Clive immediately took a plane to Jensburg. On the other hand, Liberty sat in her office in silence for a while after calling Kevin. She thought, ‘Am I really going back to Wiltspoon?’If she did not leave and Belinda killed her, they would obtain evidence of Belinda killing her and be able to find Belinda guilty. Tiara and her family’s murder happened decades ago. Even if Patrick could be a witness, too much time had passed since then. They probably could not make Belinda pay for her sins with her life. That was unless Belinda committed a recent crime that warranted a death sentence.Liberty thought of being the bait herself. With that thought, she immediately called Zachary. When he picked up, she said, “I thought about it and decided not to return to Wiltspoon. I’ll remain in Jensburg and wait for Madam Fisher to make a move. We can only gather evidence of her crimes if she does something.“I’d be considered escaping if I go back to Wiltspoon. I can’t hide forever, an
Liberty said, “I’ll be careful. Don’t be too worried about me.”She was extremely busy every day. The places she frequented the most were the company and Fortress Hotel. The company was probably safer than Fortress Hotel. The hotel was open to the public for business. With the number of people entering and leaving daily, hiding a killer in the crowd was easy.“Aunt Audrey sent me a message. I’ll go talk to her now.”“Okay. Be careful, Liberty.”“I know. I will.”Liberty hung up and answered Audrey’s call. Meanwhile, Serenity, who did not know what was happening in Jensburg, was in WIldridge Manor. The old-timers enjoyed the environment in the manor. They initially visited the manor for a meal but decided to stay for a few days due to the beautiful scenery and Grandma May’s insistence. People of old age could talk about the past all night.Even Patrick did not want to leave. He thought Grandma May sure knew how to enjoy life as she had built such a grand manor to spend
After some time, Sonny raised his head and asked Serenity, “Will Mom give me a little sister, Aunt Ser?”He was young and knew nothing about love. However, he knew Liberty was going to marry Duncan soon. Sonny also had no idea what marriage meant aside from the fact that the two people would live together after getting married.Dunc would probably move to live with him and Mom. Alternatively, he and Mom would be moving into Dunc’s house.He also knew there would be babies after marriage, just like Aunt Ser had a little brother in her womb after she and Uncle Zak got married.That was why Sonny was wondering if his mother would give birth to a little sister for him. “It’s difficult to say. It may or may not happen.”Serenity dared not confirm whether Liberty would have another child after remarrying. It was up to Liberty. Of course, the Lewises wished Liberty would have another baby regardless of gender. That way, Duncan would have a child sharing his blood. “I want a l
Serenity had no choice but to put Sonny down. She said, “I have to answer a call. It might be Zachary calling.”She took out her phone and looked at the caller ID. True enough, it was Zachary. “Is it Uncle Zak, Aunt Ser?”“Yes.”Sonny extended his little hand. “Let me answer it, Aunt Ser. Let me.”Serenity passed the phone to him with a smile. He picked up the call skillfully. “Uncle Zak,” said Sonny clearly. “Where’s your aunt, Sonny? It’s pretty late now. Have you bathed?”Zachary knew Sonny had been playing a lot. Serenity always had to grab him back to bathe.The York family’s elders doted on Sonny a lot. Thankfully, he did not become a spoiled child because of Serenity and Liberty. “Not yet. Aunt Ser said she was taking me back to bathe. I haven’t played enough. I said I wanted to play some more, but Aunt Ser wouldn’t let me. When’s your vacation, Uncle Zak? Aunt Ser won’t scold me anymore if you play with me.”Zachary said, “She’ll scold me if she doesn’t scold y
Zachary hung up after giving Serenity a few reminders. In the past, he would have wanted to be on the phone with her for several hours. Now that he was hiding something from her, he quickly ended the call because he was afraid of exposing something.Serenity did not suspect anything because everyone was busy at the end of the year.Zachary was the head of the York family. He was busier than anyone else. Although his brothers and cousins had grown up and could share his responsibilities, not all lived in Wiltspoon permanently. Only Callum, River, and Noah left, whereas Dylan and Peter occasionally traveled to different places. Kevin and Austin had not returned to Wiltspoon as they were pursuing their happiness. Zachary and Serenity had not asked Austin how his courting was going due to the elders’ visit for the past few days.They wondered if there had been any progress between Austin and Isabella.However, it had only been a few days. Unless Isabella had fallen in love wi
“I know you’re worried, Duncan.”Zachary was speechless when he heard Duncan villainize him as if Zachary did not care about Liberty at all. As long as he was still in love with Serenity, he would be concerned about his sister-in-law’s safety. Liberty had raised Serenity and was her only sister. Zachary had nothing but respect for her. To him, Liberty was equivalent to being his mother-in-law.He would always go to Liberty whenever Serenity fought with him or ignored him. Serenity had mentioned that she had never seen a man who complained so much to the wife’s family. She could not believe Zachary was that sort of person. “Why wouldn’t I be worried about Liberty? She’s my wife’s sister. She’s like a mother-in-law to me.”Liberty had always been a mother figure to Serenity. She started looking after the ten-year-old Serenity when she was only fifteen herself. She acted as both a sister and a parent. Not only did she become a fine woman, but she also raised Serenity to
