocation. You can’t force it.“Feelings can’t be pressured into existence, so I won’t pressure you to accept me.“Plus, it’s been so long, and I have no feelings for you anymore. For that, I should thank you for clearing things up for me early on. At that time, I had just started to like you and could give up so quickly because of that.”Dylan, embarrassed, said, “Ms. Doyle, it’s not about that. Recently, I… secretly followed you.”“You followed me? Why?” Imogen pretended to be clue
“Drink it while it’s hot. Only when it’s steaming will it have the best effect to ward off the cold.”Dylan nodded, wiping his nose with a tissue. He threw the tissue into the trash bin, but when he saw that the bin was full of tissues, he felt even more embarrassed.He picked the steaming hot soup up carefully and took a big sip.It was so spicy!The spice almost made him spit it out. Remembering that Imogen was right next to him, he forced himself to swallow it. After just one sip, Dylan put the bowl down.“Ms. Doyle, the soup is too hot. I’ll drink it later,” he said.It was too spicy. He did not want to take a second sip.“I’ll take the medicine first,” he added.Compared to drinking the soup, Dylan would rather take the medicine. The medicine might be bitter, but he could handle it.Imogen immediately called him out. “You’re afraid of the spice and you don’t want to drink the soup, do you?”Dylan sneezed again and then poured himself some water to take the medicine.Hav
All he could do was hold it in. However, he soon sneezed again.Imogen commented, “My dad told you to stand in the cold without your coat, and you really did it, like an idiot. It’s not like you feel anything for me or you’re trying to win my affection, so there’s really no need for you to listen to my dad.”Luckily, she came out quickly enough. Otherwise, he would have turned into an icicle.“It was my fault before. I hurt you, so it's only natural that Mr. and Mrs. Doyle are angry with me. They didn’t hit me or scold me, and they just made me stand out in the cold for a while; they’re already being very lenient,” said Dylan, sneezing again.He was usually in good health, but this time, he was afraid he might really catch a cold.Imogen glanced at him without saying anything. She led Dylan into the house and asked their housekeeper if the soup was ready.Wendy replied, “Almost.”Imogen nodded and asked Dylan to sit down. Then, she poured him a cup of tea and asked, “Have you ea
Dylan finally put his coat on after Imogen said that. He had only been standing there for half an hour but even in that short time, he had become so cold.Once he put his jacket on, Imogen turned around and began walking inside. “Come with me.”“Okay,” Dylan quickly bent down to grab the gifts before quickening his steps to catch up with Imogen. “Thank you, Ms. Doyle.”Imogen glanced at him for a moment before turning away. “I was just afraid you might freeze to death at my doorstep, and then your family would come after mine. Plus, since your sisters-in-law are my good friends, I couldn't just let you die at my gate.”After leaving Wiltspoon, Imogen had not gone back there under her real name, but she had stayed in touch with Serenity and the others and was still on very good terms with them.Dylan smiled and said, “Serenity will give birth in a few months, and Josh’s wife is also pregnant, but she's a month ahead of Serenity. Liberty and Duncan have already registered their marr
Her daughter’s excellence was all thanks to Silver’s influence.“What I wanted to tell you was that Dylan is standing at our doorstep. He said he wanted to see you. Your dad and I refused and told him to leave, but he’s not budging.”Imogen was not surprised by this, but she still pretended to be surprised, so as not to raise her mother’s suspicion.“Why’s he here?” Imogen asked, feigning ignorance.“Who knows? He didn’t say. He only said he wanted to see you. The way he treated you, playing with your feelings—your dad and I have been holding in a lot of anger for a long time. “But you didn’t want us to confront him, so we couldn’t vent it. Now he’s come knocking, wanting to see you? It won’t be that easy.”Imogen was not planning to meet Dylan either.“Your dad told him to stand outside for two hours with his coat off and that if he doesn’t freeze to death, he’ll let him see you.”Imogen was speechless for a moment. “Mom, it’s freezing outside. Even wearing a thick coat, it’s
“Still not up yet?” Leticia smiled and said as she entered her daughter’s room after the door opened. Imogen’s room was decorated in a warm style, but the furniture was minimal. Aside from the bed, a computer desk, and a set of sofas, she preferred things to be simple. Her room was also the smallest. She said that if the room was too big, it felt empty and she could not sleep well. Leticia thought it was because when her daughter learned self-defense from her master, she lived in a small room with her fellow disciples, so she had gotten used to smaller spaces.Compared to the average person, Imogen's room was actually quite large, but against the rooms of the other family members, hers looked smaller.Leticia sat down on the sofa.“Mom, let me change first.” With her mother here, Imogen could no longer lie in bed. She went to change and wash up, then came out of the bathroom. She poured her mother a cup of water and placed it in front of her before sitting next to her. “Mom, a
Dylan was speechless.Leaving the warm indoors, he felt Huntington's winter was really cold. It was below freezing, and the temperature was as low as 14°F to 32°F. He had never experienced such low temperatures in Wiltspoon.In Wiltspoon, the moment the temperature dropped to 50°F, everyone would start saying it was freezing.Winston and Leticia headed back. Leticia whispered to her husband, “What if he really stands there for two hours without his coat and freezes to death?”They wanted to stand up for their daughter, but they did not want to kill Dylan. That would make them enemies of the Yorks. Even if they could not become in-laws, they definitely did not want to become enemies.Winston replied, “If he really does it, in half an hour, I’ll let Jen come out and call him inside. If he doesn't follow my request, he won’t freeze to death.”At most, he would just catch a cold. If he did not do it, nothing would happen.“I don’t think he’s here for love this time either. I’m not s
Leticia harrumphed as well. “Mr. York, why are you here?” Leticia asked coldly. “We don't welcome you here. Go back to wherever you came from.”Dylan smiled awkwardly, “Mrs. Doyle, I just want to see Ms. Imogen.”“Imogen doesn't want to see you. Hurry up and leave, or we'll let the guard dogs out.” Leticia rejected him outright. “And you’d better stay as far away as possible. Do you think our Imogen is someone you can just toy and flirt with just because you want to, then say you haven't fallen for her and play with her feelings?“What's the matter? Has the Mr. York, whose heart belongs to someone else, still not managed to win his lady love over?” Leticia mocked, though she was actually probing into the reason for Dylan's visit.Dylan just took the insults without getting angry. He knew he had hurt Imogen. Even though she was someone who could take things in stride, the fact remained he had flirted with her and turned to claim he did not like her, which had hurt her feelings.