“Although you can kickbox, you should stay away from him. Your husband is petty-minded and can’t stand to see you together with him. I’ll get jealous even though he’s the one all over you.” Zachary was feeling jealous in the past but he never admitted to it back then. It would not matter to Zachary who Serenity was with if he did not care. Now that he had feelings for Serenity, Zachary lost his head and was out for blood. “I’ll chase him away if he comes along, but I can’t cut off his legs to stop him from coming.” Zachary put on a stern look and said, “I’ll make sure he doesn’t show his face.” “What are you planning to do? Don’t do anything stupid.” Zachary pinched her cheek. “Don’t worry. I won’t do anything stupid now that I have you.” He wanted to spend the rest of his days with her. Zachary had made plans to end partnerships with the Lowes and even steal from them some projects that were in talks. The Lowes would know the Yorks were putting the heat on them. Zac
“I’m not petty like you.” Zachary replied hesitantly, “You’re mad.” “Yes, I’m mad. I sent you so many text messages, yet you’re cruel enough not to reply to any one of them.” While getting out of the car, Serenity pulled Zachary out together with her. She put the umbrella into his hand and said, “You should get back to work. I got to go.” She was still hungry. Serenity did not have the chance to drink the hot cocoa he made for her this morning and now her stomach was aching. “I’ll watch you leave from here.” Since Elisa and her mother came looking for Serenity, they must be there to talk about Mrs. Stone’s sister.Zachary could not keep Serenity for long. Serenity sat behind the wheel and waved at Zachary, saying, “Let me know beforehand if you’re coming over for lunch. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even have any leftovers.” “Sure.” Zachary would not head to the shop if Mrs. Stone and her daughter were there. Serenity soon drove away. Standing there, Zachary watched
For the sake of peace and quiet, Jasmine did not hesitate to lie on the floor at Mrs. Dawson’s birthday celebration. It meant that the pressure to get married was pretty bad for Jasmine. Josh would not be able to wiggle his way out of the situation if Mrs. Sox caught him visiting Jasmine. Although Jasmine was his type, nothing was carved in stone yet between them. They had not reached the stage of meeting the parents. Josh only let the head of the Bucham household know about it while keeping it from the others. He was afraid the seniors of his family would turn up in a large group at Jasmine’s house and scare her off. Jasmine thanked Josh’s show of concern. The pair did not chat for long and ended the phone conversation. … Elisa and her mother waited at Serenity’s shop for Serenity’s return. Shawn left after Elisa and her mother came along. Shawn’s mother warned him to keep a distance from Elisa. The Lowes did not want to cross the fiery princess of the Stones. Mrs.
“Have you met Serenity’s husband before?” Mrs. Stone asked her daughter. If Serenity and her sister turned out to be her nieces, Mrs. Stone, as the aunt, should assess the men for her nieces. “I’ve never met him before. He seems to be busy at work. You know only elites could join York Corporation, and work can get busy. I think her husband’s working in higher management, so work must take up a lot of his time.“Serenity’s expression started to soften when she talked about him. I think they’re developing feelings for each other.” Elisa did not pay an awful lot of attention to Serenity's marriage. As she had loved before, Elisa could tell the subtle changes in Serenity toward her husband. After much thought, Elisa added, “But they have not become a real couple. Their marriage is only in name at present.” “They entered the marriage without any feelings for one another. Everything should fall into place since they’re keeping the marriage in name while nurturing their relations
“My breakfast’s probably not warm anymore. I’ll go heat it up in the kitchen. Elisa, you’re a regular here. Please keep Mrs. Stone entertained.” Elisa replied with a smile, “Don’t worry. My mom and I won’t be strangers. Your shop is home to me.” Serenity thought to herself, ‘My shop is not up to your standard with the wealth your family owns.’She took the breakfast packed by Zachary to the kitchen and heated it up before enjoying her meal in the kitchen. Zachary made her hot cocoa. Thanks to the insulated cup, the drink was still warm. Her arms and legs were feeling cold since the weather turned chilly, and her Aunt Flo came to visit as well. Cupping the insulated cup, Serenity felt the warmth in her belly after taking a sip of hot cocoa. Ring, ring, ring…Her phone rang. While sipping on her hot cocoa, she pulled out her phone for a look. It was Zachary. She took the call. “Are you at the shop?” Zachary looked at the time before calling. “Yes, I’m at the shop.”
