“What’s on your mind?” Josh nosily asked Zachary. Snapping out of his thoughts, Zachary replied faintly, “Not you, for sure.” Josh chuckled. “I’d have to quit if you’re thinking about me. I want to get married and have children.” Zachary glared at him. “I should get back to work. You’ve been overly efficient at work lately. I’m tired trying to keep up with you.” Josh finished his glass of water and got up. “I’m glad that’s finally over.” The employees had had it rough at work because Zachary was jealous, thinking something was going on between Serenity and Shawn. It would only be worse for them if the couple had an even bigger argument one day. With that in mind, Josh prayed that the couple would always remain lovey-dovey. Well, they might not be in love now, but it was only a matter of time. Zachary had developed feelings for Serenity, but he was stubborn and refused to admit to it. As his feelings for her grew deeper, he would lay bare his heart to Serenity without
Several cars drove along and quickly pulled up in front of Serenity’s bookshop. Serenity and Jasmine, who had just entered the shop, looked at the fleet of cars. Serenity’s face fell when her keen eye caught the cars belonging to her cousins. These people were relentless. With Mike leading the younger pack, they walked into the shop. They came bearing two baskets of fruits each. “Serenity.” With a smile on his face, Mike put his baskets of fruits on the cash register and said to Serenity, “I bought you and your sister some fresh fruits.” Spotting Sonny, he asked, “Is this your sister’s son? He looks like your sister.” He then reached out to stroke Sonny’s head, but Sonny shied away, refusing to let the man touch him. Mike responded with a grin, “Don’t be scared, little guy. I’m your uncle.” The rest wanted to place the other fruit baskets on the cash register but since there was no more room on the counter, they placed them on the floor instead. Serenity asked faint
John paused before asking Serenity, “What do you want us to do, Serenity?” As the oldest of the bunch, Mike lectured Serenity, “Regardless of our spats in the past, we’re all one big family. Although your dad isn’t around anymore, he’s still my uncle.“Sure, it was our fault, but we have learned from our mistakes. You’re the bigger person. Please find it in you to forgive us. We promise we won’t ever do that to you and your sister again.” Thanks to the power of the internet, it was easy and speedy to get a handle on certain matters. However, it was also easy for the tables to turn and caused a backfire. Today, Mike could use the internet to intimidate his cousins, but tomorrow, it would be his turn to face a public backlash.People would find it hard to understand the humiliation of being a victim of cyberbullying, hate comments from netizens, and public criticism without experiencing it themselves. Since Serenity tweeted a refute, the Hunts had the whole thing blow up in t
“Do you think you’ll be better off if we all go down together when it comes down to it? You’ll lose your shop and your online business. We’ll team up to give you a poor rating until you’re forced to close your online business.”“Serenity, who’s threatening to close your online business? Who’s threatening to give you bad ratings?” Here to look for Serenity, Elisa got out of her car and caught John’s arrogant threats before she even entered the shop. Elisa was not one with a good temper, so she lost it. Did they not know that Serenity was her love guru? Anyone who had the guts to threaten her love guru was crossing her as well. She would make these cocky and shameless people regret they were alive. Carrying the boxes of desserts from Beans and Cream, Elisa dangled her car keys and lifted her chin high as she walked into the shop. Others may not know Elisa, but John held a senior position at one of Stone Group’s branches. He had seen Elisa a few times from afar during the compa
On the other end of the line, Clive was left overwhelmed by his dear sister. He asked helplessly, “What did John do to you?” “Serenity is my friend and love guru. He’s out to get my love guru, threatening to bring down Serenity’s business and closing her online business by giving her bad ratings. That’s having it in for me. “Don’t you think what his family has done is inhumane? People will criticize us if Stone Group retains such a person at a managerial level. You might think you know some people, but you’ll never know their true nature. Looks can be deceiving.” Clive had no words. He was rendered speechless by his sister’s unruliness. The managing director of Aron PCB had reported to headquarters, verifying John’s talent. John started off with a minor role at Aron PCB and climbed his way up to deputy managing director. The managing director did not want to lose his right-hand man over a family dispute. Hence, he suspended John at the height of the scandal instead of f
John even picked up the scattered basket and fruits that were tossed out by Elisa. A fruit basket cost a couple of hundred bucks. The Hunts would rather eat the fruits than give them to Serenity. As if Serenity cared. It was not like she never ate fruits before. John took a ride in Mike’s car to get to Serenity’s shop. He got into the car and called his boss, Mr. Ziegel, right away. John wanted to explain to Mr. Ziegel about the earlier incident.Unfortunately, Mr. Ziegel had already received notice from the headquarters. Before John could finish talking, Mr. Ziegel expressed his regret. “John, the dispute between you and your cousins is simple and easily resolvable. You could’ve apologized with earnestness and issued a public apology online. Not only will your cousins forgive you, but the online community will also let the thing go since you’re willing to admit fault and change for the better. “But what did you do? You’ve been on suspension for a while, but you couldn’t eve
John was without a word. As mentioned by Serenity, the Hunts would never have yielded unless the matter was so bad that it hurt their financial interest. They had not given in completely either. The Hunt often got on Serenity’s nerves every time they went to her shop. It was like Mr. Ziegel said; they complicated a simple thing and were nowhere near resolving the issue. “How did Serenity come to know Ms. Stone? What love guru was she talking about?” John pursed his lips and replied, “Ms. Stone is crazy for Mr. York. I guess Serenity is teaching her how to woo Mr. York. Serenity will get it once Mr. York finds out she had been giving ideas to Ms. Stone.” “I mean how did they know each other? By right, Serenity wouldn’t cross paths with an heiress like Ms. Stone.” Mike was envious that Serenity rubbed shoulders with Ms. Stone and got Ms. Stone to have her back. Elisa might not be working at Stone Group, but she was still the heiress of the Stones. This title carried weight.
