“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
Grandma May must have her reasons to take a shine to Serenity. Zachary fell silent for a while before replying, “What’s there to see? She has two eyes, a nose, and a mouth just like everyone else.” “Haha.” Duncan burst out laughing. He got the hint that his best friend had no intentions to let them meet with Serenity. Josh probably had met Serenity and knew her well because Josh was nosy and had an information network to get all the info on her.Duncan left the conversation at that. Knowing that his best friend was busy, he quickly hung up the call. Time passed quickly. It was soon dead into the night. Sitting inside the Rolls Royce, Zachary knitted between his brows as the weariness began to take its effect. He must be in over his head in the last few days for trying to cram three days of work into one. Of course, he was tired. “Sir, should I drive to Regent Residences?” The chauffeur asked. Slumping against the seat, Zachary closed his eyes and took his time
Zachary picked up the maneki-neko once more as his wife said, “I made your maneki-neko bigger than the one I gave Ms. Stone. I put a lot of effort into it. What do you think? Doesn’t it look lifelike?” The mention that his was bigger than Ms. Stone’s made Zachary feel good. However, he did not show it on his face and simply hummed faintly, “Yes.” Serenity grinned. “I’m glad you like them.” She put her car keys on the coffee table and turned around to head to the kitchen. “I’m making pasta for supper. Do you want any?” She then answered on her own before Zachary could reply, “Oh, I forgot. You don’t have the habit of eating supper because it adds pounds.” Zachary thought to himself, ‘… What more can I say? You said it all.’Nevertheless, he was not hungry. Serenity was boiling a pot of pasta in the kitchen. Zachary stood there for a moment before making his way to the kitchen door. Instead of stepping into the kitchen, he stood by the door and watched as Serenity sliced the
Josh was able to figure it was Shawn mainly because the latter attended the business event at the hotel tonight. Shawn might only hold a small position at Lowe Enterprise, but he was the predetermined successor of the company. His title as the heir of the Lowes would put him like a duck to water at the center of flattery and snow jobs at social events. Zachary’s silence was all the answer Josh needed. “How about I deliver the file to you now? Are you staying at Brynfield?” Josh knew that his best friend kept the marriage under wraps and bought a furnished place at Brynfield to put Serenity’s character to the test. “No need for that. Just give it to me tomorrow. It’s late. You should rest. I’m going to wash up and head to bed.” Although Josh had front-row seat to the progress of Zachary and Serenity’s relationship, Zachary was not in the mood to go into detail with Josh about it. Zachary quickly hung up the phone. Josh murmured under his breath, “Can you sleep well tonight?
Trenton was relieved that Dalton was indebted to Camryn. That was why Dalton had been loyal to Newman Enterprise.If Newman Enterprise did not fall into Camryn’s hands, there was no doubt that Dalton would leave the company. If that happened, the company was doomed.When his parents went to prison, he was merely 18, and Carrie only knew how to spend money. Not only that, their relatives were hungry to get a share of the Newman family’s assets. He and Carrie could not have protected their family’s wealth alone.After Camryn regained her sight, she still could not strain her eyes for long hours. Therefore, Dalton remained in charge of the company.Luckily, they had Callum as well. Even if anything were to happen, Callum would not leave Newman Enterprise to fall because many of the Newman family’s assets belonged to Camryn.He would not let Camryn lose anything.“You’ve been brainwashed by Dalton after working with him. Our dad treated him well and trusted him, yet Dalton betrayed
Camryn said, “She’s just using her lack of money as an excuse to start a fight with me.“Do you really think she has no money?”Carrie had somehow become Mrs. Longbottom yet she was still hiding her identity. Camryn had not understood the entire situation yet.Nevertheless, she was certain that Carrie did not need money.After she spoke, a familiar car arrived.It was the car Carrie had always used in the past.When she returned to the Newman family’s villa after getting out of prison, she only drove that car. She could not take other cars. The cars were still parked in the garage. “Come out, Camryn.”Carrie had gotten out of the car and started shouting for Camryn.When the York family’s bodyguards saw her, they simply glanced at her and did not stop her from entering the store. They knew Camryn had always been lenient with her younger sister.Since Camryn did not give any orders to stop Carrie from entering, the bodyguards simply kept an eye on Carrie to ensure that sh
“I want to go to Spring Blossoms as Carrie,” she told the bodyguard who was driving. “Your sister’s people are keeping an eye on your apartment. She’ll get suspicious again if you head over in your outfit. Everything Mr. Longbottom arranged will go to waste,” the bodyguard reminded her.Carrie thought it over. “Okay. Let’s head home first. I’ll change my clothes and remove my makeup before heading over.”She would also check if her stand-in had damaged any of her stuff.If she did, Carrie would tell the stand-in to compensate her.The bodyguard remained silent.Once they arrived at Longbottom Villa, Carrie took off her hyper-realistic mask and removed her makeup. After changing her clothes, she returned to being Carrie and went out with her bag.Her two bodyguards did not stop her from leaving.She could do anything as long as it would not rouse Camryn and other people’s suspicions.Besides, Carrie had just gotten scolded by their boss on the phone. Although Mr. Longbottom
