Mr. Longbottom would not be able to inherit the Longbottom family’s wealth either. He could only be the acting head and manage the family, even if he was competent. When Laurence became an adult and returned with the family head’s seal and totem, Mr. Longbottom would be forced to hand over his position to Laurence. The Longbottom’s forces and connection would only be loyal to Laurence as well. Therefore, Mr. Longbottom had to get the seal and totem and kill Laurence before he turned older. That way, he could become the head of the family and command everyone. However, his trail of intel went cold just as he suspected Laurence was Jane’s adopted son. He could not obtain any information on Laurence anymore. It was as if FC Manor was a fortress. While Mr. Longbottom could penetrate their defenses, he did not want to offend the Johnsons and a powerful international secret organization backing them, the Imperial Force. Longbottoms were strong, but Mr. Longbottom was not its
“I’ll take note of everything you mentioned, Mr. Longbottom.”Carrie knew that Camryn would be wary ever since she saw her. Even if Serenity could not find any clues, Camryn would. They were biological sisters, after all. Camryn knew Carrie well, but the opposite was not true. That was why Camryn was able to trample over Carrie. Carrie feared that Trenton would not help her. She did not know what her younger brother was thinking. Trenton would not take her side. Meanwhile, Amy and Brenda had left Wiltspoon with her cousins. She was clueless as to where they went. Carrie had no one to rely on. That was also why Mr. Longbottom chose her to become his pawn. She even became his mistress. Mr. Longbottom took two pieces of paper from a drawer and handed them to Carrie. He said, “Read these and memorize everything on them. That way, nothing will go wrong during the banquet tomorrow night. You won’t make anyone suspect you.”Carrie accepted the papers. There were unfamiliar n
Having tasted poverty, Carrie had learned to always have a backup plan.She started saving the money Mr. Longbottom gave her.Even if they were to go separate ways in the future, she would have some savings instead of relying on Trenton to give her a few thousand dollars as allowance every month.“Mr. Longbottom, does the host of the banquet know who I am?”“They don’t know your true identity. I’ve arranged for a wife from a wealthy family in Wiltspoon to take you there. Remember, you’re Mrs. Longbottom, not Ms. Carrie Newman. Your husband’s family keeps a low profile, and you don’t know any of them.“If you meet someone you know, you must pretend to be a stranger.”Carrie nodded.Mr. Longbottom released her chin.“Follow me upstairs.”Carrie was momentarily stunned.She knew what he wanted to do, yet she had no way of resisting it or daring to do so. Therefore, she had no choice but to follow him upstairs.…Meanwhile, at Fortress Hotel in Jensburg, Liberty pushed Duncan o
Duncan said, “For you, I’ll keep going. I’m only handling important business now.“My brothers help me too. They won’t let me get exhausted.”Duncan added, “If it weren’t for you, I probably would’ve given up on myself and on recovering. I wouldn’t have been able to stand up for the rest of my life.”“Silly.”“I’m not silly. I just love you and Sonny a lot. Many people keep asking how I got attracted to you when you were a divorced woman who didn’t even look that pretty back then.”Duncan smiled. “Honestly, I don’t know either. I just fell in love with you. I don’t need to find out why.“Maybe your striving to be a better self and transformation brought me to you.“I like Sonny too. I didn’t really like kids because they’re noisy, but I adored Sonny since the first time I saw him.”Liberty grinned. “I know I got lucky because of my son.”Duncan cared about Liberty more because she was Sonny’s mom, and he liked Sonny. They gradually developed feelings for each other after int
“I’ll just buy one toy, Mom. Deal?”Sonny was trying to negotiate. “No. It’ll just add to the pile at home. You don’t even clean up after playing sometimes. I’m the one who has to put everything back.”Sonny quickly said, “I’ll clean up, Mom. I promise I’ll do it from now onward.”He did pack his toys most of the time. There were only a few times when he did not. “Didn’t you bring some toys with you?”Liberty would not agree to Sonny buying toys that easily. More importantly, he already had too many toys. Sonny pouted and said, “I want new ones. I can bring them back and give them to my little brother, Mom.”“Your little brother can’t play with those toys yet.”“Can I get alphabet tracing books, then?”Sonny settled for less. The toy store sold a large variety of books and stationery. Sonny had looked around the store before running back to his mother. Jim said he would buy anything Sonny liked. However, Sonny did not dare to accept Jim’s offer. He needed to ge
Liberty flicked Sonny’s forehead. “What are you talking about?”Sonny rubbed the spot she flicked and told Duncan, “It hurts, Dunc. Can you blow on it for me?”Duncan immediately blew the spot and soothed it with his hand. He said, “You shouldn’t flick Sonny’s forehead so often, Liberty. His intelligence might be affected.”“How can he possibly become stupid from a flick? If he does, maybe it’s because he isn’t a bright kid from the start.”“I’m smart. I’m not stupid.”Sonny made a face at his mother and quickly hid himself in Duncan’s embrace. Dunc would protect him. In the end, Duncan brought Sonny into the toy store. After entering the store, Sonny did not need Duncan to hold him anymore. He took a few books and returned to Liberty. He raised his head and asked, “I already chose my books, Mom. Can I buy toys now?”Despite Duncan saying he would buy the toys for him, Sonny still asked for Liberty’s permission. He would give up if she insisted on not letting him buy an
Now that Sonny had a new toy, he wanted to go back to the hotel to play with it.Liberty had not yet fully explored Jensburg at night and she said to her son, “Sonny, is it ok if we get Jim to bring you back to the hotel and play with you? Mommy and Dunc will walk around a bit longer.”Sonny agreed after a moment of thought.Thus, Jim brought Sonny back to the hotel.Liberty nudged Duncan to continue walking. In a way, it was a date.“Duncan, why don’t we go watch a movie? There’s a big theater nearby. I pretty much have to pass by it every day, but I’ve never had time to actually watch one.”That was exactly what Duncan wanted.He immediately asked his bodyguard to go ahead to buy tickets while he and Liberty slowly made their way over there.Around ten minutes later, the couple arrived at the entrance of the movie theater.His bodyguard had already bought the tickets and was waiting there. He had even bought a bunch of snacks so the couple could have small bites as they watc
Taking advantage of the inattention of the people surrounding them, Duncan pulled Liberty’s hand to his lips, kissing the back of her hand before dropping another kiss on her palm.Liberty quickly withdrew her hand, a hot flush on her face.It was dark in the movie theater and no one was looking at her, so no one saw her sudden blush.“Duncan, be serious,” she whispered in admonishment.Duncan was a rugged man who was also the bold type.When he flirted with her, he could easily make her blush.Before him, she was just like a young girl.Serenity said that her sister was experiencing her second youth.Duncan chuckled. “Alright, alright. I’ll be serious. It’s not like I actually did anything.“Liberty, in the future, when you want to relax, just let me know. It doesn’t matter if it’s to go shopping, watch a movie, or go traveling—no matter how busy I am, I’ll drop everything right away to go to you.“Work is important, but your happiness is more important.“It’s not like I ne