âIâm fine.âThe man who coughed said softly, âI think Iâm exhausted from all the traveling.ââHey, boy. Open the gates and let us in now. Canât you see our eldest friend is about to collapse? Why do you care who we are? Do the Stones not know how to treat their guests properly?âThe man who said he could demolish the door was loud. He was impatient too.He glared at Gabe and urged him to open the gates. He would have taken the gates down without his companions keeping him in check.âDan,â one of them scolded him. Dan immediately went silent.âBoy, this man here is the person your missus has been looking for. Donât worry. We arenât bad people.âPlease open the door and let us have a glass of water. He has a weak body.âThe youngest among the five elderly men was the one who checked the sick manâs pulse. He was Dr. Cardenâs teacher, the legendary doctor.The legendary doctor had already brought Laurence back to FC Manor and took care of baby Oliver there. Later, he found out
Patrickâs attempts to return and avenge Tiara had been stopped by the legendary doctor and the rest.They said there was no one to be the next matriarch even if his revenge was successful, unless he could find Tiaraâs daughters. Thanks to Silver, Patrick finally received information about Tiaraâs daughter.After discovering Audreyâs location, Patrick had wanted to rush over to find her. However, he was unable to do so due to his weak constitution.The legendary doctor had spent a lot of time improving his health. Patrick wanted to meet Audrey, the Fisher family's youngest miss back then, as soon as possible due to his old age. He wished to tell her everything he knew and pass on some evidence he had to her.He felt regretful for not being able to avenge Tiara.Therefore, he had to hand over this responsibility to Audrey.From what his friends told him, one of Tiaraâs daughters had died in a car accident over ten years ago and she left behind two daughters. Her in-laws were crue
Cliveâs son, Elias, was crying. Clive walked around the room with Elias in his arms to calm him.Alice did not even open her eyes. She asked, âIs he hungry? Or did he poop?ââI think heâs hungry. You can continue sleeping, love. Iâll coax him and give him some formula. Heâll be asleep until about nine after drinking the formula.âAlice hummed in agreement. She turned around and went back to sleep.Although they had a nanny, the nanny could only carry Elias when he was asleep. If she tried carrying him when he was awake, he would start crying within minutes.It was because he needed to smell his motherâs scent.Therefore, Alice would look after Elias during most of the day. Luckily, he was a good boy too whenever Audrey and Elisa helped out. Otherwise, Alice would have died from exhaustion.Elisa often praised Elias for knowing how to differentiate family from other people. He never cried when his family members carried him.However, he would break into tears immediately in his
âDear, who was it?â Alice rolled over when she heard the phone ring and sat up too, leaning toward her crying son to pick him up.âDonât pick him up, love. If you do, he wonât want to drink the formula I made for him.â Clive hurriedly stopped his wife. âThe kiddoâs really fussy. Once he smells you, heâll refuse to drink his formula.âAlice saw that Clive had already started preparing the formula, so she did not pick their son up. It was fine for him to cry a little.âGabe called and said a few elderly men came by looking for Mom. Apparently, theyâre the ones Momâs been looking for all this while,â Clive said as he made up a bottle of formula. âI donât know if itâs true, but I asked Gabe to receive them first. Once Iâve fed Elias, Iâll head downstairs to take a look.â âIs the person Momâs been looking for that really capable guy who assisted your grandmother back in the day?â Alice knew all about Audreyâs family background and the grudge against the Fisher family. She also knew tha
Elias quickly became full. Clive carefully handed him over to Alice to carry before calling Julian to see if he had any news of that old assistantâs whereabouts.Julian replied a little sheepishly, âWe still have nothing even after searching for so long. Mr. Stone, I suspect the person you guys are looking for isnât among the living anymore.âThere were plenty of old people in their seventies or eighties, but old people in their nineties were much rarer. The person Audrey was looking for was almost a hundred years old, which was why Julian thought he might be dead.Very little information could be found on him also because all of this had happened decades ago. This made it very difficult for them to find him. Audrey did not even remember what that person was called anymore. All she remembered was whenever she saw him as a kid, she would call him âuncleâ.She did not even know his surname. How was Julian supposed to find him? The Buchams had a powerful information network, but they
Alice laughed. âOf course. If we manage to get on Quinnâs good side, itâll be just the same as getting on Julianâs good side.âAs the eldest daughter-in-law of the Stones, Alice had no need to curry favor with anyone, but she still wanted to forge ties with Julianâs wife. There would always be a need for the Buchams at some point.For example, they had only managed to get the Buchams to help now through Zacharyâs connection. The rich madams of the upper class mostly had ulterior motives for keeping in touch, apart from the rare few who were truly friends. The rest were just using one another.âHurry downstairs and see if the old people who came are scammers.â Alice then turned to coax her son softly. âElias will fall asleep really quickly. Iâll sleep a little longer with him. Thereâs no need to wake me for breakfast. You have to eat something before you head to the office.ââOkay.â Clive leaned close to kiss his beloved wife on the cheek before tenderly touching his sonâs face. He