“Is Shawn gone?” Zachary had not forgotten about his love rival. “I didn’t see him when I came back. Are you still jealous?” Zachary fell silent for a while before replying, “Well, you said that’s how I am. I guess jealousy might become a habit of mine.” Josh and Grandma May would be throwing shade at him if they were around. Serenity chuckled. “I should make you eat your greens every day then.” Since he enjoyed turning green with envy, she might as well serve up all the greens he could eat. “I love to eat whatever you make me.” “Zachary, you sure have honeyed lips. What’s up with all the sweet talk recently?” Zachary twitched by the corner of his lips. Nana often complained about his lack of sweet nothings to Serenity. Now that he had given it a go, Serenity fussed about his honeyed lips. She probably did not like sweet talk. “I don’t want to take up more of your time.” “Okay.” Serenity was the first to end the call. Zachary moved the phone away from his ear
With tears running down Mrs. Stone’s face, Serenity handed her a tissue and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Stone.” “Serenity.” Mrs. Stone held her hands, choking in sobs. “I’m sorry about your childhood. I didn’t find you quick enough. Maybe your mom wouldn’t have died if I tracked you down sooner.” Had her sister been located sooner, Mrs. Stone would have brought her to live in the city. Then, her sister would never have lost her life, together with her husband, in a tragic car accident in the little town. Although the DNA test had not been done, Serenity felt a lump in her throat and her eyes welling up after listening to what Mrs. Stone had to say. It would be great if her mom was still alive. “Stop crying, Mom. Dad told me to keep an eye on you and not to let you cry. You had been crying all day yesterday.”Elisa took the tissue from Serenity and patted her mother’s tears dry while consoling her, “Mom, you can take the DNA test with Serenity. If it comes back po
While on the way to the DNA testing center, Serenity received a wired transfer from Zachary for fifty thousand dollars. Afraid that she might not accept the money, Zachary included a text message to her. “Seren, I’ll take it as you don’t see me as your husband if you don’t accept the money. The husband is supposed to make money for the wife to spend.” Serenity read the text message and had a big smile on her face. Zachary had learned to guilt her into accepting things. She was not in a hurry to accept the transaction. Once at the DNA testing center, she waited until Mrs. Stone’s and her blood were drawn before accepting the fifty thousand dollars. With the money her husband gave, Serenity generously took Mrs. Stone and her daughter to have lunch at a five-star hotel. The five-star hotel Serenity was most familiar with in all of Wiltspoon was the Wiltspoon Hotel. The Wiltspoon Hotel was a hotel under York Corporation’s flagship. The Yorks and the Stones were not on good
Camryn smiled, “You spoil me too much. You’ll turn me into an absolute sloth who only waits around for you to take care of me, and it might tire you out.”“That won’t happen. I enjoy taking care of you,” Callum assured as he reached to help her with the snacks, but she would not let him feed her anymore. Callum had no choice but to hand her the snacks.“Although Trenton is young, he has mettle. When we put his parents away, it was hard for him to accept, but in the end, he did. As long as he has the right values, even the hardest things can be accepted over time and he won’t resent anyone else for it either.”Camryn pushed the snack box closer to her husband, indicating that he should have some too. “If Trenton didn’t have the right values, I wouldn’t care for him so much. Given the hurt and pain I suffered during the twenty-odd years under his parents, if I hated them, they’d have nothing to say in defense.“Because Trenton has treated me well since he was little, respects me as
Just now, Carrie came here and made a scene, and he had given her fifty thousand dollars. Although he had not spent much time with her, they were siblings. He could at the very least still recognize her. However, when Camryn asked him that, Trenton's heart started to race, not daring to confidently say that the lady really was Carrie.As for the young lady beside her? He had watched the video a few times but had not paid much attention to her. All he could see was a beautiful, young woman dressed in luxurious attire. In the video, he heard Camryn refer to her as Mrs. Longbottom, so her husband’s family name had to be Longbottom.Mrs. Longbottom had a good attitude toward Camryn and even supported her. He was not familiar with Mrs. Longbottom at all, though. Why did Camryn ask him that? Should he know her? Trenton watched the video two more times but could not find anything unusual about her. It was just that he was not acquainted with Mrs. Longbottom. If he had not seen the video,
The young couple looked at Trenton, then exchanged smiles.“How much did you give Carrie?” Camryn asked her brother gently. Camryn could harden her heart to completely ignore Carrie and not give her a single cent, but Trenton could not be as ruthless as she was, mainly because while Carrie had not been particularly kind to Trenton, she also had not bullied him outright. She had treated Camryn very poorly though and had never shown her any respect at all, so their sisterly bond had deteriorated to the extreme. It was already generous of Camryn not to completely destroy Carrie after taking charge, which was probably out of consideration for the fact that they shared a mother.“I-I gave her fifty thousand. She said it was almost Christmas, and she wanted to buy gifts and new clothes, so I-I gave her fifty thousand.” Trenton looked down as he spoke, not daring to look at Camryn, afraid she would scold him.Camryn gave her brother a long look but did not scold him. Instead, she took o
