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
“A surprise for you.”Zachary took the bag and looked at it. “More clothes?”He took out the clothes and looked at them. This time, she was much more generous. All of them were branded goods.“I have no experience in giving gifts to men, so I can’t prepare a big surprise. Small surprises are all I can do. The clothes I gave you last time weren’t expensive. They were just a thousand or so each set, but this time, I bought you something branded. Each set costs more than ten thousand dollars.“Wearing it is like being decked out in money. Isn’t it a surprise? Even at my age, I could never bring myself to wear such expensive clothes.”Zachary smiled. “With your temperament and financial ability, it really is a surprise that you’re willing to buy such expensive clothes for me.”These new sets were many times better than the clothes she gifted him last time.Yes, it was a pleasant surprise indeed.“Thank you for helping my sister collect the evidence of Hank’s infidelity.”“Don’t me
Despite this, lying in bed and enduring the pain, Caroline could not help but start to cry, feeling deeply wronged.When Darren came in and saw her crying, he walked over, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently wiped her tears with a tissue.“They’re not worth your tears,” he said, his heart aching for her.Caroline sat up and buried herself in his arms. “Darren, you’re all I have now.”Darren held her tightly, his voice filled with tenderness. “I’ll always be by your side, no matter what happens, Ms. Caroline. Even if the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you.“If you’re really hurting and need to cry, then cry. Let it all out.”It would also help her sever ties with the past and the family bonds that had caused her so much pain.Caroline did cry—a long, cathartic cry. It would be the last time. From now on, she and the Clarks would go their separate ways.Meanwhile, Hunter went to Justin’s house and called Jason’s wife, Ellie, over. He said to his two daughters-in-law, “By no
After a moment of silence, Hunter repeated the same line. “But you didn’t die, did you? You only got a little hurt, and it’s not even serious.”Caroline almost laughed in anger at this.Sure, she had not died. She had only been injured. Did that erase the fact that her brothers had tried to kill her, though?She retorted, “Dad, if I had tried to kill your three sons, but they didn’t die and only got a little hurt, would you say the same thing to them? Would you tell them it’s just a family dispute, ask them to forgive me, not to sue me, and not to send me to jail?”Hunter instinctively replied, "If you had the intent to kill, how could I let you continue down that path? Of course, I’d have to let you serve a few years in prison…“Carol, I’m old, really old. I only have the boys to rely on in my old age. Are you trying to leave me with no one to depend on in my later years?”Caroline said coldly, “I’ll provide for your living expenses. I’ll make sure you don’t starve. You can even
Darren did not let go even after being struck.Seeing Darren get hit, Caroline’s expression darkened. She coldly said to her father, “Dad, if you really want to kneel, go kneel at the hospital entrance and shout at the top of your lungs that your daughter is unfilial.“Tell everyone that your sons tried to kill your daughter, and your daughter refuses to forgive them, so you’re kneeling there to force her to forgive your sons.“Let’s see if I give in.”Hunter stopped struggling. After slapping Darren, he felt a pang of fear. He was afraid Caroline might retaliate by slapping him to avenge Darren. Fortunately, while Caroline was furious, she did not lay a hand on him.He began to cry. “Carol…” He wept bitterly.Darren released him, and Hunter sat on the sofa, sobbing, “Carol, I’m old. I have no income, my parents are long gone, and your mother is no longer here. I only have your three brothers to rely on.“If you send all three of them to prison, what will happen to me? Who w
Caroline hummed. “I do plan to visit Wiltspoon to see her sometime soon. I just don’t know if I’ll be kicked out when I get there.”“And I should visit Mr. Foster too. How is he, by the way?" Patrick was the longest-living person she had ever met. Back when she lived with her adoptive family in the countryside, the oldest people in town usually lived into their eighties, and few made it to ninety. Patrick was nearly a hundred years old. What was more, he could walk without support and even travel long distances with his old friends.Liberty replied, “He’s doing quite well. Aunt Audrey accompanies him on walks every day. When they don’t go out, he sits by the cradle and watches baby Elias for hours on end.”The bond between generations was strong. When Patrick looked at Clive’s son, Elias, he felt like he was looking at his great-grandson. As Tiara’s great-grandson, Elias was naturally like his own great-grandson, too.“Dr. Carden comes by periodically to check on him and adjus
