Serenity was a fast eater. She would finish her meal quickly and take over Liberty’s tasks so Liberty could eat. As for the in-laws, they were only concerned about filling their own bellies. They did not care about Liberty. It was as though Liberty would not feel hungry. “Mom, have some shrimp.” Hank helped his mom to a few shrimps before saying to his sister, “Have some more, Chelsea. They’re all your favorites.” Feasting on the crab, Chelsea uttered, “We didn’t get the Alaskan King Crabs this time. These crabs are tiny. They don’t have much meat. I don’t get much taste out of them.” The disdain in her voice was apparent. Hank fell silent for a while before responding, “I’ll take you out to a fancy hotel next time.” “Hotel food is expensive. Your money doesn’t grow on trees. Just wire me the cash next time. I’ll buy the food for Liberty to cook.” Chelsea made it out as if she was doing her brother a favor. “Sounds good.” Since Hank only had to give a bit of money
The vegetables were leftovers from yesterday. Liberty kept them in the fridge, but the vegetables were only enough for one person. Since Liberty bought the vegetables with her money, she was not going to share them with the Browns. Chelsea was stunned. Liberty carried the food out and sat down at the dinner table. She leisurely enjoyed her dinner. Worried that her sister might be picked on, Serenity found the time out of her busy schedule to call Liberty. “Did they gang up on you, Liberty?” “I have a history of chasing Hank down five blocks with a kitchen knife. The worst they can do is get into a tiff with me. When a woman stops caring for her husband, she won't tolerate unreasonable behavior from him or his family.” Serenity was relieved to hear that. “Have you eaten, Liberty?” “I’m having dinner now. How about you?” “I’ll eat after I’m done with work. I should get back to it, Liberty.”“Alright.” Liberty knew that this was one of her sister’s busiest hours. Afte
Although Chelsea had a clear idea of what was going on, she did not do right by Liberty. No matter how highly educated a woman was, she would be bound by marriage and a relationship once she walked down the aisle and had children. Anyone would hate to be in the woman’s shoes. “I have talked to Liberty about it, Chelsea. She refuses to help.” It was not something Hank could promise to make happen. Since the case of domestic violence, the husband and wife had not kissed and made up. Since Hank had Jessica, the only thing on his mind was to keep his lover happy while the hag at home was not worth his time. Liberty seemed to have grown a spine too. She used to back down but refused to do that now. The couple’s marriage came to a standstill. They lived together but slept in separate rooms. They went on with their own lives. The couple did not talk to each other unless it was about the child. “Why can’t she help out on this tiny matter? I’m not asking her to do it for free.
Chelsea lowered her voice even further. “Spend some money to buy a small gift for her. Everything will be solved if you coax her.“In any case, she’s still Sonny’s mother. For Sonny’s sake, and since your niece and nephew need someone to take care of them, bow your head and coax her. You’re a man, so you should be flexible.”Olivia leaned in and picked up where Chelsea left off, whispering to her son, “Hank, for Sonny’s sake, you two still have to continue being together. Listen to your sister and buy some gifts for Liberty to coax her.“Think about how well she took care of you before, and look at how you are now. It’s not like you’ll suffer if you bow your head a little.”When Olivia came over this time and saw that her son could not afford to put on airs as the head of the family to oppress her daughter-in-law, she felt very distressed on behalf of her son.However, this was a result of the instigation by her daughter and her.If they had not instigated her son to split househ
Then, Hank said to his mother, “Mom, go shopping with Chelsea. If you see anything you like, just buy it.”He took out his phone and transferred five thousand to his mother for her shopping spree.“Okay. I’ll shop with your sister later and buy some new clothes. Hurry back to work and remember to come home early afterward.”Olivia sent her son out and winked at him to remind him to buy some gifts for Liberty when he got off work.Liberty pushed the stroller over and placed her son into it before saying faintly, “I’ll take Sonny downstairs for a stroll.”“Go ahead,” said Olivia, smiling lovingly.Liberty immediately put her guard up.‘If my mother-in-law is acting like that, she must be planning something against me. More accurately, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law are trying to trouble me again, right?‘No matter what they ask, I won’t agree.’With that thought, Liberty could not be bothered to deal with them anymore and pushed the stroller out of the house.On the other h
