That was because Hayden had been pretending to be a man for over two decades. Her personality was different from that of usual girls. Darren smiled with understanding. “I shall accompany you shopping then. I can even do the heavy lifting for free. You won’t get tired.”Caroline turned to him and smiled. “That sounds great, but I want to invite Liberty out tomorrow.“Her son is here. He’s pretty cute. I like him.“Since Liberty’s mom and I are cousins, and I’m Liberty’s aunt, her son is supposed to call me grandaunt. I can’t believe I’ve become a grandaunt before getting married myself.”Liberty was even older than her by a few years. Darren said, “Madam Fisher and Ms. Liberty’s grandmother are sisters, yet they have a huge age gap. That’s why you and Ms. Liberty also have an age gap.”Tiara had raised Belinda like a mother raising her daughter. “Since it’s a rare visit by Sonny, I should get him a present. What should I get him, Darren?”As they walked, Darren replied, “Kid
Darren said, “I’m afraid it might sully your ears, Ms. Caroline.”“Hearing anything she did would have the same effect. I guess I can build up some immunity by listening to more things related to her. I’ve even heard about her worst scandal anyway.”“It seems like she’s planning to seduce your three brothers.”Caroline said, “Is she trying to get revenge on my sisters-in-law?”Darren replied carefully, “I don’t know what she’s planning. She can’t possibly start a business in her state. Madam Fisher won’t allow it. She’ll never get a job. Madam Fisher probably won’t let her get a decent job either.“Celine won’t be satisfied leaving Jensburg this way. She holds too much hatred for you all. Therefore, she has no choice but to choose that path.”The corners of Caroline’s mouth twitched. She said, “If I were her, I would’ve left the Fisher family and Jensburg after discovering that I wasn’t Madam Fisher’s true daughter and that my dad had switched us at birth.“If she had chosen to
“Okay.”Caroline felt safe with Darren by her side. She fell asleep in no time. When Darren noticed her asleep, he carefully parked the car by the roadside. Then, he took off his jacket and covered her with it. Caroline was in a deep sleep due to exhaustion and was not aware that Darren had put his jacket over her. It was already two in the morning when they arrived at Fisher Manor.Darren stopped outside the entrance. Since he did not have the keys, he had to wake Caroline up. Caroline was still in a daze when she woke up. When she saw Darren, she asked, “Why are you in a dream, Mr. Fletcher?”Darren could not help but laugh. “I’m not in your dream, Ms. Caroline. You’re awake. I woke you up.”However, it seems like Caroline was not fully awake yet. Caroline blinked and sat straight. She instinctively grabbed the jacket on her that was slipping down. “No wonder I felt hot during my sleep. You didn’t have to cover me with a jacket. The heater is turned on.”Caroline w
Caroline poured herself a drink and sat on the sofa. She leaned back and savored her drink. The peace at that moment allowed her a brief moment of relaxation. However, she got all tense again the moment she heard the sound of footsteps upstairs. She remained in her seat and did not even look up. It was definitely her mother. Belinda came downstairs. She sat beside Caroline and asked, “Why are you back so late?”Looking at the exhaustion on Caroline’s face, she touched her daughter’s face and sighed. “I don’t know if this is a blessing or a mistake.”“I’m fine, Mom.”Caroline understood what Belinda meant. Belinda was doubting whether returning the girls to their respective families was good or bad for Caroline. Sometimes, Caroline thought of it as well. If she had not returned to the Fisher family, she would have had her own career and sufficient ability to free herself from her adoptive family’s abuse. She would have been living a carefree life instead of workin
Belinda did not reply to the question immediately. She said, “Adrian hasn’t come home for two days. Emma suspects that he’s having an affair again.”She paused and sighed. “It must be genetics. I may have good genes, but your dad’s genes overpowered mine. All your brothers have inherited his penchant for cheating.“Do you think I’ve made a mistake, Carol?”“I can’t accept betrayal. If my husband doesn’t love me anymore, he can ask for a divorce. However, he can’t cheat on me while we’re still married.”Caroline’s answer made Belinda smile. Her gaze was gentle. “So that’s why people say the Fisher family’s good genes are only passed down to daughters. I didn’t believe it before, but after having found you, I’m starting to be a believer. Your personality and style are very similar to mine.”Belinda used to think Celine’s personality and style were totally different from hers. After that, she discovered that the daughter she had placed high hopes on was actually the previous butler
Belinda quickly understood her daughter’s worry, as Caroline expected.Celine’s only asset right now was her beauty.All three of Belinda’s sons had mistresses. Most likely not just one each, and not their first time cheating either; it was just that her daughters-in-law had not known about it at the time.The brothers had inherited their lustful hearts from Hunter.If Celine decided to intentionally seduce Adrian and the rest, there was a real possibility of success.The Clark brothers had always doted on her and felt nothing for their biological sister Caroline.It was inevitable for Celine to get some benefits through them.At the thought of this, Belinda’s face twisted into an ugly expression.If Celine managed to seduce Adrian, both father and son would have fallen at her hands.Hunter could still say he had been schemed against, but Adrian would have taken the bait willingly.“I’ll handle this, Caroline. You don’t have to do a thing. I’ll get someone to keep an eye on C
“Since she’s competing with us for business, she’s our opponent.“There’s no need for mercy when it comes to dealing with enemies. We need to strike while the iron is hot, when her company has only just been established and is in a vulnerable stage, and strangle her in the cradle.”Caroline was silent for a moment before she said, “Mom, Liberty’s contracts are mostly with Queen Enterprise. Some of them are with big companies that have ties to the Yorks, the Lewises, and the Stones. They won’t give a shit about us.”“Figure something out. I don’t want to see Liberty establishing herself in Jensburg.”Belinda knew Caroline did not want to be enemies with Liberty.If it were not for the fact that Liberty was Tiara’s scion and had come to Jensburg specifically to target them, Belinda would not want to be enemies with Liberty either.Behind her stood three powerful families. They might be far off in Wiltspoon, but they could not be underestimated.If the three families joined hands t
If that was true, there was no need for Liberty to fight for Fisher Enterprise. Caroline would return it to Tiara’s scion of her own volition and restore the family to its rightful path.She could still run her business and live a good life away from the Fishers.Belinda looked at her daughter.She could hear the dismissiveness in her daughter’s tone and she glared at Caroline.Caroline faced her mother’s glare candidly.After a long moment, Belinda sighed and patted her daughter’s face once more as she said softly, “You have your own opinions and we have only been mother and daughter for around three years. I can’t do anything about it if you won’t listen to me.“Did Mr. Fletcher drop you off earlier?”“Mmhm.”“You guys are both young and spend a lot of time with each other every day. Do you have any thoughts about him?”Caroline looked at Belinda with wide eyes. “Mom, what sort of thoughts am I supposed to have about him? Didn’t you say he’s my all-around assistant who’ll be
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