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 assistant’s whereabouts.Julian replied a little sheepishly, “We still have nothing even after searching for so long. Mr. Stone, I suspect the person you guys are looking for isn’t among the living anymore.”There 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 “uncle”.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. “Of course. If we manage to get on Quinn’s good side, it’ll be just the same as getting on Julian’s good side.”As 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 Julian’s 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 Zachary’s 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.“Hurry downstairs and see if the old people who came are scammers.” Alice then turned to coax her son softly. “Elias will fall asleep really quickly. I’ll sleep a little longer with him. There’s no need to wake me for breakfast. You have to eat something before you head to the office.”“Okay.” Clive leaned close to kiss his beloved wife on the cheek before tenderly touching his son’s 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 Tiara’s outstanding assistant?“May I know your names?”“That’s not important. It’s been decades since anyone asked for our names, so we don’t quite remember them anymore,” the legendary doctor said. “You can just call me Doc. Mr. Stone, I’ve been a doctor for decades and have been labeled ‘the genius doctor’ among others. Lilian Carden is my disciple. You must have heard of her.”He introduced himself first. At Clive’s 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 Camryn’s eyes.“Mr. Stone, we don’t like beating around the bush ei
Doc explained on Patrick’s 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, “Don’t get so excited, Patrick. We haven’t even gotten to meet your little miss Audrey yet.”The 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 man’s 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 Johnsons’ in-law, while the Stones were also in-laws with the Johnsons. Due to this convoluted form of kinship, they could not be neglectful
The two of them were on the call, but Zachary said he was not talking to Clive. Guessing that Zachary was dealing with Sonny at the moment, Clive good-naturedly did not lose his temper.“You can talk now,” Zachary finally said to Clive. If Clive had not known that his cousin was still sleeping at this hour, he would not have called Zachary. Just listen to his tone—as if he was reporting to Zachary.Holding back his temper, Clive said, “The legendary doctor has brought my grandmother’s assistant with him to visit with a few other old men. They might be the men who dominated the scene back then. Tell Seren about this and if you can make it, come over with her.”“Legendary doctor?” Zachary frowned. “Are you sure?”“No, I’m not. I asked Remy to come over to confirm because he’s seen him before, but I don’t think they would lie. I don’t think anyone would easily dare to impersonate them. Their disciples’ network spans the whole world.”Silver specialized in intelligence. His disciple h
Zachary laughed. “Alright, as long as you don’t compete with your Aunt Ser for favor, you’ll actually feel really happy because there are so many people who love you. Hurry up and go wash up. When you’re done, bring your bag downstairs and eat something. Later, the driver will send you to preschool. Aunt Ser and Uncle Zak have something to do, so we can’t send you.”Sonny pouted once more but ultimately did not say anything and silently went off to wash up.Zachary returned to the master bedroom and woke Serenity to tell her about Doc appearing with Patrick. Serenity immediately got changed and freshened up as fast as she could, before rushing downstairs and dragging her husband with her.At the Stones’ residence, Clive had just woken his parents up. After learning that Dr. Carden’s teacher was among the ancients visiting, Audrey immediately made to go downstairs but was stopped by her husband.“Audrey, you haven’t changed yet. Since they’ve come here, they can wait downstairs. You
Audrey called Patrick “Uncle True”, so her sister Lisa followed suit. They were the only ones who called him that, and every time, he would respond with a smile. In Audrey’s blurry memories, her parents and Uncle True were always very busy and her mother was not in good health, so she often delegated to Belinda.Now that Audrey thought about it, it was likely Belinda’s desire to seize power arose from Tiara’s bad health and constant need for Belinda’s help in managing the company and family matters. Belinda must have felt indignant that despite doing so much for them, everyone was still in favor of Tiara, so Belinda wanted to take Tiara’s place, thinking that only by becoming the matriarch would everyone favor her completely.When Audrey called Patrick “Uncle True”, he responded with a tearful exclamation. Neither had a strong impression of the other anymore, but Audrey had taken very good care of herself and looked like both her parents. When Patrick looked at her, he felt like he c
