“You’re awake, Seren.”Grandma May gestured at Serenity to come to her. Even if she did not call Serenity over, Serenity would always accompany Grandma May and Tania whenever she saw them sitting in the living area. “Nana, Mom.”Serenity greeted them, then Julian and Quinn. Julian returned her greeting with a nod, while Quinn smiled and said, “It’s been a while, Serenity.”She looked toward Serenity’s baby bump. She asked, “When’s your due date?”“Around May.”Quinn calculated the time mentally. She replied, “A few more months left then.”Her gaze lingered on Serenity’s bump. She looked hesitant to say something. Serenity sat beside Grandma May. Since Serenity, Grandma May, and Tania had already taken the three-seater sofa, Zachary had no choice but to take the single-seater. “You can be honest with us, Ms. Crawford.”Serenity sensed Quinn’s desire to speak up. She reassured Quinn gently not to worry about her getting mad. Everyone looked toward Quinn. Quinn felt
Serenity burst out laughing. Quinn could not hold her laughter in either. Julian wanted to laugh but stopped himself because he did not want Grandma May “getting revenge” on him. Tania did not back down from her mother-in-law’s glare. Instead, she got more confident. “It’s useless glaring at me, Mom. I didn’t say anything wrong. You just didn’t have the chance to favor girls over boys. If you had a daughter or a granddaughter, you definitely would’ve shown favoritism.”Since Grandma May did not have a girl to dote on, she had no choice but to love her sons and grandsons. Grandma May swatted Tania lightly. She complained, “That’s because you all only gave birth to sons. Aren’t daughters more adorable? I wish you all could’ve had a daughter.“Look at how cute Chloe is. I have the urge to kidnap her back whenever I see her. Liz is even treating me like a thief now. She’s afraid that I’d steal her great-granddaughter away. She even has a daughter.”Grandma May was envious of Eliza
“Most pregnant women gain some weight, but in Seren’s case, only her baby bump is growing. She hasn’t been gaining weight at all.”Zachary replied, “You were the one who called Seren over. How could you blame me?”His nana was being unreasonable. Serenity defended her husband, saying, “Don’t blame Zachary, Nana. I’m just not losing or gaining weight. I don’t want to gain too much weight anyway. It’ll be difficult to return to my pre-pregnancy weight afterward.”She remembered that Liberty did not manage her recovery well after giving birth to Sonny and ended up in an unhealthy state. Even if Zachary promised he would not be like Hank, Serenity still wanted to maintain her figure. Men’s words… Well, she did trust Zachary. Nevertheless, she still wanted to remain beautiful throughout her pregnancy. “You’re not chubby at all. You should eat more if you can. Go and have something to eat. Don’t starve.”Grandma May quickly urged Serenity to eat. She did not want to distract Se
“I can’t eat that much. You made so many dishes that I got full just by tasting a little of each. I even had a bowl of soup.”Serenity started cleaning up and refused to eat more. Zachary immediately stopped her. “I’ll clean up. You can head out and talk to Nana. Josh and Jasmine will come over for dinner tonight.”“You can leave some soup for Jasmine tonight.”Serenity was delighted to hear that her friend was coming. There was finally someone who could share her nutritional meals with her. Serenity’s in-laws were less strict about food than Josh’s dietician cousin, Rebecca. However, Rebecca had also recently lifted some restrictions on Jasmine. Jasmine’s bump was bigger than Serenity’s, and she was a month ahead of Serenity. Rebecca said there was no need to follow a nutritional meal plan since the baby had already grown a lot. Jasmine could eat normal meals, but she was still not allowed to have junk food and certain foods that should be avoided during pregnancy. She dare
It turned out that she was greedy too. Serenity had been really stressed about getting pregnant and only succeeded after a year of marriage. She had not given birth, yet she was already thinking of getting pregnant with a daughter to build her ideal family. “I’m going out for a walk, babe.”Serenity added, “I’ll check on Sonny and Rowan too.”Zachary replied, “You can take Ms. Crawford with you. Come back in the evening. The wind gets stronger once the sun sets, so it’ll be colder.”“I know. You don’t have to be so worried. We’re in our house,” said Serenity as she walked out of the dining area. Zachary used to be a man of few words. However, when it came to her, he would nag a lot and make many arrangements for her. Quinn accompanied Serenity on her walk outside. She had been talking to Grandma May since arriving at Wildridge Manor with Julian and had not been able to admire the winter view yet. Winters in Wiltspoon were not snowy. To Quinn, it was too warm there. Never
Before Rowan took Sonny away, he did not forget to inform Serenity about it. He even told Quinn, “Sonny and I are going to play, Quinn.”Serenity nodded with a smile. She told Quinn, “Let’s go over too.”Although she could not enjoy the facilities at the playground, she could watch them play. Quinn was more than happy to accompany her. She loved having fun. “When are you and Mr. Julian getting married?” Serenity asked Quinn. Quinn blushed. She said, “Julian wants it to be as soon as possible. I’m not in a rush because I think I’m still young.”After a short pause, she added, “I’ll go with his decision. My family likes him.”Serenity laughed. “I heard all about it. Mr. Julian has done a great job with your family. Mr. and Mrs. Bucham are nice people. They’ve been looking forward to having a daughter-in-law for the longest time.”Walter and Stacy were indeed friendly toward the people they knew. With the Buchams and the Yorks’ relationship, the Bucham couple treated Sereni
“Does this mean you and Julian are getting your marriage license before the year ends?”Quinn nodded. “We’ll head to the City Hall at nine tomorrow morning.”Serenity immediately congratulated her. “Congratulations, Quinn. You’ll find happiness with Julian. You don’t have to worry about him having a change of heart because you’re the only woman for him.”Quinn blushed. “This may sound funny, but I’m glad that he can only get aroused when he’s with me. As you said, he won’t ever have a change of heart because his body won’t react to other women.”She was aware of Julian’s condition and found it acceptable. Besides, they had gotten along well ever since they met each other. She was satisfied with every aspect of him. He was the ideal husband candidate for her. Not only that, her family members had observed Julian. Her father even flew to Wiltspoon to ask around about the Bucham family. He agreed to her dating Julian because he had a positive impression of the Buchams’ personali
Quinn burst out laughing. “You’re right. There’s a higher chance of success with more people. However, having a daughter of your own is more satisfying.“Everyone will be fighting to dote on your daughter. That’s better than you cooing over someone else’s daughter.”Serenity looked at Quinn for a while before smiling. “You have a point there.“But I don’t know if Zachary and I are fated to have a daughter.”“Technology is advanced now. It’s definitely possible with IVF,” suggested Quinn. However, upon recalling what Grandma May mentioned earlier, she quickly added, “Never mind. I guess it’s better not to go for artificial methods in your family. If something were to happen… it’ll be devastating.”The Yorks could be destined to have sons only. Even if a daughter were to be born into the family, it would be painful if she could not survive till adulthood. Regret lingered in the absence of what the heart desired; yet to hold it briefly, only to lose it, birthed deeper despair.
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.