Zachary agreed with Serenity’s arrangements. They were giving Dylan and Imogen a chance to sort things out without interfering too much. “I’ve informed Dylan. He’ll come.”“I knew I could count on you. Go back to work, babe. I’ll get back to mine too.”“Okay. Don’t tire yourself out or stay seated for too long. Remember to take short walks from time to time.”Although Serenity was still in the early stage of pregnancy, sitting too long was not good for her.“I know. I cherish this baby more than you do.”After the husband and wife exchanged a few more words, Serenity ended the call. Meanwhile, in Satbury, Austin was working in the kitchen alone. Dominic had already bought the ingredients he needed, all crisp and fresh. Since Dominic had no idea of Austin’s menu, he did not offer any help and left Austin alone. Well, Austin did not need help.An evening was more than enough for him. He was not going to cook up a feast anyway. It would be a few simple dishes for Isabell
Tati said, “It’s good enough if you ate it. There are only so many patissiers in Satbury who can make desserts that satisfy you.”Isabella was rendered speechless. She looked toward Tati and asked, “Be honest with me, Tati. Did you fall in love with Austin at first sight? You’ve been paying a lot of attention to him. You’re also very concerned if he can become my chef.“If you like him, you can switch your chef and hire him instead. Not only can you eat the food he makes every day, but you can also date him. However, he’s only a chef. He’s way below your league. I don’t know if your parents can accept a chef as their son-in-law.“Definitely not my parents.”The O’Connors were one of the top families in Satbury. Naturally, their standards for a son-in-law would be pretty high. Isabella was not looking down on anybody. She simply agreed that one should look for a partner on par with themselves. That way, both sides would have minimal disparity in knowledge and perspectives. They
Therefore, Tati’s father never cared about his children. Only their mother did, so they were closer to her. Isabella told Tati, “Stop listening to gossip. You’ll only know if marriage is for you after experiencing it yourself.“With our family, we don’t have to worry about being mistreated. We have enough support.”Isabella said, “We’re more than capable, and our family is powerful. Based on these two points, I don’t think our married lives will be terrible as long as we choose a man of good character.”“You’re right. When are you going to get a boyfriend? I want a brother-in-law.”Isabella scolded Tati, “Don’t overstep. Do I look like I have time to date someone? Men who meet our standards are mostly married, and we won’t even consider those who aren’t suitable for us. Why should we be in a rush?“I believe in fate. If we’re destined to be with someone, we’ll meet them one day, no matter the distance.“Go back to work. We can head back for dinner together at five.”Business
Isabella began to flip through Austin’s information, focused.It was simple. All it said was that he had two brothers and his parents were retired, with the older brother married and had a harmonious family. He had his own business and some achievements. Though he was technically the boss now, he still loved cooking and having loved cooking ever since he was young.Austin’s information did not state that he was one of the Wiltspoon Yorks. Though it was possible Isabella’s secretary was simply unable to find that out, it was also possible that Zachary was helping Austin hide his status so Isabella would not be scared of employing him.However, Zachary had not concealed Austin’s success as a business owner because Austin needed some achievements to show off, lest Isabella eliminate him as a potential romantic interest because he was poor.Zachary was also worried the O’Connor elders would look down on Austin as not all rich families were like the Yorks who only prioritized character
“Uncle Dylan!” Sonny greeted cheerfully. He rarely saw Dylan and was not close to him, so he just greeted him verbally. He did not run over to ask for a hug like he would with Callum and the others.Dylan spread his arms toward Sonny with a smile. “C’mere, Sonny. Let me give you a hug.”Sonny looked at Serenity for approval and only walked over to Dylan once she nodded. Dylan picked him up. “Hi, Uncle Dylan.”“I haven’t seen you in ages. You’ve gotten a little heavier than before. You need to eat more to grow bigger quickly.”Sonny replied, “You just said I got a little heavier. That’s because I ate lots and grew bigger!”Dylan laughed. “That’s right. Did you miss me?”“No, I don’t see you very often so I’m not that close to you, so I haven’t missed you.”Dylan said to Serenity, “Sonny really is honest. He doesn’t even know how to lie.”“It’s good for little kids to be honest.”Sonny also said, “My teacher says we should be honest kids that don’t lie.”“Right, right. Looks li
Dylan was shocked when he saw Serenity’s serious expression and stammered, “What did I do? Tell me what I did wrong, Serenity. I’ll apologize immediately.”At the same time, he recalled what he had done. It had been a long time since he last saw her. How could he have done anything to offend her?He was last in Wiltspoon two weeks ago and had not even returned to the manor since, and neither had he disturbed Zachary and Serenity’s sweet married life together.Dylan racked his brains but could not think of anything he might have done to offend Serenity.However, he soon calmed down. He had not done anything wrong. Serenity would not have invited him to eat with them if he had. Instead, she would have gotten Zachary to settle the score with him directly or snitched on him to his parents.“You nearly scared me to death, Serenity. I thought about it and there’s no way I offended you somehow. And besides, if I did, you’d be beating my ass, not inviting me for a meal.”Serenity laughed
Dylan was speechless for a moment. “I’m your brother.”“I have so many brothers, but you’re the only one who’s done something like that. You’re about to embarrass the York reputation thoroughly.”Dylan was again shocked. It was a big deal, then! What had he done to embarrass his family?“Zack.”“Go wait at the corner!”Helplessly, Dylan went to the corner and obediently waited for time to pass. He finally experienced what it felt like to have minutes felt like years. It was excruciating.Finally, it was time for dinner. Zachary shut off his computer and made his way around his desk.Dylan immediately stood and went up to him like a dog after a bone, all smiles. “Are you tired, Zack?”Zachary threw him a side glance as he said, “Very. Can you split the burden with me?”“I-I do help out!”Almost every young man of York was helping out with the family business, though the bigger part of the burden was still Zachary’s to bear.The rest were more concerned with what they liked to
As for Grandma May—Dylan had gone looking for her once before and she told him to handle it himself.When he asked her to let him choose someone else, she said she had only picked a candidate for him. If he really did not like her choice, he could find someone he fancied, but the person had to pass the character test.Dylan felt Chameleon Fox’s character was not bad. She might be a little hot-tempered, but she was still reasonable. He just did not know her family background.“Are you done with work?” Serenity asked Zachary warmly. Her warm voice pulled Dylan out of his reverie.Zachary hummed. “Yeah. We can go now.”Serenity stood up and called out, “Sonny, put your book back. We’re heading for dinner now.”Sonny made a sound in acknowledgment and immediately shoved his book back into his bag before carrying it on his back. Then, he spread his arms out at Zachary, begging his uncle to carry him.Zachary picked him up and tapped his nose fondly. “You still want me to carry you, h
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