Hunter and his sons truly adored Celine. They refused to accept the return of Caroline, their biological daughter and sister. They always thought she was an intruder who stole everything that belonged to Celine. They felt nothing for her but resentment. However, Caroline had grown up in a harsh environment with minimal family love. She did not expect her biological family to treat her well, or have any affection for them. The bonds between a parent and child, as well as siblings, had to be nurtured. Since Caroline had not been with her family when she grew up, her relationship with them was nonexistent. Although it had been two years since she returned to the family, how could that compare to Celine's time with them?Now that Celine was gone, Hunter and his sons were pretending to be nice to Caroline. In truth, they probably despised her and thought her appearance caused Celine’s downfall. However, Caroline had a good relationship with her sisters-in-law. Emma insisted
Caroline met Adrian just as he was exiting the elevator. They stopped in their tracks. Adrian walked out of the elevator first. Caroline was in no rush to enter either. “Are you heading out, Caroline?”Adrian had a file in his hand. Maybe he had a document that required her signature.Since his mother was not around, the most crucial stamp of approval was Caroline’s. Many important documents would only be valid with her signature and stamp. Adrian usually assigned the task of obtaining signatures to his secretary, having rarely done it himself. Caroline replied, “Yes, I have some things to attend to. What’s the matter?”She glanced at the file in his hand. Adrian did not pass it to her. He said, “I have a document that needs your approval.“Can you leave a little later? What do you have to do? Is it urgent?” Adrian asked gently with a hint of probing. Unless Caroline was going to meet a business client, her whereabouts were mostly unknown to him. It was difficult to
While Adrian had no more feelings for Emma, they used to have a good relationship. They had kids, and he was nice to their children. He doted on his daughter the most.When he discovered that Celine was not his biological sister and Caroline looked weak, he was overjoyed. He had hoped Belinda would make his daughter the next matriarch. Although his daughter did not seem capable, she was still young. She would do well if Belinda were willing to train her as the successor. Therefore, Adrian showered a lot of love on his daughter. When he heard Caroline’s question, he tried defending himself. However, he could not find any words and remained silent.Meanwhile, Caroline had finished reading the document and found no issues. She called Belinda to inform her about the contents of the documents. She would only sign after getting the green light from her mother to avoid falling into her brothers’ traps and getting scolded by Belinda afterward. “Adrian is here, Mom. He asked me when y
“Mom.”Adrian laughed sheepishly. “Dad will do no such thing. Although he made a mistake, he still has you in his heart.“Dad’s living at my place, and he’s been talking about you every day. He wonders who will be there to take a walk with you when you’re in a bad mood. He even reads romance novels on his phone to learn how the male lead pursues the female lead. He wants to beg for your forgiveness.”Hunter was already castrated. No matter how pretty and young the other women were, he could not have them. Belinda had utterly cut him off from indulging in his desires. Nevertheless, Hunter disagreed to a divorce. Although he despised his wife, he was unwilling to get a divorce because he knew he would barely get any assets and leave with nothing. He could never win against Belinda in Jensburg unless he lived longer than she did. That way, he could utilize his authority as an elder of the Fisher family after she died. However, that could only be achieved if the new matriarch
Belinda could not be bothered to talk to Adrian any longer. After scolding him, she said, “I’ll hang up if you have nothing else.”“I’ll help Carol out, Mom. I don’t have anything else to say. You get busy then.”Belinda ended the call.Adrian breathed a sigh of relief.He raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat that beaded his forehead when he hastily accused his mother earlier.Adrian must have been terrified for him to sweat on a cold day.Caroline passed him a piece of tissue.Adrian put the phone down and accepted the tissue. He wiped his sweat and said, “I was scared shitless just now. I don’t even know what came over me.”“You must’ve eaten a bowl of courage to say that.”Adrian glared at her. He complained, “It’s your fault. Why did you pass the phone to me when you and Mom were speaking? I fear her so much now. I feel like a mouse that has spotted a cat whenever I see her.”“Weren’t you the one who asked when she’ll be back? I didn’t know the answer and since I was
Caroline said, “My eldest niece is ten years younger than me. She’s not suitable to be my daughter. If I must adopt, then my youngest niece who’s a few years old will do.”That would be Jason’s youngest daughter, who was only six years old.Of course, those were empty words. She would not adopt her niece as her daughter. Caroline wanted a child of her own. If she could not wed a husband, then she would ask Darren as the sperm donor and try conceiving via IVF.Darren was clever and capable. She believed that their daughter would not be inferior in any way. Caroline’s nieces were mediocre at best. It would be difficult to train them to become future matriarchs. Otherwise, Belinda would have chosen one of her granddaughters instead of helping Caroline rise to the ranks.Darren was loyal to Caroline. He would be more dedicated to protecting her and their daughter if they shared a daughter. It would be a win-win situation. Although Caroline did not want to admit it, among all
