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
Liberty said to Mrs. Stone, “Aunt Audrey, Seren and I are young and able. We don’t need your help. Don’t worry too much about us. Have faith in us. We will get to the top with our own effort.“I do have one thing to ask of you. Try not to let everybody know that Seren and I are your nieces. We have seen all kinds of people and the ugly side of humanity. I’m worried that others might use us against you or the Stone Group.” After much thought, Mrs. Stone replied, “I’m happy that you think that way, Liberty. You are both strong-willed like me. I’ll take a step back since you don’t need my help, but you must let me know if things get tough for you. “It doesn’t matter if others don’t know about our relationship, but your relatives must know of that fact, or they’ll continue to pester you girls for money.” Stone Group’s reputation came in handy at times. “They already know Elisa stands behind us.” Elisa got into it with the Hunts at the shop. “I won’t go out of my way to tell th
Even though Serenity had been hanging around Zachary every day, he could not kiss his wife, the love of his life. Zachary had trouble keeping it in his pants. Now that the ban was lifted, he could not keep his hands off Serenity and demanded kisses. A while later, Serenity rested against his chest and caught up on her breathing. “Seren.” Serenity lifted her chin to meet him at eye level. With Zachary looking rather solemn, Serenity blinked her eyes. That was quite a quick change of mood. She asked, “What’s the matter? Why do you have that teacher look?“Do you still remember the first time you came to my shop to help? The students didn’t even dare set foot into the shop because you were there.” Zachary put his hand on her face, caressing his thumb against her soft skin. There was a smile across his face. “You rushed me to go back to the office. I was furious because you didn’t appreciate that I was trying to help you. You even tried to hurry me along.” In the past, he
To think Zachary owned a villa there and it was on the hilltop with the best view too. Stuffing her phone back into her pocket, Serenity turned around and walked to the sofa for a seat. She did not break gaze with Zachary. Zachary was looking at her. He wondered if she was angry or pleasantly surprised. Serenity appeared surprised, but not the good kind. “Seren, w-we rushed to get married, so I…” Zachary drew close and sat next to her. The moment he took a seat, Serenity scooted to the side, pulling a distance between them. She told him off, “Stay right there. Don’t come too close to me.” Tensing her facial lines, Serenity uttered furiously, “I know why you kept it from me. Do you think I'll go after your money when I find out you own a villa?“How much do you make annually as a senior executive in York Corporation? I bet it’s a few million dollars. You’re always busy at work, either working overtime or going to business parties. Do you claim the spending and hours from
After much silence, Zachary said, “I don’t have much savings left after purchasing the villa and the apartment in Brynfield. The car is only a mode of transport. I don’t need a luxury car since the one I have now does the job.” Zachary was flustered as he was making up more lies to cover up the web of lies from before. Serenity gave him another push. “Let go of me.” “Are you going to run?” “Where can I run to? I won’t tell you if I plan to run away. I can just pack my stuff and leave. I would be bluffing and trying to scare you if I made a huge commotion to leave. I’d be quiet if I wanted to leave for sure. It will be without hesitation, and you won’t be able to find me.” With his heart beating out of his chest, Zachary cautiously asked, “Seren, in what circumstances would you leave me?” “You must be guilty of doing me dirty to ask that question.” Zachary was quick to deny, “I just want to know, so that I won’t make that mistake and hurt you. I don’t want to give you a ch
“Yeah, right.” Zachary went on to pack his bags. Serenity sat down, carrying on with her money counting. York Corporation was the top company in Wiltspoon for sure. The corporation had deep pockets that even the subsidiary company was generous. Serenity earned a few thousand dollars for the few days of caring for Zachary. Mr. Tank would have given Serenity more money, but she might suspect something. After counting the cash, Serenity got up and grabbed her go-to purse. It was a cheap canvas purse that cost a few dollars if bought in bulk online. Nevertheless, the purse was useful and could hold bills worth tens of thousands. Serenity stuffed the cash into the purse and watched Zachary pack the suitcase. There was not a lot of stuff. She packed his bags before Zachary went on his business trip. Since Serenity came in a hurry, she only brought along two changes of clothes. The daily necessities were bought here. It did not take long for Zachary to finish packing. He appro
