This was the mindset of the older generation. They believed the inheritance should stay in the family by leaving them to the sons and grandsons as daughters would only grow up to marry into another family. For families without a direct descendant to bequeath the inheritance to, fellow townspeople would be eyeing the property. They would keep the wealth in the town. Many were unwilling to leave their hard-earned assets to someone who did not carry the family name. Hence, they would try to bring a son into the family. “Are you talking about John Hunt by chance?” John’s name rang a bell as he was once a senior executive at one of the Stones’ subsidiaries. John made a million dollars annually. For John to earn a huge chunk of change from the Stones, to push around her nieces, and to take over her sister’s property, Mrs. Stone could not say he left a good impression. She needed to get Clive to go hard on John so the latter would not be able to even make a living out of begging
“I know you and your sister aren’t pushovers, but I just want to do right by my sister.” Serenity was without a word. The aunt and niece shared an afternoon of conversation. Mrs. Stone insisted on going with Serenity to pick Liberty up at Lewis & Co. at five o’clock in the evening. Serenity let her be. Taking the wheel, Serenity drove Sonny, Mrs. Stone, and the others to Lewis & Co. Jasmine and Mrs. Lane did not come along. Halfway on the road, Serenity’s mind suddenly flew to Grandma May. She had not seen the old lady the whole afternoon. Serenity immediately gave Grandma May a call. She jumped straight to the question the moment the phone was picked up. “Nana, where were you?” “I was taking a stroll. Are you heading home? I’ll grab a cab back then.” Grandma May had been at Mr. Charles’ shop the whole time. She dared not show her face for fear Mrs. Stone might see her. “Nana, the DNA test results for Mrs. Stone and me are out. She’s my aunt. Aunt Audrey wan
Liberty did not have to look to know who it was. The voice was all too familiar to her. It was Chelsea, her former notorious sister-in-law. Mrs. Brown brought her daughter to Lewis & Co., but Liberty had her lunch at the office cafeteria instead of having it at home. She took a power nap at her desk before continuing her work. All the while, she did not leave the office. The mother and daughter were on a stakeout in front of the office building the whole afternoon. Tempers were flaring, to say the least. Now that Liberty was finally out, Chelsea’s fury had risen to an all-time high. Without regard to the building crowd, she yelled and caught the attention of many. The nosy passersby stopped to watch the drama unfold. Although Liberty was only a measly clerk in the finance department, she was personally hired by Mr. Lewis. That was how she became well-known in the company. The director of the finance department was worried about losing her job as she found out that Lib
Someone stood up to Chelsea. “That’s right. You’re a woman. How can you say that about Liberty? Liberty did the right thing. We’re behind you, Liberty!” “With a sister-in-law like that, I’d divorce and stay away from the family even if my man didn’t cheat on me.” Chelsea grimaced in the face of public criticism. She believed Liberty humiliated her. Suddenly, Chelsea pushed the e-bike that Liberty was holding onto. Liberty had a hard time wheeling the e-bike as it had a flat tire. Chelsea’s sudden push caused Liberty to topple over together with the e-bike. “Give us back the money. Your grandfather took the money from my mom and denied taking it. You’re responsible for your grandfather’s debt. Give the money back to my mom.” Still not feeling satisfied after the push, Chelsea went on to swing her handbag at Liberty. It did not stop there as she also made use of her feet to kick Liberty. Ditching the e-bike, Liberty stumbled onto her feet and snatched the purse from C
Black in the face, Duncan asked, “What’s going on here?” Chelsea got up from the ground and tried to charge at Liberty, but Duncan pushed her away. It took a few steps before Chelsea could steady her balance. Chelsea looked up and saw a towering man with a scowl standing by Liberty. The scar on the man’s face was terrifying. She might have nightmares if she stared at the scar long enough. Shaking in her boots, Chelsea lost the will to pounce on Liberty. Mrs. Brown hurried to her daughter’s side. The mother and daughter were a hot mess, but so was Liberty. The few security guards and female employees who tried intervening in the fight looked disheveled. It never crossed their minds that the fight between two parties involving three women could get so wild. It was impossible to tear them apart. “Who are you?” After catching her breath, Chelsea questioned Duncan. “I’m the boss of this company, and who are you? Who are you to come to my place of business and kick my