Duncan asked, “Who’s Mr. Patrick?”Zachary replied, “Oh, we forgot to tell you.”He told Duncan about Mr. Patrick. When Duncan heard that Tiara’s assistant had been found, he finally understood why the situation in Jensburg suddenly became so tense. He sulked and said, “I know you all are hiding things from me so I don’t get anxious, but I’ll still feel sad and guilty.“If only I drove slower and more carefully that day, I wouldn’t have gotten into an accident. If the accident didn’t happen, my legs wouldn’t get hurt. None of you will be keeping secrets from me now.”Zachary said, “It’s because many things happened over the past few days…”He did not finish his sentence. They had indeed hidden some information from Duncan after considering his injury. Duncan stayed silent for a moment. Then, he raised his head to look at Zachary and said, “I feel better with the elders around. It’s late, Zachary. Why haven’t you gone home?”Zachary replied honestly, “I haven’t updated Ser
Zachary had no words. They could do nothing but worry about Liberty.Meanwhile, in Jensburg, Belinda did not attack Liberty that very night. It was because Clive had arrived from Wiltspoon. Belinda had received the information swiftly. Mr. Gordon entered her study. No one knew what they were discussing inside. The night passed peacefully. It snowed heavily in Jensburg the next day. When Caroline woke up, the first thing she saw was the white ceiling. The smell of antiseptic overwhelmed her nose. She was not in her room. ‘Oh. Darren said he was taking me to the hospital.’She was most likely in the hospital then. What time was it?When her memories came flooding back, Caroline sat bolted upright. However, she got dizzy and fell back into the bed. What on earth was the drug her mother had given her?She managed to regain consciousness last night but felt extremely dizzy and weak. She fainted again shortly after. Caroline had no memory of Darren taking her to t
“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
Mr. Longbottom thought he was not so inferior to men younger than him.More accurately, he was far superior. He had status, money, and power.Which of the younger men could be on par with him unless they came from a wealthy family?Many sons of wealthy families could not compete with him.“I can’t go over because I’m busy these days. But I do miss you too.“It’s more difficult because of the festive season. There are many events, and I have to accompany my family. My wife doesn't care about me, but her request is that I be with her during the holidays because we have to meet our friends and families. Do you understand?”Mr. Longbottom had a wife and children. Carrie knew about it. He had never hid that fact.Carrie did not know if he was close to his wife. Although he said they no longer had feelings for each other, Carrie dared not believe him because he had never let other women take his wife’s place.He also never allowed other women to become pregnant with his children.Mr
Carrie thought she had matured since she could figure out that much. In the past, she would not have understood a thing. Love was about accepting everything about someone. Most people could tolerate their partner’s shortcomings when they were deeply in love. However, without love, even a person’s strength would seem like a fault. Carrie smiled. “Mr. York is a workaholic. Serenity must’ve gotten the habit from him and turned into one herself. I can’t believe she’s working so hard even though she’s pregnant.”“She’s still in the early stages of pregnancy. Going to work is fine.”“Do you need anything else, Mrs. Longbottom?” Jasmine asked.“No. I shall take my leave now, Mrs. Bucham.”Jasmine was on guard and unwilling to reveal much about Serenity. Therefore, it would be better for Carrie to leave. She was not close to Serenity and her friends yet. “Bye, Mrs. Longbottom.”Jasmine saw Carrie out and watched as she got into her car.Once Carrie got far enough from the booksto
Mr. Longbottom had been surprised by her question. He told her coldly that she should refrain from asking unnecessary questions.One who knew too much would not live long. Carrie got intimidated and dared not ask another question. Although she got more curious, she did not try to gather more information for fear Mr. Longbottom would choke her again if he found out. “Nothing. I just asked because I haven’t seen her in a while.”Of course, Carrie could not reveal that she was looking for Serenity. Jasmine would get suspicious if she did. No one around Serenity was a fool. “Seren is busy with work. I rarely see her these days,” Jasmine said.Carrie knew it was a lie. She was aware that Serenity's closest friends did not trust her yet. It made her feel defeated. It had been months since Mr. Longbottom found her and asked her to approach Serenity. Despite her efforts, she still had not obtained Serenity’s trust, let alone become her friend.However, Jasmine and Serenity go