Hugh did not think he was treating Selena any differently. He knew Selena had not eaten much because she had been sitting right opposite him and he could see every single thing she did.Likewise, Selena had been able to see every move he made too, so it was normal that she was concerned about him. After all, they had been friends for many years now. He had even watched Selena go through three boyfriends during their friendship. Every time they broke up, it seemed to have been triggered by minor issues that blew up into major fights.Whenever Selena got into a relationship, he would stop inviting her to meet up, so that her boyfriend would not misunderstand. He had been very sensible about it, but whenever her ex-boyfriends bumped into him, their expressions would grow dark and they would refuse to acknowledge him, as if he was the cause of the break-ups.“You’re not that young anymore. You should settle down if you’ve met a good girl. Don’t always be so cynical and make Mr. Queen wo
In Fisher Manor, Belinda sat down on the sofa, tired from pacing. The ashtray before her was already filled with cigarette butts.“Madam.” Elaine entered the room and greeted Belinda respectfully after walking up to her.“What is it?” Belinda asked coldly.“Mr. Hunter is back. Should I let him in?”Belinda’s expression darkened. “I didn’t call him back. Who told him to come here?”Elaine said carefully, “Mr. Hunter might be able to take your mind off whatever’s causing your bad mood. He had always in the past kept you company whenever you were in a bad mood. Madam, regardless of what Mr. Hunter did wrong, he is your husband, after all. You’ve been married for decades and have children and grandchildren together. What can’t you forgive?”Belinda turned to glare at Elaine, who hung her head, not daring to meet her eyes.“How much has he paid you to speak in his favor like this? He did the one thing I can’t forgive. He is where he is today because of his own choices. He chose not t
Right as Elaine was about to leave, Belinda suddenly stopped her and instructed, “Let him in.”She was not in a good mood, so it would be helpful to have someone she could vent her anger on.“Alright, I’ll let him know.” Elaine was elated when Belinda heeded her advice and hurried to open the door for Hunter.“Has she eaten yet?” Hunter asked Elaine after getting out of the car.“No, not at all. She only had water and cigarettes.” Elaine sighed. “I don’t know what’s troubling her so badly she doesn’t even want to eat.”She had not been their butler for long, but she had been working at Fisher Manor for quite a long time now. Still, this was her first time seeing Belinda in such a state.Hunter was silent for a moment before he said, “Be careful doing things while she’s in a bad mood. Don’t piss her off. I’ll go in and take a look.”After taking a few steps, Hunter turned back and retrieved a bouquet of flowers and a red paper bag from the car. Inside the paper bag was a set of j
“Dad, Mom.” Caroline walked in and greeted her parents.Hunter looked at Caroline as if she was his savior when he saw her walk in. He hurriedly said, “Caroline, hurry and persuade your mother. She’s refusing to eat anything. You have to eat to have the strength to deal with whatever the issue is.” He wore a heartbroken expression.“That’s right. Caroline, hurry up and persuade Mom. She doesn’t want to eat anything,” Adrian and the rest echoed.However, Adrian did feel a little guilty upon seeing Caroline because of his scheme to get Liberty into an accident. He worried that she knew and would tattle on him to Belinda.Before Caroline could even sit down and speak, Belinda stood up and said seriously, “Caroline, come upstairs with me. The rest of you aren’t allowed to disturb us in the study without my permission.”Then, Belinda left her concerned husband and sons behind to go upstairs, with Caroline following her. Hunter looked at her hesitatingly, wanting to say something, but C
On the surface, they were on the same side. Belinda looked at her daughter silently. This was her biological daughter, the baby she had carried for nine months. She had four children in total. The first three were all sons. It could not be said that she did not love her sons. After all, they were all her babies. She had carried them in her womb for nine months each—how could she not love them?With the Fisher family rules as they were, however, they made it so that she preferred her daughter and doted on her more. When she was pregnant with Caroline, she just knew she was pregnant with a baby girl because the symptoms of her pregnancy were different compared to her three earlier pregnancies. Later on, her doctor did a scan and proved her right.By the time she gave birth to the daughter she wished for so dearly, she was considered to be of advanced maternal age. She planned to tie her tubes afterward, not wanting to have another child. One daughter was enough. That way, the same trag
“You can be honest, Mom. Regardless of whether we share the same goal, you can confide in me anytime.”Belinda pressed her lips together. She put on a self-deprecating smile and said, “You sound as if it makes you unhappy to be my daughter. Would you not have chosen me to be your mom if you were given a choice?”Caroline said, “We can’t choose our parents.”Belinda replied, “The worst thing I’ve ever done in my life is connected to your aunts’ deaths.“I was dissatisfied and resentful. I was just as competent as they were. Why couldn’t it have been me?“The man I loved wouldn’t even spare me a glance. That’s a regret I’ll carry for the rest of my life. I might even lose my honor soon because of him.“Why is the world so unfair to me?”Belinda did not clearly state that she had killed Tiara and Alivia, but her words served as an indirect confirmation. That was why she said the worst thing she had ever done was related to her sisters’ deaths. Caroline had heard many rumors. In
