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,
Serenity would be returning to the store after breakfast while Zachary would be heading to the office. Since their routes were different, the couple drove their own cars separately.They first went to Bright Boulevard to pick Liberty up.They saw Liberty pushing her son out to the entrance of the neighborhood.“Liberty.”Serenity quickly got out and walked toward her sister after pulling the car over by the curb.“Ant Swer.”Sonny stretched his arms out for Serenity to carry him.Serenity bent over and picked him up, rewarding him with two little kisses and that made the little one giggle.When Zachary saw this, he wanted to shrink himself to become a two-year-old toddler so Serenity would kiss him too.“Why is Sonny up so early today?”“I woke him up and fed him milk before coming out.”Liberty nodded at her brother-in-law and greeted him, “Zachary.”“Let’s get in the car, Liberty.” As Zachary spoke, he stepped forward and loaded the child’s stroller into Serenity’s car.
Serenity remembered the brand of the suit she spent over ten thousand dollars to buy. There was no mistake.She laughed to herself.‘Zachary must have wanted to wear the new clothes. That’s the reason for all those little actions.‘It’s no wonder Nana said his still waters run deep. He won’t throw away the clothes I bought for him.‘Sure enough, Nana knows her grandson best. She has a complete grasp over his personality.’When they arrived at Wiltspoon Hotel, Jasmine was already waiting there.The group entered the hotel.The hotel’s lobby manager recognized Zachary and put a smile on his face, about to greet him. However, Zachary glared eerily at the manager, who was struck speechless.‘Did I do something wrong?’The manager did not dare to greet or follow Zachary, so he stood still and watched as Zachary and his party walked away.After an indefinite amount of time, he finally came back to his senses when he was tapped on the shoulder.“Mr. Callum?”The manager looked at
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