Serenity said with a smile, “What do I need your cousin for? He has a girlfriend. It’s too late now because the papers are signed! Keep it between us and don’t let my sister know. I don’t want her to be sad.” Jasmine was speechless.Her best friend sure pulled one heck of a move. “There are all those Lifetime movies and romance novels about blindly marrying a multi-billionaire. Maybe that’s the case with you too, Seren.” Smacking her best friend in the head, Serenity remarked with a grin, “I bet you read all the chick lit in the shop. Dream on about marrying a billionaire at first sight. Do you think the place is crawling with billionaires?” Jasmine rubbed on the bump and sighed as Serenity had a point. Jasmine then asked, “Where’s your husband’s place?” “Brynfield.” “Not bad. It’s a good neighborhood and easily accessible. Plus, it’s not far from our shop. Where does your husband work? He must earn a lot of money since he bought a house in Wiltspoon and in an expensive ne
Zachary got into the Rolls-Royce and instructed in a husky voice, “Don’t forget to bring around the national car I bought.” It was a façade to fool his wife. What was his wife called again? “Oh, right. What’s the name of the missus again?” Zachary could not be bothered to dig out the marriage license. Oh, it was likely Nana did not return it to him after he showed her. Anyhow, the marriage license was not with him. The bodyguard replied, “… The young missus is Serenity Hunt. She’s twenty-five this year. You might want to remember that.” Mr. Zachary had an exceptional memory, but when it came to people who he was not fond of, he jammed them out. This was especially true with women. He probably would not know the lady’s name even if they met every day. “Sure. Got it.” Zachary responded offhandedly. Judging by Zachary’s tone, the bodyguard knew he would not be bothered to learn the young missus’ name. Refusing to waste more brain cells on Serenity, Zachary slumped agai
Zachary was mindful of his body image, so he was careful with his diet.Serenity smiled. “You’re quite fit, Mr. York.“So… I guess I’ll go back to bed?” “Sure,” Zachary replied. “Goodnight.” Serenity wished him goodnight before turning on her heel to leave. “Hang on, Se… Serenity.” Zachary called after her. Pausing, Serenity turned her head around and asked, “Yes?” Zachary looked at her and said, “Please don’t walk around in your pajamas next time.” She was not wearing a bra underneath her pajamas. Unfortunately, his eagle eyes picked up on that. They were husband and wife anyway, but what if someone else caught her in her pajamas? The last thing he wanted was for other men to see his wife’s body. Red in the face, Serenity bolted back to her room and slammed the door shut. Zachary was speechless.She was embarrassed before he could feel awkward for her. Zachary took a moment to sit before heading to the master bedroom. He bought the furnished house at the l
Now that his belly was filled, Zachary took out his wallet and looked through it, but he did not have much cash on him. In the end, he pulled out a debit card and put it in front of Serenity. With a raised brow, Serenity looked at him. “You need money to buy things. This card is for you. The PIN is…” Zachary looked for a pen and paper and wrote the PIN down before handing it to Serenity. “You can use the card for household expenses. I’ll transfer the money into the account every month when my wages are in, but you need to keep track of whatever you buy. I don’t mind you spending the money, but I need to know what it’s spent on.” Back when they got the marriage license, Serenity had asked him whether they should go halves on the expenses, to which Zachary shot down. Since they were a married couple, they were family. He did not mind giving her money. Zachary had more money than he could count and could not put a figure to his assets. He barely had time to spend the money as
Serenity went to Liberty’s place. She opened the door and went inside the house to find her sister was already up. Liberty was busy in the kitchen. “Liberty.” “Seren, you’re here.” Liberty came out of the kitchen and was happy to see her little sister. “Have you eaten? I’m making a pot of pasta. Do you want a plate?” “I’m good. I had breakfast. Have you started cooking? You don’t have to if you haven’t because I brought you and Sonny breakfast.” “Not yet. Sonny had a fever last night. I didn’t sleep much the whole night, so I got up late. Your brother-in-law had to get breakfast from the shop. He wasn’t happy about it. He accused me of doing nothing all day and I could’ve made him breakfast since all I did was look after a child.” Liberty was hurt. Serenity was furious for her sake. “Why did Sonny have a fever? You should take him to see a doctor later even if the fever’s gone in case it comes back. Seriously. I can’t believe Hank didn’t bother to help and even yelled a
“Let’s go.” Despite tearing into Serenity in his mind, Zachary had no intention to say or do anything about it. Serenity was his wife on paper, but they were no different than strangers. Too scared to say anything, the driver started the car. Serenity had no idea she nearly ran into her man’s car. She sped off on her e-bike and made it to the shop in no time. Jasmine always arrived earlier than Serenity since the former lived nearby. “Seren.” Jasmine ordered breakfast after she was done setting up the shop. She was enjoying breakfast when her best friend entered the scene. Jasmine asked with a smile, “Have you eaten?” “Yeah.” “Oh.” Jasmine went on to finish the most important meal of the day. “I brought you some desserts. They’re delicious. Try them,” Jasmine told her best friend while putting down her bag by the cash register.Serenity placed her bike keys by the cash register and sat down before pulling over the bag containing the dessert. “You can’t go wrong with