The Browns pair tried to flee. Alas, the cops arrived.“Stop them!” Seeing that the mother and daughter were going to make a run for it, Duncan commanded the people to swoop in on them. “Mr. Lewis, did you call the cops? What happened here? There seems to be a commotion.” The cops recognized Duncan. It was mainly because Duncan was a familiar face among the police force but not for a good reason. After turning over a new leaf, Duncan took an honest path and went into business. He grew Lewis & Co. into one of the major corporations in Wiltspoon in the span of a few years and had a net worth of billions. Everybody around here knew who Duncan was. Well, it would be more accurate to say that everybody doing business in Wiltspoon knew Duncan. “They came here to beat up my employee. Look at what they did to her.” Duncan pulled Liberty out from the crowd and showed the train wreck Liberty was. The cops were speechless. A catfight!Their gaze shifted from Liberty to t
The group had only elbowed their way into the crowd when Serenity cried, “Liberty.” Sonny called for his mother. It was not hard to take stock of the situation when Serenity saw Chelsea and her mom as well as the disheveled state her sister was in. Boy, she was riled up. Putting Sonny in her sister’s arms, Serenity rolled up her sleeve and was ready to get into a fight. “Seren.” Mrs. Stone worked fast and swiftly stopped Serenity from trying to stick up for her sister. “Seren, leave it to the cops to handle this.” The cops had been called. It would not look good on Serenity to fight in front of the cops. “Mr. Stone. Mrs. Stone.” Duncan was surprised to see the Stones. Out of respect, he approached them and said hello. Mr. and Mrs. Stone exchanged greetings with Duncan. Mrs. Stone asked, “What’s going on here, Mr. Lewis?” Duncan replied, “Let the cops take their statements at the station, Mrs. Stone.” He then said to the cops, “Officer, my employee has suffere
Mrs. Stone snapped, “Do you think an apology would cut it after you beat my niece up? We don’t accept your apology. You’ve pushed one too far.” She then told the police officers. “We won’t settle with an apology. Do what you need to do, officers. But I think compensation should be in order.” The Browns’ mother and daughter were detained, fined, and ordered to pay Liberty’s medical bills and emotional distress. Since they beat Liberty up and insulted her in public, Liberty could claim emotional distress due to reputation loss. Hearing that Liberty was Mrs. Stone’s niece, Duncan looked at Mrs. Stone in surprise. Mrs. Brown asked Mrs. Stone blankly, “Are you Liberty’s aunt? When did you come into the picture?” Liberty was not related to her mom’s side of the family. The family had not been in touch with Liberty and her sister for the last fifteen years. Serenity was the only family who attended Liberty’s wedding. Their extended families from both their parents’ sides did n
“Callum and Camryn came with Trenton, so they’re all having a barbecue together.”Serenity hummed in response. She closed the door to Sonny's room and said to Dylan, “Is it something you don’t want Zachary to know? If so, let’s go to his study to talk." “It’s not that. It’s fine if he knows, but I’ve talked to him, and he couldn’t be bothered. Then I asked Julian, but he said he was busy. He’s taking Ms. Crawford to register their marriage tomorrow. I just wanted a little help from him; I didn’t need him to do it personally.” Dylan grumbled a little about Julian being unhelpful.If Julian could hear this, he would retort, “Why should I help you? Even Zachary isn’t that demanding.”If it were not for the fact that Zachary and his cousin, Josh, were best buddies, Julian would not be so obliging either. Among the Yorks, Grandma May was the person the Buchams most respected. Of course, if it were something important, the Bucham family would definitely help, but Dylan’s request se
