“I’ll leave you to your work then.” Grandma May did not take up too much of her grandson’s time.After the phone call, Zachary put his phone on the desk and leaned back against his black swivel chair while resting his right elbow against the arm of the chair for his hand to brush his chin. His chin felt prickly. It was time to shave. Elisa and his wife were getting on well. Should he figure out a way to wreck their relationship? The girls would become best friends at this rate. Elisa was bound to find out that Serenity was her love rival when Zachary spilled the beans to Serenity about his identity. Rage would drive Elisa to take it out on Serenity since the former would not be able to let it go. With Zachary around, he would not allow Elisa to harm Serenity. Zachary contemplated for a while before giving up on that thought. He was not someone who could not protect his wife. Why should he be scared of Elisa? The girls should bond as they liked. It would only do Serenit
“Your husband's going to reject you for being fat and ugly. You’ll have something to cry about when he finds a young and beautiful woman.” The words hit Liberty hard. She was in a hurry to find a job because her husband had found her repulsive and cheated on her. That was why Liberty lowered her standards and applied for a clerical position, so she would have the chance to win custody of her son. It never occurred to Liberty that she would face rejection and humiliation here. “Call me a fat cow one more time!” The interviewer walked around the table, shoved Liberty and chanted, “Fat cow! Fat cow! I won't stop. So get out, fat cow!” For once, Liberty’s larger frame was to her advantage. She planted her feet on the ground. The interviewer had a hard time pushing her out of the door. “Apologize! I’m not leaving until you apologize.” Livid, the interviewer turned back to her desk and picked up her phone and called security. Two guards soon arrived. Men naturally had more st
“This is your company?” Liberty had no doubts that this was Duncan’s company after pulling herself out of the shock. The company’s name was Lewis & Co. after all. Zachary mentioned that Mr. Lewis was an important client of his company. It never crossed Liberty’s mind that Duncan was the CEO of Lewis & Co. Liberty was still in the working scene when Lewis & Co. was on the rise, so she knew what the company was made of. However, she had never connected the dots between Duncan and the CEO of Lewis & Co. “Mr. Lewis, I don’t want to make a scene. I came for the interview, but your interviewer said the way I carry myself doesn’t befit the company’s image. I asked for the reason, and she told me I'm overweight and proceeded to shame me. I was furious and put her down for that. She then called me a fat cow and told me to get lost. “Lewis & Co. is one of the biggest companies here in Wiltspoon. I always thought the employees of your company would have class. I’m surprised to find othe
Duncan’s words drained the color off Ms. Chaplin’s face.Without the guts to defend herself, Ms. Chaplin responded, “I’m sorry, sir. I won’t do it again.” She then approached Liberty and said apologetically, “Ms. Hunt, I’m sorry for judging you by your appearance and insulting you. Please forgive me.” Now that Liberty had cooled down, she replied embarrassedly, “I was at fault too, Ms. Chaplin. I should’ve watched my tone. Please forgive me for making you mad.” After the pair exchanged apologies, Ms. Chaplin asked when Liberty could start work. With a job secured, Liberty was overjoyed. She was grinning from ear to ear when she said, “I can start work anytime.” “Come tomorrow then.” “Alright. Thank you, Ms. Chaplin. Thank you, Mr. Lewis.” Liberty expressed her gratitude and happily walked out with her resume. “Liberty,” Duncan called out to her. Liberty stopped and turned around to face him with a smile. “Do you need anything, Mr. Lewis?” “You start tomorrow, right
Once Duncan and Liberty were gone, everybody around started to speculate how their CEO might have met Liberty. It appeared their CEO was watching out for Liberty. “Could she be the CEO’s relative?” “No, I don’t think so. Didn’t you hear the woman addressing the CEO as Mr. Lewis? They must've met before, but I guess they’re not very close.” “Do you think our CEO has a crush on her? He’s thirty-five this year, but he doesn’t have a girlfriend.”Duncan was a young and promising CEO, but the scar on his face together with his towering and muscular build and penetrating eyes gave the impression that he was with the mafia. That was the reason he did not have a girlfriend despite being in his mid-thirties. Everybody turned their attention to the person who pointed that out. Ms. Chaplin smacked the back of the person’s head and replied, “What’s in that head of yours? I can’t believe you’d think that. As a woman, I’m disgusted by her looks. I’m sure you men feel the same.“All Mr.
