Serenity did not want her sister to worry.Liberty saw that Serenity looked normal, so she was relieved and said, “Zachary treats you very well. I think he won’t quarrel with you over something trivial. I’m relieved that you two didn’t get into a fight.”Serenity thought in her heart, ‘As it turned out, he actually did quarrel with me over something trivial.’He ignored her the whole day.She refused to take the initiative to be friendly with him again.She did not feel like she was at fault.The first time they fought, she did not have feelings for him. The second time, when he saw Shawn confess to her, she did not think it through and panicked, chasing him all the way to his office to offer him an explanation.Now, she felt incredibly upset.Maybe it was because she had grown some feelings for him.“Seren, I’ll take Sonny home. I’ve decided to open a store. I have to start planning.”“Okay, take Mrs. Lane with you so that Sonny doesn’t bother you.”Liberty accepted her sis
“Don’t go out, Seren. I’ll deal with him,” Jasmine said before rushing to the entrance of the bookshop to stop Shawn. Grabbing him by the arm, Jasmine yanked him away. “Jas.” Forced to keep up with his cousin’s footsteps, Shawn tried to put a brake on the pulling, but Jasmine dragged him all the way to his car with all her might. “Unlock the car door!” Jasmine ordered with a stern face. Shawn gave her a rather disgruntled look.“Jas.” “I said, unlock the car door!” Jasmine sternly commanded. Although she was shorter than Shawn, she stood her ground against the man. Her chilly eyes were fixated on Shawn until the latter unlocked the door. Jasmine opened the door and stuffed him into the car. “Jas, I’m here for you, not Serenity.” Forced to take the passenger seat, Shawn watched as his cousin buckled him up. “Sit tight and don’t get out of the car!” Jasmine ordered and shut the car door before getting into the car from the other side. She moved quickly and decisi
Jasmine had always had Shawn’s back through thick and thin. His cousin was in the position to give him the upper hand at getting the woman of his dreams. However, not only was Jasmine not supportive, but she was against it for the first time ever. She stopped him and even yelled at him. Shawn was in agony, unable to obtain the woman he loved. The fact that his closest cousin did not support him only added to the pain. “I’m all ears if you want to talk to me about your work. You can call me or go to my place. I’m not working tomorrow since it’s the weekend. What do you want to talk about? I can give you the whole day to pour out your feelings.“I mean, of course, things aren’t going well for you at work. Is your focus on your work? All you think about is pestering Serenity. I told you a million times. Serenity’s married and doesn’t have that kind of feelings for you. What’s the point of getting all over her face? “You’re only chipping away what’s left of your friendship with he
Jasmine dashed all the way to Shawn’s family home. After pulling up, she sent a text message, asking Serenity to wait for her at the shop. She would be back in half an hour. [Sure.] Serenity replied with a meme. Mrs. Lowe was about to leave home for a social gathering. Her nights were either filled with game nights, social events, or accompanying her husband to business dinners. Seeing that her son’s ride was parked outside the house, Mrs. Lowe was taken aback by her niece getting out of the car. She smiled. “Jasmine, what brings you here with Shawn?” Mrs. Lowe then said to her son who had stepped out of the car. “Your dad said that you disappeared right after work. Shawn, your father’s busier than ever. You should be helping him.” Her husband mentioned that the companies under Lowe Enterprise that had partnerships with York Corporation previously were discontinued for some reason. York Corporation ended these partnerships on their accord. Out of the few projects under ta
“Why isn’t my uncle back yet?” “He’s at a business dinner. He won’t be back until midnight.” Shawn’s younger sister was still in college. Now that it was winter break, she went traveling with her friends and would be back before the new year. There was no one else at the house. The aunt and niece took a seat on the sofa while Shawn sat beside the pair. He nervously stared at his mother. “What do you want to talk to me about, Jas?” “Aunt Rachel, I want to first put it out there that this is not Serenity’s fault. Please listen to what I have to say before getting mad. You can be mad at your son, but don’t take it out on Serenity.” Jasmine had to first give her aunt a fair warning and assure Serenity’s safety. “I won’t come over to your place if you take it out on Serenity, Aunt Rachel.” Mrs. Lowe replied with a smile, “What is it? You make it sound so somber. Why would I take it out on Serenity? Serenity has been friends with you for years. I watched her grow up. She’s
“Aunt Rachel, I didn’t drive and took Shawn’s car here. It’d be great if you could arrange for the chauffeur to drive me back to the shop.” Holding back her anger, Mrs. Lowe summoned a maid to arrange the ride for Jasmine with the chauffeur. Once Jasmine was gone, Mrs. Lowe slapped her son and lashed out, “Shawn, are you trying to infuriate me? Serenity is three years older than you. She doesn’t come from a good family. Are you blind to fall for her?” “Aren’t you fond of Serenity, Mom?“So what if she’s older? It’s not like she’s thirty years older than I am. How is it that she doesn’t come from a good family? Her family isn’t involved in the mafia. She comes from a family of farmers, not criminals.” Mrs. Lowe grimaced. “I like her and see her as another niece of mine because of Jasmine. I’m only fond of her on the condition that she doesn’t get involved with you.“I wouldn’t have allowed you two to spend time together had I known what was going on in your head.“You better