Patrick would not let Tiara die in vain. He would definitely try to prove that Belinda was the one who murdered her sisters. He would also expose all her wrongdoings and ruin her reputation. Everything she had taken from Tiara by her blood-stained hands would once again return to Tiara’s bloodline.Belinda had been dissatisfied and was unwilling to accept reality. How was she inferior to Tiara? Tiara simply became the matriarch because she was born eighteen years earlier than her. “Did you ever regret your actions, Mom? Aunt Tiara practically raised you, right? She was like a mother figure to you.”Tiara had raised Belinda and Alivia. However, Tiara had lost her life to the sister she had raised and trusted so much.Belinda remained silent. She regretted it, sometimes. However, there were also times when she felt she did nothing wrong. It had always been every woman for herself. Everything Belinda had done was for her own sake. After staying quiet for some time, Beli
“I’m just putting you to sleep, Carol. I won’t take your life. I’m going to do something that you find unacceptable.“I’m sorry for embarrassing you. It must be hard being my daughter. If I didn’t do what I did in the past, everything would’ve gone smoothly for you.”Belinda wiped her tears with a piece of tissue. She sighed as she watched her sleeping daughter. She knew Caroline was outstanding. However, Caroline was torn and suffering from having a mother like her.Due to her identity, she could not do anything or tell Belinda off.She was Belinda’s daughter after all. After staring at Caroline for a few minutes, Belinda composed herself. She took Caroline’s phone and tried to contact Darren. However, a password was required to access the phone. Belinda tried multiple combinations, but they were all wrong. Therefore, she had no choice but to give up on contacting Darren through Caroline’s phone.Luckily, she was the matriarch. Before Darren was assigned to Caroline, he
Callum was silent for a moment before he said, “I wanted you to get familiar with the route to my office, which is why I asked you to deliver the flowers yourself.”“Did you ever think about how difficult it was for me as a blind person? It was so hard for me to walk all the way to deliver those flowers,” Camryn retorted.Callum pulled her into an embrace and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, Camryn. It was my fault for not thinking it through, which put you through a lot.”Camryn pushed him away, “We have customers constantly coming in. Don’t just hug me out of nowhere. You’re as thick-skinned as a rhinoceros, but I’m not. At that time, I was angry and silently cursed you a hundred thousand times, but your insistence actually did help me learn the way to your office and now, I can find my way there even with my eyes closed.”At that moment, Trenton returned. After Carrie left, he felt a bit down and stayed outside for a while to compose himself before coming back in. He did not wan
Just then, a customer came in wanting to buy a bouquet. Camryn first brought over some sample pictures for the customer to choose from. “No need to choose, just help me arrange a bouquet of roses. I’m going to confess my feelings,” said the young boy, a hint of shyness on his face as he spoke.Camryn smiled gently. “Alright, please wait a moment while I prepare it for you.”Callum assisted by inviting the young boy to sit down and poured him a glass of water.The boy glanced between Camryn and Callum and quietly asked, “Are you and the boss married or dating?”“We’re married. She’s my wife.”The boy expressed his envy. “You both seem very happy.”“Yeah, we are very happy. I love my wife very much, and she loves me too.”Thinking about the girl he was pursuing, the boy’s face lit up with anticipation. “I also have someone I like, and I’m going to confess to her, though I just don’t know if she feels the same. I’m a bit nervous.”Callum, drawing from his own experience, advised
“She hasn’t paid. Stop her.” Camryn was not going to let her get away with it. With a command, her two bodyguards stopped Carrie.Carrie said furiously, “Camryn, I only took a few flowers from you! You have so many flowers here. What's the big deal if I take a few? You still want me to pay? I’m your sister! Don’t you know that blood is thicker than water?!”“Blood might be thicker than water, but business is business. Anyone who buys flowers from me has to pay, including you. Besides, you’ve never treated me like an older sister. You always bring up how we’re sisters when you want to take advantage of me, but that won’t work here. My roses are freshly transported, and since you’re my sister, I’ll let you have them for twenty bucks each. You took about five stems, so just give me a hundred. I won’t rip you off.”Carrie’s expression changed in an instant. “Camryn, why don’t you just rob a bank? You’re charging twenty bucks each? You’re just a thief! Here! I don’t want them! I’d rather
“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