Last year, Patrick was at death's door again. He did his best to calm himself. He nodded at his friends before saying to Audrey, “Missy Drey, I’ll do my best to stay alive until you guys have avenged Ms. Tiara and punished Ms. Belinda. I wouldn’t be able to rest in peace otherwise. I’m useless. It’s been so many years, but I still wasn’t able to avenge Ms. Tiara or find you and your sister.”If he had managed to find news of Audrey and Lisa earlier, Lisa might not have died young. He had failed to protect Tiara and even her two daughters. He felt guilty toward Tiara. Having undergone special training before going to Tiara’s side and doing many things for her, he had failed to carry out the last two most important duties. He was too ashamed to meet Tiara in the afterlife.The camp where he was trained immediately arranged for a new assistant for Belinda when she succeeded the matriarchy after Tiara’s death, who then took over the network he used before. The network he built himself, h
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. Isabella’s 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 Austin’s 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 Louis’s place with his bag. “Austin.”Louis suddenly asked, “Did 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 Austin’s 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 fiancées. 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 fiancée. 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, “Ms. Isabella, I only care about my future wife. Other young women are simply strangers to me.“I’m polite to other women when I need to be. If they’re unimportant, I’ll ignore them. Even if that woman is my boss, I won’t cross any lines. If I do, there must be a reason behind it.“Get some rest, Ms. Isabella. You might have a headache when you wake up tomorrow. I’ll prepare a warm honey drink for you in the morning.”After 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 fiancée, 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. “Ms. Isabella.”Isabella looked toward him and waited for him to speak. He asked, “This may be abrupt, but may I ask what your ideal type is?”Isabella was stunned. Why did the question come to her? What was the type of man she liked?‘Someone like Austin,’ she thought. After a moment of silence, she said, “I like men who are capable, responsible, and have correct values. Even if his family isn’t as financially well-off as mine, I don’t mind so long as he’s honest, competent, and sincere about his feelings for me.“Of course, it’ll be great if we have the same social status. That way, we’ll have similar perspectives and more common topics. If we get married, we’ll be joining forces instead of it being a one-way financial aid.”“Although you can accept someone who isn’t from a similar family backgrou
After a moment of silence, Isabella said, “It’s okay. I know I was forcing it.”There 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 fiancée was. He was already so protective of his fiancée 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. “You weren’t forcing me to tell you. You were simply curious. Most people have a curious side. It’s only natural for you to be inquisitive as well.”Austin said gently, “It’s not just you. Those who knew that my nana had chosen fiancées for my brothers and me were also curious about who the ladies were.“To be honest, we didn’t even know Nana had been choosing fiancées for us since a few years ago until she handed their pictures to us
“You can drink it now. It’ll turn cold if left aside for longer.”Isabella took the ginger ale and drank it with elegance. She put it down after drinking half of it. “I’m drunk, but only slightly. I can walk, and my brain is still alert. I know what I’m doing and saying.“I’ve had enough ginger ale.”She did not want to consume too much liquid late at night. “Which family is your fiancée from, Austin? Where is she? Do you mind telling me?”Isabella 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 fiancée that year, he did not mind waiting for a few more years. Isabella suddenly felt jealous of Austin’s fiancée, having had his heart without even doing anything. She wondered what Austin’s fiancée had done to cat
Austin stared into Isabella’s 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. “You’re the best and most outstanding lady in my heart, Ms. Isabella. I admire you more.”Austin added gently, “You give off a strict and cold aura sometimes, but you’re always a nice person in my eyes.”Isabella 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. “Even my parents are scared and avoid me when I’m in a serious mode. Louis and Phillip w
Austin responded, “Don’t worry, Ms. Edith. I’ll take good care of Ms. Isabella.”Edith had come in a hurry and left just as quickly. The hidden meaning in her cousin’s 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 Austin’s 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, “Ms. Isabella, would you like some ginger ale for a hangover remedy?”Isabella rubbed her temples and said, “Yes, please. I don’t want to wake up with a splitting headache tomorrow.”Austin immediately went to prepare it for her.Isabella leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes to rest. After some time, she heard Austin’s