There were certain things that although Shawn was unwilling to face, he was aware of them. Serenity did not have an influential figure to lean on, but his mother was Mrs. Lowe. The Lowes were considerably wealthier and more powerful than Serenity. There was no way Serenity could survive against his mother’s tactics. The only thing left to do would be to leave Wiltspoon. “I don’t want you to try. You must let go of your feelings for her!” Mrs. Lowe ordered. Keeping to her word, Mrs. Lowe summoned two bodyguards and instructed them, “You are to follow Shawn wherever he goes from now on. Report to me if he ever goes near Wiltspoon School.” Shawn turned ashen. Meanwhile, the Lowes’ chauffeur drove Jasmine to the shop. Serenity had moved all the display racks into the shops and packed up her crafting tools and materials. She even cleared the unfinished groceries out of the fridge and bagged them along with the snacks. She was ready to bring them all back to her house. The sh
Zachary, who was dubbed the petty guy by Serenity, took a few hours of sleep at the office before waking up. He opened his eyes and found a thick jacket draped over him. Removing the jacket, he looked at the time. “It’s nine at night,” Zachary cried, unable to believe that he slept that long. There were a few thermal lunch boxes on his desk. It must be the dinner brought by the manager of the subsidiary company. The manager must have seen him asleep and did not want to wake him. The thick jacket over Zachary must be from the manager too. Straightening his back, Zachary sat in silence for a while before heading to the bathroom to freshen himself up with a good splash of cold water to his face. He walked out of the bathroom several minutes later. Having returned to his seat, he opened the food containers. The food was still warm. He sat behind his desk and dug in. Zachary pulled out his phone and checked his messages. Other than the messages from his senior executives about
Twenty million dollars!It was the Clark brothers’ turn to exchange glances. They did not expect Jacob and Michael to name such a high price. While they could pay that amount, they did not want to hand the money to Jacob and Michael. After all, it was no longer a small sum to them, given their situation. Adrian was nervous that he would have to fork out the money himself. While he had significantly more assets than an ordinary person, most were fixed assets, and he only had a few tens of millions of savings. Therefore, he was unwilling to pay twenty million dollars out of the blue. After exchanging glances, Adrian said, “Twenty million is too much. We don’t have that much. We may be wealthy people to you, but it’s all fake. We aren’t as rich as you think.“You’re aware of the Fishers family rules—only daughters can be the successors. Sons can’t even take on the Fisher surname, let alone inherit the family assets.“When my mom was alive, she would support us financially in
“If the plan fails, we have a backup plan—hit her bodyguards’ car and force her car to stop. That way, you two can take Caroline away and leave the rest up to us.”Adrian was prepared for various scenarios.If the car accident did not succeed, then they would first eliminate Caroline’s bodyguards. Without them, and with Darren on a business trip, they could easily take down Caroline, who did not know how to fight. After kidnapping her, they would kill and cut her to pieces before throwing her into the sea. No one would be able to find her. If Caroline were dead, the inheritance from Belinda would belong to the Clark brothers. They still could not take over Fisher Enterprise and the Fisher family or do anything to Liberty. However, with Caroline dead, there would be no one to teach the new and inexperienced Liberty. Whether Liberty could hold her ground was an unknown variable. After a discussion between Adrian and his brothers, they set two goals. Firstly, they would kill Car
“Caroline will definitely receive retribution for this.”Adrian said with spite, “I shall see how she meets her death. The people in Wiltspoon will kill her sooner or later.“Does she think they’ll treat her well just because she betrayed her family? They despise us. She’s still my parents’ biological daughter. There’s no way she can be spared.”“You’re absolutely right.”The three men kept cursing Caroline throughout their journey. Upon arriving at Adrian’s villa, he parked the car. Jacob and Michael looked around after getting out of the vehicle. They thought Adrian’s place was luxurious. Adrian mentioned it was a small place, but it was already a lavish place to them. It was many times bigger than their house in the countryside. Adrian invited Jacob and Michael into the villa and they followed suit.Jacob whispered to Michael, “The Clark brothers are fighting with Caroline for the inheritance, Michael. They must be up to no good, calling us here.“No matter what request
