“Don’t sleep just yet. Place an ice pack on your face before you do. It is so red and swollen. I can do it for you while you’re asleep, but it’ll affect your rest.”Darren knew Caroline was embarrassed. He kissed her swollen face lightly and said, “I’m yours forever. Why are you embarrassed by just a kiss?”“Who said I was? I’m thick-skinned. I’m not embarrassed at all. Besides, you said that you’re mine. So what if I kissed you? Even if I decide to have sex with you, you can’t say no.”Caroline refused to admit that she was embarrassed.Darren held the ice pack to her face. He smiled at what she said. “You’re welcome to have sex with me anytime you want. However, it’s best if you can inform me ahead of time so I can bathe and be squeaky clean for you.”Caroline was speechless.“You should’ve tried to dodge Madam Fisher’s blows a little. Both cheeks are swollen.”After a short silence, Caroline said, “I betrayed her first. She has the right to get angry. Even if I think I’ve d
All because she wanted to shorten her business trip. Hence, Isabella worked overtime every day and only returned to the hotel at midnight. She would also go to work at her usual time the next day.Being sleep-deprived, she struggled to stay focused and relied on several cups of coffee to keep herself going.Isabella got up and went to the window. She observed the world outside. The weather was cold. The people walking on the streets seemed to be in a hurry, and there were not many people outside. Austin had mentioned that the streets in Wiltspoon were always crowded regardless of the time of the day. The city was only quiet and less crowded between Christmas and New Year’s Day due to folks from out of town returning homes.Once the week was over, Wiltspoon would be back bustling as city dwellers made their way back.Luckily, Isabella had Austin preparing her three meals every day. No matter how busy she was, she would always be able to eat something when mealtimes came arou
“I’ve been busy,” Isabella replied. “I know you have, but can’t you take time to call us at night?“Our family misses you a lot, especially Louis. He’s been asking every day when you’ll be back.”Actually, Louis simply missed Austin’s cooking.It was devastating to him that Isabella took Austin on her business trip. Austin gave off a friendly vibe, and the food he made tasted great. The two young masters of the O’Connors adored him. Of course, they could not tell Isabella such things, so they said they missed her instead. However, how could Isabella not know her brothers’ personalities? She smiled and said, “I guess they probably miss Austin’s dishes more, but they won’t go hungry even if he isn’t there.”Austin was not the only chef working for the O’Connors. Strictly speaking, he was Isabella’s personal chef. Her family could only have a taste of his cooking thanks to her. While other chefs were not as talented as Austin, they were definitely on par with chefs wor
Isabella knew she and Tati’s parents did not want them to move after marrying. The family business was mainly managed by her and Tati. Their younger sisters were less capable and still young. They were not able to take over the family business yet. Therefore, unless Isabella and Tati’s younger brothers could take over the reins when they become teenagers, she and Tati would have to continue dedicating their lives to the family. They had no choice because the O’Connor family had more daughters than sons. Isabella had spent much time and suffered a lot back then to find her footing in the business world and succeed. Tati smiled. “I also said that I have no feelings for Austin, Isa.“Let’s not talk about this anymore. Although we’ve investigated Austin’s background, we still don’t know much about him. Let’s not overthink. Have you been eating your three meals regularly?”Isabella replied, “Yes. My stomach feels much better after having someone feed me unfailingly.“Don’t wo
Isabella said, “If he refuses to give up, then tell him he can work with the O’Connors, but only on the condition that the legitimate head of the family is present for the negotiations. Mr. Longbottom is just a stand-in. Before the true head returns, he doesn’t have the authority to make decisions.”Tati burst out laughing. “I think he’ll explode from anger when he hears those words, Isa. Everyone knows that he wants to be the official head of the family. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the totem, seal, or token.“No matter how many people he bribes, he’ll never become the true, legitimate head of family.”As for the Longbottom family members who wished to flatter Mr. Longbottom would acknowledge him as the head, while those who were righteous would disapprove of his position. The previous head of family and his family had been killed a few years ago. The identity of the culprit was a no-brainer. “Mr. Longbottom has done much over the years to look for the totem, seal, and toke
