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
His mother looked unhappy. She and Caroline might have gotten into a fight during their discussion. Did Caroline fall for one of their mother’s schemes?Adrian, startled, quickly averted his gaze. He cautiously told Belinda, “Mom, although you’re having a discussion with Caroline, you should still have your meals.”“Get lost!” Belinda roared. Adrian turned and ran away. He even fell while trying to run as fast as he could. The tray of food fell to the ground and spilled all over the floor, leaving him in a mess.The door to the study closed with a loud bang. Adrian only dared to raise his head upon hearing the door close. He glanced behind and immediately got up. He did not just leave but stayed to clean up the spilled food. After cleaning the mess, he rushed downstairs. Hunter and his two other sons were anxious after they heard the commotion upstairs. “You two. Go upstairs and see what happened.”Hunter guessed that his wife was having a fit. Since he dared not go ups
Justin and Jason exchanged glances. Their expressions changed. Caroline was their only sister. Although their mother did not treat Caroline well initially, she placed more trust in Caroline than the rest and delegated some of her responsibilities to Caroline for the past six months. They did not expect their mother to attack Caroline. Hunter said calmly, “Carol won’t die. No matter how vicious your mom is, she won’t kill Carol. I think the probability of her killing one of us is higher.”Due to the Fisher family’s rules, the matriarchs would always prioritize daughters over sons.Their successors were more important than their own lives.Since Celine was dead, Belinda would not kill Caroline no matter how angry or evil she was. “Why is Caroline unconscious then?”Adrian did not want Caroline dead. It was not out of love for his sister but more of sympathy. If Belinda were even targeting Caroline, Hunter and his sons would have to live in constant fear. After thinking
“Do you know anything, Dad? Mom didn’t even go to the company after returning from her trip. She has constantly been in a bad mood and doesn’t eat her meals. It’s just been a day, but she’s going to… What on earth happened?”“That’s right, Dad. You should tell us everything you’ve been hiding so we can be prepared for what’s about to come.”Justin agreed with Jason. Even Adrian did not know what was going on. He only knew that his mother was in a foul mood. She also looked like she was in a rush. None of them knew what had happened exactly. Although their father had no power, he could be hiding things from them as he had been married to their mother for decades. After a moment of silence, Hunter said, “It’s better if you don’t know anything. Anyway, I’m the only one who won’t put you all in harm’s way. Just listen to me. Pack all your valuables and take your wives and children to the Clark family as soon as possible.“I built a house back in my hometown. It has five floors
“I think we should wait for Mom’s arrangement, Dad. Things might not be the way you think. It’s been decades since Aunt Tiara’s death. She was eighteen years older than Mom, so her assistant was probably older than Mom by about twenty years. If he’s alive, he should be around ninety.“Someone that age can’t even walk without someone’s assistance. What can he do?“His memory probably deteriorated as well. How much can he remember about something that had happened decades ago?“Besides, even if he’s alive and healthy, will everyone simply believe his words? Does he have evidence that Mom was the one who killed Aunt Tiara?”Adrian did not want to take his children back to Hunter’s hometown. Although the three brothers could not inherit the family business, they had other businesses and assets in Jensburg. The shops, factories, villas, and penthouses they owned were more than enough to let them live a comfortable life.On the other hand, they would have to start anew if they retur
After a moment of silence, Imogen said, “You don’t like spicy food. Even drinking some spicy soup feels like taking poison to you. You don’t have to make yourself suffer. Just go back and never appear before me and my family again.“You’ve never liked me from the start anyway.”The person he loved was Chameleon Fox.Although it was one of her aliases, Imogen still felt that Dylan did not love her.She was probably the only person in the world who was jealous of herself.She raised the window and drove away.Dylan returned to his car and started following Imogen’s car from behind.Imogen initially wanted to go shopping with her friends. Upon seeing Dylan following her, she changed her mind and went home.When they arrived at the Doyles’ mansion, Imogen was able to drive inside while Dylan’s car was denied entry. Luckily, Leticia and the rest were not home.Otherwise, Dylan would be in trouble.He waited in front of the gates for some time. A security guard walked over and kn
A few minutes later.Imogen wanted to pretend she could not see the “statue” at the entrance of the company, but Dylan rushed out and blocked her way. Fortunately, she was not driving at a high speed and was able to stop the car immediately.She lowered the car window and scolded, “If you want to die, don’t die under my tires, Mr. Dylan. I don’t want to dirty my tires.”“I’m sorry for choosing such a dangerous way to stop your car, Imogen. However, you wouldn’t have stopped if I didn’t do this,” said Dylan apologetically.“What business do you have?”Imogen took a few deep breaths and added coldly, “It’s late and cold. Why are you standing here? Don’t blame me if you fall sick from the cold. I didn’t order you to stand here.“If you catch a cold, it's your problem. I’ve already said I didn’t need you to treat me to a meal.”Dylan smiled. “Considering that I’ve stood here for so long, will you do me the honor of letting me have a meal with you?”He handed her the frozen bouque
Imogen enjoyed the time she had spent with Grandma May. Therefore, she did not want to trouble the old lady.“I heard Old Mrs. York is a playful old lady. She loves having fun. She’s very healthy as well. I want to invite her to our place. She’ll be able to witness some interesting scenes.”Imogen replied, “You should unleash your dissatisfaction on Dylan, Layla. Don’t disturb Old Mrs. York. While she’s healthy, she’s already eighty. She shouldn’t travel far distances at her age. We won’t be able to bear the consequences if something happens.”Old Mrs. York was the anchor of the York family.Imogen dared not risk her safety.She liked Grandma May and the Yorks.Her teacher had also said he could be at ease if she were to marry into the York family. If it were any other family, he would be worried about her husband or his family mistreating her.“Does Old Mrs. York know how to use WhatsApp?”“Yes. She’s good with electronic devices.”“Okay. Give me her number. That way, I can g
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