“I know who set me and Dad up, Mom. It was my sisters-in-law. The wine Adrian gave Dad came from his room, but he wouldn’t do that to us. It must’ve been Emma.“Mom.”Belinda got into her car.Celine flung herself toward the car but failed to even touch it.However, Belinda lowered the window before the driver started driving. She gestured at the bodyguards to release Celine and let her come close.Celine was delighted. She shrugged the bodyguards off and went forward.“Do you believe me now, Mom? My words are true. You haven’t had time to investigate because you’ve been taking care of Dad at the hospital all this while. If you did some investigation, you’ll definitely find out the truth.”Belinda looked toward her and said coldly, “I know you and Hunter were tricked.”Celine was ecstatic.She knew that her adoptive mother was wise. Belinda definitely knew the truth.“So what? We can’t pretend like nothing happened between you and Hunter.”Celine’s hopes dimmed in an instant
Celine stopped crying after a while. She stood up and counted the money. It was precisely two thousand dollars.In the past, she would have scoffed at that amount of money.Fast forward to the present, two thousand dollars had become her accommodation and meal allowance for the month.Celine was in an even worse state than Carrie, who was in Wiltspoon.Even if Carrie did not have Mr. Longbottom’s aid, she still had a brother giving her some living expenses monthly. She would never go hungry.On the other hand, Celine had no one to rely on.However, she refused to leave Jensburg just like that.She wanted revenge against her sisters-in-law.The three Fisher brothers had taken after Hunter’s flirtatiousness and took a fancy to have affairs.Celine knew their preferences and personalities well. More importantly, they still loved her. They would definitely grovel at her feet once she tried seducing them.She would make them enamored with her to make their wives angry.She was no
Caroline suddenly turned to look at Darren. She whispered to him, “Do you have someone you like, Mr. Fletcher?”Belinda had assigned Darren to be with Caroline earlier than scheduled and told her she could trust Darren forever and that he would never betray her.Even if she were to fail to become the next matriarch, Darren’s allegiance would never change.After testing him several times, Caroline finally chose to trust Darren.Darren was an all-rounder, as expected of an assistant trained to serve the matriarch or heir of the Fishers.He was competent.Caroline thought, ‘Although the Fisher family has been getting weaker, the training base that their predecessors built is remarkable. I wonder how the person in charge of the base manages to find so many talented children to train them into capable assistants.’The assistants even had beauty, brains, and brawn.Although Darren could not compare to the young men of York, he was relatively handsome.Caroline had been back with the
Caroline was clueless about Darren’s feelings for her. There was no need for her to know unless she revealed that she had fallen in love with him first. Only then would he expose a trickle of his love to show her that he felt the same. The education Darren had received since he was young had made him unable to express his feelings. Therefore, he simply cared for Caroline secretly. If she were to marry another man, he would sincerely wish for her happiness and remain by her side as a competent and trustworthy assistant. When Caroline bore a child, he could even help take care of the child. In this life, Darren belonged to Caroline; never leaving her until his time in the world was up. At that moment, someone knocked on the door. “Come in.”Caroline guessed it would be Adrian. She did not open the door for him but let him enter the ward himself. Indeed, it was Adrian. He had a bouquet and fruit basket in his hands. When he spotted Caroline and Darren in the guest area
Hunter looked toward Caroline and said, “Since Adrian is here, you can go home, Carol. Your mom hasn’t been in a good mood lately. She isn’t going to the office or managing family matters. You must be tired. Go get some rest.”Adrian added, “That’s right, Carol. I’ll stay here with Dad. You can go home.”Caroline did not want to linger there any longer either. She was not close to Hunter in the first place.She would not even spare him a glance if they were not true father and daughter.“I’ll head back then. Call me if you need any help, Adrian.”“Okay. Drive carefully,” said Adrian.He saw Caroline and Darren out.After they left, Adrian returned and told Hunter, “Caroline and Mr. Fletcher have left, Dad.”Hunter replied, “Take a look outside again two minutes later. We’ll talk again after confirming that they’ve left.”Adrian knew that Hunter wanted to ask about Celine. He agreed.A few minutes later, Adrian took a stroll outside the ward. He only returned to the ward aft
Liberty and Hayden did not go upstairs, but Kevin did. He would surely tell them about everything that happened upstairs.Hunter said, “Liberty is a descendant of your eldest aunt. She came here for the position of matriarch. She’ll definitely expose the incident to embarrass us. That’ll eliminate one of her competitors as well.“Cece may not be my biological daughter, but she grew up in our family. We didn’t even know she wasn’t our daughter until two years ago. With over twenty years of love bond, your mom might still let her inherit the position.”“But… I think Cece doesn’t stand a chance now.”Adrian added, “Do you think my brothers and I have a chance, Dad? Ever since our affairs were exposed, Mom has been prioritizing Caroline. With Mr. Fletcher’s help, Caroline’s position is now stable. On the contrary, we’re gradually becoming insignificant to the company.“Caroline isn’t close to us. She has never treated me as her brother. I admit that I’ve never accepted her as my siste
“Dad, what if Cece refuses to leave?”Adrian knew very well what Celine was like, having been siblings for close to thirty years now.He did not think she would leave. She still hoped that Belinda would forgive her.Besides, now that she had no source of income, how would she survive if they made her leave Jensburg?Yes, Celine could get a job of her own to support herself, but she was used to being pampered and had developed an arrogant personality. It was very hard for her to humble herself to work for someone else.Hunter was silent for a moment before he said, “Do your best to persuade her to leave and not to stay in Jensburg.” “Alright. I’ll have someone look for her. Once she’s found, I’ll discreetly pass her some money, and get her to leave.“Dad, you should get some sleep. I’m feeling sleepy too, so I’ll take a nap here,” Adrian said.“Alright. You can nap on the sofa outside.”Hunter felt sorry for his son. When he heard his son was sleepy and saw that he indeed look
Carrie smiled and nodded. “Yes, we’re quite close and my in-laws are busy with work, and so is my husband. I’m the only one who has free time on my hands, so naturally, the responsibility for her care has fallen to me. She’s really clingy and is closer to me than to my mother-in-law.”“That’s why I have to drop her off and pick her up every day. She refuses to let the driver or the nanny do it.”Carrie realized she was getting better at making things up.Besides, all she needed to do was turn up here and occasionally bump into Serenity. It was not like she needed to actually pick up a kid and leave with one.Serenity said, “Kids are like that. She’ll feel closer to whoever’s there for her all the time. My nephew’s really close to me too. He doesn’t even make a fuss crying for his mother whenever she goes on business trips.”“Right? My sister-in-law’s the same.”Carrie very patiently discussed the difficulties of raising a kid with Serenity. Serenity had been helping Liberty to
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