The dinner party was held at Wiltspoon Hotel, a place Serenity never had a chance to step into. The Wiltspoon Hotel was one of the finest hotels in the city. Some said it was a seven-star hotel, but Serenity had no idea if that was true because it was not the type of news she would follow. Jasmine’s aunt arrived at the hotel before the girls and exchanged greetings with her friends. The aunt then told her children to enter the hotel while she stayed at the door to wait for Jasmine and Serenity to arrive. As the car she arranged cruised over behind other cars, the aunt curled her lips to smile. A few minutes later, Jasmine, with Serenity in tow, approached the aunt. “Aunt Rachel.” “Mrs. Lowe.” Serenity and her best friend said hello to Rachel. Rachel was not entirely okay with Jasmine bringing Serenity along as she had met the girl before. Rachel had to admit that the girl, who lost her parents at a young age, was better looking than her niece. Despite coming from a mid
Zachary was the center of attention as he walked into the room, completely oblivious to his new bride in a corner. Serenity’s gaze could not get past the crowd and onto her man’s face. After failing to catch a glimpse of the leading man despite standing on her toes to look for a long time, Serenity soon lost interest and sat back down. She tugged on her best friend and said, “I won’t bother. There are too many people around to get a good look. Let’s eat.” To Serenity, the mission tonight was to pig out! “Wait for me here, Seren. I’ll ask my aunt who came. All that commotion is as if the king has graced us with his presence.” The curiosity was eating Jasmine up inside. “Sure,” Serenity casually replied. Jasmine went off on her own. Since Serenity had cleared her plates, she picked up her empty plates and got up. While everybody was fussing over the VIP, Serenity could grab the food at ease without enduring the stares and dirty looks. Zachary walked into the room and firs
Oh, right. Ruth mentioned that the York family elders were very open-minded.Open-minded elders and a good family culture were what cultivated outstanding children. It was little wonder that Austin was exceptional and bore such an impressive demeanor. It turned out that he was from a prestigious family.“Isa, what's wrong with Austin? Can we start eating now?”Louis and Phillip were completely confused. All they knew was Austin was not from a simple family, and that he was very capable. Even Ruth had shaken hands with him.The two boys were too young to understand anything besides that. They were just hungry and wanted to eat. It was cold, and the barbecue was very comforting to eat hot off the grill.Isabella smiled and said, “All you two think about is eating. Well, the meat and vegetables are all cooked, so we can start eating now.”As she spoke, she grabbed some meat, shrimp, and vegetables for her baby brothers. Then, she began eating, and everyone followed suit.Ruth too
After Austin left, Isabella asked her friend, "Ruth, do you know the Wiltspoon Yorks? Is Austin really one of them?"“You’ve never been to Wiltspoon, Isabella, and it's so far away. Plus your family doesn't have business there, so it's normal you don't know much about them. I was there for half a month for a trip, and my in-laws have business there.“Last time, when I went on a business trip with my husband, we heard a lot of gossip and rumors related to the York family.“In Wiltspoon, there are several prominent families, but the wealthiest and most powerful is the York family. York Corporation holds the same status in the business world of Wiltspoon as your family does here.”Ruth was introducing the York family to everyone, giving them a preliminary understanding of the family. After that explanation, Ruth added, “The York family has a great family culture to boot. The men in their family are all very loyal. Once they marry, they will remain loyal to their wife and family for
“Your family? As in, Wiltspoon’s York Corporation? Is that your family’s company?” Ruth asked in shock. She looked at Austin, disbelief written all over her face. The members of the O'Connor family were all watching the two of them.“Yeah, that’s my family's company. Our ancestors were good enough to build a strong foundation my elder brother now manages.”“Where do you fall in the order of your siblings and cousins?” Ruth had once traveled to Wiltspoon with her husband for a business trip and had spent half a month there, so she knew a bit about the most prominent family in Wiltspoon. She had also been deeply impressed by the good values the Yorks had. She had heard that the York sons were all exceptional, talented individuals, and indeed, Austin was exceptionally handsome—so much so that it could even incur a god’s jealousy. But how did a young master of the York family end up working as a chef for the O'Connor family?Though York Corporation was based in Wiltspoon, its fina