Isabella got up and sat on the sofa. Austin opened the door. He entered with her lunch in hand. “It’s time for lunch, Ms. Isabella.”Austin placed the dishes he had prepared on the table. Since Isabella was the only one eating, he made a main with three side dishes, all in a single portion.She had a fussy mouth. Since not many foods were to her liking, her appetite had always been small. Isabella looked at the dishes. The menu had changed from yesterday’s, but the food still looked amazing. Austin scooped half a bowl of soup for her to start with and warm herself up. Actually, Isabella did not feel cold as there was a heater in the room. She was also wearing her usual work outfit without any outerwear. Even if she needed to head out, putting on outerwear was unnecessary because she simply had to take the elevator to the parking lot and get into the air-conditioned car. She only put on a thick jacket when she had to inspect the manufacturing factory. “You can expl
Isabella smiled and said, “You bought local delicacies? I went sightseeing in my free time but never considered buying them.“Maybe because I’m picky and didn’t think they’d taste good.”There were rarely any local dishes or snacks Isabella enjoyed whenever she was in other places. “Every time I travel somewhere, I’ll buy some of the local specialties for my family to have a taste. If I got too much, I’d give them to my relatives and friends.”Austin always had a smile on his face as he spoke. Whenever he talked to someone with a smile, it would be easy for the other party to misunderstand that he had a crush on her. Even someone as calm as Isabella was always in a good mood whenever she talked to Austin. No wonder Tati had a good impression of Austin during their first meeting and often praised him. It had led Isabella to think that Tati had fallen in love with him. “Have you eaten?”Isabella averted her gaze to avoid looking at Austin directly.She enjoyed her lunch eleg
Austin replied, “Okay. I shall do as you ask so long as you don’t judge my table manners.”“You look cultivated and gentlemanly. Although I haven’t dined with you, I guess your table manners aren’t that terrible.”Austin smiled. He thought, ‘As expected of my wife. She has such keen eyes.’“By the way, there’s something I want to ask.”Austin looked toward Isabella and waited for her to continue. “Do you want to go home during the holidays? It’s a long journey back to Wiltspoon from Satbury. I heard the winters in Wiltspoon aren’t cold at all.”Austin replied, “Will someone else take care of your meals if I go home? If so, I do wish to go back. My nana is old. She hopes all her grandchildren will be home for the festive season.“All of us are usually scattered in different places due to work. It’s difficult for us to gather in one place at the same time.”Austin did not lie. Isabella had investigated Austin before. She knew he had a biological brother and many cousins. The
“He will get better soon now that he’s taken the medicine. Don’t worry too much. When you're taking care of him, make sure you wear a mask so you don’t catch it from him. You’re pregnant, and if you catch a cold, it’ll be more troublesome.” Liberty was relieved, but she then reminded Serenity to take extra care of herself, worried that her son’s cold might spread to her.Pregnant women had limited options for medication, and many pregnant women endured mild colds without taking medicine out of caution.“I'm fine, really,” Serenity reassured her.“When Sonny is sick, he's especially vulnerable and relies on me. If I don't take care of him, I won’t feel at ease, and neither will he.”Zachary was busier than she was, so Serenity did not want to trouble him with such minor matters.“Don’t you worry, Liberty. Once Sonny is better, I'll send you a message. Even if Sonny begs me, I won’t let him eat anything too greasy from now on, to avoid aggravating his condition.”“Children are bo
Sonny weakly protested, “The medicine will be really bitter.”“Yes, but good medicine tastes bitter because it helps cure the illness,” Serenity comforted him.Under her coaxing, Sonny took the medicine, drank a glass of water, and went to the bathroom. He came back and fell into a deep sleep in his aunt's arms.Serenity wanted to carry him upstairs.“Let me carry him—you’re pregnant,” Lilian said considerately.Sam immediately interjected, “Dr. Carden, Missus, allow me to carry Mr. Sonny upstairs.”Dr. Carden was a distinguished guest of the family. How could he allow her to carry Sonny upstairs? Sam stepped forward and carefully took Sonny from Serenity's arms before carrying him back to his room.Serenity followed them upstairs.Lilian did not follow.To her, Sonny's common cold was not serious. She only personally took care of him because she quite liked Sonny.Serenity sat down on the edge of the bed and told Sam, “I can’t do it myself right now, so please make sure to t
After New Year’s celebration, Liberty left for Jensburg and told the teachers that if anything happened to Sonny, they should contact Serenity, which explained the teacher's call coming through to Serenity.“I’ll go pick him up right away. Thank you, Ms. Penny.”Sonny’s teacher Ms. Penny replied, "Alright, please come and take him to see a doctor. Recently, a lot of kids have been catching colds."After hanging up, Serenity said, “Jas, I can't stay here and chat with you. I need to go fetch Sonny from preschool. He's got a fever. Lately, he keeps kicking his blanket off at night.” Though she and Zachary often helped cover Sonny back up, they could not always catch it every time he kicked off the blanket, so he had probably caught a cold.“The temperature has been rising these days, so it's a bit hot sometimes. Look, I don’t even need to wear a coat now.” The temperature was around 68°F during the day. When the sun was out, it was really warm, and there was no need for a coat.
