“Was that Chelsea and her family?” Jasmine asked Serenity after they settled down. “It must be. She’s been living a comfortable life. She’s even dressed in expensive clothes and jewelry.”Before Liberty got a divorce, Chelsea and Mrs. Brown would go to the bookstore to complain to Serenity. Jasmine had met Chelsea several times before. Chelsea had left such an impression that Jasmine could not possibly forget her. “It is Chelsea.”Serenity replied, “Lucas called Sonny twice, but Chelsea covered his mouth. She’s scared of us joining her for dinner and making her pay.“In the past, she and her family would go to Liberty’s house to eat for free. They never helped out and even dared to order my sister around and pick on her.”The Browns were like leopards who would never change their spots. Serenity felt Wiltspoon was tiny. She would bump into people she disliked from time to time. Imogen did not know what happened in the past. She kept quiet and simply listened. Jasmine sa
Serenity agreed, “It’s reasonable, yes, but before Dylan makes up his mind, you can still give it a shot.”Imogen smiled and said, “Serenity, Jasmine, let’s eat and stop talking about men. Both your husbands are good men, so you’ll feel happy to talk about them, but the man I’m interested in isn’t interested in me. Talking about him will just ruin my appetite. Like Sonny said, eating is king. Let’s just eat.”Serenity and Jasmine stopped there. They had no way of influencing Dylan when it came to his feelings.“Well, it’s not like I didn’t get anything out of this visit—I got two new friends. Whether or not Dylan and I end up together, the three of us will still be friends. You guys mustn’t renounce me. Either way, I’m wrapped around both of your thick thighs, so you can forget about trying to kick me away.”Serenity could not help but laugh.Jasmine laughed too and said, “You’re speaking casually with us already. We can’t just abandon you now, can we?”Imogen was very good at co
Jasmine scoffed. “Don’t believe a single word of what she says. She’s a master at exploiting. Second to none.”Serenity heard Chelsea say to Mrs. Brown, “Mom, the kids said they hadn’t eaten something delicious in a very, very long time, so I took them out to eat. We’re done eating, but I don’t have enough money to pay the bill. Do you have money in your account? Transfer some money to me.” Chelsea walked off into the distance. Serenity and the rest could no longer hear what she said.Jasmine said to Imogen, “If I had a daughter like that who only knew how to leech off her family and take advantage of them, I’d strangle her at birth.”Imogen replied, “You wouldn’t know if she was that sort of person at birth, though.”Jasmine was silent for a moment before she decided, “I’d cut all contact with her and pretend I never had a daughter, then.“Imogen, that shameless nut is Sonny’s aunt. She just loves taking advantage of anything she can. She used to frequent her parents’ place to
“Have you eaten, Dad?”Hank replied warmly, “Not yet. I’m not hungry yet, so I’ll only eat after I’ve taken two more customers. You’ve eaten, right?”Sonny replied, “Yeah. Aunt Ser and Jazz took me out to eat and we ran into Aunt Chel and the rest. Lucas said hi to me but, I don’t why, Aunt Chel covered his mouth. Lucas’s granddad and grandmom were there too, there were so many of them eating together. Only Aunt Ser and Jazz and Jen were with me, just the four of us.”Hank did not pay much attention to this at first and laughed. “Oh, you ran into Aunt Chel? Did you say hi to her?”“No,” Sonny answered honestly. “Lucas called out to me but Aunt Chel covered his mouth. Dad, what does Aunt Chel mean by that?”Hank was silent for a moment. “Your Aunt Chel… You don’t have to mind her.”He finally realized it. Had Chelsea been afraid that Sonny and the rest would try to join their table if she said hi and did not let Lucas talk to Sonny because of that?Being her brother, Hank did und
George’s business was doing fairly well and Chelsea was definitely not short of money. Hank could forgive her for not inviting their parents out to dinner with her family but she even asked their mother to foot the bill once they were done eating. It was no wonder Hank was angry.“Got it, Sonny. The next time I’m free, I’ll take you out to eat too, okay? I have to go now. You have to listen to your Aunt Ser, okay?”“I’ll be good, Dad. Take care.” Done tattling, Sonny happily ended the call.Serenity heard it all. After Sonny returned her the phone, she tapped him on the forehead. “You’ve even learned how to snitch, huh, kiddo?”Chelsea had really gone too far this time though. This had nothing to do with Serenity, so she would not interfere. If Sonny wanted to complain, it was the Browns’ issue. If she had been the one to tell Hank about it, Hank might suspect she was deliberately making things up about Chelsea, but he did not have the same reservations with Sonny.Sonny blinked a
Imogen retorted, “We just hit it off right away, alright? Why do you have to call it kissing ass?”Dylan paused and said, “Since you’re back and we bumped into each other, why don’t we go on a walk? It’ll help with your digestion and we can talk while we’re at it. I won’t be coming here tomorrow. I’m busy too, you know.”After a moment of thought, Imogen also felt that it was better to talk it out that night, though she knew Dylan’s answer even without doing so. He had made himself very clear last night. She just had not said that she was going to give up on him, which gave him no choice but to talk to her.“Alright, I’ll have to trouble you to walk with me so I can digest, then. But what if I get hungry again after we get back? You know that exercising and using up energy will make one hungry.”Dylan was speechless for a moment. “I finally understand why you, Jasmine, and Serenity managed to hit it off right away.”They were all foodies! Why did he not know she liked eating that
“Is there a park nearby? Take me to a park.”After a moment of silence, Dylan said, “There’s a park about a ten-minute walk. It’s not especially big, but it’s a good walk. The scenery’s pretty nice. If you don’t think it’ll be too tiring, we can go there.”“I don’t think it’ll be too tiring. And if I can’t walk anymore, you can carry me back.”“Can’t I just get a taxi? Carry you home? Don’t you think I’d get tired?” Dylan asked.Imogen remarked, “You’re so ungentlemanly. I’m your grandmother’s choice of bride for you, you know. If you hadn’t cheated, I’d be your future wife. I’ve heard that York men are all particularly doting on their wives. You aren’t thinking of flouting the tradition and being an uncaring husband, are you? If their wife is a sensible person, a doting husband will make a fortune, you know.”Dylan smiled and remarked, “That’s some absurd reasoning.”“Also, I never cheated. You might be my nana’s choice, but we’re not officially in a relationship, so we’re both
Dylan grumbled to himself. Why did Grandma May and Imogen both say he had better not regret it? What did he have to regret? Could he not know who he really liked, what he really wanted? He was no longer a three-year-old kid. He was almost thirty and very much had a mature mind. He would not do anything he would regret. Imogen said something so similar to what Grandma May said, it was no wonder that she picked Imogen.“Ms. Doyle, I’ve never done anything I’ve come to regret. Even if I didn’t make the right choice, I would face it openly without regrets.”Imogen laughed. “Alright, I know. Since there’s no way you’ll fall for me, I won’t force it. It’s not like I’m unmarriageable. Why should I cling to you? I’d end up lowering my worth instead.”She had also been pampered and raised as the apple of her family’s eye. It was not like no one wanted her. The Doyles were a distinguished family in Huntington too. She had both pedigree and status. As long as she wanted to get married, there