A few ladies gathered in the lavish living area. They conversed with polite smiles plastered on their faces. Born with a silver spoon and married into another wealthy family, they have lived in luxury and every action was infused with elegance. Carrie was led into the manor where she greeted Mrs. House and had small talks with. It was her first public appearance as Mrs. Longbottom. Everyone barely knew her. Carrie was quick-witted enough to mingle with other guests and initiate conversations. In the past, she had attended many banquets with Paige and acquainted herself with quite a few madams and young ladies. Although she was Mrs. Longbottom now, she could still interact with people she recognized. Since they did not know she was Carrie, she could use it to her advantage and carry the conversations based on their preferences so as to get along with them. After Camryn entered, she sat beside Rosella instead of approaching Carrie. Rosella glanced at Carrie, who was engag
Rosella only withdrew her gaze once Camryn was with Tasha.Her good friend said of her, “Your daughter-in-law seems very precious to you. She’s only a couple of feet away. Are you that afraid she’ll fall or something?”Rosella laughed. “She’s precious, alright. To the Yorks, all daughters-in-law are treasures that deserve to be doted on and cherished by the whole family.“My boy Callum only got married when he turned thirty. It wasn’t easy, and I only have one daughter-in-law now, so it’s natural to pamper her and treat her like a precious person.” Rosella made no secret of her satisfaction and love for her daughter-in-law.Her friend laughed. “The men of your family are famous for pampering their wives a lot and the women are famous for doting on their daughters-in-law. I don’t have any daughters, but if I did, I would do anything to latch onto you guys and become your in-laws.“This is your daughter-in-law’s first public appearance at a gathering like this, but she’s not shy a
Camryn politely refused the glass of red wine. “I still have to take medication daily, so I can’t drink. I have to mind my diet too.”“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”Tasha hurriedly apologized. “I’ll drink it, then.”“Tasha, you’re being such a suck-up.”Sally’s slightly nasally voice cut in.She still could not suppress the envy she felt for Camryn. When she saw the two sitting together and eating, she walked over to them with a glass of red wine in hand and happened to hear the exchange.Her acerbic words did not seem to have been filtered through her brain before being said.“You can’t drink, Ms. Newman? How do you usually network and strike deals, then? You can’t be relying on your looks.“Oh, that’s right. Ms. Newman has a good figure, good looks, and she's so gentle. Men would melt at the very sight—there aren’t any deals that can’t be cinched then.”The moment Sally finished speaking, Camryn and Tasha splashed their red wine at Sally almost at the same time.Sally did not
“Which part was slander? If you can’t drink alcohol while networking and talking business, the reason you manage to strike any deals has to be due to your beauty and your good figure. Callum might have already been cuckolded tons of times over by marrying you.”“Whoever said that you had to drink alcohol when you network and talk business?”Carrie hurriedly took the chance to rebut Sally.“Ms. Abrams is truly dirty-minded. Is it because you rely on your beauty and your body to strike deals?“Don’t assume that everyone would stoop as low as you would.”“Who are you?” Sally questioned Carrie.Carrie sneered, “Who cares who I am? Your mouth is just filthy.”She handed the glass of red wine she was holding to Camryn and said, “Mrs. York, here. Have another glass. Help Ms. Abrams wash her filthy mouth out.”Camryn took the glass and hurled it at Sally once more.She said coldly, “Everyone here has heard it. It’s Ms. Abrams who has insulted me, slandered me, and smeared my reputatio
What madness had gotten into Sally to make such sarcastic remarks about Camryn and insult her?At the Houses’ banquet, where all three York madams were present, she actually insulted Camryn, spread lewd rumors about her, and smeared her reputation.Just by the stares she was getting now, she already wished she could burrow herself into a hole in the ground, let alone when Callum came looking for her to settle the score if the nonsense she spouted was to get out.She had just had a few glasses of wine and seeing Tasha and Camryn chatting away happily, she could not resist going over to them to cause a scene. She had had a crush on Callum, which made her incredibly jealous of Camryn. Then, her sarcastic remarks just started flying.She had overlooked one thing—Camryn had not come alone.Camryn was not just the eldest daughter of the Newmans—she was also Callum’s wife.Callum was just like Zachary, in that they doted on their wives tremendously. Camryn was his precious, beloved wife
