Serenity uttered with joy in her eyes. “Hang in there then. You’re thirty years old, Zachary. How can a thirty-year-old manly man be afraid of a shot?” It turned out Zachary was afraid of needles. Zachary had better prayed not to be sick if he ever crossed her again. She would get the doctor to administer shots to him for any illness he had. With Zachary tensing his facial muscles without a word, Serenity leaned into his ear and whispered, “Be a good boy and take the shot, Zachary. Then, I can go all the way with you and go back. Call it a reward since I rushed over to take care of you.” Zachary’s dark eyes were sparkling. He asked, “Can I?” Sitting straight, Serenity smiled through her eyes. “Once you get discharged from the hospital.“How about it? Are you going to take the shot?” Looking rather conflicted, Zachary rolled up his sleeve and put his hand out in the end. He closed his eyes and took the shot like a champ. While the injection was being administered, Zacha
Zachary had developed feelings for Serenity first and fell head over heels for her while Serenity had only made a tiny step forward. She could shrink back into her shell at any time. He fell silent. Zachary and Serenity often got into fights not just because their relationship was not strong enough. His personality and habits were parts of the reason too. It was unlikely that Serenity would change for him. She was not the type to rely on men completely. Serenity would not even let him in the loops of things that she could handle by herself. Hence, he had to change for her instead. “Why aren’t you saying anything? You always keep to yourself when I teach you how to chase your wife and build a relationship with her.” “I don’t know what to say,” Zachary replied honestly. Grandma May responded, “Why do I have such a senseless grandson like you? If your brothers and cousins are like you, I’d rather reunite with your grandpa than worry about all of you.” Her sons and daughter
As Liberty was spilling on the sides, she did not wear a gown. It was mainly because there were no suitable evening dresses for her. It was too late to tailor one to her size. Nevertheless, she put on some new clothes and painted her face naturally. She also wore a jewelry set gifted by Mrs. Stone that brought out a sense of privilege in her. Sonny wore a mini suit. The little man was handsome, to begin with, and the suit only gave prominence to his attractive looks. Any woman who had seen Sonny could not resist holding him. The little guy was timid at first, but he soon got used to it and became bolder. He would sweetly thank anyone who complimented his looks. In fact, he became the star of the event. “Ma’am, Mrs. Lewis and Mr. Duncan are here.” With a maid approaching Mrs. Stone and informing the arrival of the distinguished guests, Mrs. Stone led her daughter and niece out to welcome them. Mrs. Stone held Liberty’s hand and said with a smile, “Come with me to welcome M
Sonny recoiled behind his mother.Turning around, Liberty picked her son up and said, “Sonny, this is Mr. Lewis. You met him before.” Sonny simply stared at Duncan. As polite as he usually was, Sonny refused to say hello to Duncan. “The child is beautiful,” Mrs. Lewis complimented. Mrs. Stone’s elder niece was broad around the beam, but her son was rather handsome. “Duncan, your scary face scared the little guy. He won’t let you touch him.” Mrs. Lewis tore one into her youngest son. Since the incident when Duncan got a cut on his face, Mrs. Lewis was all for her son to go under the knife to remove the scar and get his good looks back. However, the headstrong b*stard refused to take her advice and do the surgery. He had no consideration for his mother who nearly had a heart attack and cried so many nights over the accident. Many years had passed, and the scar remained. The once hunk now found himself single at thirty-five… Hang on. Duncan was about to celebrate his th
“Don’t worry. I won’t give Mrs. Lewis a chance to make things difficult for me. Don’t be mad.” “You’re so forgiving, Liberty. I would never allow anyone to look at me that way if it were me. I’d make her pay.” Liberty smiled. How could she compare herself to Elisa? Elisa was an heiress born with a silver spoon.Liberty was an orphan who lost both parents at a young age. “I got your back from now on. You must let me know if anyone gives you an attitude or bullies you. I’ll kick their *sses for you.” “Jasmine’s here.” With Jasmine and her brother arriving at the scene, Liberty alerted Elisa and distracted her from the topic. Jasmine dragged her brother along to the event so she could get a free ride off him and feast to her heart’s content at the party. It was a pity that Serenity was not in Wiltspoon. “Jasmine.” Elisa and Liberty walked up to them. “Why did you take ages, Jasmine?” As Elisa drew close and intimately held Jasmine’s arm, many looked over and rec
It alerted Liberty’s internal alarm bells to ring. She callously asked, “Who told you that I got that much money? I didn’t work or have any income after I got married.” “Your mother-in-law said so. Liberty, my business has hit a rough patch and is in the red. I lost all the money I profited from over the years. I don’t have cash going into the business, so I was thinking if you could lend me a million bucks.” Liberty sneered in anger. There were no boundaries when it came to these people. They would not stop bugging her and Serenity. “You might want to look in the mirror and see if you can find your dignity, Mike. After all that you’ve done to me and my sister, you have the gall to ask me for money?! That’s right. I do have a million dollars, but I won’t lend it to you. I’d rather give the money to anyone else than you!” “Oh, come on, Liberty. We’re family after all. Look, you girls were stubborn then. You didn’t get your husband to pay us for family support. He married y