“Ms. Stone, Serenity, carry on with your talk. I’m taking Sonny to the supermarket to get some vegetables.” There was still a lot of seafood given by Elisa in the fridge. They could enjoy a seafood menu today, but some greens were needed to complement the seafood galore. Jasmine carried Sonny and took off. While being carried away, Sonny would turn back and stare back at Elisa. Elisa remarked with a smile, “Serenity, you have an adorable nephew.” “He’s a cheeky monkey.” “Kids nowadays can be rascals. I’m getting your nephew a toy when I drop by next time.” “It’s fine, Ms. Stone. Sonny has a lot of toys. My husband bought loads for him.” Elisa said, “You get yours, and I’ll get mine. I adore the little man. I want to buy him lots and lots of toys. If he was my nephew, I would buy him the moon assuming that I can.” Serenity could testify that Elisa would spoil a child rotten. With Jasmine and Sonny away, Serenity went into the kitchen to prepare the seafood. She asked
Caroline hummed. “I do plan to visit Wiltspoon to see her sometime soon. I just don’t know if I’ll be kicked out when I get there.”“And I should visit Mr. Foster too. How is he, by the way?" Patrick was the longest-living person she had ever met. Back when she lived with her adoptive family in the countryside, the oldest people in town usually lived into their eighties, and few made it to ninety. Patrick was nearly a hundred years old. What was more, he could walk without support and even travel long distances with his old friends.Liberty replied, “He’s doing quite well. Aunt Audrey accompanies him on walks every day. When they don’t go out, he sits by the cradle and watches baby Elias for hours on end.”The bond between generations was strong. When Patrick looked at Clive’s son, Elias, he felt like he was looking at his great-grandson. As Tiara’s great-grandson, Elias was naturally like his own great-grandson, too.“Dr. Carden comes by periodically to check on him and adjus
Liberty had already called Audrey to inform her about what had happened and also mentioned it to Serenity.Knowing the Clark brothers had all been captured, Serenity felt thoroughly relieved and stopped worrying that her sister would run into trouble in Jensburg.She told Zachary that Caroline never let people down.Zachary did not comment.Caroline’s fever had completely subsided, but her coughing had worsened. The doctor had changed her prescription, but the effects were not immediate.When Liberty entered, Caroline was out of bed and walking around, supported by Darren.“Caroline, why are you out of bed?”Liberty scolded her, “Get back in bed and lie down. You’re injured. If you don’t rest properly and keep moving around, you’ll aggravate your wounds, and you’ll regret it.”She did not blame Darren, though. She knew Caroline always came first to him. He always followed her lead and was unable to influence her decisions.“I’ve been lying down all day. My back is sore, and I’m
The housekeeper replied, “Yes, sir.”They did not have much work in the first place, so they did not need to slack off. Once they were done with their work, they had tons of time to entertain themselves.Hunter rushed out the door with his car keys. Despite being over seventy years old, his driving skills were still quite good. Not needing to hire a driver, he drove himself straight to Jensburg.Upon arriving at the city, Hunter did not immediately go looking for Caroline. He was unaware that she had been injured.Instead, he went to meet his old friends to ask them to help him find out if anything had happened in relation to the Fisher family last night.After he finished speaking, one of his friends said, “We were about to ask you the same thing. Your three sons attacked your daughter with knives and even kidnapped her, intending to chop her up and feed her to the fish.“Luckily, that Mr. Fletcher, who works for your daughter, arrived with the police and rescued her, but she wa
The Queen family was well-educated and had few members. Sophia had heard of other families fighting over power, but Caroline’s experience shocked her the most. Maybe it was because the Queens was close to her. Sophia quite liked Caroline as well. “How could they… You’re their biological sister!”Caroline smiled bitterly. “Are you having a fever, Carol? Your face is red.”Sophia touched Caroline’s forehead. She said, “You’re burning up. Have you informed the doctor, Mr. Fletcher?”Darren replied, “The fever started at dawn. Ms. Caroline caught a cold. Her fever subsided after taking medication once, but it returned.“It’s time for her to take her medicine.”Sophia spotted the lunch boxes. She told Darren, “Go have your lunch, Mr. Fletcher. I can look after Carol.”“It’s okay, Mrs. Queen. I can eat on my own,” said Caroline embarrassedly. It was her first time feeling cared for by someone her mother’s age. Although Sophia was not part of her family, the lady treated her