Mr. Longbottom thought he was not so inferior to men younger than him.More accurately, he was far superior. He had status, money, and power.Which of the younger men could be on par with him unless they came from a wealthy family?Many sons of wealthy families could not compete with him.“I can’t go over because I’m busy these days. But I do miss you too.“It’s more difficult because of the festive season. There are many events, and I have to accompany my family. My wife doesn't care about me, but her request is that I be with her during the holidays because we have to meet our friends and families. Do you understand?”Mr. Longbottom had a wife and children. Carrie knew about it. He had never hid that fact.Carrie did not know if he was close to his wife. Although he said they no longer had feelings for each other, Carrie dared not believe him because he had never let other women take his wife’s place.He also never allowed other women to become pregnant with his children.Mr
Carrie thought she had matured since she could figure out that much. In the past, she would not have understood a thing. Love was about accepting everything about someone. Most people could tolerate their partner’s shortcomings when they were deeply in love. However, without love, even a person’s strength would seem like a fault. Carrie smiled. “Mr. York is a workaholic. Serenity must’ve gotten the habit from him and turned into one herself. I can’t believe she’s working so hard even though she’s pregnant.”“She’s still in the early stages of pregnancy. Going to work is fine.”“Do you need anything else, Mrs. Longbottom?” Jasmine asked.“No. I shall take my leave now, Mrs. Bucham.”Jasmine was on guard and unwilling to reveal much about Serenity. Therefore, it would be better for Carrie to leave. She was not close to Serenity and her friends yet. “Bye, Mrs. Longbottom.”Jasmine saw Carrie out and watched as she got into her car.Once Carrie got far enough from the booksto
Mr. Longbottom had been surprised by her question. He told her coldly that she should refrain from asking unnecessary questions.One who knew too much would not live long. Carrie got intimidated and dared not ask another question. Although she got more curious, she did not try to gather more information for fear Mr. Longbottom would choke her again if he found out. “Nothing. I just asked because I haven’t seen her in a while.”Of course, Carrie could not reveal that she was looking for Serenity. Jasmine would get suspicious if she did. No one around Serenity was a fool. “Seren is busy with work. I rarely see her these days,” Jasmine said.Carrie knew it was a lie. She was aware that Serenity's closest friends did not trust her yet. It made her feel defeated. It had been months since Mr. Longbottom found her and asked her to approach Serenity. Despite her efforts, she still had not obtained Serenity’s trust, let alone become her friend.However, Jasmine and Serenity go
The day ended peacefully. The following day, Zachary ate breakfast and had Kevin drive him and his bodyguards to the airport. They were taking an airplane to Annenburg. Before boarding, Zachary texted Serenity to tell her he would soon arrive in Annenburg. Serenity would be returning from the Murphys’ place. On the other hand, Liberty brought Duncan to Queen Manor to visit Mr. Donald. They would soon become related to each other. Since Duncan was in the city, it was only proper that he visited the Queens. Meanwhile, in Wiltspoon, Jasmine had returned to the bookstore despite it being the winter holidays. She found it rather dull being at home all the time. At the bookstore, even when there were no customers, she could chat with the owners of the nearby stores. While some had closed their stores to celebrate the festive season, many chose to stay open. Jasmine was a month further into her pregnancy than Serenity. Her bump was huge. Luckily, it did not restrict her moveme
After half an hour, Liberty and Duncan finally arrived at the hotel. They bumped into Zachary and Kevin, who had also just returned.“You’re here, Duncan.”Zachary walked toward them. “Hi, Liberty.”Kevin walked over as well. “I told Zachary that you’d be here in no time. Being apart from your girlfriend isn’t easy, right?” Kevin teased.“You’ve experienced it yourself,” replied Duncan as he laughed. Kevin did not respond. He did miss Hayden a lot in the early stages of their relationship. “You two bought so many things.” Kevin saw the items in Duncan’s arms and on his thighs. They were all toys. “Sonny’s getting new toys again, eh?” “Yeah. We bought him some new clothes and toys. I’ve been giving him windmills all the time. It’s time to change it up.”Even Duncan found it slightly ridiculous. He thought Sonny loved windmills just because he saw Sonny playing with them once. That was why he kept getting more windmills for Sonny.Sonny used to be scared of him, but
She would wear light make-up for work to accentuate her beauty. Sometimes, she could not believe the glowing, confident woman looking back at her in the mirror was herself. She had changed a lot after her divorce two years ago. “I’m letting myself enjoy tonight because I’m with you. I won’t have late-night snacks anymore. Going on a diet is too difficult. I don’t want to do it again.”If she gained too much weight, it would be difficult to get fit again because she was happy and did not lack money. In addition, she had Duncan spoiling her. Since she no longer wanted to go on a weight loss journey, she had no choice but to control her appetite and exercise daily to maintain her figure. “I heard the others saying that you have many admirers here. Although they’ve not said anything, even a fool can tell that they’ve fallen for you just from their gazes.”The men who had a crush on Liberty knew she had a fiance who was the young master of the Lewises from Wiltspoon. While they