“I’m a little hesitant about it now, Mom.”Upon hearing that, Sophia said, “Don’t hesitate. You’re a girl. You’re allowed to dress up as one. You’ve worn men’s clothing for more than twenty years. It’s time for you to switch back. Think about how happy Kevin would be if he could accompany you to the banquet while you’re in a dress.“When that time comes, everyone will realize that you’re actually a woman. No one will criticize you and Kevin’s relationship anymore. Many people have come to me, asking me to stop you from dating Kevin. They mentioned he was ruining a good child like you and that you must have changed your dating preference because he kept bugging you.“I wanted to retort that you two were absolutely straight, yet you refused to return to being a woman. Since I couldn’t reveal it, I had no choice but to hold back and distance myself from those who gossiped about it. Mr. and Mrs. Queen were under a lot of pressure. They could ignore what outsiders said simply by dist
“Okay. You should get on with your work. I’ll call your dad now, and we’ll go shop for your dress and shoes together.”Sophia ended the call happily. After moving the phone away from her ear, she yelled, “Donald, Donald.”Donald replied, “What happened?”He ran in. “Did something happen? You shouted so loudly and sounded panicked.”“Go change your clothes now and come shopping with me. I need to pick a dress for our daughter personally. She’s willing to wear women’s clothes now. I can finally buy all those pretty dresses and dress up our girl gorgeously.”Upon hearing her, Donald said, “Hay said so? That’s great. Why don’t you get someone to bring their designs over and choose something? That way, you don’t have to head out. Since Hayden is willing to wear a dress now, we should give her the best. Let’s have it tailored.”“We won’t make it in time. She needs the dress for a banquet tomorrow night. I have many new dresses, but they’re more suitable for mature women instead of
In the evening, Kevin’s usual Maybach drove to Queen Enterprise on time. He parked at the building’s entrance. Kevin got out of the car with a bouquet. He looked as handsome as ever in a suit. “Mr. York.”Everyone greeted him with a smile as he walked through. However, their smiles immediately dropped once he passed by them. Kevin was aware that many of Queen Enterprise’s employees hated him. If it were not for his status, those people would not even spare him a fake smile. Ah, he must have not put in enough effort in wooing Hayden. She did not even have the thought of revealing herself as a woman yet. Therefore, he had no choice but to be labeled as gay and receive the hatred of Jensburg’s young ladies. Nevertheless, Kevin adjusted his mindset quickly enough. He had been mentally prepared for it from the day he started courting Hayden. Regardless of what others said, he would continue to win over her heart. Actually, there was also a benefit to it. Since no on
Kevin smiled. “No. You’d say it was a waste of money every time I gave you flowers. You told me not to give you bouquets, and that hasn’t changed even though I’ve done it for half a year. Your sudden change in attitude surprised me, but I’m happy. You finally like a bouquet from me.”Hayden stared at him for some time. Without saying anything, she stood up and put the bouquet in a vase. She took a few steps back to observe the vase and said, “This vase fits the bouquet nicely.”“Everything I give you is always perfect.”Hayden agreed. She returned to her desk and started packing up. She always ensured that her desk was organized before and after work. “Come on. Let’s not make Liberty and Mr. Lewis wait.”Kevin walked by her side and said, “I called Duncan on my way here. He said he and Liberty were heading to the hotel. They’re further away and will probably arrive later than us.“It’s peak hour now as well. The roads will be congested.”Kevin and Hayden exited the office.
“Mom.”Hayden answered her mom’s call. “Has your work ended, Hay?”“Mm. I’m about to leave. What’s the matter?”Sophia asked, “Should I buy some casual clothes for you aside from the dress?”Hayden rejected her offer without thinking twice. “No.”She was only wearing a dress to the banquet tomorrow night to announce that she was a woman. It was also to clear any doubts about her love for Kevin and his sexual preferences. No one would ever look at him differently again. They always thought Kevin had ruined her. That was why those people harbored prejudice against him but not her. “Why not? Aren’t you going to live your life as a woman from now on?”Sophia was puzzled. She asked again, “So you’re only planning to wear a dress tomorrow night and continue wearing men’s clothing afterward?”“I’m not changing my usual style.”Hayden just needed not put on fake pecs anymore. However, she was flat-chested. Even if she wore a suit without fake pecs, she would still look like a m
Kevin did not ask more. They took the elevator to the first floor. Kevin could not even kiss her while they were in the elevator. He still did not dare to act as he wished in Queen Enterprise. Hayden needed to maintain her image, and he wanted to protect her dignity. After all, she was the CEO. Kevin drove Hayden out of Queen Enterprise with her driver and bodyguards following behind. She still had a meeting with Mr. Williams after the meal. Liberty and Duncan were not there when they reached Fortress Hotel. After waiting for about half an hour, Liberty and Duncan arrived. Liberty was in a bad mood. She pushed Duncan into the hotel and barely responded even though he kept turning his head to talk to her. Duncan knew why she was in a bad mood. Knowing that comforting words would not be able to improve her mood, he stopped consoling her. Liberty had to adjust her emotions herself. She felt slightly better when they went to the private room Kevin had booked upstairs.