Liberty had already called Audrey to inform her about what had happened and also mentioned it to Serenity.Knowing the Clark brothers had all been captured, Serenity felt thoroughly relieved and stopped worrying that her sister would run into trouble in Jensburg.She told Zachary that Caroline never let people down.Zachary did not comment.Caroline’s fever had completely subsided, but her coughing had worsened. The doctor had changed her prescription, but the effects were not immediate.When Liberty entered, Caroline was out of bed and walking around, supported by Darren.“Caroline, why are you out of bed?”Liberty scolded her, “Get back in bed and lie down. You’re injured. If you don’t rest properly and keep moving around, you’ll aggravate your wounds, and you’ll regret it.”She did not blame Darren, though. She knew Caroline always came first to him. He always followed her lead and was unable to influence her decisions.“I’ve been lying down all day. My back is sore, and I’m
The housekeeper replied, “Yes, sir.”They did not have much work in the first place, so they did not need to slack off. Once they were done with their work, they had tons of time to entertain themselves.Hunter rushed out the door with his car keys. Despite being over seventy years old, his driving skills were still quite good. Not needing to hire a driver, he drove himself straight to Jensburg.Upon arriving at the city, Hunter did not immediately go looking for Caroline. He was unaware that she had been injured.Instead, he went to meet his old friends to ask them to help him find out if anything had happened in relation to the Fisher family last night.After he finished speaking, one of his friends said, “We were about to ask you the same thing. Your three sons attacked your daughter with knives and even kidnapped her, intending to chop her up and feed her to the fish.“Luckily, that Mr. Fletcher, who works for your daughter, arrived with the police and rescued her, but she wa
The Queen family was well-educated and had few members. Sophia had heard of other families fighting over power, but Caroline’s experience shocked her the most. Maybe it was because the Queens was close to her. Sophia quite liked Caroline as well. “How could they… You’re their biological sister!”Caroline smiled bitterly. “Are you having a fever, Carol? Your face is red.”Sophia touched Caroline’s forehead. She said, “You’re burning up. Have you informed the doctor, Mr. Fletcher?”Darren replied, “The fever started at dawn. Ms. Caroline caught a cold. Her fever subsided after taking medication once, but it returned.“It’s time for her to take her medicine.”Sophia spotted the lunch boxes. She told Darren, “Go have your lunch, Mr. Fletcher. I can look after Carol.”“It’s okay, Mrs. Queen. I can eat on my own,” said Caroline embarrassedly. It was her first time feeling cared for by someone her mother’s age. Although Sophia was not part of her family, the lady treated her
Caroline looked toward Darren. She said, “In my younger days, I often caught colds and coughs when the weather was too cold. The coughing will last throughout the changing of seasons. Therefore, I’ve been looking after my health since I grew up.“My immune system strengthened a lot. I haven’t been coughing for years.“I’m not worried.”Caroline stared at Darren lovingly. “I have nothing to be worried about with you here.”Darren pinched her face lightly with affection. “I’m still sulking. I didn’t want you to risk yourself, yet I couldn’t stop you. I’ll only feel better once you recover.”He was Caroline’s assistant and had to heed her orders. Even if they were dating, he still had to follow her arrangements.“Okay. Don’t be angry. I won’t take risks like this again in the future. You’ll age quickly if you get angry frequently. If that happens, your hair might turn gray before I even grow old.“We promised to grow old together.”Under Caroline’s gentle coaxing, Darren’s expre
Darren became an orphan when he was only a few years old. After losing everything, he was collected and trained by the training center to be an all-rounder assistant. He could not remember how he lost his parents as he was too young back then. Since he had no memories, there was no pain.Nevertheless, he had seen others interacting with their parents. He knew parents should love their children. There were not many parents who would not shower their children with love. Ms. Caroline was too unlucky to have met one. “I don’t care. I don’t care about my dad at all.”Caroline asked, “Has my dad asked you to give him money? He doesn’t need money. He just wants to know about his sons’ conditions.“Having lived for so many years, he was probably aware of the consequences of his sons’ plan and had advised them not to do it. They didn’t listen to him, so he’s just hoping to get lucky and waiting for some news.”Hunter must have known that her brothers were going to murder her. Sinc