Zachary said, “I’ll arrange everything, but I’ll still inform you all about it.”After all, it was related to the Fisher family.Liberty would probably change her last name to Fisher. It meant that the matter was related to his beloved wife, Serenity. Liberty thought Zachary would overthink. She quickly explained, “I didn’t mean anything by that, Zachary. I simply feel you and Clive are the calmest. I won’t have any comments on what you two have decided on.”Even if she had been a capable white-collar back then, she was still an amateur compared to the seasoned CEOs.She could not even compare to Hayden. Although Hayden was younger, she had already taken over her family business and made it successful. “I won’t overthink, Liberty. We’re all working toward the same goal.”Zachary did not find anything worrying.He knew everything there was to know about Liberty’s character. “You should visit Ms. Caroline at the hospital again, Liberty. Although she’s hospitalized, she’s
Kevin thought before, ‘The Queens’ bodyguards haven’t seen Zachary going crazy for love. Even I take my hats off to his devotion to Serenity.’He also thought that he was not as thick-skinned as Zachary either.Whether in business or personal life, Zachary had always been a role model to the other York lads.“Your company will be closed for the holidays soon, right? Do you want to come over to my house for Christmas?” Kevin asked his beloved softly.“I probably won’t go to your place on Christmas Day. My family and I can visit your family a few days later though. Before that, we’ll be visiting my mom’s family.”The Yorks and the Queens were already acting like in-laws.Kevin smiled. “Okay. We can get our marriage license once City Hall reopens after the holidays. Two months should be sufficient to prepare for our wedding, and we’ll hold it in March when the weather is fine.”“I’ll leave the planning to you.”The two families had decided on a wedding date.Callum and Camryn wou
Kevin sealed her lips with his. Hayden was stunned and did not respond at first.She started reciprocating the kiss when he kept trying to get her into the mood. Once she did, he instantly turned ravenous and kissed her intensely. Hayden could only imagine how hungry he would be for their wedding night. He would definitely take everything she had to give. When the makeout ended, Kevin restrained his overflowing emotions and released her. Hayden opened her eyes and saw the emotions reflected in his eyes. She caressed his face gently and said, “Go back and sleep. Sweet dreams.”“You too. I’ll come over to have breakfast with you tomorrow morning.”Kevin pecked her cheek lightly. “Okay.”After pulling her in for a tight hug, Kevin stood up. Hayden wanted to see him out but was stopped. “Just stay put. You don’t have to see me out. If you do, I might not be able to leave you, and end up staying here till late.”Hayden chuckled. She remained seated as she watched him le
“I was playing games. I haven’t done that in a long time.”Hayden frowned. Hugh quickly said, “Hay, I haven’t played games in forever. I’ve been so busy with work these days. Since I knocked off early today, I thought I could get a few rounds in. If not, I would be out drinking with my friends until I got wasted, and then you’ll beat me up again.”In the past, he was afraid of his twin “brother” the most. His “brother” had been stricter than their parents and controlled him a lot. Even after knowing Hayden was actually his sister, he was still scared of her. Switching from having a brother to a sister was not a big deal because Hayden’s personality never changed. Hugh had this thought, ‘Why is Hayden much more capable than I am when we were born only ten minutes apart?’Although they were raised and educated together, Hayden had always been the more excellent child. “I stopped beating you ever since you became an adult. Stop describing me as violent.”Hayden scolded Hugh,
Meanwhile, at Fortress Hotel, Liberty started a video call with Serenity as soon as she exited the bathroom. Serenity picked up her call quickly. Once the call connected, the first thing Liberty saw was Sonny’s face. “Mom.”Serenity’s phone rang just as Sonny was about to return to his room to sleep. She said it was his mother calling. Sonny knew his mother would only be free late at night. He missed her and decided to stay with Aunt Ser. He would only sleep after the video call. “It’s late, Sonny. Why aren’t you asleep yet?” Liberty asked softly with a gentle smile on her face. Excluding the one time Duncan brought Sonny over, she had only been able to see her son through video calls ever since she came to Jensburg. “I was waiting until you were free to have a video call with me. Have you finished working, Mom? Is it snowing there? Is it cold? You must wear more clothes. Don’t fall sick.”Only words of concern came out of the boy’s sweet mouth. Liberty’s heart warmed u
Serenity pinched Sonny’s face. “You were the one who wanted to come over to play, yet you’re blaming your uncle for it now?”Sonny laughed. Serenity entered the screen frame. She asked Liberty, “Is everything going well?”Of course, her words had a hidden meaning to it.“Mhmm, everything is still under control. There isn’t much going on. You don’t have to worry and enjoy the vacation with Sonny. He likes going to the zoo and theme parks. You can bring him to those places.”Serenity replied, “The zoo here is almost the same as the one in Wiltspoon. Sonny can’t go on many rides in the theme park either. He isn’t old or tall enough for them. Even if he went, he could only watch others play.“Jane and I are planning to bring the boys to a children’s park tomorrow. She said there are many facilities suitable for Sonny and Laurence to play there.”“Okay. You go ahead. Remember to be careful yourself when you’re outside. Don’t let the kids bump into you.”“I know. I’m not a child. I
