Sonny asked Serenity. Serenity smiled. “I did. Don’t worry. I won’t let you detour. Duncan even came to pick you up to save time. Let’s go. Your mom is waiting for you two in Jensburg.”Sonny told Duncan happily, “We should leave now, Dunc. Let’s not make Mom wait.”Duncan adjusted Sonny to sit on his lap and replied, “Okay. Let’s go now.”He gestured at his bodyguard to push his wheelchair. Of course, a private plane could not take off from a preschool. He still had to take Sonny to the airport.“Are you hungry, Sonny?” Duncan asked. “I had some snacks in school.”The preschool always prepared some small bites for the kids during break time. Sonny knew he was about to go on a trip, so he ate a lot of them. He did not feel hungry at all as his stomach was filled. Duncan smiled. “We can have some food in the car or on the airplane if you’re hungry. We’ll have dinner with your mom when we arrive.”“Okay.”Duncan prepared a lot of food and drinks for Sonny so he would not
More importantly, during one of his visits, Granddad kept sighing whenever he saw him. Grandmom would keep telling him to tell Mom to remarry Dad when he goes back. However, Sonny was still young. He did not know what remarrying meant. Olivia had explained it to Sonny as having his parents live together again. Sonny shook his head vigorously at that. He said he liked living with Liberty and did not want to be with Hank. Moreover, Lucas was always in Hank’s house. He still liked to snatch Sonny’s toys. While Sonny’s grandparents would not side with Lucas anymore, Chelsea would scold him for not sharing his toys with Lucas despite having a lot of money and toys. She said he was petty and stingy. Chelsea even secretly asked him to give her money for her business. He replied that he had no money and that Liberty had kept all of it in the bank for him. Chelsea told Sonny off for being stupid and letting Liberty control his money instead of keeping it himself. Sonny’s dis
“Alright. See you, Sonny. Have a safe trip.”“See you, Aunt Ser.”Duncan placed Sonny in the car. Sonny turned to wave goodbye to Serenity before turning to look at his father. He pursed his little mouth and said, “Bye, Dad.”Hank smiled.Duncan left with Sonny and the bodyguards in tow.Meanwhile, Carrie took advantage of everyone’s lack of attention to slip away. Otherwise, her ruse would have been exposed.Those who were here to pick their kids up only had to pass their guardian card to the teacher and the teacher would then escort the little ones out.They did not have to wait very long.If she waited here any longer and still did not receive her so-called sister-in-law, it would arouse Serenity’s suspicion.Once Duncan’s car had vanished into the distance, Serenity returned to her car and quickly left the preschool.Only Hank stood in place, looking extremely lonely.He could feel his son was getting further away from him now.Sometimes, he thought of restarting the fi
After taking a look at the plants and flowers, Serenity sat back down on the sofa.Then, she took out her phone to text her sister.[Duncan’s taken Sonny to the airport. They’ll arrive at night.]Liberty soon called.“Liberty.”“I got a text from Duncan saying that they’ll reach the airport soon. I’ll wait for them to arrive to have dinner together.”On Fridays, Sonny got out of preschool early and it only took a few hours by flight to get to Jensburg from Wiltspoon. Liberty would be able to have dinner with the both of them upon their arrival if she ate just a little later.“Sonny told me his dad went to pick him up?” Liberty asked.“When I dropped Sonny off at preschool this morning, I bumped into Hank. He said he happened to be seeing a customer off somewhere nearby, so he dropped by the preschool to see Sonny, but Sonny had already entered the building.”Serenity did not believe Hank. “I think he was there on purpose. I think he got jealous when he saw Sonny and Duncan so
Serenity changed the subject.She did not want to talk about the Browns anymore.Liberty chuckled. “Do you think I have super speed or that I’m a goddess, able to handle everything in a flash?“The company’s only just been established. We’re still recruiting heavily.“There’s no need to worry about business though—I might have started the company, but in truth, it’s just a subsidiary of York Corporation. Zack and Duncan own all the shares. I’m just an employee.”The company that she started was involved in an industry overlapping with that of Fisher Enterprise, specifically targeting them. She was obviously trying to steal their business. Serenity laughed. “You’re not an employee, you’re the boss. Does your company offer meals and accommodation? You have a cafeteria, right? Don’t you need vegetables and fruits? Don’t forget to give your sister a chance to work together.”She and her friends had started an agriculture company growing fields after fields of fresh produce.They h
“You should leave Elisa enough time to go on dates.”Liberty chuckled. “Don’t be a slave driver and take up so much of her time that she doesn’t even have time to go on dates.”“I don’t! I’m handling the management of the headquarters, aren’t I? Elisa just needs to handle the new branches.“There are so many employees in the company too. She just needs to sign the agreements and hand everything else off to the management team to handle. It won’t affect her time to go on dates.”Liberty said supportively, “Alright. You guys should discuss and arrange it then. If there’s nothing else, Seren, I’ll hang up first. I have work to do and once I’m done with that, I’m heading to the airport to pick Sonny up.”“Alright. Go ahead. I’m just waiting for Zack in his office to get off work and go home together.”On Friday nights, Zachary generally refrained from attending events, instead choosing to go home and spend time with his wife.After the sisters ended their call, Serenity immediately