Serenity agreed empathetically, “You can offend anyone, but don't ever offend Nana. Luckily, she's my nana.”Out of all her in-laws, Grandma May was Serenity’s favorite because the old lady treated her the best. Whenever she had conflicts with Zachary, Grandma May would always stand by her side first. Only when she was ready to listen would Grandma May try to reason with her and speak up for Zachary. Even though Grandma May was Zachary’s grandmother, she treated Serenity like her own granddaughter; more so than Serenity's biological grandmother.“Are you going to help Dylan?” Jasmine asked.“How? He’s wooing his future wife. No one can help with that,” Serenity replied. “Zachary never meddles in his brothers' private matters. As long as they don’t ask him for help, he doesn’t care about anything.”In Zachary's words, he only wanted to take care of her. In his world, she was his priority.“True. Let’s just watch for now, unless Dylan comes to you asking you to speak well of him
“Now he's suddenly trying to pursue Imogen again? Did something happen to him? Or was it that his beloved turned him down, and then when he saw everyone else all coupled up, plus Grandma May’s pressuring him to get married, he decided to try to win Imogen back?“Who does he think Imogen is? Does he think he can just have her when he wants to, and throw her aside when he doesn't?”Even though Dylan was Serenity's cousin-in-law, Jasmine could not bring herself to take his side. Back then, when Imogen followed him from Huntington to Wiltspoon and even asked Serenity for help, all she ended up getting was an apology from Dylan that he could never love her. He even mentioned that he was in love with someone else, a woman he called Fox. How could a vixen be any good? Was she better than Imogen?Jasmine thought Dylan was out of his mind, but that was someone else's business. She was just a bystander. Even Serenity did not interfere much since she was only a cousin-in-law. After all,
Without a second thought, Leticia replied to her daughter.[Of course you should. As long as you can win that boy over, you'll be happy in the future. I’ve met so many young men, but I still think he’s the most suitable for you.]Despite her earlier anger, Leticia still hoped her daughter could win Dylan’s heart. She had always regarded him as a potential son-in-law, after all.Imogen smiled and left it at that. She had already made up her mind.In truth, when Dylan rejected her, she was not all that upset because the person he loved was still her. It was just that she had kept Dylan in the dark. One could say that he had been made to dance in her palm.However, when he realized that he could not love Imogen, he was honest with her and decisively left without bothering her further, not wanting her to fall even deeper when the situation was hopeless. In this aspect, she appreciated him.Now that she knew she was the one Dylan’s grandmother had chosen for him, Imogen was curious ab
When Dylan overheard Imogen’s phone conversation with Leticia, he realized that Leticia was trying to match her with someone named Kade. Now, he had a rival.Even though he was being asked to leave, Dylan did not get angry, nor did he shamelessly insist on staying. He stood up and said, “I’m sorry for disturbing you, Ms. Doyle. I know you’re Imogen Doyle. I also know what I’m doing, and I won’t make the same mistake again.“Ms. Doyle, you were on the nose earlier. Yes, I do want to pursue you again. Starting today, I will try to win your heart once more. No matter what your attitude is toward me, I’ll accept it.”The first time, she had offered her heart, but he did not accept it. That was his fault.This time, it was his turn to offer his heart. If it took more time to win her over, he was willing to be patient.“My nana isn’t forcing me.” He continued, “When it came to our generation, she only pushed Zachary to marry Serenity.”Zachary had been a special case. For the rest of
Imogen felt a surge of satisfaction when she saw Dylan was rendered speechless by what she said. She deliberately leaned closer to him, her beautiful face coming right up to his, and their gazes met.They were so close that Dylan could smell a faint, delicate fragrance on her. It was a little familiar, but it was not the same as Chameleon Fox’s scent, because she never used fragrance when she appeared—probably to avoid being recognized by scent.It was the scent he smelled on Imogen back when he was initially pursuing her—it was Sugar’s. Imogen smelled the same as Sugar, a scent he remembered when he was in close proximity to Sugar.Imogen was Sugar.Dylan was now sure of this, but he did not bring it up. Even if he asked, Imogen would not admit it anyway.Besides, he no longer needed her to confirm it. As Zachary had said, he only needed to trust his nana; she would not mislead him when it came to marriage. His nana knew very well that he loved Chameleon Fox, and yet still aske
Unexpectedly, Kade had to return to the country due to a work transfer and would be staying in Huntington long-term.Leticia’s best friend Jade immediately called her again to bring up the idea of a marriage match. Leticia then thought about it and decided to arrange for her daughter to fetch him from the airport.“Mrs. Doyle, the person Imogen likes is me, so please stop trying to match her with someone else.” Dylan boldly interjected.Imogen glanced at him but did not say anything.On the other side of the line, Leticia asked Imogen when she heard Dylan’s voice, “Jen, has that York scoundrel gone to look for you again? He came by once a few days ago, but you weren’t home. We didn’t even let him past the gate.“He didn’t show up again after that, so we thought he left, but he actually went to your office to look for you. Jen, what does he mean by this? Is he trying to pursue you once more? If that’s really the case, all the more you have to give Kade a chance—to make Dylan York