Ever since the start of the school’s winter holidays, Jasmine had been holing up at home. Her daily routine consisted of eating, sleeping, and reading romance novels on her phone. Her brother would get the occasional phone call from Josh to dine out, and Jasmine would invite herself to the get-together in case her brother might sell her out behind her back. Now that Jasmine received a message from Serenity that the latter was back, Jasmine quickly replied with a voice message. “How about Italian tonight? Mr. Bucham took my brother to an Italian place, and the food was great. I’ve been waiting for you to come back so we can try out the place. You have no idea. I couldn’t binge when dining with my brother and Mr. Bucham because I’d eat more than them.” Serenity responded to her with a smile, “I can’t tonight. I just got back with Mr. York. We’re going to have a slow night. How about tomorrow night? Get my sister and Elisa to join us.” “We don’t have to include Elisa since she e
Austin said, “He’s definitely here to discuss a potential partnership with your company.“He's just the acting head of the Longbottoms. He doesn’t truly control the family. If the real head returns, everything he’s worked for will go to someone else.“The downfall of Belinda Fisher probably gave him a wake-up call and he doesn’t want to end up like that.“He’s definitely seeking to cooperate with you regarding his personal business. He’s just using the Longbottoms’ name, since their influence in Windermere is enormous.”In terms of wealth, the O'Connors and the Longbottoms were on equal footing, but the O'Connors had fewer members and did not have the same level of influence in Windermere as the Longbottoms.Isabella said, “He’s very ambitious. A partnership would only just be the beginning. Once it’s established, he’ll start thinking about how to cheat us and steal our business.“Plus, he’s very lecherous. Nobody can put a number to how many women he’s toyed with. Some even lost
Tony was aware that whenever his wife had to play the villain, it was always to protect him. He said, “You're right, I misspoke. Your mother isn’t that kind of person.”“Manny, I’ll be leaving soon. You stay here, and I’ll leave half of my men with you. If anything comes up that you can't handle, contact me. I’ll be waiting to hear good news from you.” Tony decided to fly to Wiltspoon in the afternoon. He would only stay for two or three days before returning to Havenmill to handle business.However, as he thought about how he was working like a horse for Longbottom Corporation when many of the benefits did not even belong to him personally, Tony felt a bit disgruntled.“Got it.” Manny did not reject his father’s arrangement.As the Longbottom father and son were discussing how to deal with the O’Connors, Austin entered Isabella’s office.Isabella was busy, so Austin did not disturb her. He quietly sat at the tea table and made some tea.“It seems you’ve learned the art of tea-
Manny had never been to Wiltspoon, but he knew from his father that several prominent families in Wiltspoon had close ties with the Johnsons from Annenburg. It was possible that the child adopted by the Johnsons’ young missus was Laurence. Unfortunately, he could not meet that child, so he could not be a hundred percent certain. The child was currently out of sight and well-protected, hidden so effectively that even the Longbottoms’ information network could not find anything. The other prominent families in Wiltspoon were also helping to keep the child hidden, so Manny deeply disliked the people from these families. Even though they were thousands of miles away, they were still an obstacle to him and his father in their pursuit of becoming the true head of the family.“That's right. If we can conquer the O’Connors, we’ll have a backup plan,” his father said. “You must put your all into it, son. If you need help, just let me know, though this is also an opportunity for you to ge
Tony Longbottom was the only person who would put on such a parade. The big shots in Satbury usually had entourages of their own, but none would put on a spectacle as big as Tony would.As they departed in their car, Tony’s gracious demeanor utterly shattered.His face twisted into an ugly, cruel expression as he said, “I’ve never been treated like this before, even when the legitimate branch of the family still lived, and those two ignorant little girls actually refused to see me multiple times.”Manny was very angry too and he said, “Pops, since they refuse to go about this the easy way, we’ll have to show them the hard way. We can approach it from other angles, and once they’re completely out of business and they have nowhere else to turn to, they’ll be at our mercy.“Won’t they have to do as we please then? I want to marry them, they’ll have to marry me, and if I don’t, I’ll just make them my mistresses. Don’t the O’Connors have plenty of daughters? I’ll fuck every one of them