If, however, words of what Sally said got out, Camryn would absolutely bring the hammer of the law down on her to demand justice and have Sally suffer the consequences of her actions.If anyone else wanted to get sued by her, they could say whatever they wanted. She would come after them with all she had.Sally looked at her mother, who gave her another glare.Nina said to her daughter, “Heard that? She’s being so generous that she’s willing to let the matter be for now. That’s out of the kindness of her heart. You can’t relax and not learn your lesson just because she’s being kind and is letting you go for now.“Your baseless rumors are not just harmful to others, but also to yourself.“You’ll drag us, your parents, down with you too. You’re my daughter. People will not just talk about you now that you’ve said such outrageous things—they’ll talk about how we have failed to educate you and raised a rumor-mongering, liar of a daughter too.“But it is indeed a failure of mine to ed
Camryn had always been the embodiment of strength and endurance. Everyone felt that it was simply ridiculous and that Sally had been loose-tongued and was such a liar when she made up such lies about Camryn.If not for Nina rushing over to discipline her daughter and if Sally had been allowed to continue raging drunkenly, no one knew how far things would have gone.The crowd also only found out now that Sally had targeted Camryn because she had a crush on Callum.However, they had never heard anything about the Abrams’ daughter pursuing Callum.It was just a crush all along.No wonder she targeted Camryn—it was because she was jealous.“I’m really, really sorry, Mrs. York. I’ve failed to adequately educate my daughter. Tomorrow, I will bring her with me to visit you to make amends.”Nina once again apologized to Camryn after Sally sincerely apologized.She then said to the onlookers, “What my daughter said just now was all baseless. It was all nonsense that she made up because
The damage you inflicted could easily backfire on you later on.Even if you did not suffer the backlash, you would have a record and your life would be blemished if you were convicted.The onlookers soon dispersed.Everyone resumed drinking, chatting happily as if nothing had ever happened. Knowing now that her daughter-in-law was not a pushover and would retaliate immediately after being insulted, Rosella felt much more at ease.Mrs. House invited the madams into her parlor.Once the York madams left, Carrie approached Camryn and politely asked, “Hello, Mrs. York, Ms. House. May I sit with you?”“Of course, Mrs. Longbottom.”Tasha had a positive impression of Mrs. Longbottom because she spoke up for Camryn earlier.It was also easier for young people to mix with other young people.Although Mrs. Longbottom was married, she was very young and had no topics in common with the other madams at the gathering.Camryn thanked Carrie politely. “I’m still on medication, so I can’t
Camryn smiled, “You spoil me too much. You’ll turn me into an absolute sloth who only waits around for you to take care of me, and it might tire you out.”“That won’t happen. I enjoy taking care of you,” Callum assured as he reached to help her with the snacks, but she would not let him feed her anymore. Callum had no choice but to hand her the snacks.“Although Trenton is young, he has mettle. When we put his parents away, it was hard for him to accept, but in the end, he did. As long as he has the right values, even the hardest things can be accepted over time and he won’t resent anyone else for it either.”Camryn pushed the snack box closer to her husband, indicating that he should have some too. “If Trenton didn’t have the right values, I wouldn’t care for him so much. Given the hurt and pain I suffered during the twenty-odd years under his parents, if I hated them, they’d have nothing to say in defense.“Because Trenton has treated me well since he was little, respects me as
