After the mother and son ended their call, Zachary frowned and thought about it. He then went ahead and asked the lady in front of him who was holding her kitty on the balcony swing. “Did you meet my mom without my knowledge?”Serenity froze.She had not mentioned the encounter with her mother-in-law to him. How did he know?Zachary walked up to her and stood opposite her. His burning dark eyes locked on her pretty face, and he asked again, “Did you meet my mom today?”Serenity saw he was still holding his cell phone and thought her mother-in-law had called to complain to him about her, so she quickly explained, “I bumped into your mom when I was buying clothes for you. I wanted to greet her, but maybe she didn’t recognize me. She walked away with her friend while laughing and talking, so I didn’t greet her.”Zachary was a smart person.Tania was his mother. Although he was brought up by his grandparents, he did not alienate his parents. His relationship with his parents was cord
The husband and wife did not mention anything about the cold war they had and reconciled in silence. Serenity originally thought of getting through the six months and forgot about it, but she could not help but feel moved by his concern for her. She wanted to break that half-year agreement.However, she was afraid it was nothing but her own wishful thinking. She feared that if they divorced once the agreement expired and she ended up falling in love with him whereas he did not, she would suffer the pain of losing him and spend a long time forgetting him, all while he lived his new life happily.Falling in love with someone was easy, yet the same could not be said about letting go of someone you love.“Don’t worry, my sister and I will definitely ask for your help if we can’t solve a problem.”Since he was kind, she would respond in like.She added, “I called my sister when she got home, and she’s fine for now. She’s good at enduring, so she won’t act impulsively if she thinks it’s
Serenity stopped walking.Zachary too. He looked at her deeply and asked, “What’s wrong?”“I’ll pay for the nanny. She’s going to be taking care of Sonny, who’s my nephew, so I should be the one to pay for it. I can’t let you use your money.”It would cost thousands of dollars to hire a nanny now.He was already paying for all their living expenses.Serenity felt like she was taking advantage of him.Zachary could not help but reach out and pinch her face. “You are always haggling with me. We’re a family now, so why do you have to split hairs over everything? On the day we got our marriage license, I already said that since I married you, I can afford to support you.“Sonny calls me Uncle, and I like that child very much too, so I’m willing to pay for a nanny to take care of him.”After a pause, he added softly, “Most importantly, I don’t want my wife to be so tired.”“Pardon?”“I said, I’ll pay for the nanny.”He was very insistent.Serenity could not win against him. Afte
Hank twisted the door handle but failed to open the door. Liberty had locked the door.He knocked.“Liberty, open up.”Liberty came to open the door, but she blocked the doorway to keep him from entering the room. She asked, “What?”“I have something I want to discuss with you. Let me in.”This was originally the couple’s master bedroom, but now it was occupied by Liberty.Hank was a little displeased, but in order to coax and persuade Liberty to help with the school run for his sister’s children, he held back his temper.“Can’t it wait till tomorrow? It’s already late now.”“It’s only 11. I usually come back during this time after dinner parties.”Liberty guessed that Hank wanted to talk to her about something having to do with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. She was curious too, so she stepped to the side and said, “Go back to your room to sleep when you’re done.”Hank cursed in his heart, ‘I just couldn’t hold it in that night because I drank... Do you really think I
“Just give my sister a hand and manage her children’s daily meals as well as their to and fro school run. You’re cooking regardless if they’re eating here anyway, so cooking for two more kids won’t make much of a difference. They’re still children, so they don’t eat that much either.“Think of it as doing me a favor. We’ve been married for so many years. You’re willing to help me, right?”Hank’s voice was gentle, and he looked at Liberty when he spoke. He even tried to appeal to her emotions.“My sister won’t make you work for nothing. She’ll give you a thousand bucks every month, and as I mentioned last time, I’d give you another fifteen hundred for living expenses. Including the thousand bucks my sister is giving you, you’ll have twenty-five hundred a month. That’s pretty decent.”Liberty wanted to laugh.She was angered to the point where she could only laugh at Hank and his sister’s thoughts.One thousand dollars for her to take the two children to and from school and cook th
Since Hank could not convince Liberty to agree, he lost his patience and asked her grimly, “Where are you working? Which company is stupid enough to take you in?”Liberty beamed and said, “Lewis and Co. I was hired by Mr. Lewis himself.”Hank was speechless.Lewis and Co. was not a place he could reach.He thought that if she was working in a small company, he could use his connections to stop Liberty from working and she would lose her job again. She would then stay home obediently and take care of the child.However, he did not expect her to be this capable. She left the workplace for more than three years now and gained significant weight. She no longer had her aura from the past, but still managed to join a large company like Lewis and Co.Furthermore, she was personally hired by Mr. Lewis. He must be a horrible judge of character.Hank slandered Duncan cynically in his heart.Not even he had the ability to work in Lewis and Co.“Are you done with what you have to say? If
Olivia thought about it and said, “I’ll talk to her again tomorrow and see if I can talk her out of going to work, but you should give her a little more living expenses in the future. Also, stop going Dutch with her.“I thought that going Dutch would benefit you, but now it seems like there’s no advantage. Now, you have to do everything yourself when you come back. When your sister and I come over, we have to pay Liberty to cook for us too.“You don’t seem to be saving a lot of money either. It’ll be much easier on you if you stop going Dutch with her. It’ll be worth it even if it means having to give her an extra two thousand per month for living expenses.”Hank was silent for a moment and said, “Even if we stop going Dutch, Liberty and I can’t go back to how we were before. I... I really have no interest in her anymore. If not for Sonny and Chelsea, I wouldn’t have lowered myself to speak to her so humbly.”As soon as he finished speaking, Olivia slapped him.She scolded him in
Serenity phoned Jasmine with a smile.Jasmine laughed on the phone. “Seren, you two finally made up. Mr. York is willing to even treat me to breakfast? I’m relieved. I was so worried he thought I was trying to matchmake you.”Shawn was her cousin, but she did not want her best friend and him to become a couple. That was because the Lowe family was not suitable for her best friend.Even though her aunt usually treated Serenity well, if she found out that Shawn had feelings for Serenity, she would instantly turn hostile.Serenity would not have a good life with someone like Jasmine’s aunt as her mother-in-law, so Jasmine would not help her cousin.When there was an opportunity to be alone with Shawn, she intended to have a proper talk with him. She would tell him to give up on Serenity and stop coming to the shop frequently, lest Zachary misunderstood again.After marriage, both men and women had to consider the feelings of their other halves. Regardless if they did nothing wrong,
“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