Mrs. Torres, whose job was only to spend money, had transformed into a successful career woman within a few years.She smiled. “You’re the more impactful person, Mrs. York.”Serenity was the York family’s missus. She did not have an outstanding family background and only found Aunt Audrey after marrying Zachary. Although her aunt was Mrs. Stone, none of the Stone family’s assets belonged to Serenity. She simply gained a relative. To think that someone of Serenity’s background was able to be Zachary’s wife; she must have lucked out. Everyone remembered Serenity as she married Zachary and gained a foothold in the York family despite coming from a mediocre one herself. Before she got pregnant, the public criticized her for being infertile but the Yorks defended her. They would target anyone who dared to badmouth Serenity. Even though there were rumors that Tania disliked Serenity, Tania was willing to forego her image and fight those who criticized Serenity. Who would then not
Liberty was a divorced woman, while Mrs. Torres was a widow. They both had a son, but Mrs. Torres thought she was more capable than Liberty was. She felt she had to fight for what she wanted. She thought she had a greater chance of winning against Liberty. Besides, Liberty was not in Wiltspoon at the moment. Serenity remained silent. Duncan smiled and said, “If you’re not in a rush, we can meet another day. Sorry for your wasted trip.”Mrs. Torres returned the smile. “It’s okay. You should handle matters of higher priorities first.”Every business negotiation required several trips, or even over ten times going back and forth before it was finalized. Mrs. Torres’s secretary pressed the elevator button again while she walked toward the back of Duncan’s wheelchair, ready to push him into the elevator. Duncan refused her help, saying, “It’s fine, Mrs. Torres. This is an electric wheelchair. I can control it myself.”Mrs. Torres smiled and withdrew her hands. She watched a
Sonny said playfully, “I miss Jazz more.”He was close to Jasmine because of Serenity. Whenever Serenity brought him to the bookstore, Jasmine would take him out for good food and a shopping spree.Therefore, he liked Jasmine more as compared to Josh. “What a naughty kid.”Josh pinched Sonny’s cheek and put him down. He smiled and said, “I’m busy now. You can follow Serenity and play with Zachary first. Jasmine and I can take you to play when your winter vacation starts this weekend.”“Promise? You can’t lie to kids.”Every child loved playing outdoors, and Sonny was no exception. Josh laughed. “When have I ever lied to you?”Sonny thought about it. Indeed, Uncle Josh had never lied to him. After speaking to Duncan briefly, Josh led the senior managers out of the building. A few minutes later, Serenity and the rest showed up in the CEO’s office. Sonny acted like a spoiled child in front of Zachary for a while before being told to read and write on the sofa by Serenity.
Sonny hugged Zachary’s neck. He said, “I have something important to tell you, Uncle Zak.”Zachary asked in a curious tone, “What is it, Sonny?”“My winter vacation is coming soon.”Zachary hummed in agreement. Once winter vacation started, the new year would be arriving. The year flew by. “Can I play with Laurence during winter break?”Sonny looked toward Zachary in anticipation. His eyes were sparkling. “Who’s taking you there?”“I wanted Aunt Ser to go with me, but she said she couldn’t answer me. She told me to ask you for permission. Can I go, Uncle Zak? I miss Laurence. He said he’d be on vacation too.”Zachary looked toward Serenity. She smiled. “Sonny asked me about this right after school. I told him to ask you instead. I think it’s fine for me to accompany him because my bump won’t be too big yet.”She would be four or five months into her pregnancy by the time they were to go to FC Manor. It would not affect her traveling by flight. She would not dare to t
It was utterly embarrassing. “It’s okay. You’ll get more thick-skinned after each loss and eventually be able to brush it off.”After Zachary spoke, Serenity hit him lightly. He burst out laughing. Well, he was only speaking facts. Laurence was gifted. Not only did he have an extremely good memory, but he also had great teachers. Even if his teacher ignored him, his teacher’s mentor would train him. He also excelled in academics, martial arts, and medical skills. Great teachers would always produce brilliant students. While Sonny nevertheless had some advantages over Laurence, it was a fat chance for him to beat Laurence. Zachary was not trying to kill Sonny’s confidence. However, they sent Sonny to martial arts lessons primarily to strengthen his body and gain self-defense skills; not counting on him to become a master at it. “How could you say this to him? Sonny, don’t listen to him. You’re doing great. Although you can’t beat Laurence, you’re still much better than
Zachary’s expression told her that he had zero impression of Mrs. Torres.“I told you you wouldn’t know of her,” Serenity whispered. “Sonny’s coming. Let’s talk about it at home later. I have to give Liberty a heads-up later tonight too.”Liberty was currently stationed in Jensburg and Duncan still could not walk. They were not meeting as often as before. Even if they had eight hundred calls a day, it was still a long-distance relationship, and feelings could fade easily.It was hard to guarantee that Duncan would not have a change of heart if an attentive and considerate woman who could help him in his business appeared by his side at this time.Zachary spoke up for Duncan. “Duncan won’t have a change of heart. You don’t know him as well as I do. I’ve known him for over twenty years and he’s been a good buddy of mine for many years now. He’s very serious when it comes to relationships.“When he falls in love, it’s for life. He has never dared to fall for someone because of how se
Zachary was afraid of his wife—what of it then?At least he had a wife to be afraid of. There were so many sad single men out there who did not even have a girlfriend, let alone a chance to be a hen-pecked husband.Sonny gaped at him, speechless.It was impossible to expect Zachary to help him.“Uncle Zak, are you not coming home with us?” Sonny very naturally changed the subject.Zachary took his little backpack from him and then picked him up as he said, “I have a meeting later tonight, so I’ll get Uncle Bodyguard to send you guys home after I have dinner with you. I can only come home later.”Sonny pursed his lips and did not reply.The adults were so busy!“Are you unhappy?”Zachary pecked him on the cheek and said with a smile, “I’ll take you out to play this weekend, okay?”“I’m not unhappy. I know Uncle Zak’s busy because you need to earn money to buy milk powder for the baby. Okay! I want to go to the children’s amusement park this weekend.”Zachary said fondly, “Oka
“That’s right. Don’t listen to her, Sonny. Don’t take your Granddad or your Grandmom’s words to heart either. If your Dad says bad things about your Mom and Dunc, don’t listen to him either. They’re all just jealous.”“I know, Aunt Ser. They think I don’t know anything because I’m young, but I do.” Sonny was well aware of who was truly good to him and who was not.It was just that he was too young to express all of this clearly.Serenity patted Sonny’s head.She had to tell Liberty to limit Sonny’s contact with the Browns.That family would never change.She once saved Chelsea’s youngest son and thought that Chelsea would change because of it.Before Liberty started dating Duncan, Chelsea did treat the Hunt sisters much better and even turned around to pick on Jessica instead.Now, however, Chelsea had returned to her old habits.Zachary put Sonny down when they got into the elevator.Sonny held Serenity’s hand in one hand and Zachary’s in the other.Though his parents wer
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