“Dad.”Sonny ran toward Hank when he spotted his father. Hank stepped forward and bent over to lift his son. He then kissed Sonny’s cheeks several times and rubbed his face against Sonny’s. They seemed close.Indeed, Hank had been treating Sonny well. Liberty only pushed Duncan over after Hank and Sonny were done.Hank’s gaze landed on Liberty’s face. She had a rosy complexion and charming eyes. Her expression was gentle, and she had a slight smile. However, it was not because she was being friendly toward Hank. She was simply in a good mood because she and Duncan finally got married and just had their wedding night. “Sorry for making you bring Sonny over, Liberty.”They initially agreed on having Liberty drop Sonny off at the neighborhood’s entrance, where he should have been waiting. However, he missed the timing because he was quarreling with Chelsea. Liberty had no choice but to bring Sonny inside. Hank knew she did not really want to return to the neighborhood, h
“You must come pick me up with Mom, Dunc. Okay?”“Of course.”Duncan could not bear leaving Sonny. He was already missing Sonny even though the little man was still right before him. Sonny slid down and returned to Hank’s side. Hank held his hand. He was about to say something to Duncan but ultimately decided against it. “Sonny and I shall head up now. His grandparents are waiting for him.”Liberty hummed in approval.She and Duncan stood and watched Hank walk away with Sonny. Sonny kept looking back and waving at them. Duncan tried his best to restrain himself from running forward to hug Sonny. He kept chanting mentally, ‘Hank is Sonny’s biological dad.’Letting the father and son reunite once in a while was perfectly normal. As a stepfather, he could not stop Hank and Sonny from hanging out together. Luckily, it was only for two days. Duncan was thankful that Liberty had brought Sonny to FC Manor right after winter vacation started instead of letting the Browns t
Even Corey dared not do anything to Liberty, let alone the relatives. They were not fools.They would not incite arguments like Chelsea. Moreover, Liberty had the backing of the York and Stone families. The Wiltspoonians knew how much Serenity cared about her sister. Serenity would fight anyone who dared harm Liberty. If Serenity wanted to fight, Zachary would not sit still either. “I’m not my past self. I won’t get bullied.“Now that I think about it, I don’t know why I was so stupid back then. I was a housewife whose world revolved around my husband and baby. Even so, I was mistreated.”Liberty did not take care of her health as well. She let herself overeat to the point her weight became unhealthy. At that time, she thought she could afford to gain some weight since she was already married and had given birth. She also stopped dressing up. After the divorce, Liberty realized that women, especially married women, should love themselves. How could a woman expect oth
Luke and Olivia came over as well. Luke pushed Chelsea aside and said, “Move to the side. Don’t scare Sonny.”The old couple was all smiles when they turned to face Sonny. They fought over who to carry Sonny, but the little guy ultimately chose Luke. To him, his grandmom was the same as Aunt Chel. Granddad was much better. Luke sat on the sofa with Sonny in his arms. Lucas was also sitting on the sofa and eating snacks.Hank had bought those for Sonny when he returned. When Lucas saw Sonny, he did not greet or hug him like brothers usually do. Instead, he quickly took the plate filled with snacks away and said, “These are all mine.”Sonny frowned. Lucas was still as bossy and gluttonous as before. Whenever Lucas came to his house, he snatched his toys or food. ‘Oh, it’s Dad’s house,’ thought Sonny. It could not be considered his house. The place where he and his mother lived was his home. “Lucas.”Chelsea scolded her son, “Your uncle bought those snacks for Sonny.