However, Serenity’s words left Zachary dumbfounded. It was not like he could argue since he forbade her from entering his bedroom in the first place. Similarly, he was not allowed inside hers. Once more, Zachary believed the agreement he signed was restricting himself instead. He would never dream that he would be the first to be tempted to break the contract. Zachary wondered if he could back out of it. Where did she hide the agreement? Should he steal and destroy the contract when she was not at home? It was simply a fleeting thought that Zachary quickly quashed. The Great Zachary York would never do such a brazen act. “What an adorable dog.” Running her fingers down the dog’s fur, Jasmine could not get enough of the dog’s cuteness. Zachary had a good eye. He picked out the most adorable dog and kittens. Sonny fought to get down on the ground. He did not want Zachary to hold him as he wanted to play with the doggie. Serenity pulled out her phone to take pict
“You’re here too, Zachary.” Seeing that her brother-in-law was around, Liberty smiled at Zachary before picking up her son. Liberty smooched her son’s cheeks a few times until the little man was tickled pink. “Liberty,” Zachary greeted his sister-in-law.“Huh? Where did these cats and a dog come from? They’re so cute!” Liberty noticed the new members in the shop after kissing her son. “Zachary gave them to me. Liberty, did you find a job?” It had been quite some time since Serenity saw Liberty so elated as she did when she came in. Liberty first praised the pets Zachary bought before answering her sister, “I got a job. It was unexpected. I didn’t think I’d bump into someone I know. Seren, do you know where I’ll be working?“It’s Lewis & Co.” Serenity did not pay much attention to the major corporations in town. She only recognized York Corporation, the most well-known company in the city because her best friend would not stop talking about the heir. She became more famili
Zachary turned his head back and looked at Serenity who was focused on carrying two dishes. Zachary quickly glanced at the food. It was a plate of greens and another plate of seafood. This was the seafood Elisa gave Serenity. He took large strides over and grabbed the plates from Serenity’s hands. “Since I’m here, I’ll take the dishes out. You won’t have to travel back and forth.” “Thank you, Mr. York.” Instead of leaving, Zachary stopped in his tracks and looked back at her. “What’s the matter?” Serenity picked up another two dishes after Zachary took over the first two. With his dark eyes staring straight at her, Serenity was puzzled and lowered her gaze to her clothes to see if they were stained. “Can you… not call me Mr. York?” Zachary voiced his displeasure. It was best to come clean with Serenity about his thoughts as Serenity was in no mood nor did she have the time to guess what was on his mind. She abided by the agreement. “What should I call you then?”
“If Mom said she would create an opportunity for you to get with the king, would you really believe her? It’s just talk—nothing actually happened.” Trenton could not resist poking Carrie’s forehead a few times. “Carrie, can you please come back to earth? In your current state, forget about finding a great guy like Callum—even a regular, decent guy would be turned off by you.”Carrie swatted away her brother’s fingers, irritated and embarrassed. “Am I really that bad? I’m young, beautiful, have a great figure, and a dignified heiress. If the monarchy still existed, I could marry the king and be his queen without a problem.”“Carrie, you have sky-high ambitions, but be careful, don’t fly too close to the sun and end up like Icarus.”As soon as he said that, Trenton was met with a smack from his sister.“Is there a brother who curses his own sister like that? What do you mean by that? I’m destined to have the princess life. I’ll be fine.”However, deep down, she was still worried bec
Camryn was right—he was just too soft-hearted. If he were as ruthless as her, Carrie would have found a job long ago after running out of money.To encourage Carrie to become independent, Trenton decided that after Christmas, he would stop giving her living expenses. He would also tell their parents during his visit to prison that Carrie was truly hopeless.“Trenton, you keep siding with her, and one day you'll regret it. She’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing who has deceived who knows how many people. Do you really think she cares about you? She just wants to win your complete trust to take everything that belongs to you for herself. By driving us out of our home, she’s not only seeking revenge on Mom and Dad but also on us—especially you. She’s just pretending to be nice to you to sow discord between us siblings.”“Carrie!” Trenton said seriously, “Don’t talk about Camryn like that. She’s not that kind of person. I believe in her, one hundred percent.”Carrie was so furious she wanted
“Alright, alright, I can't win with the two of you against one,” Carrie sulked. “Give me money to spend. I'm out of money.”She reached out her hand toward Camryn, wanting her to give her money. Camryn slapped her hand away. “Even Trenton knows to take advantage of the winter break to find a part-time job and earn some pocket money. You’re perfectly capable, yet you don’t look for a job.“To put it bluntly, if you’ve gone to sweep the streets, you'd still have a source of income. I have money, but I won’t give it to you. Don’t think that just because we’re sisters—estranged, too, at that—I have an obligation to support my adult sister. I’ve said it before: if you want money to spend, earn it yourself.” With that, Camryn walked away to tend to her plants.As Christmas approached, the flower market was bustling. Every day, many people came to buy flowers, and all her employees were out delivering flowers to clients. Sometimes, when it got too busy, she even had to ask her two bodyguar