Despite John’s persistent questioning, the human resource managers would not reveal to him who else, apart from Stone Group, was putting an end to his professional career. John knew that someone had Serenity and her sister’s back. He thought it was Elisa at first, but now it seemed there was someone more powerful than Elisa standing behind the sister. Who could it be? The person had the power to stop anybody from hiring him in Wiltspoon. Having lost his confidence, John decided to wait until Grandmom was out of the hospital and send his grandparents back to their hometown before figuring something out in the new year. “What do we do now?” Stuart was anxious. “Whoever’s behind Serenity and her sister must be some sort of big shot. They’re the reason for our job losses and business failures. You’re feeling the pinch too even though you don’t run a huge business.“Mike, we can have a family meeting when your grandmom is out of the hospital. We should apologize sincerely as Se
Elisa was there to hear the entire conversation between Liberty and Mike. She angrily uttered, “I can’t believe they’re still hounding you for money.” “He wants to borrow money from me, saying that business is bad now, and he’s in the red. He needs to pump in a million bucks into operations.” “How shameless of him! And I thought I was the most brazen person in Wiltspoon. People called me shameless for going after Mr. York, but compared to your relatives, I’m considered modest.” Liberty ended up soothing Elisa instead. “Don’t get worked up over these people, Elisa. Serenity and I will never be on good terms with them. Those people can go to hell for all I care.” The hardship the Hunts faced right now was karma hitting back at them. “Come on, let’s enjoy the buffet and alcohol. Elisa, your pastry chef makes the best desserts. I’m going to eat to my heart’s content today!” Jasmine turned the subject of conversation elsewhere. Elisa laughed at her. “Desserts are fattening… Li
“Isa has a networking event tonight, so she’ll be working overtime. You should bring her dinner.”“Sure.” Austin was here precisely to do that.Tati entered the elevator. When she turned around, she saw that Austin had already walked off.Tati chuckled to herself, “When will it be my turn to meet a good man who only has eyes for me?”Isabella had Austin now. Even though they had not officially started dating, they were clearly interested in each other. In the near future, they would definitely become a couple, and if both sides’ parents had no objection to it, they would eventually be a loving husband and wife.Though, at the thought of her family circumstances, Tati was still a little worried that Isabella and Austin might not get to that point.Isabella could not move far away after getting married as she still had to manage the family business. Her husband and her in-laws had to be understanding and tolerant of the fact that she would be very, very busy.They had all heard th
Isabella wanted to say something but ultimately decided against it. Tati had a point. She could push the boys too hard. They were still young, and they deserved a carefree and happy childhood. She had already put too much pressure on Louis and Phillip. “Austin accompanies the boys when he’s free. I think he’s great with kids. Maybe he has experience from babysitting in his family.”The York family had nine sons in their youngest generation and no daughters. Austin was the sixth in line with three younger brothers. Rowan was the youngest and still a minor. Thinking about it, he must have been raised by all his older cousins and brothers. No one understood how much pressure Rowan was under as he grew up. His older brothers were outstanding individuals. He would not have been that stressed if any of them were mediocre. He kept chasing after his brothers’ footsteps. He did not know when he could ever catch up to River and Austin. He would have to live with that pressure fo
“Isa, do you know many hotels and restaurants are waiting for you to switch Austin out? That way, they can snatch him away and make him their star chef.”With Austin’s culinary skills, he could be the head chef at any hotel.Isabella smiled. She said, “It depends on how much they can offer him. He already has his own hotels and restaurants. He’s already successful in the F&B industry.“How can they possibly hire him to be their chef? That’s unless Austin buys their hotel.“Besides, I haven’t gotten bored of Austin’s food. They’ll have to wait. “You can make a bet on whether Austin can last a full year as my private chef. I think you might win, but there’s always the possibility of losing.”There would always be wins and losses in a bet. Tati smiled. “Some people already made their bets. However, they betted on whether Austin could last for three months first. I guess those who put their money on him leaving before three months are up will lose.“For the second round, they’re