Tania also turned to look at Serenity, who now already had her back to them. “Was she smiling at us? I don’t know her.”“Oh, maybe it was just my imagination, and it wasn’t us who she was smiling at.”Tania’s friend did not think much about it.She turned around again and saw that Serenity had already walked away. She said with a smile, “I must’ve really gotten the wrong idea.“That girl was quite pretty and bore a good mien. I couldn’t tell which family she’s from, so I thought she was someone you knew.” The friend teased Tania, “All the ladies in Wiltspoon will smile at you when they see you.”Tania had three sons. The most famous one was her eldest, who was the head of York Corporation. In the York family, he was the most important person after Old Mrs. York.All the men in the York family were extraordinary. Excluding the youngest two, one of whom was still in high school while the other had just reached adulthood and was not suitable for marriage, the other seven in their ge
Serenity understood why her mother-in-law pretended not to know her and did not take it to heart.After walking back to her parking spot, she unlocked the car and placed the clothes she bought for Zachary on the passenger seat before driving away.A short while later, she arrived at Brynfield. Zachary had yet to return, so she fiddled with her small garden on the balcony.The roses were blooming in overabundance, so she took a pair of scissors to cut a few off. However, she was reluctant to throw them away, so she took them back to the hall to trim them and arranged them into a vase.Ring ring ring...Her cell phone rang.She answered and it was from her neighbor at the store. It was inconvenient to take the pets with her since she was going to shop for Zachary’s clothes, so she asked the neighbor to look after the pets for her.“Mr. Charles, I’m so sorry. I completely forgot. I’ll go over and pick them up now.”Serenity would have forgotten about the pets if she had not receiv
Since Charles said so, Serenity could only say, “Drive safe then, Mr. Charles.”Charles rode a pedicab here.He smiled, waved at Serenity, and rode away.After he left, Serenity called Zachary.“What’s wrong?” Zachary said in a low voice.“Mr. York, are you getting off work soon?”Zachary was silent, but he thought, ‘Does she miss me?’However, he instantly scrapped that answer. There was no way she would miss him.He had become more and more oversensitive lately.“Why?”He did not give her a direct answer. He wanted to know the reason she was asking before he answered.“Um, I came out in a hurry and closed the door, but I forgot to bring my keys, so I can’t get back in. If you’re still working overtime, I’ll take a cab to your company to get the keys now, but if you’re getting off work soon, I’ll wait at the door.”Zachary thought about it and said, “I’ll come home now. You don’t have to take a cab here.”“Sure. I’ll wait for you in front of the house.”He hummed and hun
“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
Trenton was relieved that Dalton was indebted to Camryn. That was why Dalton had been loyal to Newman Enterprise.If Newman Enterprise did not fall into Camryn’s hands, there was no doubt that Dalton would leave the company. If that happened, the company was doomed.When his parents went to prison, he was merely 18, and Carrie only knew how to spend money. Not only that, their relatives were hungry to get a share of the Newman family’s assets. He and Carrie could not have protected their family’s wealth alone.After Camryn regained her sight, she still could not strain her eyes for long hours. Therefore, Dalton remained in charge of the company.Luckily, they had Callum as well. Even if anything were to happen, Callum would not leave Newman Enterprise to fall because many of the Newman family’s assets belonged to Camryn.He would not let Camryn lose anything.“You’ve been brainwashed by Dalton after working with him. Our dad treated him well and trusted him, yet Dalton betrayed