“Those families are in Wiltspoon and have few businesses in Jensburg. They can’t interfere in our family affairs.“So what if Liberty is Aunt Tiara’s descendant? Aunt Tiara has been dead for decades. The current matriarch is our mom. Returning the position to Aunt Tiara’s descendants is understandable only if you are incapable. Since you’re competent, why should we surrender the position to them?”Adrian added, “Is Liberty even capable? Her establishing a company in Jensburg doesn’t mean anything. No one in our family is close to her. They didn’t even take you seriously when you first returned, let alone her.“While many family members are dissatisfied with Mom, they can’t do anything about it.”He then muttered softly, “Maybe Liberty is destined to have a short life like Aunt Tiara and dies when she’s middle-aged.”His hiring someone to hit Liberty with a car was unsuccessful. To circumvent this, he had sent two cars, yet the mission still failed. “What did you say?”Carolin
Caroline looked at Adrian and said, “You’d have better done nothing. I’m busy, and Mom isn’t in Jensburg. I don’t have the time to clean up your mess if you’ve stirred up trouble.”“No. I didn’t. I’ve been working or going to my mother-in-law’s place to argue with Emma. I don’t have time to be a troublemaker. Besides, I’m an adult. I can lie in the bed I make. I wouldn’t dare to let you do it for me.”“That’s great. You can go back to work. I’m heading out now.”Caroline got up and walked away from her desk. The siblings left the office together. Adrian had wanted to pry into what Caroline was going to do outside. He could not obtain any information but her tight lips. After entering the elevator, Caroline stood upright in front of him in her suit. She gave off an intimidating aura. Adrian cursed mentally but kept a smile on his face. The doors opened when the elevator arrived on his floor. Adrian exited the elevator. When he was passing by his secretary’s desk, he sto
Layla scoffed. “Who knows if you’re truly sincere?”“I know you all won’t believe me no matter what I say, Ms. Doyle. I’ll prove that I’m serious about Imogen through my actions.”Dylan spoke with honesty, “If there’s a sliver of possibility that I’m playing around with Imogen’s heart again, you don’t have to teach me a lesson. My family will gladly do the honors. Besides, I’m not that kind of person. Back then, I thought of developing a relationship with Imogen because of Nana’s orders.”“That’s right. You listened to your nana and came to pursue Jen for three months. Jen was young and naive. Just when she started getting attracted to you, you ran away and said you realized you couldn’t fall in love with her.“Is Jen’s love worth so little? Would you even have given an explanation if Jen didn’t go to you for one?“It’s been months since then. Just as Jen has moved on, you reappear and disrupt her peaceful life. You came back to pursue her because you couldn’t get the woman you lo
“We can talk about this next time. By the way, Layla already left.“I still have some work to do. I’ll hang up now. Don’t call me again even if the world is ending. I’ll hate you if you disturb me and make me work till late at night.”Dylan said, “Okay. I won’t disturb you. Go on with your work. Remember not to exhaust yourself.”Imogen hung up without another word.Before Dylan could even put his phone back into his pocket, he saw a luxury car exiting the parking lot.Since it was past working hours, most employees had already left.That luxury car probably belonged to Layla.Dylan had met members of the Doyle family before. However, he did not have a deep impression of them.Layla Doyle was the president of Davidson Group. Although there was still a board of directors above her, she still called the shots for most matters.Therefore, she was extremely busy. Back when Dylan deliberately approached Imogen and treated her well to pursue her, he had only seen Layla once from afa
Dylan smiled. “Look, Imogen. It’s dark, and it’s time to have dinner. Aren’t you hungry? Why don’t you come out and have dinner with me? I can take you back to the office to continue working afterward. What do you think?“How much work do you have left? I bought two movie tickets. We can go watch a movie after you’re done working.”Imogen rejected him coldly. “I’m sorry, Mr. Dylan. I’m not free. I’ll be heading home for dinner after work. Since it’s a rare day where I don’t have to attend an event, I want to have a good rest.”She had already made an appointment with a few of her best friends to go shopping at eight o’clock that night.She had no time to accompany Dylan.How could he think of having dinner and watching a movie together? It had only been one day since he decided to pursue her again.Dylan could dream on.Imogen had not even admitted she was Chameleon Fox. How could she possibly accept him?Did he think she was an easy target?In the past, Imogen had loved him s