If it were not for the fear that his mother would scold him when they got home, Lucas would have rushed over to have a go at Sonny. He would just wait until the adults were busy and their attention diverted settling the score with Sonny. It was just a two-day visit, but Sonny made it seem like he was the crown prince back from winning the war.“Sonny, didn’t you bring any Christmas gifts for your dad or Granddad and Grandmom? I’m really craving steak. Your mom knows I love steak, but she didn’t even prepare a big box of prime Kobe beef cuts for you to bring back.”Chelsea opened Sonny’s small suitcase and looked through it. Besides Sonny’s clothes, there were only a few toys. She was about to open the three gift boxes to check what was inside, but Hank quickly smacked her hand aside.“These are the supplements Sonny brought for me and our parents,” Hank said. He then hurriedly took the boxes back to his room. Chelsea was like a thief—if the things were not locked away in his roo
“Sonny is still a child. As his aunt, you didn’t even prepare a Christmas gift for him, and you have the nerve to ask him for one?! Have you even prepared gifts for your mother and me?“Liberty is rich now because of her capability. Now that she’s well-off, you expect her to prepare Christmas gifts for you, her former sister-in-law? Who do you think you are?“She treated you so well in the past that she would buy and cook whatever you wanted when you visited. Though the money came from Hank’s earnings, if Liberty hadn’t been willing to do it, do you think Hank could have done anything about it?“She shouldn’t have been so good to you and allowed you to get used to it. You’re always trying to take advantage of others when she doesn’t owe you anything. Hank and Liberty are divorced now! But even if they’re still married, how do you have the gall to take so many things from us when you come home empty-handed?“Let me ask you—have you ever left empty-handed from here? Even a roll of to
Chelsea cried, “Liberty has Serenity to support her, and she has such a rich aunt, and she's even from a wealthy family. I won’t even be able to catch up with her, no matter how hard I try. I just want to save some money for my children. Is that wrong?”“Liberty’s money came to her so easily and now she’s married into a rich family, but I can’t get anything out of her, so what’s wrong with me taking a little from Sonny? He’s young, but he has more money than I do at forty.“He’s already a rich heir now. So what if I take advantage of him a little? I’m just asking for a few boxes of prime beef cuts from his mom as a gift, yet you’re scolding me so harshly. I’m your daughter! Liberty is just your ex-daughter-in-law!“No matter how rich she is now, she’s not part of our family, but Sonny is a Brown, so what’s wrong with taking from her through him for our family? Just because of that, you’re scolding me.” A person like Chelsea would never think she was wrong. In fact, she would only
The gifts Mom prepared for him were only for Granddad, Grandmom, and Dad, so his aunt was upset and wanted him to call Mom and ask her to prepare Christmas gifts for her too. However, Aunt Chel was bad. He did not want to give her any Christmas gifts.“Sonny,” Olivia called out, but did not know what to say after that.In the end, she complained to Luke, “Why didn’t you have Hank take Sonny into his room when you were saying those things? It’s not good for him to hear all that. He’s still just a child.”“Now you realize Sonny is still a child? How old is he? If you're worried those words will taint his ears, you should’ve controlled your daughter better and stopped her from sprouting ill intentions again. How dare she still try to take advantage of Liberty?“If it weren’t for Sonny, does she think she would have even been able to open her shop, considering Zachary York’s means back then? She’d have gone bankrupt long ago and into massive debt. Serenity only left us a way out, a c
Isabella’s bodyguard had only called out to her, not daring to touch her, so she had not woken up. However, when Austin gently patted her face and called her, she woke up almost immediately. When she opened her eyes and saw Austin’s handsome face, Isabella was momentarily dazed, thinking she was dreaming about him.She had actually dreamed about Austin. Had she developed feelings for him? If she had not, why would she dream about him? In all her life, this was the first time she had dreamed about a man. Isabella wanted to touch Austin’s face, but as she raised her hand, she realized she was not dreaming.Austin was real. She could smell the fresh scent on him because they were so close.He had showered.Isabella quietly lowered her hand, hoping Austin had not noticed her earlier intention, lest he misunderstood.“Ms. Isabella,” Austin’s warm and pleasant voice reached her ears, making her want to close her eyes and go back to sleep. With him around, she felt safe and secure.
Hunter had neither money nor power. What could he possibly use to save his sons?“Dad, go home. When the trial starts, we’ll send someone to pick you up so you can attend and observe.”Hunter stood up angrily and stormed off.After he left, Ellie asked Ava, “Are we really not going to do anything? My child is still young. Having a father in prison will always be a stain on their life.”“What can we do? Even if we wanted to save them, we don’t have the means. We know what Caroline is like. She’s not going to let this go lightly this time,” Ava replied. “Anyway, think about last year, when they were caught cheating. How did they treat us then?”Remembering the events from last year, Ellie said, “Let them serve a few years in prison, then. Ava, Caroline is in the hospital. Should we go visit her?”“We should. Let’s go tomorrow. We’ll call Emma and visit Caroline together. The Fisher family is full of terrible people, but Caroline still has some conscience. She’s always been kind t
Hunter was momentarily speechless. He did not have much money. When Belinda was alive, he never had more than five hundred dollars on him. After his children grew up, he secretly asked them for money. During that time, he had money to spend freely, living a lavish life outside.However, all that money had been spent. He had no savings, mainly because he was used to spending extravagantly.He had been unable to save money. He did not own any shops or properties either; Belinda had kept him on a tight leash.The house in their hometown had been built with Belinda’s money, but it was not under his name. It was under his three sons’ names.After Belinda’s death, his sons supported him. Each son gave him over a hundred thousand dollars a month for living expenses.Combined, that was several hundred thousand dollars a month, allowing him to live comfortably in Ashford. He had managed to save a little, but not much, just over a million dollars in total. Hiring the best lawyers for h