Trenton was relieved that Dalton was indebted to Camryn. That was why Dalton had been loyal to Newman Enterprise.If Newman Enterprise did not fall into Camryn’s hands, there was no doubt that Dalton would leave the company. If that happened, the company was doomed.When his parents went to prison, he was merely 18, and Carrie only knew how to spend money. Not only that, their relatives were hungry to get a share of the Newman family’s assets. He and Carrie could not have protected their family’s wealth alone.After Camryn regained her sight, she still could not strain her eyes for long hours. Therefore, Dalton remained in charge of the company.Luckily, they had Callum as well. Even if anything were to happen, Callum would not leave Newman Enterprise to fall because many of the Newman family’s assets belonged to Camryn.He would not let Camryn lose anything.“You’ve been brainwashed by Dalton after working with him. Our dad treated him well and trusted him, yet Dalton betrayed
Camryn said, “She’s just using her lack of money as an excuse to start a fight with me.“Do you really think she has no money?”Carrie had somehow become Mrs. Longbottom yet she was still hiding her identity. Camryn had not understood the entire situation yet.Nevertheless, she was certain that Carrie did not need money.After she spoke, a familiar car arrived.It was the car Carrie had always used in the past.When she returned to the Newman family’s villa after getting out of prison, she only drove that car. She could not take other cars. The cars were still parked in the garage. “Come out, Camryn.”Carrie had gotten out of the car and started shouting for Camryn.When the York family’s bodyguards saw her, they simply glanced at her and did not stop her from entering the store. They knew Camryn had always been lenient with her younger sister.Since Camryn did not give any orders to stop Carrie from entering, the bodyguards simply kept an eye on Carrie to ensure that sh
“I want to go to Spring Blossoms as Carrie,” she told the bodyguard who was driving. “Your sister’s people are keeping an eye on your apartment. She’ll get suspicious again if you head over in your outfit. Everything Mr. Longbottom arranged will go to waste,” the bodyguard reminded her.Carrie thought it over. “Okay. Let’s head home first. I’ll change my clothes and remove my makeup before heading over.”She would also check if her stand-in had damaged any of her stuff.If she did, Carrie would tell the stand-in to compensate her.The bodyguard remained silent.Once they arrived at Longbottom Villa, Carrie took off her hyper-realistic mask and removed her makeup. After changing her clothes, she returned to being Carrie and went out with her bag.Her two bodyguards did not stop her from leaving.She could do anything as long as it would not rouse Camryn and other people’s suspicions.Besides, Carrie had just gotten scolded by their boss on the phone. Although Mr. Longbottom
Mr. Longbottom thought he was not so inferior to men younger than him.More accurately, he was far superior. He had status, money, and power.Which of the younger men could be on par with him unless they came from a wealthy family?Many sons of wealthy families could not compete with him.“I can’t go over because I’m busy these days. But I do miss you too.“It’s more difficult because of the festive season. There are many events, and I have to accompany my family. My wife doesn't care about me, but her request is that I be with her during the holidays because we have to meet our friends and families. Do you understand?”Mr. Longbottom had a wife and children. Carrie knew about it. He had never hid that fact.Carrie did not know if he was close to his wife. Although he said they no longer had feelings for each other, Carrie dared not believe him because he had never let other women take his wife’s place.He also never allowed other women to become pregnant with his children.Mr
Carrie thought she had matured since she could figure out that much. In the past, she would not have understood a thing. Love was about accepting everything about someone. Most people could tolerate their partner’s shortcomings when they were deeply in love. However, without love, even a person’s strength would seem like a fault. Carrie smiled. “Mr. York is a workaholic. Serenity must’ve gotten the habit from him and turned into one herself. I can’t believe she’s working so hard even though she’s pregnant.”“She’s still in the early stages of pregnancy. Going to work is fine.”“Do you need anything else, Mrs. Longbottom?” Jasmine asked.“No. I shall take my leave now, Mrs. Bucham.”Jasmine was on guard and unwilling to reveal much about Serenity. Therefore, it would be better for Carrie to leave. She was not close to Serenity and her friends yet. “Bye, Mrs. Longbottom.”Jasmine saw Carrie out and watched as she got into her car.Once Carrie got far enough from the booksto
Mr. Longbottom had been surprised by her question. He told her coldly that she should refrain from asking unnecessary questions.One who knew too much would not live long. Carrie got intimidated and dared not ask another question. Although she got more curious, she did not try to gather more information for fear Mr. Longbottom would choke her again if he found out. “Nothing. I just asked because I haven’t seen her in a while.”Of course, Carrie could not reveal that she was looking for Serenity. Jasmine would get suspicious if she did. No one around Serenity was a fool. “Seren is busy with work. I rarely see her these days,” Jasmine said.Carrie knew it was a lie. She was aware that Serenity's closest friends did not trust her yet. It made her feel defeated. It had been months since Mr. Longbottom found her and asked her to approach Serenity. Despite her efforts, she still had not obtained Serenity’s trust, let alone become her friend.However, Jasmine and Serenity go