“Besides, he caught a cold just from standing outside for half an hour without his jacket last time. He was only fine because he drank some spicy soup and took some medicine. Also, he has a strong body, because if it were other people, they would’ve fallen sick.“I just wanted to torture him a little. I don’t want him to die. I still need him so I can marry into the York family.”Layla smiled. “The York family has many young masters. It doesn’t have to be him. His cousins are of similar age as you, right?”“Peter is close to my age, but he already has a fiancée. Austin already has an arranged partner too. River and the rest are too young. Even if they were offered to me, I wouldn’t want them. I don’t like being the older one in a relationship.”Rowan was not even a legal adult yet.Layla said, “Okay. Old Mrs. York is a weird lady, but I can’t deny that she has a good eye for people.“I think Dylan isn’t even good enough for you. He can’t win against you in a fight, and his IQ and
If Imogen hated the noise and excitement in the air, she would not have snooped around as Chameleon Fox. That identity allowed her to explore and have fun. Sometimes, she would step up to help someone or be a troublemaker and offend someone.Layla walked over and sat down. She watched Imogen’s charming face and smiled. “That York guy is here again. He’s waiting at the company’s entrance. He has a bouquet in his hands, and his new car is parked behind him.“It looks like he wants to invite you to have a dinner date with him.”Layla asked, “What is he trying to do? Are you still planning to accept him?”Dylan had been living in a hotel since his arrival in Huntington. He was already looking at houses but had not found one he liked yet.Grandma May suggested he learn from Remy and buy a house right beside the Doyle family's. It would make it more convenient for him to pursue Imogen.However, none of the Doyles’ neighbors intended to sell their houses. Those people did not lack money
Imogen did not give Dylan a reply. She was still in the office.She did not even have time to look at his messages. She just wanted to finish her work as soon as possible so she could leave and eat.Did Dylan not need to work?He also had a company under his name. Even if he was not involved in managing York Corporation, he still had to manage his own company, right?Imogen was extremely busy.She had been overwhelmed with work since she resumed working yesterday. She would be at a meeting, on her way to see a client, handling documents, or solving issues at a branch company.Imogen barely had time to take a sip of water, let alone reply to Dylan’s messages.Seeing Dylan being so relaxed while she was working so hard put her in a bad mood. Her urge to ignore him gradually increased.As her parents had mentioned, she had other men to choose from. Dylan was not her only option.She could fall in love with someone else.Even if Imogen were to choose Dylan in the end, she would m
However, they had heard that this man had previously pursued Imogen, and those who had a good memory and had seen Dylan before, had already recognized him.When Imogen seemed a bit interested, this man then said he did not love her and went to pursue someone else. After failing to win over that person, he backtracked to pursue their vice president once more. This behavior left many people with a bad impression of Dylan.What did he take their vice president for?It was worth noting that Imogen was the chairman’s niece and the president’s sister. The chairman treated his own daughter and niece the same, and in the Doyle family, she was very much favored by her elders. The Doyles were one of the top families in Huntington, and as part of it, Imogen did not have to worry about finding a husband.Dylan ignored the looks people gave him. His gaze fixed on the cars coming out of the Davidson Group building, afraid that if he blinked, Imogen would pass him by.He watched the employees le
Duncan called Serenity to inform her that he was taking Sonny to the Lewises’ for dinner and would send him back later. Naturally, Serenity had no objections. With her nephew being well taken care of by Duncan, Serenity had time to go shopping with Jasmine. Jasmine was buying baby supplies as she was eight months pregnant and it was high time to prepare for the baby’s arrival. Watching Jasmine pick up items for her baby made Serenity feel the itch, and she ended up buying a ton of stuff for both her baby and Sonny.In the evening, Zachary and Josh came to pick up their wives.They both managed to cancel their appointments, leaving the task of handling work engagements to Callum and other senior executives. The two men who were once the busiest had now become the ones who most enjoyed slacking off.“Why did you buy so much? Where’s Sonny?” Zachary asked as he walked toward Serenity when he got out of the car. He saw his wife and her bodyguards carrying a bunch of shopping bags. T
Olivia cursed Duncan one last time. “You won’t have a good ending bullying the weak!” she spat before she was pulled away by her husband.Duncan watched them leave, his expression cold. “Dunc, don't be angry. My grandmom is always like that. When Lucas wanted my toys before, I cried and refused to let him take them. My mom wouldn’t let him either, but she always scolded my mom. I still remember that.”Sonny could vaguely remember some things from when he was two years old. It had only been a little over two years since then, after all.As he comforted Duncan, he gently touched Duncan's face, speaking softly, “Aunt Ser says we shouldn’t get too angry. If we get too angry, we’ll grow old faster. I don’t want you to get old, Dunc. I want you to stay just like this forever.“Dunc, please don’t be mad anymore. I won’t eat the fried chicken my grandmom buys for me anymore.”Duncan could not help but feel both amused and heartbroken for both Sonny and Liberty, who had been mistreated b