Everyone laughed. Kevin had arranged for the food to be served upon Duncan and Liberty’s arrival. It was a pleasant meal. After that, Hayden left first as she had to go to Jensburg Hotel for her meeting with Mr. Williams. Luckily, the two hotels were nearby. They were just diagonally opposite each other. However, Kevin insisted on escorting Hayden over. Meanwhile, Liberty pushed Duncan out of the hotel. They took a stroll on the nearby streets while admiring Jensburg’s night attractions and scenes. “Are you feeling better?” Duncan asked Liberty. After a brief silence, she said, “I’ve calmed down. The things that I’ll experience will only be worse in the future. If I can’t even face this, I don’t have to stay here any longer. I should just return to Wiltspoon and manage my restaurants.”If she did so, she would be failing Audrey’s expectations of her.“It’s great that you can overcome this. We’ve been strolling for some time. Has anything caught your eye?”Duncan turn
Liberty asked, “What do I have that Serenity doesn’t?“You must persist in going for rehab. When I’m not in Wiltspoon, you have to take care of yourself. If you have time, you can visit Sonny. He’ll probably visit you too. He’s treating you better than how he treats his own father.”Duncan said smugly, “That’s because I love him with my heart and soul. His father only badmouths me in front of him. Sonny is clever. He knows how to differentiate between the bad guys and the good guys.“The more Hank badmouths me, the lesser Sonny wants to be with him.”After speaking, Duncan turned to look at Liberty. Her expression was calm. Her emotions remained stable even when Hank was mentioned. “What are you looking at? Do you think I still care for that man? He’s just Sonny’s dad now.”Liberty said, “Do you think I still love him and that I’ll feel down when we talk about him? A long time has passed. How can I still love and be affected by him? I wouldn’t have divorced him if my love for hi
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
“You can drink it now. It’ll turn cold if left aside for longer.”Isabella took the ginger ale and drank it with elegance. She put it down after drinking half of it. “I’m drunk, but only slightly. I can walk, and my brain is still alert. I know what I’m doing and saying.“I’ve had enough ginger ale.”She did not want to consume too much liquid late at night. “Which family is your fiancée from, Austin? Where is she? Do you mind telling me?”Isabella was insistent on getting answers. Austin had never told her when she had asked him about it before. He kept saying he would focus on working and that he was not in a rush to get married. After all, he was only in his twenties; Zachary only got married at thirty years old. If he was unsuccessful in wooing his fiancée that year, he did not mind waiting for a few more years. Isabella suddenly felt jealous of Austin’s fiancée, having had his heart without even doing anything. She wondered what Austin’s fiancée had done to cat
Austin stared into Isabella’s eyes. He could detect some feelings in her gaze, but it was not obvious enough. What she felt for him was still mostly admiration. It was not the right time for him to confess yet. He would continue to wait. “You’re the best and most outstanding lady in my heart, Ms. Isabella. I admire you more.”Austin added gently, “You give off a strict and cold aura sometimes, but you’re always a nice person in my eyes.”Isabella had treated him well ever since he became her private chef. It only got better after she discovered he was a young master of the Yorks. Austin believed her when she said she viewed him as a friend because her actions reflected it as well. However, he was not content with being just friends. He wanted to be her husband. He wanted her to trust him and love him forever. He would also reciprocate her feelings and trust. Isabella smiled. “Even my parents are scared and avoid me when I’m in a serious mode. Louis and Phillip w
Austin responded, “Don’t worry, Ms. Edith. I’ll take good care of Ms. Isabella.”Edith had come in a hurry and left just as quickly. The hidden meaning in her cousin’s words was not lost on Isabella, but she did not comment on it.She allowed Austin to accompany her into the house. The lights were still on inside, but the first floor was empty. Everyone else had already gone to bed.Since Isabella had not returned yet, the housekeeper had left the lights on for her.The house was warm, so once inside, Isabella took off Austin’s coat and handed it back to him.Austin accepted the coat and followed her to the sofa. After she had sat down, he asked gently, “Ms. Isabella, would you like some ginger ale for a hangover remedy?”Isabella rubbed her temples and said, “Yes, please. I don’t want to wake up with a splitting headache tomorrow.”Austin immediately went to prepare it for her.Isabella leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes to rest. After some time, she heard Austin’s