Caroline looked toward Darren. She said, “In my younger days, I often caught colds and coughs when the weather was too cold. The coughing will last throughout the changing of seasons. Therefore, I’ve been looking after my health since I grew up.“My immune system strengthened a lot. I haven’t been coughing for years.“I’m not worried.”Caroline stared at Darren lovingly. “I have nothing to be worried about with you here.”Darren pinched her face lightly with affection. “I’m still sulking. I didn’t want you to risk yourself, yet I couldn’t stop you. I’ll only feel better once you recover.”He was Caroline’s assistant and had to heed her orders. Even if they were dating, he still had to follow her arrangements.“Okay. Don’t be angry. I won’t take risks like this again in the future. You’ll age quickly if you get angry frequently. If that happens, your hair might turn gray before I even grow old.“We promised to grow old together.”Under Caroline’s gentle coaxing, Darren’s expre
Darren became an orphan when he was only a few years old. After losing everything, he was collected and trained by the training center to be an all-rounder assistant. He could not remember how he lost his parents as he was too young back then. Since he had no memories, there was no pain.Nevertheless, he had seen others interacting with their parents. He knew parents should love their children. There were not many parents who would not shower their children with love. Ms. Caroline was too unlucky to have met one. “I don’t care. I don’t care about my dad at all.”Caroline asked, “Has my dad asked you to give him money? He doesn’t need money. He just wants to know about his sons’ conditions.“Having lived for so many years, he was probably aware of the consequences of his sons’ plan and had advised them not to do it. They didn’t listen to him, so he’s just hoping to get lucky and waiting for some news.”Hunter must have known that her brothers were going to murder her. Sinc
“I’m not obliged to provide for you, Mr. Clark.”Darren would not give Hunter money. He also felt Hunter was trying to obtain some information through the call, not money. Hunter said furiously, “Aren’t you going to marry Caroline? You’ll be my son-in-law in the future. It’s like being half a son to me. Since you’re my son, you should look after your father. Quick. Give me the money.“Otherwise, I won’t let you marry my daughter.”Darren said without hesitation, “Ms. Caroline will decide for her marriage.“If we do get married, she’ll be the one in charge of the finances. I don’t have money.”“Fletcher! Are you a man? Can’t you revitalize the spirit of the Fisher family’s sons-in-law? You saw how I ended up like this. I didn’t have access to the finances and didn’t have money. I’ve been under strict control ever since I married into the family.“That was how I ended up in this miserable state. I’m telling you, the Fisher women are evil. It’s best if you don’t marry Caroline.
“Why would a husband have an affair if his wife could do well?”Ellie was exasperated. She ended the call without hesitation. “Old bastard. The apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree. All your sons cheated on their wives because they have a perverted father like you.“I would’ve divorced Jason if it weren’t for my children being too young. Look at Emma now. She even received half of Adrian’s assets and doesn’t have to look after her children herself. How relaxed her life must be.”The wealth Belinda had left behind was sufficient to afford the children’s education. Ellie still had feelings for Jason. Otherwise, she would have gotten a divorce upon knowing he cheated on her. She would not have reconciled with him with just a little coaxing and advice from her family. Since Jason did not return home the entire night, Hunter guessed his sons’ plan had failed. As he had expected, Caroline was not an easy target. After all, she was Belinda’s biological daughter. Belind
Since the call ended abruptly, Adrian’s girlfriend, Irene, muttered, “Is Mr. Clark unsatisfied with me?”She was almost twenty years younger than Adrian. If he had not been rich and willing to spend his money on her, she would not have wanted to be his lover. Adrian promised to marry her after he was done fighting a legal battle against his sister and claiming his inheritance. He would make her the missus of the Clark family. As for the three children he had with his ex-wife, he had told Irene not to worry about them.Since his mother had left some money behind for her grandchildren, he did not have to pay child support. Irene knew Adrian used to be a young master of the Fishers and that Madam Fisher was extremely wealthy. She did not expect Belinda to be helping her son take care of his children even after her death. Considering Adrian would be able to receive a huge portion of inheritance in the future, Irene decided to be with him. If she did get married to him, and gave