Knowledge of Mr. Longbottom’s philandering was not restricted to Havenmill. Even people in Annenburg knew about it. He switched lovers as quickly as he changed clothes. Many of his mistresses accidentally got pregnant and thought they could replace Mrs. Longbottom because of their children. However, Mr. Longbottom was a heartless man outside of bed. While most of his mistresses had gotten pregnant, only those who were honest and without ambitions were allowed to give birth. Even if those women gave birth, the child would not bear the Longbottom surname and only take their mother’s surname. However, Mr. Longbottom would buy that mistress and her children a townhouse and hire two nannies to look after them. There would also be a sum of money deposited into their account monthly to provide for the child. On the other hand, most of Mr. Longbottom’s mistresses who were not allowed to give birth were ordered to get an abortion. If they refused, Mrs. Longbottom would intervene and f
Tati did not care what Manny would do. She had no feelings for him. Not only did she know he was ambitious, but he also wanted her family’s wealth. Only a few men deserved Tati’s praise in her entire life. Austin was one of them. Even so, she simply admired him and did not view him as a romantic partner. Tati could sense that Austin’s eyes were always on Isabella. It had nothing to do with him being her private chef. He was dedicated to Isabella. When Isabella and Tati were unaware of Austin’s true identity, they admired him a lot. Isabella even teased Tati about it. Later, they discovered he was a young master of the wealthiest family in Wiltspoon.His family background and qualifications made Austin worthy of being the partner of an elite daughter of the O’Connors. Although Isabella refused to admit it, Tati knew Austin would eventually be her brother-in-law. However, he probably had to sacrifice a lot to be with Isabella. After all, Isabella was the head of the
Once Manny left, Costa Corporation entrance resumed its peace. Manny had bought a villa in Satbury. He was determined to woo Tati and would not leave until he succeeded. Besides, he would be doing business in Satbury and needed a place to live. He did not want to stay at a hotel every day. The villa he bought was only a ten-minute drive away from Dunboy Manor. On his way back, he received a call from his momma asking about his situation in Satbury. After speaking about business, his momma said, “Don’t be like your dad, Manny. If you really like Ms. Tati, you should treat her well.“Your dad is too flirty. Marrying him was the unluckiest thing in my life. I had no choice. I’ve been his wife for decades and even gave birth to you all. He got me involved in too many things.“He forced me to be in the same boat as him. I’m forced to stick with him for your sake and our family’s benefit. However, if I could turn back time, I’d rather stay single than get married to your dad.“Y
“I’m sorry. I have a business appointment tonight.”Tati rejected Manny’s invitation without hesitation. Manny had been pursuing her relentlessly. If she were to have a meal with him, the paparazzi stalking them would take pictures and she would be on the local entertainment headlines the next day. She would not give Manny any chances to advertise false information about their relationship. Manny looked disappointed. “Another day then.“By the way, you’ll be attending a banquet two days later, right? Can I be your escort?”Tati and Isabella would not attend just any banquet. Families who could invite them were wealthy and close to the O’Connors. Ordinary banquets could never have Tati and Isabella as guests. Manny had gathered information for two days. He heard that one of the wealthy families in Satbury would be holding a banquet to celebrate their old missus’s eightieth birthday, and many guests were invited to liven up the celebration. A missus of that family was clos
“My family isn’t inferior to yours, sweet Tati. The Longbottoms even surpass the O’Connors. As a young master of the Longbottoms, why will I go after your family’s money?“Money has never been a problem for the Longbottom family. In fact, you and I are the best match for each other. Our families are equally rich. If we get together, it’ll be a joining of two strong forces.”Tati wanted to say that while the Longbottom family surpassed the O’Connors, Manny was not the true person in power within his family. Even his father was not the legitimate head. The power and wealth of the Longbottom family belonged to the true head of the family. Tony and Manny Longbottom were simply managing the family in the interim. Did they think the family had become theirs?If the son of the previous Longbottom family head grew up and returned to take charge of the family, Tony and Manny would no longer have any influence. They would only receive some compensation for their hard work. Without the L
Tati looked toward Manny and said in a serious tone, “If you love someone, you’d be considerate of her and do what’s best for her.“Meanwhile, you’re disregarding any inconvenience this might cause me just to appear romantic. You know I’m busy, yet you put flowers here and blocked my way, wasting my time.“Do your actions truly reflect your love for me? Are you being considerate of me?”Tati would not have said a word if Manny had asked his people to place the flowers in an empty spot. However, he just had to do it at the entrance of the company, attracting many people. Her company security team could not even chase them away. They knew Manny’s identity and that he was pursuing her. If the security chased him away, the Longbottom and O’Connor families could end up enemies. Secondly, they were worried about getting fired if Tati were to accept Manny’s feelings one day and decide to punish them. Tati would not blame the security for failing to execute their duty. After Manny s