“Remember to take the pill every time in the future.”Mr. Longbottom said, “Otherwise, I can arrange for you to get your tubes tied.“That way, you won’t have to take contraceptives all the time. The side effects may be harmful.”Carrie said, “I’ll continue taking the pills.”She would not opt for tubal ligation. No matter how young or ignorant she was, she knew that she would lose the chance to be a mother after the procedure. Why did Mr. Longbottom not suggest he go for a vasectomy instead?If he had treasured her and been strict about birth control, she would not have gotten pregnant despite taking contraceptives or needed an abortion. Mr. Longbottom said, “Do as you wish.”It was not his body that would be harmed anyway. He would never let Carrie give birth to his child. He and his legitimate wife’s children were already adults. Successors were not an issue to him. While Mr. Longbottom had lost his love for his wife, he treated his children well and nurtured them at
“It’s all your fault, blind bitch. I wouldn’t have ended up in this situation if not for you.”Whenever things did not go well for Carrie, she would blame everything on Camryn. Her hatred toward Camryn deepened, and Serenity was not spared from her scolding as well.Meanwhile, Camryn sneezed. Callum heard her sneeze as he was exiting the bathroom. He quickly walked over and asked, “Did you catch a cold? Why didn’t you put on more layers after bathing?“You didn’t even turn on the heater. The weather’s cold now. You should turn it on.”Callum was about to turn on the heater as he spoke. Camryn said, “It’s not that cold that we need the heater on. You even shut the windows tightly. It’s not that cold.“Besides, I’m in my thermal wear under a duvet now. I’m not cold. It must’ve been Carrie scolding me behind my back.”Camryn did not feel chilly even when she attended the House family’s banquet in a dress. However, the heater was turned on throughout, so it was warm there. “I
Callum said, “I swear I didn’t flirt with anyone, honey.”“I know. I didn’t say you did. I said you’re a fine, handsome man who attracted countless ladies.“Men will stare at pretty girls or even fall in love with them at first sight when they spot one. Girls are no exception. They’re attracted to good-looking guys too.“Tasha introduced a few of her friends to me during the banquet. I dare say it was my first time seeing that girl, but she was unfriendly and even uttered rude remarks afterward.“I was puzzled. I’ve never offended her. Later, I found out that she likes you, and that I’m her rival.”Callum’s expression darkened. He asked, “Who is she, honey?”That person should have been grateful that Camryn was willing to greet her. How could that woman be rude to Camryn?Camryn pinched his face and said, “Don’t put on a dark expression once you hear something terrible. You’ve always been gentlemanly, but your cold expression can rival even Zachary’s.“I don’t like seeing you
Back then, Evelyn kept advising Camryn not to let Callum slip by.Even Trenton admired Callum and told her that Callum was utterly smitten with her. Trenton and Evelyn had persuaded her to accept Callum’s love. They also told her not to discount herself when Callum did not mind her blindness at all. Camryn was perfectly fine and there was no need to feel inferior. She knew Callum’s feelings for her were sincere but she was still blind then. An outstanding man like him could find a better girl, and he did not need to waste his efforts on a blind person. Later, Camryn discovered that he had traveled to FC Manor several times to get Dr. Carden to treat her eyes. He even received complaints from Tim for disturbing his wife, who had just given birth. Callum chuckled. “No one can snatch me away. I belong to you, and you are mine.“Nana chose you for me too.“To be honest, I thought Nana was biased for picking someone blind as my wife. I was a little narcissistic, thinking that
The following day, Camryn stirred from her sleep because of Callum’s piercing stare. She woke up because she felt someone staring at her. When she opened her eyes, she saw Callum’s dark eyes. After blinking, she covered his eyes with her hand and closed her own. She said, “Why are you looking at me like that, darling?“It’s great that you’re not into cannibalism. I’m worried because you look like you want to gobble me up.”It was not the first time Callum did that. There had been a few times when he would just stare at her after waking up. Even if she were asleep, her instincts would alert her to wake up. Camryn was startled by his intense gaze when they first shared a bed after being legally married and had thought a burglar entered her house.She was not used to sharing a bed with Callum yet and had forgotten they were now husband and wife. When she finally recognized him, her reflex was to wrap herself with the blanket tightly and kick him off the bed. Callum was
Camryn rolled her eyes at Callum. “Dal and Melissa are a loving couple now. Stop overthinking. Don’t affect their relationship.”Callum chuckled. “Okay.”Dalton was married and enjoying marital bliss with his wife. Callum was relieved and needed not to worry about Camryn being snatched away. The way Dalton looked at Camryn was no longer as heated as before. It turned calmer, showing that he truly thought of Camryn as a sister. Callum kissed her cheek. He said softly, “Sleep. I’m going out for a run. I’ll make you breakfast when I get back.”“Austin’s cooking is better. By the time you’re back, he might have already finished making breakfast for everyone.”Callum smiled. “Sure, you can have breakfast at Aunt Tania and Uncle Liam’s place. I’ll check if Austin is awake and tell him to prepare extra servings. We can head there for breakfast later.“I think Austin will be heading to Satbury on Monday. It’s pretty far, so Aunt Tania is sad that he’s leaving. That’s why Austin ha
Soon, Callum laughed and said, “Who cares what he’s there for? Everyone has things they want to do. He’s not a three-year-old kid anymore. He doesn’t need his cousins to worry about him.“Honey, you should sleep a little while longer. I’m heading out.”Callum changed into sportswear and out he went for his morning run.Wildridge Manor was large enough that he only needed to run half a lap to get enough exercise.More often than not, Callum would just run two laps around his own yard instead of the entire manor because it was too time-consuming.Although it was his day off, he did not want to waste so much time because he wanted to spend time with his wife.Camryn continued catching up on sleep after Callum left for his run.Sometimes, she was envious of her husband. They got the same amount of rest but he was always more energetic than she was.After Callum went downstairs, he figured his parents were probably still asleep when he did not see them.It was cold in the morning a
As expected, Callum saw Austin bustling around in the kitchen alone.“Austin, we’re coming over to eat breakfast with Nana. Don’t forget our portions.”Callum was deathly afraid that he had come too late and that Austin was done preparing breakfast, leaving them with nothing to eat and his beloved wife’s stomach empty.Austin did not even turn around or spare Callum a glance as he said, “Can’t you see I’m still getting breakfast ready? Since you’re up early, help me out here.”Zachary and Callum are both back at the Manor, as well as Josh and Jasmine. Austin had the sense to prepare breakfast for everyone without them telling him to do so.As long as Grandma May was home, everyone tacitly understood to gather at the main house to eat together.Callum hurriedly replied, “I have yet to finish my run. I don’t have time to help you right now. Besides, everyone prefers your cooking, especially breakfast. Yours is just tastier.“But tell me, Austin. We were all taught by Nana, so why
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