Remy asked Sonny. “Dunc isn’t free. Aunt Ser picked me up to see the baby. The baby is sleeping. I couldn’t see him.”Sonny was eloquent and clear in his speech. Remy thought Sonny was similar to Laurence. When Jane found Laurence, he had only been over a year old. His speech was incoherent at that time. However, once he could speak fluently, he became good with words and sounded very mature sometimes. Despite being three years old, he was like a small version of an adult. He was taller and smarter than kids his age too. Laurence also had a surprisingly good memory. Remy had met Sonny when Sonny was very young. He realized that the babbling child had turned into a clever one. He hoped he and Elisa’s children could be as clever as Sonny and Laurence. “The baby is still young, so he sleeps more. He can play with you when he gets older.”Sonny agreed. “Aunt Ser said that too. Are you never busy, Uncle Remy? I always see you when I come to Grandaunt Audrey’s house.”To Son
Remy laughed.“Of course, of course, tons of people like Sonny.“Then, you have to reserve a space for me in the long line of people who like you.”Sonny nodded graciously and responded, “I’ll reserve a space for you, for sure.”This made everyone laugh.Just as Serenity entered, Zachary called her.The couple was just checking in on each other. Zachary knew that his beloved wife was visiting the Stones.Usually, Zachary would come over too when Serenity paid visits, but tonight, he was busy and told Serenity he could not make it for dinner.Serenity said thoughtfully, “I’ll have dinner here. Once we’re done, I’ll probably sit and chat for a while before heading back. You go talk business and don’t drink so much. Make sure to keep warm—the weather forecast says the temperature will drop further.”Rain was going to fall, and so did the temperature.When it rained during the winter, it was indeed cold.“I won’t drink. It’s not like I’ll be outdoors either. It won’t affect me n
An “old kid” was a perfect descriptor for Grandma May.She was an old mischievous spirit.The car stopped at the door to the house.Serenity was going to help Sonny put on his schoolbag, but Sonny wanted to do it on his own.He said, “The teacher said I should do what I can on my own by myself.“You and Mom taught me that too.”Serenity smiled, “Yes, yes. I forgot that I did teach you that before. Alright, you should do what you can on your own by yourself.”Sonny had too many people who pampered him.The sisters were afraid that Sonny would be spoiled and kept a tight rein on his discipline.They taught him the right outlook on life to prevent him from being spoiled. Sonny carried his little school bag and once the car door opened, he got out first before turning to offer a hand to Serenity.Serenity reached out to hold his hand, making him believe he had helped her out of the car.“You’re so amazing, Sonny!”“Uncle Zak says me and him are boys, so we have to protect and
Tania did not close the door. She said, “I was in a bit of a funk, but I’m fine now.”“Did something happen?” Serenity asked in concern.Tania first asked, “Do you want some water?”“I’m fine, thank you.”Tania then walked over to her and pulled Serenity to sit down with her on the sofa as she said, “It’s nothing big. I just exchanged a few words with Liam about Austin and got so angry I just walked off in the heat of the moment.”Serenity paused for a moment and said, “Does that mean he doesn’t know that you’re here?”Tania was a little embarrassed as she said, “I haven’t told him yet. I told Sam not to tell him yet either because I wanted space to calm down.”“He must be super worried. What’s up with Austin though?” Serenity asked, worried too.Immediately, she continued, “You’d better text Dad first and tell him you’re with us so that he doesn’t go looking for you everywhere.”Tania pursed her lips before saying, “I’ve been here for a few hours now and he hasn’t come to loo
Austin was an adult. He definitely would have carefully considered it before deciding what he wanted. None of the York men had ever done something on impulse.Tania was not willing to let Austin go off and become a chef possibly because she thought it would embarrass her.Regardless, he was still a York.“Mom, where’s Austin thinking of working?”After Serenity advised her mother-in-law, she asked curiously.She wondered which restaurant or perhaps a hotel had managed to lure her brother-in-law into wanting to work for them.Tania said, “He isn’t going to work for a big hotel or anything like that. He wants to work as someone’s private chef and it’s not even in Wiltspoon—it’s in some other city.”Serenity’s eyes lit up and she asked, “Mom, is it possible that the family of the girl Nana’s looking to matchmake Austin with needs a chef, and he’s using this opportunity to get closer to her? Do you know who Nana picked out for him?”Tania was taken aback for a moment before she sai
Tania hurriedly said, “Seren, you have to stay cheerful. If Zachary dares to anger you, just let me know and I’ll teach him a lesson.“Right now, your mood comes first.”Her pregnant daughter-in-law was more important than her son.The child in Serenity’s belly was her much-anticipated grandchild. It did not matter if it was going to be a boy or a girl—she and Liam’s first grandchild would hold a special place in their hearts.Now, Tania could understand how her mother-in-law felt about Zachary.It was natural for Grandma May to favor Zachary the most, him being her first grandchild and the first of his generation.“Mom, Zachary and I haven’t argued in a long time. He doesn’t even say a single negative word to me now.”Serenity laughed. “So you don’t have to worry.”When they had just gotten married, they tended to fight often because there were no feelings between them to work off on, and because Zachary held some misconceptions about her, thinking that she held ulterior motiv
Tania had wholeheartedly accepted Serenity as her daughter-in-law. In the future, she would teach her the internal workings of the York family. Once she handed all the responsibilities to her, she could retire. Serenity was a willing and earnest learner, motivated and ambitious. In that sense, she was a good match for Zachary, who was also ambitious. More importantly, Tania felt Zachary was utterly smitten with Serenity. She had no choice but to accept Serenity for her son’s sake. As long as Zachary was happy, Serenity’s inferior background did not matter. Besides, they had found out that Serenity was a descendant of the Fisher family of Jensburg. That was good enough. Back in its prime, the Fisher family had been on par with the York family. Moreover, Serenity’s aunt was the Stone family’s missus. Liberty was also working hard to back Serenity up. Tania admired Serenity and Liberty’s mindset. The higher society could say whatever they wanted. Tania would simply ignor
Tania’s mood got better after chatting with Serenity. She would take Serenity’s advice. Her sons were adults. She would just let them do as they wished. Austin was taking on a legitimate job. Besides, his business was stable. Becoming a personal chef would not affect his business anyway. Considering that Austin could be cooking for his future wife, Tania no longer saw the need to stop him. “I’ve come round, Seren. I’m not angry anymore. Let’s go downstairs to check on Sonny.”Tania got up and Serenity went downstairs with her. Sam was watching an animation with Sonny, who was engrossed in the show. When Sam heard the sound of footsteps, he stood up. “Aunt Ser.”Sonny stopped watching the TV when he spotted Serenity. He immediately ran toward her and Tania. He greeted Tania enthusiastically too. Tania lifted him and asked if he was happy in preschool. Sonny answered every question. He even told her many interesting stories that occurred in preschool and made he
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