“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
Hunter let out a self-deprecating laugh before Caroline could answer. “Belinda never loved me. It was simply because not many people were willing to be a live-in son-in-law, except me. She only put up with me because she couldn’t get Mr. Foster’s love yet had to give birth to a successor.”Caroline remained silent. She did not know whether Hunter ever had a place in Belinda’s heart. The answer could go both ways, but was there any meaning in pursuing it? Belinda was already dead. “I couldn’t move her heart even after decades of trying. I’m a failure of a man, Carol.“If she loved me even slightly, I wouldn’t have sought out excitement or cheated on her.“Most of the things I did was to get revenge on her.”Caroline pressed her lips together. “I think Mom did care about you. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have had four children with you or got angry when you had an affair.”Hunter saw a glimmer of hope at Caroline’s words. He asked, “Is it true? Did your mom love me?”He ch
‘Did it even matter whether Mom and Aunt Tiara were close?’ Caroline thought to herself.It did not soften her mom’s cruel heart. Aunt Tiara still died from her mom’s schemes. There was also Aunt Alivia. What did she do wrong? She lost her life right after losing her eldest sister.Aunt Alivia probably did not even know she had died at Belinda’s hands. Those who could guess the culprit or had cooperated with Belinda back then were also killed. Entire families were wiped out. Many innocent people were affected after the incident. Belinda deserved to die, but even death was not enough to pay for her sins. Of course, Caroline could not make such a comment because Belinda was her mom. “Your mom valued her daughters more than her sons. When she didn’t know you and Cece had been changed, Cece was her favorite. Sometimes, I even had to get Cece to help me ask for forgiveness from your mom when I made her angry.”Caroline remained silent. She had witnessed how much her fam
If Liberty was still unfamiliar with her responsibilities and required some assistance, Caroline was willing to help until Liberty found her footing. Then, she would leave Jensburg.Anyway, she would not take a single thing from the Fisher family. It was not as if she could not survive without the Fisher family. She still had her career. Hunter panicked. He said, “How can you simply give away everything your mom worked so hard to obtain, Caroline? Her death will be in vain.“What happened between the previous generation remains between them. Since Belinda is dead, it’s over.“However, she was the matriarch before she died. As her daughter, you’re her legitimate successor. You should take over her position. Don’t be a fool and give it back to the other side.”Caroline was unwavering. “It isn’t mine, Dad. I won’t take it. We’ve wronged Mrs. Stone and the rest all along.”Hunter tried to persuade her, “Listen to me, Carol. Don’t give them everything that belongs to the Fisher fam
Hunter was present when Belinda made her will. He dared not voice out any opinions back then. He simply knew the will stated that if Belinda passed away before him, half of her assets would go to Caroline because she was her biological daughter and the one to inherit the family business. The rest would be divided equally among Adrian, Justin, and Jason. Celine was not allocated much. It was only mentioned that she could keep anything she had received before her identity was discovered.In the end, as Belinda’s husband, Hunter was not given anything. However, the will did make it clear that his sons would have to provide for him when he was old. They could decide the amount of allowance they would give him. Belinda had no control over it. After a short pause, Hunter said, “Even if we do it according to Belinda’s will, you’re still my child. Shouldn’t you take care of me as well?”“I never said I wouldn’t. If my brothers can’t afford to provide for you, I’ll give you a mont
“Belinda worked tirelessly day and night for Fisher Enterprise all these years. Even if she had snatched her position as the matriarch, her contributions to Fisher Enterprise cannot be ignored. She should be given credit and had rightfully gained the assets under her name.“Don’t think you can do whatever you want after Belinda’s death. While I can’t sue you if you dare give your mom’s assets to Audrey and the rest, your brothers can.”Caroline found that she was not angry at Hunter’s threat.“If nothing else happens, Adrian, Justin, Jason, and I will divide Mom’s assets according to the will she made,” she said indifferently. Hunter had a bad feeling again.He asked cautiously, “What do you mean?“Did Belinda give everything to you?“Did she change her will?”Caroline did not answer his questions. Belinda had been insistent on sending Caroline away. She even called Darren over and entrusted Caroline to him. She was going to let Caroline take her entire wealth and escape