“Although Caroline is our biological sister, she doesn’t treat us as her brothers. We only recognize Celine as our sister. I really wish we could turn back time.“We shouldn’t have allowed Caroline to return to the Fisher family. Ever since she came back, the family had been declining. Many things had happened. My mom’s dead, and my dad’s crippled. All of these are related to her.“Caroline’s an ungrateful bitch. I can’t believe she sided with the people from Wiltspoon. Even now, she’s constantly in contact with them and giving away Fisher Enterprise.“It should’ve belonged to Celine.”Jacob and Michael stayed quiet. They had known for a long time that their biological sister was not Caroline but Celine, the then-successor of the Fisher family. Therefore, they treated Caroline badly and often abused her.Although Caroline had learned to put up resistance after growing up, she was still bullied by Jacob and Michael.She hated them. She did not know the truth in the past and
The two men were Celine’s biological brothers, Jacob and Michael Dott. Adrian nodded. “That’s good to hear. Grieving is useless. Avenging Celine and seeking justice is more important.”Jacob and Michael remained silent. They could not do much. When their father was still the Fishers’ butler, he received a high salary with excellent benefits; the Dotts were the wealthiest family in their town. Since their family was rich, the brothers never put effort into studying. They spent time with questionable friends and led a life of debauchery. Jacob and Michael only matured after marrying and having kids. However, their father was already in prison. Meanwhile, Caroline, whom they used to abuse, had returned to the Fisher family. Celine had refused to return to the Dott family and simply gave them some money. Jacob and Michael had built houses in their town and furnished them well. The money they used was from Caroline and their parents’ savings. Since then, their financial crisi
In the afternoon, Duncan fetched Liberty from Fisher Enterprise for dinner. Caroline stood at the building entrance, watching Liberty and Duncan leave. She was envious. She missed Darren. Although he was still following her, he could not expose himself before others. She was not used to it. Nevertheless, she had to endure it to lure the Clark brothers into her trap. She thought, ‘Please make your move soon, brothers. Don’t keep me waiting.’At that moment, Adrian and his brothers exited the elevator. They were discussing something as they walked. When they saw Caroline standing at the entrance, they paused for a moment. However, they quickly pretended they did not see her and walked past her.Soon, three cars left the company.Caroline stood there for a few more minutes before heading to the parking lot. Her personal bodyguards were waiting at her car. They quickly went to her when they spotted her, while one of them opened the door for her. After Adrian left the com
“I’m used to him being by my side. Now that he’s hidden, it just feels weird.”Caroline added, “Even if I want to kiss him, I can only do it in my dreams.”Liberty was speechless. Seeing Liberty being at a loss for words, Caroline smiled. “Did I renew your impression of me?”“Yes. I didn’t know you were this kind of person.”Caroline giggled. “Darren’s too serious and respectful. If I don’t take the lead, we might sleep on opposite ends of the bed after getting married. He probably won’t even dare to turn in bed.”Liberty thought of Darren’s face, which constantly had a stern expression. He only looked normal around Caroline. He indeed treated her respectfully and never dared to offend her. Liberty said, “You’re still his master. It’s only natural that he’s acting that way.“When you two become husband and wife, he’ll change. However, you won’t have to doubt his love and loyalty for you.”The next thing Liberty knew, Caroline asked her private questions regarding married lif
Caroline moved first, exiting the elevator.Adrian blocked her path, refusing to give way.Caroline did not want to argue with her brothers, so she simply sidestepped and continued toward the CEO’s office. The Clark brothers watched her leave.“Let’s go, Adrian.” Justin entered the elevator first.Adrian withdrew his gaze and led Jason into the elevator.“I heard Darren’s out on a business trip and has been sent to another province to handle some matters, so he won’t be back for at least ten days to half a month,” Jason shared in a low voice. “And for the past few days, Caroline’s only been accompanied by those few bodyguards of hers. There really hasn’t been any sign of Darren with her. I’ve asked someone to look into it and verified Darren left Jensburg by flight a few days ago. What do you think, Adrian?”Adrian replied under his breath, “We’re at work. Don’t talk about that here. We’ll talk about it when we get home tonight.”Justin and Jason immediately shut their mouths.
“I’m in charge now, not your mother. If you can’t do the work, then don’t cling to your positions and collect a salary for doing nothing.”Liberty had no intention of tolerating their laziness any longer.The three brothers had tried investing and running their own businesses, but they mostly ended up losing money. The only stable income they had was from renting out the properties and shops they owned.That was why Hunter had advised his sons to return to Ashford, buy more properties and shops, and live off the rental income. It was much more stable than their business ventures.If the properties were hard to rent out, they could always sell them and recover some money, but with their business investments, not only did they lose money, they often ended up in debt by the time the businesses failed.It was a mystery how much of Belinda’s personal wealth had been spent helping her sons pay off their debts while she was alive.However, there were times when they made money. They wou