“He’s going on a trip and it’s to see his mom, so of course he’s excited.”This weekend was the one that Sonny looked forward to the most and was the happiest about.With Duncan taking the place of Hank as a father, it was essentially a family trip. It would be weird if Sonny was not happy about it.“Sonny didn’t even come to see me before leaving. He’ll be gone for two days… I’ll miss him.”Zachary grumbled about the little boy’s “heartlessness”.Serenity laughed. “If I weren’t delivering him his luggage, he wouldn’t have come to see me either, and would’ve just left with Duncan.“It saved time. Otherwise, it would have been really late by the time they got to Jensburg.“My sister’s still waiting to have dinner with them too.”Zachary rubbed her stomach and asked softly, “Has our Lil’ Bun been good?”“Lil’ Bun’s still too small to disturb me much. Once the baby’s grown a little bigger, I won’t be able to sit for long periods of time. If I do, the baby will feel uncomfortable
Zachary looked worried. “If you can’t manage it, then don’t. I’ll help you do it instead.“Seren, I want you to be carefree for the rest of your life.”Serenity touched his cheek.“Babe, every time I see you, I thank Nana for letting me marry such a wonderful man. I thank your family too for never looking down on me and never saying things like I’m not good enough for you to me.“I know—you’re so good to me and you don’t want to burden me.“But since I’ve married you and am now the eldest daughter-in-law of the York family, I must bear the responsibility that falls on me. I can’t run from it, and neither will I refuse to bear it.“Plus, you’re already so busy. How could I make you do it instead?”Serenity said confidently, “I can surely do everything well.“I won’t complain, either. You know how dedicated I am.”Zachary gazed at her deeply.He hugged her tightly for a long moment before letting her go.“It’ll be easy once you’re familiar with it. Like my mom—she’s been manag
The night passed peacefully.The next morning, Dylan woke up. He had been woken by the heat.The room was heated, and he had bundled himself up tightly before going to sleep. By midnight, he had started sweating, but he continued to sleep, so by morning, he was feeling too hot and woke up.“Imogen…” He instinctively called out her name.His voice was still hoarse, but it was much better than yesterday. When he received no answer, he remembered that Imogen had gone home last night. He was alone in the hospital.Late last night, his mother had called him, but only to laugh at him.Now, all alone, in a strange place, and sick, Dylan felt just a tiny bit homesick. It was much more comfortable at Wildridge Manor, after all. When all the York boys were home, it was lively and warm. There was his nana to fuss over him, and even though his parents liked to make jabs at him, they still cared deeply for him.It felt boring at home, but once he left, he realized how warm home really was.
Sasha chimed in, “Exactly. It’s fine to laugh in front of us, but you laughed so loudly on the call too. Dylan is hurt both physically and emotionally, and no one is comforting him.”Rosella responded, “But Imogen is there to take care of him. She’ll comfort him.”Sasha sighed. “It’s so late now. Imogen needs to go back and rest, doesn’t she? Dylan hasn’t even won her over yet, so how could Imogen stay the entire night in the hospital with him?”Grandma May laughed, “You ladies know it’s late too, so why aren’t you three going back to your rooms to rest? Fortunately, the rooms are big enough that we can all chat here without disturbing anyone.“Remember, we’re guests. We mustn’t disturb the rest of the Johnsons just because we’ve come.”The three sisters-in-law glanced at the clock. It was almost midnight.As the eldest sister-in-law, Tania led the way. She stood up and said to Grandma May, “Mom, we’ll head back to rest now. Tomorrow, let’s go out and walk around.”The scenery a
“Mom, I’m your real son!”“If you weren’t, I wouldn’t even bother with you and don’t even want to make this call.”Rosella added, “Alright, now that I know you’re fine, I can relax. Be good to Imogen, she’s a really good girl. I like her a lot. I hope you can get together this year.“Once you’re finally not single anymore, it should be about time for your younger brother to start dating too. Once all three of you are out of the bachelor’s club, all I have to do is wait for my first grandchild to be born.“I’ve saved up a lot of money for both your weddings, though honestly, I don’t think you’ll need it. You all are capable enough to make your own money to get married, so the money I saved for you can go toward my granddaughter instead.“I don’t even know if I’ll be fortunate enough to have a granddaughter.” Rosella sighed. “After seeing little Clo-clo, I finally understand why your nana is so fixated on her and wants to kidnap her. “That kid is so cute. She’s pretty, adorable,
