Jane filled her car with things to bring to her adoptive parents and grandparents. In return, her adoptive parents would load her car with fresh produce from their farm. Of course, Jane and her in-laws would never refuse their kindness. Whenever she returned from visiting her parents, the Johnson family members would surround her and split the fresh produce she brought back among themselves. Jane knew her in-laws were only excited about the fresh produce because they adored her. She felt lucky to have married into the Johnson family. “That’s your parents’ way of showing their love for you,” Serenity said enviously.Her parents were no longer around. She would never be able to experience a love like that. Serenity did not have a family to return to. Although the house was still standing, her parents had passed away. Going back would only make her sad. Although Serenity’s relationship with her grandparents had improved a little, it could not compare to the closeness Jane s
Jane smiled. “Aren’t you going to tell Dad about this?”“No. He won’t stop me from going anywhere. He’ll probably drive up on his own later.”“Okay. Let’s go.”Jane lifted Chloe and held Laurence’s hand while Antonia followed her with Connor in her arms. Serenity pulled Sonny along.“Where are Cheryl’s children?” Jane asked as she thought of her nephews.“They’re asleep. Their nanny brought them back. We shouldn’t bring them along. They’re too naughty and probably can’t sit still at your mom’s house. Besides, their parents aren’t coming along. It’ll be troublesome if they get hurt.”Antonia would be more than happy to take care of the boys at FC Manor. The house was lively with more children around. However, she and Jane would only bring them out if either Ethan or Cheryl were tagging along.Taking care of someone else’s child was a huge responsibility. It would be fine if nothing happened but, if an accident occurred and the child was hurt, it would be difficult to expl
“Is he eating?”Caroline asked softly. “Yes, but not much. He just stares into space most of the time. He also speaks to himself sometimes, but I can’t catch what he says.”The caretaker responded politely and left the ward. Only Hunter and Caroline remained. Caroline pulled a chair and sat by the bedside. After staring at Hunter for a moment, she said, “Mom is gone, Dad. The dead can’t be revived. We have to accept reality.“Mom made too many mistakes…”Caroline stopped right there. Frankly speaking, death was a light punishment for her mom. Many people died because of her. Hunter turned his head, with some life returning to his eyes. He looked at Caroline for a while before saying, “I thought I’d be happy with your mom gone, Carol. I didn’t expect my heart to feel so empty.“I loved your mom. I wouldn’t have married into the Fisher family if I didn’t.“Yes, I did it for the money at first because the Clark family was going downhill back then. But, I had feelings f
Wiltspoon’s hot weather in October was a killer. Still, the mornings and evenings were eased by the late autumn breeze. Serenity Hunt got up first thing in the morning to make breakfast for her sister’s family of three. She then grabbed her birth certificate and slipped away in the silence. “We’re going Dutch from now on, and I’m talking about everything—the living expenses, the mortgage, and auto loans! Your sister should be splitting the cost since she’s staying at our place. Sure, she pays two thousand bucks a month, but it doesn’t stretch very far. She’s basically mooching off us.” Serenity overheard her brother-in-law’s comment during the couple’s argument last night. She had to move out of her sister’s place. However, there was only one way to put her sister’s mind to rest, and that was to get married. Since Serenity wanted to tie the knot on short notice without ever having had a boyfriend, she decided to take up on Grandma May’s offer. Serenity had saved the old lad
“I won’t back out on a promise.” It took Serenity a few days to consider before reaching a decision. Now that she had made up her mind, she was not going to go back on her word. There was nothing more Zachary could say at that point. He took out his document and placed it in front of the officer. Serenity did the same. The pair swiftly went through the formalities in less than ten minutes. Once the officer issued the marriage license, Zachary fished out a bunch of keys from his pocket and gave them to Serenity. He said, “The house I bought is in Brynfield. Nana told me that you own a bookshop near Wiltspoon School. My place isn’t too far from your workplace. It’ll take around ten minutes by bus.“Do you have a driver’s license? If you do, you can get a car. I can help with the down payment while you will be responsible for the monthly payment. It’ll be easier for you to commute to work.“I can get very busy at work, so you won’t see me much. There will be business trips too
“I will, Nana,” Serenity casually responded. Although Grandma May was nice to her, Zachary was her blood relative while Serenity was only related to the family by marriage. Serenity found it hard to believe that the Yorks would stand by Serenity during a conflict between her and Zachary.Such was the case with her sister’s parents-in-law. Before marriage, the in-laws were nothing but good to Liberty to the point their birth daughter was jealous. It was a different story after the wedding. Every time Liberty got into a disagreement with her husband, Hank, her mother-in-law would get on Liberty’s case about being a bad wife. In short, the son was always family while the daughter-in-law remained as an outsider. “You must be heading to work, so I should get out of your hair. I’ll get Zack to get you home for dinner tonight.” “Nana, I’m closing the shop pretty late at night. I probably won’t be able to make it. Can we reschedule for the weekend?” The school was off on weekend
“You said it yourself, Liberty. It’s his prenuptial property. It doesn’t make sense to add my name to the title deed since I didn’t pay a penny for the house. I think we should forget about it.” Zachary did Serenity a huge favor by handing her the keys to the house the moment they got married. She could move in right away, solving her housing predicament. Serenity was not going to request that of Zachary. Of course, she would not refuse if Zachary added her name on his own accord. Now that they were husband and wife, Serenity made up her mind to spend the rest of her life with him. It was just a passing mention by Liberty, but knowing her sister who was self-reliant and not driven by greed, Liberty did not dwell on the matter. After a series of interrogations, Serenity successfully moved out of her sister’s place. Liberty wanted to drop her off at Brynfield, but Sonny happened to wake up. The little guy was crying for his mama the moment he opened his eyes. “You should atte
With his game face on, Zachary said, “Back to the meeting.” Sitting nearest to Zachary was his cousin, Callum. Among the cousins within the same age range as Zachary, Callum ranked second.Callum drew close and whispered, “Zack, I overheard your conversation with Nana. Did you really marry that Ser- girl?”Zachary shot him a glare. Scratching his nose, Callum straightened his back and ended the probing. Even so, Callum had nothing but sympathy for Zachary. There was no need for the York boys to secure social and financial standing through marriage, but Zack and his new bride were not a match in every single way. Poor Zack. He merely married the girl because Nana took a liking to her. Once again, Callum offered Zachary his deepest sympathy through his thoughts. Thank goodness Callum was not the oldest in the family. Otherwise, he would have to step up to the plate and marry Nana’s lifesaver. Unaware of all that, Serenity got the location details and was busy dragging her