“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
Meanwhile, Belinda’s assistant was respectful and loyal but he did not love her.Similarly, she did not like him romantically, so their relationship remained that of a lady and her servant.If she had fallen for her assistant back then, perhaps the children she bore would have been even better and her daughter would not have been switched at birth with another baby.Caroline laughed. “Mom, I don’t want to think about love right now, and I don’t have the time to date either. I told you that if I needed an heir, I would have a daughter, but I only want her. I won’t keep her father around.“I don’t want to end up like you, who got betrayed by my dad.”Belinda had nothing to say to that, but she still wanted Caroline and Darren to get together.Darren was an orphan and did not have a family to drag him down. Regardless of whether he married into the Fisher family or not, he would always be loyal to Caroline.Though Caroline wanted to only have a daughter and not a man, she was Belin
“Who’s your old friend?” Caroline asked curiously.Belinda did not tell her. All she said was, “My old friend is an old friend. You don’t need to ask so many questions. When I’m not around, make sure to handle the company and family matters well. If anyone refuses to listen, just make a mental note and I’ll deal with them when I get back.“Of course, it would be even better if you could deal with it yourself. After all, I’m getting old and I have to slowly let go for you to take over. You can’t rely on me your whole life.”Caroline replied, “I know, Mom. Don’t worry. It’s not your first time going on a trip anyway. The last time you went to Wiltspoon for around three weeks, I handled everything just fine.”In fact, she felt more at ease when her mother was not home because those people could not use her mother to suppress her. She could do whatever she wanted.“I believe in you. It’s late now. You should head up to sleep. I’ll watch a little longer before I go back to bed.”Carol
Apart from the employees and the bodyguards, Caroline was the only person left at home.Her mother, brothers, and sisters-in-law had all left.Caroline could not be bothered to ask where they had gone either.After showering and putting on a thick jacket, Caroline left her room and headed downstairs as she made a call to Liberty.Liberty soon picked up.“Are you free for lunch, Liberty?” Caroline asked with a bright smile.Without waiting for Liberty’s answer, she continued, “I heard Mr. Lewis came to visit you with Sonny. I kind of miss Sonny too, so I want to treat you guys to lunch. You can’t say no.“I’ve already asked Mr. Fletcher to book a table for us at Fortress Hotel. See you at noon!”Liberty laughed. “Are you even asking? It’s more like you’re notifying me.”“Are you going to say no? I’m your elder, you know. It’s rude to refuse when an elder is buying you lunch.”Liberty was speechless for a moment. “I never said I was going to say no. We were planning to have lun
Liberty sighed, “Right? They’re so carefree. I haven’t gone on holiday in ages.”After she married Hank, she never had the chance to go on holiday. Whenever she went on business trips, she was always in a rush and never had the time to sightsee and relax.“Mr. Hayden’s changed after getting with Mr. Kevin.” Caroline sighed. “She’s starting to seem more womanly after falling in love.”Hayden had a fraternal twin brother. While she was away, he would be substituting her, so she could go on holiday without any worries.Meanwhile, Caroline was still doing her best to learn and get used to the Fishers’ Machiavellian ways. She did not dare to leave for too long even for business trips. At most, she would do an overnight trip.She was afraid that if she went too far and was away for too long, the authority she only managed to earn after much hard work would disappear.Even without Celine as her competition, she still had three older brothers eyeing her position.There were a few stub
Caroline stopped and wound down her car window to poke her head out and asked, “Have you prepared the gifts for Sonny and Mr. Lewis?”Darren smiled. “Are you still not assured about my ability to get things done? They’re ready. Are you driving there yourself?”“Is there a problem with that?”Darren replied, “If you drink alcohol, you won’t be able to drive back. I’d better drive you. That way, you can drink as much as you want.”“I won’t be drinking. I had too much to drink last night and I don’t think Liberty’s drinking either. Sonny’s still a kid, and Mr. Lewis is still recovering. Liberty definitely won’t let him drink.”Darren could not say anything to that.He got into his car and followed after her once her car passed his.Half an hour later, they arrived at Fortress Hotel.Liberty was waiting with Sonny in the lobby for Caroline’s arrival.Duncan did not come downstairs because it was inconvenient.Caroline did not know Liberty was already waiting for her. After she pa
“C’mere, let me give you a hug. I bought lots of toys and new clothes for you.”Liberty commented, “Sonny has so many toys that we’re running out of space, and you’re buying him more? He has so many clothes that he hasn’t even worn them all. Kids grow so quickly that he won’t be able to wear them soon.”“I didn’t buy all those toys for Sonny. He’s my first grandnephew, I have to give him something.“If Sonny has that many clothes, you and Mr. Lewis should get married soon and have a second kid so they can wear them,” Caroline joked. “Kids always get hand-me-downs from their older siblings anyway.”“Sonny’s clothes are all so new they’d still look new on your second kid.”Liberty instantly blushed while Duncan grinned widely.He wanted to have a kid with Liberty too.Of course, Liberty had to be willing. If she did not want a second child, he would not force her.He would just treat Sonny like his own.Since Sonny appeared when he was young and if they stayed on good terms, Son
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