Besides, Duncan was a good man to Liberty and Sonny. He saw Sonny as his own. Liberty had rejected him and refused to remarry because she did not want to be miserable again. She was worried Sonny would be bullied too. However, Duncan had cleared all obstacles for her sake. The Lewis family eventually accepted Liberty and was looking forward to her getting married to Duncan. She did not have to worry about Sonny getting bullied either. Duncan’s love for Sonny had surpassed that of Hank’s. If Liberty wanted to get married again, Duncan would be her best choice. “Duncan just doesn’t want to hold you back. He wants to make you happy. Just wait for him. I believe he’ll be able to stand up soon.”“I know. That’s why I’m waiting for him. I’ll continue waiting no matter how many years he needs. In the meantime, I’ll work hard to advance my career.”Although she had to rely on the three wealthiest families in Wiltspoon for investments, she had gained a lot out of it. The experience
If Liberty were in danger, the bodyguards would have reported to their bosses without being asked to. “It’s great that you’re okay. I was so scared when I heard about the accident. I’m going to Jensburg later, Liberty. I’ll be arriving before two in the afternoon.”Liberty said, “I’m fine, Duncan. You don’t have to travel for this.”It was inconvenient for Duncan to travel. “I’ll only be reassured if I can make sure you’re okay with my own eyes.”“I’m really fine. You can ask the bodyguards. None of us were hurt. It’s difficult for you to travel long-haul.”Duncan insisted, “But I miss you too. I miss you so much. I want to see you.”Liberty could not say no to that. “Be careful. Don’t push yourself if you’re feeling unwell. We have to take care of ourselves, Duncan. Okay?”Duncan said gently, “I’m not a child. I won’t head out if I’m feeling unwell. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. See you in the afternoon.”“Okay. See you.”Liberty ended the call and sighed. Nevertheless, h
“Belinda was furious. Celine was chased out of the villa that night. As for Hunter, we’re not sure what happened to him. I heard he was sent to the hospital in an ambulance at midnight. Belinda forbade anyone from going to the hospital or asking about Hunter’s condition.”Kevin paused for a moment. Liberty took a few more sips of her tea. Then, she put her cup down and waited quietly for Kevin to continue. Kevin said, “I sent someone to the hospital to look into it.”“How badly is Hunter hurt? Did Belinda do it?”Kevin replied, “Belinda didn’t hurt him. Hunter castrated himself.”He guessed that Belinda had forced Hunter to do so. Otherwise, Hunter would not have done it. Belinda most likely gave Hunter two options. Hunter would not choose divorce since the Clark family needed the Fisher family to survive. However, he needed to convince Belinda, and the only way to do it was by castrating himself. Liberty blinked. She was stunned as she had not expected that outcome. Ke
Luckily, everything had ended. Liberty had embarked on a new journey. “I shall not disturb you any longer, Kevin. I have to head out to run some errands too. There are still some things I have to do to establish a company.”She needed to have a company in Jensburg to be able to collaborate with other companies. “Duncan is already on his way. Aren’t you going to wait for him?”Kevin teased her. Liberty smiled. “He’ll probably arrive after I’m done with my business. If he arrives before that, please help me to entertain him. You’re closer to him anyway.”“I might have to go to Queen Enterprise later.”“Okay. I’ll come back as soon as I can. Getting a wife is more important. Callum and Camryn have already gotten their marriage license. She might already be pregnant the next time you visit home. You have to put in more effort.”Kevin’s face fell. “I’m already doing my best, Liberty. Hayden is much more difficult to woo than Camryn.”Camryn looked gentle and weak from the outs
That was a given as the Queen couple were looking for a son-in-law instead of a daughter-in-law. Naturally, they would not give those elite daughters hope and made them give up on trying to win them over. Kevin took the elevator to the top floor. As soon as he walked out, he saw Hayden escorting a client to the elevator with a few young women behind them. Based on their clothing, they were probably the client’s secretaries. Neither the client nor Kevin knew each other. Kevin stood aside to avoid getting in Hayden’s way. She saw the client off downstairs personally. Hayden’s secretary glanced at Kevin, who hinted at her with his eyes to follow Hayden and ignore him. He was fine on his own. He could not be more familiar with Hayden’s office and lounge. After the group entered the elevator, he went into her office. He first made himself a cup of coffee. Just as he sat on the sofa, Hayden returned. “So what happened after last night’s incident?” Hayden asked as she wa
“She’s doing great. She’s handling some things now. Don’t underestimate her. She’s been through many ups and downs. Her parents passed away when she was fifteen. Despite having vicious and greedy relatives, she raised and educated her ten-year-old sister well. “Those who have gone through hard times are especially strong-willed.”Kevin finally understood why Audrey had chosen Liberty to compete against Caroline in Jensburg. “It’s a relief that she isn’t too shocked.”Kevin smiled. “Are you getting off work now? Oh, by the way, I brought you a present.”He retrieved a box from his suit pocket and gave it to Hayden. Hayden accepted it, but she did not open the box. Instead, she went to her office table and placed it into the drawer.“Aren’t you going to take a look?”“No. Anything you give is the best. I’ll look at it when I’m free and savor your love for me.”Kevin stared at Hayden. She seemed gentler, and reciprocated his feelings openly. He had succeeded in advancing a s
Hunter glanced at his wife in despair and closed his eyes. He was in immense pain. Belinda was not angry at Hunter for not looking at her. She walked to the windows again and stared outside. Her mind wandered off. If Patrick had been willing to be with her, help her, and marry her back then, her life would have been complete and filled with happiness. Unfortunately, he was only loyal to Tiara. Even if Tiara had gotten married to someone else, had children, and eventually passed away, Patrick would refuse to follow her and choose to disappear instead. Decades had passed, and Belinda was already seventy years old. Patrick was probably dead by now. Why was she still worried?At that moment, Belinda’s phone rang. It was Caroline. Belinda answered the call after a silent pause. “Mom.”Caroline said, “Are you okay, Mom?”She asked about her mother first instead of Hunter’s injury. Belinda said calmly, “It can’t get any worse. What’s there to not be okay about? You all
Caroline turned her gaze away from Hunter and followed Belinda to a small lounge. She placed the lunch box on the table and opened it. She told her mother, “I even brought you some fruits.”Belinda sat and stared at the sandwiches and cut fruits Caroline had brought. After some time, she said, “You’re the only one who’ll actually prepare sandwiches for me.”Her sons and Celine would not have followed her request because they opined that those foods were not worthy of her. “Have the sandwiches while they’re fresh, Mom.”Back when Caroline was still with her abusive adoptive family, she could not even have sandwiches. A sandwich was a luxury for when she was young. Having experienced a tough childhood, Caroline never wasted money once she was an adult and earning money herself. She maintained a low profile and spent money wisely. Her personality, which was shaped by her environment, did not change with her increasing savings. Belinda ate the sandwiches while recalling a scen
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