His face was full of wrinkles and only looked somewhat similar to the portrait Audrey had drawn of him from memory. It was no wonder Julian had not been able to find him. Audrey had not been able to remember what he looked like very clearly, so although the portrait was lifelike and drawn well, it was of no use since he was drawn in the wrong likeness. Was he Tiaraâs outstanding assistant?âMay I know your names?ââThatâs not important. Itâs been decades since anyone asked for our names, so we donât quite remember them anymore,â the legendary doctor said. âYou can just call me Doc. Mr. Stone, Iâve been a doctor for decades and have been labeled âthe genius doctorâ among others. Lilian Carden is my disciple. You must have heard of her.âHe introduced himself first. At Cliveâs age, it was very unlikely for him to know of the legendary doctor, but he must have heard of his disciple Dr. Carden, who successfully treated Camrynâs eyes.âMr. Stone, we donât like beating around the bush ei
Doc explained on Patrickâs behalf the real reasons he had been unable to avenge Tiara for the past few decades. Patrick was agitated as his tears streamed down his face out of guilt toward his matriarch and he began to cough violently.Doc hurriedly took out the medication he took with him everywhere, shook two pills out of the bottle, and made Patrick swallow them as he said, âDonât get so excited, Patrick. We havenât even gotten to meet your little miss Audrey yet.âThe others also kept comforting Patrick and told him not to get overly excited. Once he took the pills and had some water, Patrick calmed down. Clive was very nervous too, worried about the old manâs health.He had never met Doc before but knew of his abilities and how Dr. Carden was his eldest disciple. Dr. Carden had helped Camryn recover her eyesight and Doc was pretty much the Johnsonsâ in-law, while the Stones were also in-laws with the Johnsons. Due to this convoluted form of kinship, they could not be neglectful
Austin was extremely patient with the boys. Although they occasionally caused trouble, most of them were minor issues. They would never do something they were not allowed to do.After breakfast, Austin brought them their bags. With a boy in each hand, he left the house. It was to prevent the boys from saying he was playing favorites. Dominic was used to that scene. Initially, Austin was simply Ms. Isabellaâs private chef. However, he gradually took on more responsibilities.He would take the two young masters to school. If he had time in the evening, he would also fetch them from school. Austin also made sure Louis and Phillip did their homework, supervised their hobby classes, and played with them. Sometimes, he would even teach them martial arts and train with them. Dominic felt Austin was an all-rounder. It seemed like there was nothing Austin could not do. No wonder Ms. Isabella thought highly of Austin. However, Austin was a young master of a wealthy family. He w
Louis and Phillip were downstairs having the breakfast Austin had prepared for them. The food was different every morning, and everything was delicious.Having gotten used to Austinâs cooking, Louis and Phillip could no longer stand the food provided in the school. They thought the food there was terrible. Louis was enrolled in an elementary school not far from home. As he was a first grader, he did not need to stay in the dormitories and could have his lunch and dinner at home. Phillip, who was a year younger than him, was still in preschool. He would have breakfast and dinner at home. Actually, the preschool did provide breakfast, but Phillip refused to eat in school and insisted on having breakfast at home. In order to eat the breakfast Austin made, he would get up early in the morning without the adults waking him. After putting on his clothes and washing up, he would head to Louisâs place with his bag. âAustin.âLouis suddenly asked, âDid my sister come back last n
Isabella had always thought Tati was teasing her. Therefore, she did not take her words seriously. She thought it was completely normal for Austin to treat her well as she was his boss. From Austinâs perspective, she was his source of income. Now that Isabella pondered about it deeper, she realized perhaps Austin did come to Satbury for her. It was not just to be her chef. He always said Grandma May only gave the York lads a year to pursue their fiancÃĐes. However, Austin had never left since he started working for Isabella. Even if he did, it was to accompany her on business trips. He was busy feeding and taking care of her every day and had never gone to pursue his so-called fiancÃĐe. He did not even try to gather information on her. Was he not anxious?A year would go by pretty quickly. Although it felt like it had not been long since Austin started working for Isabella, three months had passed. Time really flew. Three months had gone by in the blink of an eye. Neve