“Ordinary people can’t earn what my brothers do their entire lives.”Caroline did not know how rich her brothers were. However, when Belinda was alive, no matter how incompetent she thought her sons were, she still helped them to accumulate wealth. Even if her brothers did not have hundreds of millions on them, they would certainly have a comfortable sum.They had no right to complain that they were poor when the wealth they had was something most people could only dream of.How could they be afraid of being unable to survive?Nevertheless, if Caroline did not become the matriarch, the Clark brothers could no longer live in Jensburg. They were incompetent and had been relying on Fisher Enterprise and Belinda to support them.Once the CEO changed, there would be no one to clean up after them. Fisher Enterprise would no longer let them do whatever they wanted. Even if Caroline were to be the CEO, she would not let Fisher Enterprise be her brothers’ safety net anymore. Beside
Caroline was not afraid of Hunter and his sons harassing her. If she could not withstand such pressure, she could not call herself the Fisher family’s successor. Hunter did not say much in the call. He simply informed Adrian to come over to the hospital and hung up when he saw Caroline returning with his drink. Caroline pretended to be clueless about the call and handed the glass to him. Hunter’s throat was parched after trying to persuade her. He downed the glass of water in one go. “Carol…”“You don’t have to say anything else, Dad. I can handle it. Looking after you is our responsibility as children. I’ll give you as much monthly allowance as my brothers do. I won’t let you starve. As for the other requests, you’ll have to talk to my brothers about them.”When Belinda made her will, she made it clear that Hunter was the Clark brothers’ responsibility.Caroline could provide for him should she choose to, but it was entirely up to her. “Have a good rest, Dad. I have t
Liberty smiled. “We don’t have to have that many things. We can simply get our marriage license and choose a suitable date for a wedding.“I’m fine with just getting a marriage license. But, as it’s your first marriage, I don’t want you to miss out on anything, so let’s have a wedding.”Duncan did not want Liberty to feel slighted while at the same time, Liberty did not want Duncan to miss out on a wedding celebration.Liberty was about to get married for the second time while it was Duncan’s first. He was also a young master of the Lewises. Not holding a wedding for his first marriage seemed inappropriate. Duncan raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. His eyes were filled with affection as he said, “Let’s not let each other miss out on anything. We’ll have everything every other couple has and more.“I’ve said that I’d make sure you are the envy of everyone.”Liberty laughed. “I’m already envied by many. They’re saying that my luck is out of this world because I’m able to m
Now, everything was fine.However, this time, he was still unable to be by Liberty’s side. Even though it should have been much safer than when Sonny was kidnapped because he had arranged for people to protect her, he was still worried.He was afraid, feeling paralyzed as all he could do was just wait for news of her.Fortunately, everything went smoothly. No, it was more like there were scares but no real danger. When Belinda wanted to capture someone as a hostage, the first person she thought of was Liberty. First, Liberty did not know any martial arts. Second, she was the successor that Audrey had put forward, making her Caroline’s competitor. Moreover, Liberty was very significant to Audrey. If she were captured, the members of the York, Lewis, and Stone families would not dare act recklessly.Thanks to Dr. Carden’s quick actions, Liberty was pulled back, and she did not fall into Belinda’s hands as a hostage. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.After
“It’s just that when I saw you, I was so happy that I forgot everything else. I even forgot that I’m still disabled,” Duncan said.As he spoke, he pressed her hand against his lips.Liberty looked at him disapprovingly. “Don’t say you’re disabled again. You’re just temporarily impaired, and you will get better.”Duncan smiled. “Okay, okay, from now on, I won’t say I’m disabled. I’ll get better for you. I’ll stand up again.”“You already have—you just can’t walk very far yet,” Liberty said as she supported him. “Should we head back to my office first?”“Are you done with work?” Duncan looked up at the darkening sky. “It’s almost completely dark.”“It’s only five o’clock. It just gets dark quickly in winter, plus today was a cloudy day. It feels gloomy even before six. Anyway, I’m done with work.”“If that’s the case, let’s get something to eat. I’m hungry,” Duncan said.He did not want to go into her office because if he did, he might end up staying for a while. He thought it wo
However, if there really was a good woman out there, meeting up and getting to know her would not be a bad idea.Liberty returned to the office and finally felt in the mood to work. After a while, as evening approached, she received a message from Duncan telling her he would arrive at her office in two minutes.Liberty tidied up and went downstairs to meet him. At the same time, she called her aunt to let her know not to wait for her to return for dinner, as she would be eating out. She also informed her aunt that Duncan was in town.When Audrey received the update, she laughed. “Duncan is so eager! Okay, I understand. You two enjoy your time together.”Duncan must have been missing her niece like crazy.As Liberty walked out of the office building, she spotted a car parked at the entrance. Duncan got out of the car and stood aside, waiting for the bodyguard to unload the suitcase and wheelchair from the vehicle. He was able to stand for a while now and should probably be ab