Camryn said, “She’s just using her lack of money as an excuse to start a fight with me.“Do you really think she has no money?”Carrie had somehow become Mrs. Longbottom yet she was still hiding her identity. Camryn had not understood the entire situation yet.Nevertheless, she was certain that Carrie did not need money.After she spoke, a familiar car arrived.It was the car Carrie had always used in the past.When she returned to the Newman family’s villa after getting out of prison, she only drove that car. She could not take other cars. The cars were still parked in the garage. “Come out, Camryn.”Carrie had gotten out of the car and started shouting for Camryn.When the York family’s bodyguards saw her, they simply glanced at her and did not stop her from entering the store. They knew Camryn had always been lenient with her younger sister.Since Camryn did not give any orders to stop Carrie from entering, the bodyguards simply kept an eye on Carrie to ensure that sh
“I want to go to Spring Blossoms as Carrie,” she told the bodyguard who was driving. “Your sister’s people are keeping an eye on your apartment. She’ll get suspicious again if you head over in your outfit. Everything Mr. Longbottom arranged will go to waste,” the bodyguard reminded her.Carrie thought it over. “Okay. Let’s head home first. I’ll change my clothes and remove my makeup before heading over.”She would also check if her stand-in had damaged any of her stuff.If she did, Carrie would tell the stand-in to compensate her.The bodyguard remained silent.Once they arrived at Longbottom Villa, Carrie took off her hyper-realistic mask and removed her makeup. After changing her clothes, she returned to being Carrie and went out with her bag.Her two bodyguards did not stop her from leaving.She could do anything as long as it would not rouse Camryn and other people’s suspicions.Besides, Carrie had just gotten scolded by their boss on the phone. Although Mr. Longbottom
Mr. Longbottom thought he was not so inferior to men younger than him.More accurately, he was far superior. He had status, money, and power.Which of the younger men could be on par with him unless they came from a wealthy family?Many sons of wealthy families could not compete with him.“I can’t go over because I’m busy these days. But I do miss you too.“It’s more difficult because of the festive season. There are many events, and I have to accompany my family. My wife doesn't care about me, but her request is that I be with her during the holidays because we have to meet our friends and families. Do you understand?”Mr. Longbottom had a wife and children. Carrie knew about it. He had never hid that fact.Carrie did not know if he was close to his wife. Although he said they no longer had feelings for each other, Carrie dared not believe him because he had never let other women take his wife’s place.He also never allowed other women to become pregnant with his children.Mr
Carrie thought she had matured since she could figure out that much. In the past, she would not have understood a thing. Love was about accepting everything about someone. Most people could tolerate their partner’s shortcomings when they were deeply in love. However, without love, even a person’s strength would seem like a fault. Carrie smiled. “Mr. York is a workaholic. Serenity must’ve gotten the habit from him and turned into one herself. I can’t believe she’s working so hard even though she’s pregnant.”“She’s still in the early stages of pregnancy. Going to work is fine.”“Do you need anything else, Mrs. Longbottom?” Jasmine asked.“No. I shall take my leave now, Mrs. Bucham.”Jasmine was on guard and unwilling to reveal much about Serenity. Therefore, it would be better for Carrie to leave. She was not close to Serenity and her friends yet. “Bye, Mrs. Longbottom.”Jasmine saw Carrie out and watched as she got into her car.Once Carrie got far enough from the booksto
Mr. Longbottom had been surprised by her question. He told her coldly that she should refrain from asking unnecessary questions.One who knew too much would not live long. Carrie got intimidated and dared not ask another question. Although she got more curious, she did not try to gather more information for fear Mr. Longbottom would choke her again if he found out. “Nothing. I just asked because I haven’t seen her in a while.”Of course, Carrie could not reveal that she was looking for Serenity. Jasmine would get suspicious if she did. No one around Serenity was a fool. “Seren is busy with work. I rarely see her these days,” Jasmine said.Carrie knew it was a lie. She was aware that Serenity's closest friends did not trust her yet. It made her feel defeated. It had been months since Mr. Longbottom found her and asked her to approach Serenity. Despite her efforts, she still had not obtained Serenity’s trust, let alone become her friend.However, Jasmine and Serenity go