“Your mom is getting older, busy with work, and her thoughts are all wrapped up in the company and fostering Caroline. She hasn’t paid attention to me. Although I’m also getting older, my health is fine, and I still have some needs. She doesn’t fulfill her duties as a wife and doesn’t even let me have a quickie.”Hunter, perhaps due to the alcohol or frustration with his wife, vented all his dissatisfaction to his daughter.Seeing her father’s painful and angry state, Celine involuntarily sat down to drink and kept him company. She still sympathized with her father.Downstairs, the banquet was lively, but her father had to hide upstairs, unwilling to face people; just because he made the mistakes many men do.The guests downstairs were also uncomfortable, mainly due to the addition of three esteemed guests.They could not grasp why Belinda organized this banquet. The atmosphere lacked liveliness.“Liberty, what kind of business are you planning to invest in?” Belinda asked, see
The other guests realized that Kevin and Hayden were Liberty’s supporters. They had not heard of Liberty's outstanding capabilities, but the wealthy families behind her were enough. Her sister was the York family’s missus, who had more than enough to invest in Liberty. As long as Liberty had courage and business acumen, she did not have to worry about money. Some competent individuals within the Fisher family, who were subjected to oppression by Belinda, began formulating ideas in their heads.Liberty smiled and said, “I’m interested in any profitable projects. Do you have time tomorrow, Mr. Queen? I can visit you.”Hayden said, “You can come over anytime.”Kevin said, “Hayden, I’ll get jealous if you’re so nice to Liberty. You’ve always said you’re busy and ignored me whenever I went over. On the contrary, you’re available anytime for Liberty.”That earned him a side-eye from Hayden. “Liberty and I have good chemistry.”Caroline smiled. “I think Liberty and I get along too.
Adrian helped his wife to get up. Emma grabbed his hand and frantically said, “Adrian, go check on Dad and Celine. They… They…“I can’t say it. You all will know when you see it for yourselves.”Upon hearing her words, Adrian immediately ran upstairs, thinking his dad and Celine had gotten hurt. His brothers and Caroline were right behind him, and in the end, Belinda decided to go upstairs too. Liberty, Kevin, and Hayden, who were about to leave, stayed and looked up. They did not know what had happened that could shock even Emma. “What happened to Dad and Celine, Emma?”Ava and Ellie approached Emma and asked out of concern and curiosity. Emma blushed. She stammered for a while before whispering something in their ears that changed their expressions. The next moment, Ava and Ellie were rushing up the stairs—they could not miss a good show. Belinda’s roar of fury could be heard upstairs alongside the sounds of things being hurled and falling. The other Fisher family
The butler was still clueless about the incident upstairs. However, as the butler, she had to send the guests off when the madam of the house was not around. She replied that she would relay Liberty’s words to Belinda. Liberty got into Hayden’s car while her bodyguards shared a ride with Hayden’s bodyguards. The Fisher family’s bodyguards would drive her car. Kevin was envious of Liberty but he knew it was not the time to get jealous. They had to leave Fisher Manor first. Even a shameless man like he was, who has seen all sorts of things, was shocked by the scene he witnessed upstairs.Never did it occur to him that Celine and Hunter would entangle themselves in sexual activities together. They were still going at it when he was upstairs. When the cars left Fisher Manor, Hayden asked Liberty curiously, “What did you and Kevin see upstairs? Did something happen to Belinda’s husband?”“Something big did happen.”Liberty replied, “I knew today wouldn’t end peacefully, but
“However, the food Celine brought up was problematic. Who do you think was behind this? Is it Celine? Or Hunter himself? No matter who did it, this was a cruel method.”After speaking, Liberty laughed dryly. “Compared to those people, I’m not vicious or cruel.”If reclaiming the position of matriarch required these methods, she would not be able to do it; she would rather let Caroline have it. Hayden gave it some thought and said, “It couldn’t have been Celine or Hunter, nor could it have been Madam Fisher. They can’t suspect us because we’ve been under Madam Fisher’s watchful eye all along. The other Fishers probably didn’t have the guts to do this.“Caroline’s a possibility. She’s bold enough to do it. However, based on my understanding of her, she’s a righteous person. She won’t use such underhanded methods to compete with Celine. Hunter is her biological father as well. Although they didn’t share a close bond, she won’t go that far.”Liberty nodded. “I don’t think it’s Caroli
Liberty said, “I think the wives are the culprit. I don’t know how they executed their plan. However, this is just our guess. We don’t have to care about who’s behind this. It probably won’t be circulated.”Belinda would not let word get out. She may not have been able to cover things up in time as she was outraged. However, she would take action immediately once she regained a clear mind. Those who had gone upstairs may have run off quickly, but they would not be able to escape. Belinda would know who had gone up with some digging around. Liberty dared to bet that Belinda would look for her first thing tomorrow and tell her not to shush her up. As for the culprit, Belinda would find it out herself. They just had to observe if the three women were divorced or chased out of the family to know the outcome. “Celine will have to leave the Fisher family for good this time,” said Hayden. She hated Celine. It had nothing to do with Celine’s love for Hayden or her constant pes
Liberty’s expressions changed. The first thing that came to her mind was that Belinda orchestrated a car accident to kill her. She had guessed that Belinda would not stay still.The banquet was peaceful, and the food was not poisoned. Therefore, Liberty was worried that her car was tampered with to get her into an accident. That was why she chose to sit in Hayden’s car. The Fisher family would not dare to tamper with Hayden’s car or attack Hayden. Hence, Liberty would be safe if she followed her. Six bodyguards were assigned to her; two each from the Yorks, Stones, and Lewises. Since she had brought them to Jensburg, she had to ensure their safety. Therefore, she had hinted at her bodyguards to lie that they had drunk alcohol and were unfit to drive. In the end, all of them squeezed into one vehicle with Hayden’s bodyguards while their cars were being driven back to the hotel by the few Fishers’ bodyguards assigned by their butler.The car that got hit happened to be the on
“Mom, I think this was an accident. Celine wouldn’t seduce Dad,” said Caroline. She was not helping Celine. With these words, Belinda would not suspect her. Of course, she was not the culprit. However, she knew who was behind it all. She was aware of everything her sisters-in-law had done. She simply did not inform Celine and let everything unfold. Even someone dumb would know that Celine or Hunter would never have such intentions. Although Hunter was perverted and had affairs with younger women, he would not touch Celine. After all, he treated her as his daughter. Even if his true daughter had returned to the Fisher family, Hunter still adored Celine the most. On the other hand, he was unable to develop any fatherly love for Caroline and even helped Celine to compete against Caroline. Now that Hunter and Celine were caught having sex by Belinda, things would not end well for them. Belinda shouted with a livid face, “I said, throw Celine out! I never want to see her
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