Serenity followed the boys and watched on as they returned to their room and climbed into their beds. She tucked them in and left a dim light on. After turning off the main lights, she said, “Sleep tight. You’re not allowed to wake up to play or talk for the entire night, okay?“If I hear you two talking, tomorrow’s plan to the children’s park will be canceled.”Although Laurence and Sonny were young, they could talk all day every time they met, just like adults. Serenity was curious how many people would be deceived by their eloquent speeches once they were all grown up. Sonny and Laurence exchanged glances. They said together, “We’ll sleep now. We won’t talk anymore.”Although they loved chatting, playing outdoors sounded better.Serenity kissed the kids goodnight and said gently, “Good night. Have a sweet dream.”She caressed Sonny’s head. After doing so, she did not leave immediately but sat outside the room. She only walked away once she confirmed the boys were asleep
After a moment, Serenity exited the bathroom and sat back down on the bed. Unable to sleep, she recalled the dream she had about her parents. Had her parents reunited with her grandparents in the afterlife? Were they happy there? Were they watching over them and did they know of the situation with Liberty, Zachary, and the rest over in Jensburg?Serenity suddenly smiled bitterly. When a person died, it was like a light snuffed out—they could no longer sense anything. Even if her parents and grandparents were watching over them and knew Liberty and the rest might be in danger, they would not be able to help them at all. She dreamed of them perhaps because the situation in Jensburg and her grandparents’ tragic end was on her mind that day, as well as her parents perishing in a car accident. The more she thought about it during the day, the more she dreamed of it at night.Since Serenity could not sleep, she decided to change her clothes and wash up before heading for the kids’ room f
Adrian and his brothers finally heard footsteps. They instinctively turned their heads, only to see a group of people, who were already very close, approaching.“Police! Hands up, don’t move!”Upon realizing they had been spotted, the officer leading the charge immediately shouted, drawing his gun and pointing it at Adrian and the others.The police had learned from the Dott brothers that the kidnappers were armed.The officers following Darren were from an armed unit and carried guns.Jason’s mind went blank. He could not form a single coherent thought.How had the police caught up?They had scouted the location beforehand, ensuring it was remote and quiet. It was somewhere no one would come even during the day, let alone at night.Adrian reacted the fastest. He immediately bent down to pick up the kitchen knife, intending to kill Caroline.All he could think then was that even if he died, he wanted to take Caroline with him. As long as Caroline died, he would consider it wor
Justin, seeing his eldest brother approach with the kitchen knife, hesitated and asked, “Adrian, are we really going to do this?”“What, are you having second thoughts at this stage, like Jason? Justin, we didn’t even cover our faces. She knows it’s us. If we let her go now, we’re the ones who will die.“Think about it. How much have we suffered ever since she came back? How much have we lost? Even Mom’s dead now.”When their mother was alive, the three brothers lived carefree and comfortable lives. Now that she was gone, they were nothing.Hearing this, Justin quickly said, “Adrian, I’m not having second thoughts. It’s just… We don’t have to use the knife. We can just throw her into the sea. With her hands and feet tied, she won’t be able to escape.“The deep sea is full of fish. She’ll be eaten by a big fish soon, which will leave no trace. That’s better than us using the knife.”The main reason was that none of them had killed anyone before. Although they had done other bad th
Her indifference, as if she did not care whether they killed her or not, infuriated her three brothers.Adrian stood up, turned around, and walked to the back of the car. He opened the trunk.Inside the trunk were two sharpened kitchen knives.“Adrian.” Jason walked over, his voice trembling slightly. It was his first time committing murder, and killing his own sister at that. Jason was a bit scared.“Adrian, are we really going to… chop her up?”Adrian picked up one of the kitchen knives and glared at Jason. “What? Are you having second thoughts? Or are you scared?”“Well… It’s my first time killing someone. I am a bit scared. Carol is our sister, after all. I... I can’t bring myself to do it.”Adrian snorted coldly. “You think of her as a sister, but she doesn’t see us as brothers. Look at what she’s done—every single thing has been a stab in the back for us.“When it comes to using a knife, once you make the first cut, the second one won’t be so hard.”Adrian handed the kit