Callum was silent for a moment before he said, “I wanted you to get familiar with the route to my office, which is why I asked you to deliver the flowers yourself.”“Did you ever think about how difficult it was for me as a blind person? It was so hard for me to walk all the way to deliver those flowers,” Camryn retorted.Callum pulled her into an embrace and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, Camryn. It was my fault for not thinking it through, which put you through a lot.”Camryn pushed him away, “We have customers constantly coming in. Don’t just hug me out of nowhere. You’re as thick-skinned as a rhinoceros, but I’m not. At that time, I was angry and silently cursed you a hundred thousand times, but your insistence actually did help me learn the way to your office and now, I can find my way there even with my eyes closed.”At that moment, Trenton returned. After Carrie left, he felt a bit down and stayed outside for a while to compose himself before coming back in. He did not wan
Just then, a customer came in wanting to buy a bouquet. Camryn first brought over some sample pictures for the customer to choose from. “No need to choose, just help me arrange a bouquet of roses. I’m going to confess my feelings,” said the young boy, a hint of shyness on his face as he spoke.Camryn smiled gently. “Alright, please wait a moment while I prepare it for you.”Callum assisted by inviting the young boy to sit down and poured him a glass of water.The boy glanced between Camryn and Callum and quietly asked, “Are you and the boss married or dating?”“We’re married. She’s my wife.”The boy expressed his envy. “You both seem very happy.”“Yeah, we are very happy. I love my wife very much, and she loves me too.”Thinking about the girl he was pursuing, the boy’s face lit up with anticipation. “I also have someone I like, and I’m going to confess to her, though I just don’t know if she feels the same. I’m a bit nervous.”Callum, drawing from his own experience, advised
“She hasn’t paid. Stop her.” Camryn was not going to let her get away with it. With a command, her two bodyguards stopped Carrie.Carrie said furiously, “Camryn, I only took a few flowers from you! You have so many flowers here. What's the big deal if I take a few? You still want me to pay? I’m your sister! Don’t you know that blood is thicker than water?!”“Blood might be thicker than water, but business is business. Anyone who buys flowers from me has to pay, including you. Besides, you’ve never treated me like an older sister. You always bring up how we’re sisters when you want to take advantage of me, but that won’t work here. My roses are freshly transported, and since you’re my sister, I’ll let you have them for twenty bucks each. You took about five stems, so just give me a hundred. I won’t rip you off.”Carrie’s expression changed in an instant. “Camryn, why don’t you just rob a bank? You’re charging twenty bucks each? You’re just a thief! Here! I don’t want them! I’d rather
“If Mom said she would create an opportunity for you to get with the king, would you really believe her? It’s just talk—nothing actually happened.” Trenton could not resist poking Carrie’s forehead a few times. “Carrie, can you please come back to earth? In your current state, forget about finding a great guy like Callum—even a regular, decent guy would be turned off by you.”Carrie swatted away her brother’s fingers, irritated and embarrassed. “Am I really that bad? I’m young, beautiful, have a great figure, and a dignified heiress. If the monarchy still existed, I could marry the king and be his queen without a problem.”“Carrie, you have sky-high ambitions, but be careful, don’t fly too close to the sun and end up like Icarus.”As soon as he said that, Trenton was met with a smack from his sister.“Is there a brother who curses his own sister like that? What do you mean by that? I’m destined to have the princess life. I’ll be fine.”However, deep down, she was still worried bec
Camryn was right—he was just too soft-hearted. If he were as ruthless as her, Carrie would have found a job long ago after running out of money.To encourage Carrie to become independent, Trenton decided that after Christmas, he would stop giving her living expenses. He would also tell their parents during his visit to prison that Carrie was truly hopeless.“Trenton, you keep siding with her, and one day you'll regret it. She’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing who has deceived who knows how many people. Do you really think she cares about you? She just wants to win your complete trust to take everything that belongs to you for herself. By driving us out of our home, she’s not only seeking revenge on Mom and Dad but also on us—especially you. She’s just pretending to be nice to you to sow discord between us siblings.”“Carrie!” Trenton said seriously, “Don’t talk about Camryn like that. She’s not that kind of person. I believe in her, one hundred percent.”Carrie was so furious she wanted
“Alright, alright, I can't win with the two of you against one,” Carrie sulked. “Give me money to spend. I'm out of money.”She reached out her hand toward Camryn, wanting her to give her money. Camryn slapped her hand away. “Even Trenton knows to take advantage of the winter break to find a part-time job and earn some pocket money. You’re perfectly capable, yet you don’t look for a job.“To put it bluntly, if you’ve gone to sweep the streets, you'd still have a source of income. I have money, but I won’t give it to you. Don’t think that just because we’re sisters—estranged, too, at that—I have an obligation to support my adult sister. I’ve said it before: if you want money to spend, earn it yourself.” With that, Camryn walked away to tend to her plants.As Christmas approached, the flower market was bustling. Every day, many people came to buy flowers, and all her employees were out delivering flowers to clients. Sometimes, when it got too busy, she even had to ask her two bodyguar