“Isabella O’Connor is so outstanding, so why are you asking me to go for Tati O’Connor instead?” Manny said under his breath in puzzlement.He had seen photos of the two ladies and Isabella’s appearance was more striking. She had a cold and aloof aura that easily triggered his desire to conquer her, and after just a few glances, he was captivated.If it were up to him, Manny would choose Isabella.Tony looked at his son, smiled, and said, “You can’t control her. Of course, if you manage to make her fall for you, we can talk about switching. But for now, focus on Tati O’Connor.”Tati was also beautiful. However, she did not have Isabella’s cold demeanor. She seemed much gentler, like she smiled often.“Marrying Tati O’Connor would be a big advantage for both you and our family.”Manny thought for a moment and then nodded in understanding. “Got it, Dad.”Manny’s good looks, wealth, honeyed tongue, and generosity toward girls made him good at winning them over. Pursuing a rich youn
After testing the O’Connor sisters and realizing they were not like other women, Mr. Longbottom thought of having his son marry Tati.He knew that his son would not be able to handle or control Isabella, so he set his sights on Tati. Tati probably did not realize she was considered an easy target. Most people underestimated her because she had always kept a low profile.At that moment, a young man got out from the other side of the Rolls-Royce. He resembled Mr. Longbottom. Indeed, he was Mr. Longbotton’s eldest son, Manny.“Dad.”Manny went to his father’s side and glanced at the building before him. He asked, “Aren’t we driving inside?”In Havenmill, Manny could do whatever he wished because his father was the interim head of the Longbottom family. While he had no respect for ordinary people at all, he was clever enough not to offend people he should not.He never parked his car outside the places he wanted to go and simply drove his car through the gates. However, Manny
Meanwhile in Satbury, a few luxury cars stopped at the entrance of Costa Corporation. The door of the first car, a Rolls-Royce, opened. A bodyguard came out of the car.He waited for his boss, who was sitting in the backseat to exit.Mr. Longbottom got out of the car. Although he was over fifty years old, he looked like he was in his forties as he maintained his appearance well.He wore a white tailored suit with a tie, which made him look more youthful.The bodyguards in the other cars alighted as well.They quickly stood behind Mr. Longbottom to protect him. It was also his display of power.A few bodyguards grabbed many gift boxes from the trunks. Mr. Longbottom stood in front of the company and raised his head to look at the sixty-eight-storey office building. It was a symbol of the O’Connor family’s abilities.Costa Corporation was not the family’s only business. They were involved in many industries and were successful in all of them.The O’Connors were wealthy and powe
Jasmine added, “In some cases, the divorced women can get married to a better man, while the divorced men can’t even find a new wife. There are many single men now.“Isn’t there a saying nowadays that men who have wives are extremely lucky?”When Jasmine was at the bookstore, she would also visit the neighboring stores to listen to juicy gossip. Many of the store owners were not locals and they had many stories to tell. Someone said there was an evil mother-in-law in a rural area who looked down on her daughter-in-law. She would egg her son on to abuse his wife and get a divorce. She would also tell her son that she could find a better and younger wife for him. However, once the divorce went through, news of the mother-in-law’s evil deeds and the son’s domestic abuse spread far and wide. Who would dare marry off their daughters to a man like that?Besides, holding another wedding would require a lot of money. The cost of a wedding had increased a lot compared to the past.Whe
“Sonny’s fine. He has recovered. You want to get Sonny from school?”After thinking about it, Serenity agreed and said, “Okay. I’ll message Sonny’s teacher later to tell her you’ll be taking him.”“Okay, Serenity. Thank you.”Hank was thankful that Serenity did not make things difficult for him. Serenity and Liberty had great character. Liberty had a new relationship and already let go of her resentment for Hank. She could coexist with him peacefully. On the other hand, Serenity still held grudges against Hank. However, since he and Liberty had divorced, he could no longer hurt her. He was also Sonny’s father. Serenity was willing to tolerate him for Sonny’s sake. Therefore, she always said yes whenever Hank requested to meet his son. “You’ll be taking Sonny out to eat after picking him up, right? Remember not to let him eat too much fried food, especially fried chicken and fries. He’ll get a sore throat.“He got a fever that day due to a throat inflammation.”“Got it. I’ll