“Mr. Longbottom wants you to study more and focus on self-improvement. You have to change your temper as well. You should be gentle and generous like a noblewoman instead of your past arrogant self. You can’t be like that anymore. Otherwise, it’ll be difficult for you to mingle with the elite ladies of Wiltspoon.”Carrie pouted. She said, “Do you think those ladies aren’t arrogant? Just because you haven’t met one doesn’t mean they don’t exist.“The Newman family is wealthy. I used to be young and aggressive, but I wasn’t uneducated. I’m refined too. My social circle comprised elite ladies and daughters of wealthy families.”Her mother was unwelcome in high society. Everyone disliked her because she had married her brother-in-law after her husband's death. However, that did not affect Carrie’s status in Wiltspoon’s high society. Although she could not compare to Elisa, she was still better off than many other elite daughters. She was confident and never doubted her elegance an
Carrie suddenly slouched on her seat. That way, she would not be spotted from the outside.At that moment, Zachary’s convoy passed by. Truth be told, he would not have been able to see her. Carrie was guilty and worried about Zachary spotting her and discovering her plans. Serenity was able to send Carrie to prison because she had underestimated Serenity. She did not know Serenity was trained in martial arts. More importantly, Serenity had Zachary’s backing. Even if Carrie had gotten her own backer, she instinctively felt fear and wanted to hide when she spotted Zachary’s car. When his car passed by hers, the bodyguard on the passenger seat turned and saw Carrie curled up in her seat out of fear. No one could have known there was someone in the backseat. “What are you doing, Ms. Newman?” the bodyguard asked, displeased. Carrie raised her head and took a peek outside. She only sat straight when she saw Zachary’s car was gone and adjusted her clothing. Her shirt had gotten
Mr. Longbottom had promised Carrie. She had to kidnap Mrs. Young-Johnson’s adopted son once they verified his identity. If she could accomplish that, he would give her all of the Newman family assets and let her do whatever she wanted to Serenity. Mr. Longbottom never told her that his promises were worthless. There was no knowing if Carrie would still be alive after the deed was done. He would never make an enemy out of the Yorks and Buchams for her sake.The bodyguards were aware of that. However, they were assigned to watch Carrie and assist her. It was not their place to reveal anything else. He would just let Carrie dream on. Otherwise, how would she be motivated to help Mr. Longbottom?After pursing her lips, Carrie said, “I understand. Why are you guys so cold to me? You still have to address me respectfully before others.”While the bodyguards treated her with respect in front of others, they were like her managers in private and kept controlling her. They were hig
Trenton would surely come to regret it. ‘I’m the sister who shares the same parents as him,’ Carrie thought.He chose to instead trust Camryn, who was born to a different father. Meanwhile, Serenity could never guess that the young wife who bought books from her store earlier was Carrie in a hyper-realistic mask. She did not know Carrie well. Even after looking at Carrie with that mask on, she simply found her figure familiar and could not identify her exactly. After all, Carrie had never been a friend of hers. At that moment, Serenity heard familiar footsteps. She walked out of the bookstore. “Zachary.”She went to her husband with a smile. Zachary’s gaze was gentle. He walked up to Serenity in large strides and hugged her before saying, “I missed you, honey.”Then, he kissed her forehead and let her go. Serenity whispered, “Everyone’s watching. Why do you miss me when we meet every day?”One of Zachary’s bodyguards had two bags in his hand. The bags contained two se
Zachary placed his hand on Serenity’s. “We’ll just show our faces and leave after half an hour. “Don’t drink any alcohol and stay away from the women. It’ll be better if you don’t leave my side at all.”“Half an hour sounds good. We don’t have to stick to each other. Everyone distances themselves from me when they see you.”They knew she was Zachary’s sweetheart. Getting pregnant had been difficult for the couple, so the baby in Serenity’s womb was extra precious. No one dared to get too close to her. They did not want to take the blame if she tripped and fell by accident. Serenity felt helpless. While she clearly would not do such a thing, other people did not think so. Wiltspoon’s elites kept a safe distance from her. They said they would only approach her again after the baby was born. “It seems like they know their places. It’s best if they stay away from you. Most of them like to smoke, and breathing in secondhand smoke is bad for your health.”Zachary stopped bringin
Zachary asked softly, “Do you need me to come along?”“No. I’ll go myself. Your work is important.”Serenity rejected his offer. Zachary did not insist. He was not as worried about her going to the Stones’ house. When they got out of the car at the hotel, Serenity spotted Carrie again. Carrie had intended to return to the villa to eat before changing out of her clothes and hyper-realistic mask before going back to her rented house. Then, she would resume her identity as Carrie Newman. However, she changed her mind on the way back and asked the bodyguards to take her to Wiltspoon Hotel for a meal. Zachary and Serenity often showed up there. Carrie wanted to train her nerves. It would be a successful training if she did not fear or go into hiding when she saw the loving couple. The Longbottom bodyguards did not object to Carrie’s decision. That was how Serenity and Zachary met the masked Carrie when they arrived at Wiltspoon Hotel. “Babe, that’s the lady who came to
Carrie dared not talk back and scrambled into the car. Two hours later, now reverted to her identity as a Newman, Carrie was panting as she climbed a flight of stairs. She finally got to the entrance of the unit she rented. When she took her key out and was about to open the door, it opened on its own. Wait, someone had opened it from the inside. Carrie’s first thought was that someone had broken into her house. ‘What the hell? Why would a robber want to break into a broke woman’s house?’Right then, she identified the person who opened the door. It was Brenda. Carrie exclaimed, “Why are you in my house, Aunt Brenda? Do you have my keys?”She did not recall giving her aunt the keys to her house. Brenda was startled. Upon looking clearly, she said, “You scared me, Carrie? You didn’t make a sound. Didn’t you give me your keys when you rented the house and asked me to help you clean up? I forgot to return them to you.“Where have you been? You didn’t return for a few days. I
Brenda breathed a sigh of relief. She said, “You can make a fuss, but don’t do anything extreme. If you go to jail again, you won’t be able to get a cent of the family asset by the time you’re out. It’ll all belong to Camryn and Trenton. You won’t even stand a chance.”She had two nieces and a nephew. However, she did not like Camryn and had a strained relationship with her. Amy and Brenda adored Trenton because he would be the one in charge of the Newman family in the future. Their position in their husbands’ families could only be secure if the Newman family got stronger. Unfortunately, Trenton supported Camryn. Now that the Joyners and Chandlers were bankrupt, they were counting on Carrie to go against Camryn. If Carrie could get some of the Newmans’ assets, they could take advantage of her and rebuild their families. Carrie was young. Her parents had spoiled her, and her arrogance knew no bounds. She was the most gullible person in the family. Therefore, Brenda was worri
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