Just now, Carrie came here and made a scene, and he had given her fifty thousand dollars. Although he had not spent much time with her, they were siblings. He could at the very least still recognize her. However, when Camryn asked him that, Trenton's heart started to race, not daring to confidently say that the lady really was Carrie.As for the young lady beside her? He had watched the video a few times but had not paid much attention to her. All he could see was a beautiful, young woman dressed in luxurious attire. In the video, he heard Camryn refer to her as Mrs. Longbottom, so her husband’s family name had to be Longbottom.Mrs. Longbottom had a good attitude toward Camryn and even supported her. He was not familiar with Mrs. Longbottom at all, though. Why did Camryn ask him that? Should he know her? Trenton watched the video two more times but could not find anything unusual about her. It was just that he was not acquainted with Mrs. Longbottom. If he had not seen the video,
The young couple looked at Trenton, then exchanged smiles.“How much did you give Carrie?” Camryn asked her brother gently. Camryn could harden her heart to completely ignore Carrie and not give her a single cent, but Trenton could not be as ruthless as she was, mainly because while Carrie had not been particularly kind to Trenton, she also had not bullied him outright. She had treated Camryn very poorly though and had never shown her any respect at all, so their sisterly bond had deteriorated to the extreme. It was already generous of Camryn not to completely destroy Carrie after taking charge, which was probably out of consideration for the fact that they shared a mother.“I-I gave her fifty thousand. She said it was almost Christmas, and she wanted to buy gifts and new clothes, so I-I gave her fifty thousand.” Trenton looked down as he spoke, not daring to look at Camryn, afraid she would scold him.Camryn gave her brother a long look but did not scold him. Instead, she took o
Callum was silent for a moment before he said, “I wanted you to get familiar with the route to my office, which is why I asked you to deliver the flowers yourself.”“Did you ever think about how difficult it was for me as a blind person? It was so hard for me to walk all the way to deliver those flowers,” Camryn retorted.Callum pulled her into an embrace and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, Camryn. It was my fault for not thinking it through, which put you through a lot.”Camryn pushed him away, “We have customers constantly coming in. Don’t just hug me out of nowhere. You’re as thick-skinned as a rhinoceros, but I’m not. At that time, I was angry and silently cursed you a hundred thousand times, but your insistence actually did help me learn the way to your office and now, I can find my way there even with my eyes closed.”At that moment, Trenton returned. After Carrie left, he felt a bit down and stayed outside for a while to compose himself before coming back in. He did not wan
Just then, a customer came in wanting to buy a bouquet. Camryn first brought over some sample pictures for the customer to choose from. “No need to choose, just help me arrange a bouquet of roses. I’m going to confess my feelings,” said the young boy, a hint of shyness on his face as he spoke.Camryn smiled gently. “Alright, please wait a moment while I prepare it for you.”Callum assisted by inviting the young boy to sit down and poured him a glass of water.The boy glanced between Camryn and Callum and quietly asked, “Are you and the boss married or dating?”“We’re married. She’s my wife.”The boy expressed his envy. “You both seem very happy.”“Yeah, we are very happy. I love my wife very much, and she loves me too.”Thinking about the girl he was pursuing, the boy’s face lit up with anticipation. “I also have someone I like, and I’m going to confess to her, though I just don’t know if she feels the same. I’m a bit nervous.”Callum, drawing from his own experience, advised
“She hasn’t paid. Stop her.” Camryn was not going to let her get away with it. With a command, her two bodyguards stopped Carrie.Carrie said furiously, “Camryn, I only took a few flowers from you! You have so many flowers here. What's the big deal if I take a few? You still want me to pay? I’m your sister! Don’t you know that blood is thicker than water?!”“Blood might be thicker than water, but business is business. Anyone who buys flowers from me has to pay, including you. Besides, you’ve never treated me like an older sister. You always bring up how we’re sisters when you want to take advantage of me, but that won’t work here. My roses are freshly transported, and since you’re my sister, I’ll let you have them for twenty bucks each. You took about five stems, so just give me a hundred. I won’t rip you off.”Carrie’s expression changed in an instant. “Camryn, why don’t you just rob a bank? You’re charging twenty bucks each? You’re just a thief! Here! I don’t want them! I’d rather
“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