Imogen had been really worried that Dylan’s reaction to the chili peppers would leave him suffering for several days.“Okay,” Dylan hoarsely replied.Imogen let him eat the porridge by himself. There was nothing else to go with it, but the porridge had a little bit of salt sprinkled in, giving it some flavor.Dylan was hungry, so he quickly finished the bowl of oatmeal porridge. “Do you want more? There’s another bowl’s worth in the thermos.”Dylan shook his head. It was late, and he did not want to eat too much, afraid of gaining weight and ruining his good physique. He still had not won over his future wife, so he had to take care of his figure and maintain his handsome and charming look.Once Dylan finished the IV fluids and took his medicine, Imogen finally left the hospital around ten o’clock. Having slept twice in the day, Dylan was not able to fall asleep again, and Imogen did not let him accompany her downstairs, so he stood by the window and watched her walk out of th
A few minutes later, Imogen took the thermometer from under Dylan’s arm and looked at it. She said to him, “It’s 100.4. Your fever hasn’t completely gone down yet, but compared to when you were admitted at 103.64, it’s come down quite a bit.“What time did you take your medicine? It should be time for your next dose.”Dylan shook his head, indicating that he did not remember when he had taken the medicine.Imogen thought for a moment and said, “I think it’s about time. Take your medicine first, then sleep for a while. I’ll have dinner brought over for you. In your condition, you can only have something light, maybe some oatmeal porridge.”Considering Dylan’s sore throat, Imogen knew he would not be able to eat much, so she called home and asked the housekeeper to bring over dinner, specifically requesting a bowl of oatmeal porridge for Dylan.Dylan could only nod in response.After giving instructions to her housekeeper, Imogen looked at Dylan, who could only nod, and said, “The
Kade had once been so gentle and kind. Was he really that kind of person?Imogen did not believe so.It was possible that the Butcher elders were simply being too pragmatic. Seeing that Maria’s family was on the verge of decline, they thought that Maria was not worthy of Kade and tried to stop them from being together.But wait—Maria said that Kade had never told her he loved her or anything of the sort. Maria had basically been secretly in love with Kade, waiting for him to confess, but she had waited in vain all this time.Imogen internally sighed. What a mess. She could not understand what was the problem between them. She would just have to wait until Kade came back, and then she would find a chance to get some answers from him. “Imogen…” A hoarse voice called out from within the room. It was not very loud; he could not speak loudly. Though it was better than this morning when all he could get out were moans.He had received several bags of IV fluids, which had had some eff
Imogen did not know that Dylan had woken up. She was still on the phone with Maria outside.Maria felt reassured when Imogen mentioned that the person she liked was a member of the richest family in Wiltspoon. All was good as long as he was not a social climber. Imogen asked, “Maria, when are you coming back? It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other. Kade will be back soon. Are you really not coming back?“Maria, Kade and I are like siblings. Please don’t misunderstand or overthink it. Actually, you should know this—the person Kade likes is you. You two are the real childhood sweethearts, you grew up together.”Imogen and her mother’s godchildren had known each other since they were young, but the three of them had not actually spent much time together as she had always stayed with her master while she learned the trade, only returning home during the summer and winter holidays.Once the holidays ended, she would leave again. Even her formal education was completed in th
There were so many other possible choices. Why were they so fixated on him?Leticia sighed. “Alright, just pretend I never said that. You youngsters will decide for yourselves anyway, we don’t have a say in it. Remember to fetch Kade from the airport on Saturday.“I’ve already told him and he knows you’re supposed to be picking him up. And remember to get some flowers too. You two haven’t met in ages and you should give flowers at a reunion.” She reminded Imogen.“Mom, I can pick him up, fine, but I’m not giving him flowers. Who said you’re supposed to give flowers at a reunion?” Imogen refused to give Kade flowers when fetching him from the airport. “Oh, Mom, I gotta go. Bye!”Imogen quickly hung up, not allowing her mother the chance to speak further. Then, after a moment of thought, she texted Kade to ask when he was expected to arrive at Huntington Airport.It took a while before Kade replied that he would arrive around eleven in the morning on Saturday.Imogen replied wi
“I know you only view Kade as a brother, but who knows, if you nurture the relationship, those feelings might turn romantic? Jen, before you agree to be with Dylan, give yourself another option.“Make Dylan nervous. He’ll get jealous. He was jealous when he overheard our conversation that day.“You need to make him realize that even without him, you can still marry well. The Butchers like you a lot, and our families have a close relationship. You and Kade have known each other since you were young, so you guys could be considered childhood sweethearts.”Imogen said weakly, “Mom, I’m worried that if I get too close to Kade, not only will Dylan misunderstand, but even Maria might misunderstand. Kade and she are a thing, after all.“I really don’t understand what’s going on with Kade. He and Maria clearly have feelings for each other, they just haven’t made it official yet. Don’t their families see this?”She did not have any romantic feelings for Kade, but both families were trying