When Austin reached the door, he stopped and turned to say, âMs. Isabella, I only care about my future wife. Other young women are simply strangers to me.âIâm polite to other women when I need to be. If theyâre unimportant, Iâll ignore them. Even if that woman is my boss, I wonât cross any lines. If I do, there must be a reason behind it.âGet some rest, Ms. Isabella. You might have a headache when you wake up tomorrow. Iâll prepare a warm honey drink for you in the morning.âAfter speaking, Austin left. Isabella turned to look at where he last stood. What did his words mean?He said he only cared about his future wife.Aside from this lady, he would not step out of line with any other young woman, even if she were his boss. What did he mean by crossing lines?Was it showing concern? Did he mean that if his boss was a young woman but not his fiancÃĐe, he would simply do what was required of him without any personal feelings involved? Was that what he meant?If so, was
Isabella was cold sometimes, but that was not her true personality. She was a reasonable person. Austin was not worried that he would be mistreated as a live-in son-in-law. âMs. Isabella.âIsabella looked toward him and waited for him to speak. He asked, âThis may be abrupt, but may I ask what your ideal type is?âIsabella was stunned. Why did the question come to her? What was the type of man she liked?âSomeone like Austin,â she thought. After a moment of silence, she said, âI like men who are capable, responsible, and have correct values. Even if his family isnât as financially well-off as mine, I donât mind so long as heâs honest, competent, and sincere about his feelings for me.âOf course, itâll be great if we have the same social status. That way, weâll have similar perspectives and more common topics. If we get married, weâll be joining forces instead of it being a one-way financial aid.ââAlthough you can accept someone who isnât from a similar family backgrou
After a moment of silence, Isabella said, âItâs okay. I know I was forcing it.âThere was no point in asking Austin if he did not want to reveal anything. If he wanted to tell her, he would do so without her asking. However, her curiosity spiked with his silence. She was eager to know who his fiancÃĐe was. He was already so protective of his fiancÃĐe even though he had not met her before. It made Isabella jealous. It was her first time feeling that kind of emotion throughout her life. Although it was not a strong feeling, she still felt it. âYou werenât forcing me to tell you. You were simply curious. Most people have a curious side. Itâs only natural for you to be inquisitive as well.âAustin said gently, âItâs not just you. Those who knew that my nana had chosen fiancÃĐes for my brothers and me were also curious about who the ladies were.âTo be honest, we didnât even know Nana had been choosing fiancÃĐes for us since a few years ago until she handed their pictures to us
âYou can drink it now. Itâll turn cold if left aside for longer.âIsabella took the ginger ale and drank it with elegance. She put it down after drinking half of it. âIâm drunk, but only slightly. I can walk, and my brain is still alert. I know what Iâm doing and saying.âIâve had enough ginger ale.âShe did not want to consume too much liquid late at night. âWhich family is your fiancÃĐe from, Austin? Where is she? Do you mind telling me?âIsabella was insistent on getting answers. Austin had never told her when she had asked him about it before. He kept saying he would focus on working and that he was not in a rush to get married. After all, he was only in his twenties; Zachary only got married at thirty years old. If he was unsuccessful in wooing his fiancÃĐe that year, he did not mind waiting for a few more years. Isabella suddenly felt jealous of Austinâs fiancÃĐe, having had his heart without even doing anything. She wondered what Austinâs fiancÃĐe had done to cat
Austin stared into Isabellaâs eyes. He could detect some feelings in her gaze, but it was not obvious enough. What she felt for him was still mostly admiration. It was not the right time for him to confess yet. He would continue to wait. âYouâre the best and most outstanding lady in my heart, Ms. Isabella. I admire you more.âAustin added gently, âYou give off a strict and cold aura sometimes, but youâre always a nice person in my eyes.âIsabella had treated him well ever since he became her private chef. It only got better after she discovered he was a young master of the Yorks. Austin believed her when she said she viewed him as a friend because her actions reflected it as well. However, he was not content with being just friends. He wanted to be her husband. He wanted her to trust him and love him forever. He would also reciprocate her feelings and trust. Isabella smiled. âEven my parents are scared and avoid me when Iâm in a serious mode. Louis and Phillip w
Austin responded, âDonât worry, Ms. Edith. Iâll take good care of Ms. Isabella.âEdith had come in a hurry and left just as quickly. The hidden meaning in her cousinâs words was not lost on Isabella, but she did not comment on it.She allowed Austin to accompany her into the house. The lights were still on inside, but the first floor was empty. Everyone else had already gone to bed.Since Isabella had not returned yet, the housekeeper had left the lights on for her.The house was warm, so once inside, Isabella took off Austinâs coat and handed it back to him.Austin accepted the coat and followed her to the sofa. After she had sat down, he asked gently, âMs. Isabella, would you like some ginger ale for a hangover remedy?âIsabella rubbed her temples and said, âYes, please. I donât want to wake up with a splitting headache tomorrow.âAustin immediately went to prepare it for her.Isabella leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes to rest. After some time, she heard Austinâs