“I haven’t felt like snacking lately.”“Is the stuff made at home not to your taste anymore?” Whenever Serenity said she did not want to eat something she usually loved, Zachary would wonder if it was because the chef’s skills had declined, causing his beloved wife to lose her appetite. “It’s not that, I just don’t feel like eating them. I think maybe the baby is like you and doesn’t like sweets.”Zachary smiled. “If our son is like me, that’s fine. He’ll be steady, and in the future, the two of us will protect you.” If they had a daughter, he hoped she would be like Serenity. If she had his personality… Well, it would not be the most charming. Zachary wanted his daughter to be very likable. “I don’t need you guys to protect me, I can protect myself.”“Honey, don’t say that. I’m your husband, your man. You have to give me a chance to show off, or else people will say you married a useless husband. That would be so unfair to me.”Serenity chuckled.“Do you want to go watch So
“I can be just as considerate and attentive to you.”Quinn looked at him and could not help but laugh. “I don't mean anything else by that, you don’t need to be so defensive.”“You envy Serenity,” Julian said. “I don't want you to envy anyone. I want you to be someone others envy.”Uh, this sounded exactly like something Zachary would say. It looked like, occasionally, he really had learned a thing or two from Zachary.Quinn instantly felt smitten. She looped her arm through Julian's and whispered, “I already am someone others envy. I’m not envious of Serenity—I was just making an observation. They say Mr. Zachary dotes on his wife, and Serenity is very lucky. Now that I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes, I believe it. So, I genuinely sighed with admiration. I know I’m very lucky as well. You treat me so well, and I am content. I really don’t envy anyone.”The young couple’s conversation went unnoticed by Zachary. He waited for his wife to settle before answering a call from Dylan.
“Well, Rowan can play for a couple of days, but he has to start working on his homework soon. The college entrance exam is around the corner, and we can't let him relax too much.”“Rowan's grades are very stable and good. It won’t be hard for him to get into college, so don't put too much pressure on him. It's not necessary for him to get into the same university you and the others went to.”Serenity still remembered the pressure she had felt in high school, though it was not as much as Rowan felt, and her sister's expectations for her were more relaxed; she was only expected to do her best. No matter what the results were, Liberty would accept it. Of course, if she could get into an Ivy League university, that would be great. Otherwise, getting into an Ivy Plus university would also be fine. If that did not work out, she could go to a public university or even take a gap year. Liberty would have been okay with any of it. Her sister always told her that as long as she was physica
Zachary would not do such a thing. Julian laughed. “It’s my first time getting married. I’m asking around because I’m inexperienced. That way, I can make a plan.”Zachary turned to look at him. He said, “How many more times do you intend to get married? I didn’t have any experience either back then. It was my first time going to City Hall. Besides, Seren and I got married in a rush and did not even know each other well. After getting our marriage license, I completely forgot that I was a married man.“You’re in a better situation than I was. At least you and Quinn have feelings for each other and a stable relationship.”Julian chuckled. He caught up to Zachary and placed his arm on his shoulder. He said, “We all know what we should avoid after you’ve set an example.”Zachary was speechless. “You and Serenity are an enviable couple now.“I want to learn from you and make people jealous of Quinn as well.”Zachary brushed Julian’s hand off. “I think you’ll do a better job than m
Zachary and Julian exited the house with two housekeepers behind them, holding a tray each with snacks and drinks. The two men had excellent eyesight and quickly spotted the love of their lives sitting at a bench some distance away. Zachary knew that it was because Serenity got tired from walking. In the past, some pregnant female employees would return to work despite being pretty far along in their pregnancies. Their workload was only slightly lighter. Since Zachary had seen those employees insisting on working even though they were pregnant, he used to think being pregnant and giving birth were not that difficult. He had never put himself in the shoes of the female employees. They insisted on working because they feared being replaced if they took an extended maternity leave. When they returned, they could be discriminated against and had to start all over again. While there were opportunities to be promoted in a megacorporation, one had to climb the corporate ladder ste
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.
“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
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