Liberty nodded. “How could they compare to Elisa? She has such a strong moral compass. Zachary was still unattached when she liked him but when he announced his marriage, even though Elisa was upset, she gave up on pursuing him. The other women are more like Ms. Daniels.”In truth, Liberty knew about Ms. Daniels. She believed that Serenity and Zachary could handle things on their own, so she kept silent, but even though they eventually resolved it, it also proved that despite Zachary being married, there would still be people who harbored inappropriate thoughts about him. They were hopeful about replacing Serenity all because they felt that her pedigree did not match Zachary’s.Liberty wanted to be her sister’s support, to provide her with a confidence boost. That was why when Audrey suggested she come to Jensburg to compete for the position of family head with Caroline, she did not refuse. If she took control of the Fisher family, she would be the head, and even if most of the
Liberty asked.“Yeah, I’m on my way out now. You know what—you don’t need to come pick us up. It’ll take over an hour by car for you. I’ll just take a taxi over.” That way, he would not have to wait too long at the airport.Liberty laughed. “I wasn’t planning to come pick you up anyway. If you had told me in advance, I would have come for sure. But since you didn’t say anything… “I could still come to pick you up, but you’d have to wait at the airport for a while so it makes more sense for you to take a taxi.”It would be easier for everyone that way.“I’m on my way back to the office now. Just come straight here and text me when you’re nearby. I’ll come out to get you.”Duncan chuckled in response. “Okay, we’ll take a taxi. I’ll text you when I get there. Where did you just now?”“I went to Fisher Enterprise to check on Caroline. She’s a good person.”Duncan pursed his lips and asked, “She doesn’t blame you guys, does she?”“Not at all. Based on what she says and does, it’s
Although they had the two hundred thousand dollars, it did not change the fact that Liberty was fifteen and Serenity was ten—they were still just children. Having been pampered by their parents and never having experienced hardship, after their sudden death and being tossed out into the street, Serenity often cried, saying that she missed their mom and dad. Whenever Liberty tried to comfort her sister, they would end up crying together in each other's arms instead.Liberty could understand Caroline's feelings, though she also accepted that Caroline was much luckier as she was of age, had a father and three older brothers, and no one could kick her out of her home. “Yeah, I’ll go out once in a while. Please thank Audrey for me and ask her to let me know when she’d like to come over so that I can hand over all my responsibilities related to the company and the family. I’ll work with her schedule. And…I don’t blame any of you for my mother’s death.”That was her mother’s own doing
They were aware of everything Caroline had done for the family. To be honest, Caroline had indirectly saved Liberty. If she had not warned Liberty, Liberty’s bodyguards alone would not have been able to protect her when Belinda sprung that surprise attack on her. Liberty had already had a good impression of Caroline, but after that incident, that impression only grew stronger.Caroline’s smile faded a bit as she said, “There’s no rush for Darren and me. At the earliest, it’ll be at the end of the year. It’s too chaotic right now.”Liberty nodded in understanding. “As long as you and Darren are on the same page, that’s enough.”“He’s a good man. We haven’t really gone out on dates, but we know how we feel about each other. He suggested we date first, get engaged, and finally register our marriage. “He wants to take it step by step and promises I’ll have everything I want.”“Aunt Audrey and I are very reassured about your relationship with Darren. He’s a man worth spending a
At the mention of Liberty’s wedding, Caroline congratulated her. “Have you decided to register your marriage with Mr. Lewis? Congratulations in advance! I wish you both a long life together and hope you have a precious daughter soon.”Liberty already had a son, so it seemed normal to wish for a child the second time around.However, when Liberty became the head of the Fishers in the future, Caroline understood that Liberty would need a daughter to take over from her.Liberty smiled. “It hasn’t been easy for Duncan and me to get to this point. Considering we’re not young anymore, we decided to just get it done. Thank you for your well-wishes, Caroline, but we’re not in a hurry when it comes to kids.” She did not have the energy to raise a child at the moment. Whether she took over the Fisher family or not, she was too busy right now. Even though her new company seemed to be doing well, it had not truly stabilized yet and was only temporarily so through the influence of her brot