Austin slept for an hour and then got up. He had to prepare the barbecue ingredients for Isabella, and the marinade was very important. If the O'Connor family was having a barbecue, Austin would actually have it quite easy. He just needed to prepare the marinade whereas the actual ingredients would be prepared by someone else, so he did not need to do everything himself. Of course, if he wanted to take charge and do it all, that was fine too.While Austin was busy in the kitchen, he heard a crisp voice coming from the hall, laughing while asking, “Isabella, where’s that handsome chef of yours? Can I take a look at him? I made sure not to bring my husband along just to see him, so he wouldn’t get jealous.”Austin was speechless. Being handsome could be troublesome too; everyone treated him like a circus monkey. He was not even the most handsome among his brothers. Zachary was the most good-looking and charismatic. If these women saw him, would they go crazy?He heard Isabella sa
As for their future partners, they also had certain requirements. First, their family background should be comparable to the O’Connors, and secondly, they should be from this city or a nearby city—wherever it was, it could not be too far away.Austin had been working for Isabella for some time and had secretly figured out her requirements for a husband. He thought it would be easy when his nana had chosen Isabella for him, but he now understood that it was not as simple as he had assumed.Not only was it hard for Isabella to fall in love, but her refusal to move far from home would also be an obstacle in their relationship. Would he have to marry into her family?Hayden was also in charge of her family company, but she had a twin brother who was just as capable as her. After marrying into the York family, the company could be handed over to her brother to manage.Isabella’s brother had only just started elementary school, so it would take at least another twenty years before Loui
Soon, even Tati ran out and joined the others.Only Isabella remained seated in the gazebo, sipping her tea while watching the younger ones play joyfully. Her personality made it difficult for her to indulge in carefree fun like the rest. However, seeing them so happy lifted her own spirits, and she felt content.She found the tea Austin made to her liking. In the past, she rarely drank tea, as she mostly drank coffee. She would have two cups of coffee every day to keep herself going.After returning to his dorm, Austin lay on his bed but did not immediately fall asleep. Instead, he picked up his phone and chatted with his cousins. He was closest to Peter and River, given their close age gap, and they often chatted the most. At this moment, he was on a call with River.He asked about the situation at home and whether their nana was mad at him for not coming home for Christmas.River replied, “Everything’s fine at home. Nana’s not mad that you’re not coming home. In fact, she’s
Ruth silently told herself that from now on, she would prioritize her friend's happiness and stop helping others gather information.Isabella was a busy person, and she was only just turning twenty-seven. There was no need for her to rush into marriage and she did not need her friend to worry about it for her.Many strong and successful women were still single well into their thirties or forties.“We’re having a barbecue tonight. If you don’t mind, come join us. But don’t come with the intention of playing matchmaker for me. If that’s the case, I’m not inviting you,” Isabella said.Ruth laughed, “I promise I won’t meddle in that. You’re only twenty-seven and you’re still young, there’s no need to rush.”She had gotten married early, but Isabella was different. Isabella bore heavy responsibilities.Caleb had even mentioned that he was willing to marry into the O'Connor family instead, but Ruth knew that he would not be able to help Isabella much. As the son-in-law of the O'Conno
“Hey, Ruth.”“Hey, Isabella, you're on vacation now, right?” Ruth asked over the phone.“Yeah, I am. What's up? You’re not inviting me to that class reunion again, are you? I'm not interested in that, so you don't need to keep trying to persuade me.” Isabella made it clear that she was not interested in the class reunion.When she was still studying, she kept a low profile, so not many people knew she was an O'Connor. However, after her grandfather passed away, her parents lacked the ability to shoulder the heavy family responsibilities, so even before she graduated, she had to step up. That was when her classmates found out that she was actually the eldest daughter of the O'Connor family.As there were many daughters and few sons in her family, before her brother was born, many people were eager to take advantage of the situation to monopolize the family's wealth. To that end, many pursued her and her cousin Tati simply because they were the oldest and the ones who had taken u
Edith thought that even if the food was not delicious, she could still taste the finest delicacies just by looking at Austin. Well, she was a sucker for looks.Isabella chuckled, “Why thank me? I’m not the one preparing everything. Austin will be doing all that.”“I’m Ms. Isabella’s chef. Her wish is my command,” Austin added gently. What he meant was, that if she had not agreed or had not invited them, the other young ladies could forget about tasting the barbecue he prepared.Apart from Isabella, the other young ladies all laughed. Austin had another good quality—he was loyal to Isabella and truly orbited around her. Isabella glanced at Austin with a smile and said, “Austin, go take a break. We’ll stay here for a bit longer. Once those two boys are tired of playing, we’ll head back inside.”Austin nodded respectfully and exited the gazebo. He even played with the two young masters for a little while before heading back to his quarters.Edith watched Austin’s retreating figure