It was every actress’s dream to be the female lead one day with her beauty and acting skills. Unfortunately, every woman trying their luck to be cast was beautiful. Even the fake Carrie’s looks were mediocre in the acting industry and not drop-dead gorgeous.Impersonating Carrie brought her a lot of income. She even got compensated for getting slapped, so she was earning a lot more than being an extra. “Wow, is it this easy to earn money? I’ll agitate your sister and make her slap me the next time we bother her again. That way, I can earn more money.”Carrie chuckled. “Are you willing to do that just for a few thousand dollars?”“You were born into a wealthy family and lived a life of luxury. You didn’t have to worry about basic necessities or money at all. You’ll never be able to experience the hardships we ordinary people go through.“You also said your family has over a billion dollars worth of assets. It’s an unimaginable amount for poor people. I can’t even gather half a m
Darren was helping her because he feared she would be woozy. Caroline sat on the sofa. Looking at the various dishes, she said, “We can’t eat them all. You didn’t have to cook so many dishes.”“It’s not much. The portions are perfect for two.”Darren placed a bowl of soup before Caroline. He asked her to taste it first. “You can start eating too.”“Okay.”Darren did as he was told. He delivered the food as soon as he finished cooking and had not eaten anything himself. He liked eating with Caroline. She had a good appetite and would not reduce her food intake just to maintain her figure, unlike other elite ladies. Caroline would eat whatever she wanted to her heart’s content.She would never deprive her stomach of food. At that moment, Caroline’s phone rang. “I’ll get it for you.”Darren put down his utensils and went to grab Caroline’s phone. He passed it to her, saying, “It’s Mr. Queen.”“Hi, Mr. Queen.” Caroline smiled. “Are you back from your vacation?”
“When did Mr. York arrive in Jensburg?” Caroline asked. “Not long ago. He wanted to tag along and visit you when he heard you were hospitalized.”Zachary had lied to Serenity, saying he had a business trip when he had gone to Jensburg.He was going to observe the situation in Jensburg and discuss their next steps with Audrey before returning to Wiltspoon. Zachary would be there for a couple of days, for any longer Serenity might find out.Caroline smiled. She said, “How thoughtful of him.”Strictly speaking, she was Zachary’s elder despite being several years younger. That was because she was Serenity’s first cousin once removed. Zachary was supposed to be respectful to her. Paying his elder a visit was expected, but everyone knew his true intentions. If it were not for Caroline warning Liberty, those people from Wiltspoon would not be as friendly to her. Even if they were nice to her, they would still be wary. Caroline understood their feelings. If it were her, she
The butler sighed. Even Mr. Clark did not have such freedom, and he was Madam Fisher’s husband. However, her madam trusted Mr. Gordon. He was her lifelong assistant, after all. On the other hand, Mr. Clark had lost his status because of his affair. If he and Madam Fisher did not have children or grandchildren, they would have gotten a divorce. After Mr. Gordon was upstairs, he went straight for the study and knocked on the door. He only entered after obtaining Belinda’s permission. Belinda was practicing calligraphy. Mr. Gordon went to her side and took a look.“What do you think?”“You aren’t focused, and that’s reflected in your handwriting. You should stop and not waste any more ink.”Mr. Gordon was the only person who dared to speak to Belinda without filters. What he said was the truth. Belinda was feeling uneasy. She could not focus, so how could she be in the mood for calligraphy?Her writing was far from pretty. It was a massive drop in quality compared to w
It was nine o’clock at night in Wiltspoon. After ending the video call with Liberty, Serenity said to Sonny, “Are you all packed? Don’t forget to bring your present for Laurence.”Sonny replied, “Yeah, everything’s packed. I’m just bringing some toys and a gift for Laurence. I might forget to bring myself, but I’d never forget that.”Serenity laughed. “If you forget to bring even yourself, how will you give Laurence his gift?”Sonny laughed sheepishly. Serenity picked him up and placed him on the bed. “Your Uncle Zak is on a work trip, so tonight you’ll sleep with me. First thing tomorrow morning after breakfast, we’ll head to your Uncle Ben’s place. I told you to go with the elders, but you didn’t want to. They like you so much, they’d definitely take good care of you.”Sonny lay back on the bed, resting his head on Serenity’s thigh, and said, “They might like me a lot, but I don’t know them that well and you and Mom always say that I shouldn’t cluelessly follow anyone other than
Memories from before the age of three often disappear, but that scene was so traumatic for Sonny that he could never forget it. After the incident, he also had nightmares for a long time. He had also never forgotten the scene of his mother getting injured and covered in blood because she saved him."I only trust Mom, Aunt Ser, Uncle Zak, and Dunc," Sonny said seriously. "I can't trust my dad and the others."The little boy understood everything clearly.Serenity gently touched his little face, her gaze soft. "You are your mom's treasure. No matter what happens, I’ll never let you two be separated. Sonny, your mom has had a hard time, so when you grow up, you should take good care of her.""I will, Aunt Ser. When I grow up, I want to earn lots and lots of money to buy a big house and a new car for Mom so Mom doesn't have to work so hard, and also buy a big house for you."In Sonny's eyes, his mother worked so hard just to make money. So when he grew up, he wanted to work hard and e
“I’ll answer it.” Sonny chose to answer his father's call in the end. Serenity handed him the phone, letting him take the call. If she could avoid talking to Hank, she would.“Dad,” Sonny greeted.Hank responded with a smile that could be heard through his voice, “Sonny, still awake?”“If I were asleep, I wouldn’t be able to answer Dad’s call. Dad, have you finished work? It still sounds quite noisy over there.”Hank replied, “I’m not done yet, but I could get off work if I want to. Is your Aunt Ser there?”“Yes. Are you looking for her?”“Sonny, do you want to come over and stay for a few days? You’re on winter break now, so why not stay over for a couple of days? Your grandparents miss you.”Hank made this call to discuss with Serenity the possibility of having Sonny stay with the Browns for a few days. It was now the winter holidays and his parents missed their grandson. Chelsea had sent Lucas over, but it was too boring for Lucas as he was alone, so his parents thought it would be
Hank only had one son—Sonny—and it would remain that way in this life. The fact that the child still acknowledged him as his father and though they were not very close, it was some form of comfort.After ending the call, Sonny handed the phone to Serenity and said, “Dad wanted to have me stay with him for a few days, but I refused. We’re going to play with Laurence tomorrow. I really don’t want to go back and play with Lucas. He always bullies me. But I’m not afraid of Lucas anymore because I’ve learned self-defense.”Even though he was not particularly talented at self-defense, with time and practice, he had become stronger. His coach said that if he persisted for several years or even a decade, he would have the ability to protect himself. Sonny was not ambitious; he just wanted to be as capable as his Aunt Ser.Serenity hummed in acknowledgment. “If you don’t want to go back, then don’t.” She patted Sonny’s head and said gently, “It’s late now. Go to sleep. We’re leaving early to
“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