There were still traces of blood at the corners of her mouth and under her nose.Justin and Jason worked together to pull Caroline out, and Adrian immediately tied her legs together before binding her hands behind her back.“Are you going to feed me to the fish, Adrian?”Hearing the sound of the waves and feeling the cold sea breeze, Caroline shivered.She did not stand up and remained lying on the ground.Adrian kicked her several times, venting his pent-up anger.Caroline silently endured it.After kicking her a few times, Adrian squatted, gripping Caroline's chin forcefully with one hand, and said coldly, “Caroline, there’s nothing more to say between us.“Don’t blame us for being heartless. You’re the one who pushed us to this point.“You only have yourself to blame.“Where are the passwords and keys to Mom's private assets? Tell us, and we’ll make it quick for you, so you won’t suffer too much.“If you don’t, we have plenty of time to slowly cut you piece by piece and m
“We can’t just keep giving them money, now can we?”Adrian replied, “That’s not a priority for now. We can burn that bridge when we come to it. If they do dare blackmail us, we’ll just send them on to meet their maker.“The only thing is they both have families. If we kill them, we have to kill their families too. That way, there’ll be no one who’ll report it to the police.“And it’s best to make it seem like an accident too, or else it’ll seem suspicious.”Justin and Jason both felt Adrian was right. If they were going to kill the Dott brothers, they might as well kill their families too.Caroline internally cursed how merciless they were. The Dott brothers thought they could earn some money from Adrian to live a better life but little did they know, it would bring destruction upon themselves and their families.What the Clark brothers did not know was that the Dotts were forced to say what they did earlier.It was not that they had not left yet. Rather, they could not, because
Belinda had done everything other mothers would have. She loved them, yet the three of them had gotten a smaller portion of her wealth than their own children did. Indeed, Belinda left her grandchildren with more money.After all, her grandchildren still had a long life ahead of them.Therefore, she distributed more wealth to them. The Clark brothers loved spending lavishly and kept losing money whenever they tried to establish businesses. They also had many mistresses and never hesitated to spend money on them. Belinda was partial toward her sons about their affairs and also persuaded her daughters-in-law not to get a divorce. In truth, she resented her three sons for being promiscuous and inheriting their father’s flirtatious traits. While Hunter may have been interested in other girls, he dared not cheat on Belinda because she was strict. However, he still had an affair the moment he spotted an opportunity.Later, Belinda chased the Clark brothers’ mistresses out of
Celine, whom they had cared for all long, was not their biological sister but the daughter of the previous butler. Celine’s father was ambitious. He tried making his daughter the Fisher family’s successor. Justin was speechless.“Free me, Jason. I’m already in your hands. Are you still scared that I’ll escape? Let me out. It’s too stuffy in the sack. I feel terrible.”Caroline made a request. Jason seemed to be the one with some lingering feelings for his sibling. Well, that was not really the case.If he truly had even a sliver of sibling love for Caroline, he would have stopped Adrian and Justin from kidnapping her instead of joining the plan. If Caroline had been fortunate, she could have had five brothers doting on her. Sadly, she was unlucky. None of the five brothers had cared for her. They all wanted her dead. Was she a failure as a person, or were they too cruel?Jason said, “Just stay put, Caroline. We’ll let you out when we arrive.”They could not release Car
Caroline could not beat them. Then, her mouth was gagged with a cloth, and her head was covered with a sack. Someone forced her into a car. She heard Adrian saying to his brothers, “Let’s go.“Tell Celine’s brothers to follow us. Assign a few people to clean up and leave quickly.”After that, Caroline heard the sound of an engine starting. The car moved. She could not see what was happening. While she was shoved into the backseat, her arms and legs were unbound. She removed the cloth from her mouth but not the sack from her head.Someone held the sack tightly and started hitting and kicking her. “Tie the sack, Justin,” said Jason in a hurry. The person beating her up was Justin. “I know it’s you guys, Justin and Jason. What are you doing? Let me go. Mmph…”Caroline grunted in pain. She suffered a punch from Justin. She held her head tightly to prevent any injury to it. Many blows landed on her body. “It’s fine even if you know it’s us, Caroline. You better stay
“Ms. Caroline.”The bodyguards looked toward Caroline. Caroline opened her eyes and said calmly, “Stop the car, but don’t get out. Only get out when the situation gets out of hand. Remember to protect yourselves.”“Ms. Caroline…”“I’ll keep myself safe. Don’t worry. I treasure my life. There’s still a long life ahead of me. I haven’t even started enjoying good days. I won’t want to die.”Caroline chuckled, but her smile did not reach her eyes. There was sorrow in those eyes. In the end, she and her brothers could not coexist. It made her realize how bad her luck was with families. She was switched at birth and mistreated by her adoptive family. She thought her biological parents would treat her well after returning to them, but it turned out to be the opposite. Caroline had many family members, yet somehow, she was still alone. The people who truly cared about her were Darren, Liberty, and some others. Caroline’s bodyguards knew she had been waiting for that moment.