“The fight was just kids being kids. Plus, it was an accident. We will take good care of Sonny and keep him from harm’s way when we get custody.” Mrs. Brown heartachingly said, “Hank, don’t go with the divorce. I can’t take it.”It never crossed her mind that fights between children could influence decisions on a child’s custody. Despite Mrs. Brown’s old age, she had never seen anyone take their divorce to court. In the separations that she came across, the women would pack their things and walk out, leaving the house, car, and children to the men. “Sure, it was just a fight between children, but people would see Sonny living with us as whether it’s conducive to his growth and well-being.” Hank patiently persuaded his parents. “Mom, I don’t love Liberty anymore. It’s not like Liberty would take me back either. You can’t make things work just by force. It would be hard for her and me at this rate. Besides, Liberty’s willing to settle. The divorce is going to happen.“I’ve mad
Mrs. Brown grabbed the divorce paperwork for another look, feeling the pain every time she read the line on the payout to Liberty. “I thought the estate was split evenly. The amount doesn’t seem right.” “Liberty’s relinquishing her rights to the house and car, so I need to make it up to her monetarily. Altogether, that’s the total payout.” Mrs. Brown replied after a pause, “What about the renovation cost for the house?” Hank answered, “It’s not included. I’ve said it before. I won’t compensate her for that.” Although feeling a little better, Mrs. Brown said, “The renovation was tens of thousands of dollars. I guess we benefited a little since she didn’t ask you for the renovation cost.” It did not hurt as bad anymore for the money they were losing. “Hank, how did Liberty collect these photos?” Mr. Brown believed his daughter-in-law did not have such means. “Did someone help her?” “I asked her, but she wouldn’t say, nor did she know who helped her. The person’s pretty good
“Chelsea said she’s having problems at work. I wonder what happened. I thought she was doing well. What changed?” Mrs. Brown mumbled as she swiftly tapped the call button to connect to her daughter. During the call, Chelsea restlessly uttered, “I don’t know what’s going on, Mom. I have a feeling the people at work are out to get me. They have a bone to pick in everything I do. Not one good thing happened the whole day. Just let the divorce go through if Hank wants it, Mom. Your son is a great man. He’ll have no problems finding another wife.” “God knows where Liberty found dirt on your brother, and she got enough to threaten your brother to meet all her demands. Liberty gets over a million bucks in alimony, full custody of Sonny, and three thousand dollars a month for child support.” “Does Hank have that much money to give her?” Chelsea was shocked. “Hank had transferred his assets out, but Liberty somehow got proof of the transfer. Never mind. Since trouble at the workplac
Serenity’s phone fell on the bed. Sure, Serenity had waited for Zachary, but sleepiness got the best of her. It was a blow to Zachary’s exhilaration. He brought along two Eternal diamond rings that he bought from Nana with the intention to put one on Serenity’s finger. Yet, she was far off in dreamland. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Zachary reached out to pinch Serenity in the face. “You could sleep through an earthquake, little piggy.” After pinching her cheeks, he leaned down to kiss her face and hovered against her lips for a prod. He then grabbed her phone and put it on the bedside table. Although his wife fell asleep waiting for him, at least she was in his bedroom. That was what a certain Mr. York comforted himself with. The next day, Serenity woke up only to be blown away by a huge bouquet of flowers. Behind the flowers was Zachary’s handsome face. She blinked. Serenity sat up the moment she was certain she was awake, and it was Zachary before her eyes.
“Seren.”Serenity was putting the ring on Zachary’s finger when the latter tenderly uttered, “No matter what happens, we won’t talk about splitting up or a divorce, alright?” Thinking the wedding bands were perfect for them, Serenity was in awe of Zachary’s good taste. Zachary was able to pick out a suitable ring for her in her absence. Serenity heard what he had to say and picked her head up to look at him. “I can’t promise you this. What if you turn out to be like Hank? Am I not supposed to bring up divorce? Cheating men should be dumped as soon as possible. Why should women keep these disgusting men around?” Zachary wanted to bait a promise out of her in hopes she would not leave him when he came clean about his identity. To his surprise, she did not fall for it. Despite being caught in a tender moment, her head remained clear. She was deservingly the woman he fell in love with. “Um… In the context that I don’t have an affair, you can’t ask me for a divorce no matter
“That’s hard to say. I’ll be back once my work there is done.” “Let me know when’s your trip. I’ll help you pack and drive you to the airport.” Since Serenity did not have a change of clothes in his bedroom, she intended to return to her room to get dressed and wash up. With Serenity about to leave, Zachary reached out to pull her back. His dark eyes were fixed on her beautiful face. “That’s it?” Serenity was without a word.She blinked, unable to get the message he was trying to convey. What else if not that? Was he expecting her to see him off at the city he was conducting business in? “Can family tag along too?” Zachary was twitching by the corners of his mouth. “Since I can’t go with you, is it not enough that I’ll drive you to the airport?” Zachary’s hand over hers loosened. Serenity stared at his hand and uttered with a frown, “I thought you had been slick with your words lately, but you lost it now. You just keep me guessing by leaving things hanging. I’m
“I said nothing of that sort. You said it yourself.” Old Mr. Hunt replied, “Where are you? Look at the time, and your shop isn’t open yet. Other businesses would have made a lot of money by now.” “Zachary, my granddad’s so concerned as to what time I’m setting up my shop. Are pigs flying? Can you grab your phone and check from the balcony? You need to take a picture of this phenomenon.” With a scowl, Old Mr. Hunt lashed out, “Don’t change the subject, Serenity. I’m talking to you. Your uncles, aunts, and I are waiting for you at the shop. Hurry up and get over here to unlock the door! We haven’t even had breakfast. Get us takeouts on your way here.” “There are plenty of breakfast places around. You can go hungry if you don’t want to eat there.” Why should Serenity be so kind to get them takeaway? They would only tear into her after getting fed. Offended by Serenity’s attitude, Old Mr. Hunt wanted to let Serenity have it when John snatched the phone over. John sounded rather
Serenity smirked in her mind. No deed went past God himself. Karma was bound to strike back. The writing was on the wall. Granddad and Grandmom got it coming for them. “Regardless of their intentions, we’ll go there with you. You can use an extra pair of hands in a fight.” Grandma May insisted on going along. Serenity wanted to say that she could fight, but she could be outnumbered by all her relatives at her shop in a fight. Hence, she did not stop Grandma May from going with her. Liberty mentioned before that Grandma May could kick *ss. With the trio finishing off their breakfast, Serenity tried to clear the table when Grandma May gave her grandson a look. Zachary quietly got up and took the dirty plates from Serenity to carry into the kitchen for a wash. “Seren, don’t spoil him too much.” Grandma May showed Serenity the tricks. “You need to get him to help out with the house chores. This home belongs to you two, and you need to run it together. Sure, it’s taxing for
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