Despite this, lying in bed and enduring the pain, Caroline could not help but start to cry, feeling deeply wronged.When Darren came in and saw her crying, he walked over, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently wiped her tears with a tissue.“They’re not worth your tears,” he said, his heart aching for her.Caroline sat up and buried herself in his arms. “Darren, you’re all I have now.”Darren held her tightly, his voice filled with tenderness. “I’ll always be by your side, no matter what happens, Ms. Caroline. Even if the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you.“If you’re really hurting and need to cry, then cry. Let it all out.”It would also help her sever ties with the past and the family bonds that had caused her so much pain.Caroline did cry—a long, cathartic cry. It would be the last time. From now on, she and the Clarks would go their separate ways.Meanwhile, Hunter went to Justin’s house and called Jason’s wife, Ellie, over. He said to his two daughters-in-law, “By no
After a moment of silence, Hunter repeated the same line. “But you didn’t die, did you? You only got a little hurt, and it’s not even serious.”Caroline almost laughed in anger at this.Sure, she had not died. She had only been injured. Did that erase the fact that her brothers had tried to kill her, though?She retorted, “Dad, if I had tried to kill your three sons, but they didn’t die and only got a little hurt, would you say the same thing to them? Would you tell them it’s just a family dispute, ask them to forgive me, not to sue me, and not to send me to jail?”Hunter instinctively replied, "If you had the intent to kill, how could I let you continue down that path? Of course, I’d have to let you serve a few years in prison…“Carol, I’m old, really old. I only have the boys to rely on in my old age. Are you trying to leave me with no one to depend on in my later years?”Caroline said coldly, “I’ll provide for your living expenses. I’ll make sure you don’t starve. You can even
Darren did not let go even after being struck.Seeing Darren get hit, Caroline’s expression darkened. She coldly said to her father, “Dad, if you really want to kneel, go kneel at the hospital entrance and shout at the top of your lungs that your daughter is unfilial.“Tell everyone that your sons tried to kill your daughter, and your daughter refuses to forgive them, so you’re kneeling there to force her to forgive your sons.“Let’s see if I give in.”Hunter stopped struggling. After slapping Darren, he felt a pang of fear. He was afraid Caroline might retaliate by slapping him to avenge Darren. Fortunately, while Caroline was furious, she did not lay a hand on him.He began to cry. “Carol…” He wept bitterly.Darren released him, and Hunter sat on the sofa, sobbing, “Carol, I’m old. I have no income, my parents are long gone, and your mother is no longer here. I only have your three brothers to rely on.“If you send all three of them to prison, what will happen to me? Who w
Caroline hummed. “I do plan to visit Wiltspoon to see her sometime soon. I just don’t know if I’ll be kicked out when I get there.”“And I should visit Mr. Foster too. How is he, by the way?" Patrick was the longest-living person she had ever met. Back when she lived with her adoptive family in the countryside, the oldest people in town usually lived into their eighties, and few made it to ninety. Patrick was nearly a hundred years old. What was more, he could walk without support and even travel long distances with his old friends.Liberty replied, “He’s doing quite well. Aunt Audrey accompanies him on walks every day. When they don’t go out, he sits by the cradle and watches baby Elias for hours on end.”The bond between generations was strong. When Patrick looked at Clive’s son, Elias, he felt like he was looking at his great-grandson. As Tiara’s great-grandson, Elias was naturally like his own great-grandson, too.“Dr. Carden comes by periodically to check on him and adjus
Liberty had already called Audrey to inform her about what had happened and also mentioned it to Serenity.Knowing the Clark brothers had all been captured, Serenity felt thoroughly relieved and stopped worrying that her sister would run into trouble in Jensburg.She told Zachary that Caroline never let people down.Zachary did not comment.Caroline’s fever had completely subsided, but her coughing had worsened. The doctor had changed her prescription, but the effects were not immediate.When Liberty entered, Caroline was out of bed and walking around, supported by Darren.“Caroline, why are you out of bed?”Liberty scolded her, “Get back in bed and lie down. You’re injured. If you don’t rest properly and keep moving around, you’ll aggravate your wounds, and you’ll regret it.”She did not blame Darren, though. She knew Caroline always came first to him. He always followed her lead and was unable to influence her decisions.“I’ve been lying down all day. My back is sore, and I’m
The housekeeper replied, “Yes, sir.”They did not have much work in the first place, so they did not need to slack off. Once they were done with their work, they had tons of time to entertain themselves.Hunter rushed out the door with his car keys. Despite being over seventy years old, his driving skills were still quite good. Not needing to hire a driver, he drove himself straight to Jensburg.Upon arriving at the city, Hunter did not immediately go looking for Caroline. He was unaware that she had been injured.Instead, he went to meet his old friends to ask them to help him find out if anything had happened in relation to the Fisher family last night.After he finished speaking, one of his friends said, “We were about to ask you the same thing. Your three sons attacked your daughter with knives and even kidnapped her, intending to chop her up and feed her to the fish.“Luckily, that Mr. Fletcher, who works for your daughter, arrived with the police and rescued her, but she wa