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
Celine, whom they had cared for all long, was not their biological sister but the daughter of the previous butler. Celine’s father was ambitious. He tried making his daughter the Fisher family’s successor. Justin was speechless.“Free me, Jason. I’m already in your hands. Are you still scared that I’ll escape? Let me out. It’s too stuffy in the sack. I feel terrible.”Caroline made a request. Jason seemed to be the one with some lingering feelings for his sibling. Well, that was not really the case.If he truly had even a sliver of sibling love for Caroline, he would have stopped Adrian and Justin from kidnapping her instead of joining the plan. If Caroline had been fortunate, she could have had five brothers doting on her. Sadly, she was unlucky. None of the five brothers had cared for her. They all wanted her dead. Was she a failure as a person, or were they too cruel?Jason said, “Just stay put, Caroline. We’ll let you out when we arrive.”They could not release Car
Caroline could not beat them. Then, her mouth was gagged with a cloth, and her head was covered with a sack. Someone forced her into a car. She heard Adrian saying to his brothers, “Let’s go.“Tell Celine’s brothers to follow us. Assign a few people to clean up and leave quickly.”After that, Caroline heard the sound of an engine starting. The car moved. She could not see what was happening. While she was shoved into the backseat, her arms and legs were unbound. She removed the cloth from her mouth but not the sack from her head.Someone held the sack tightly and started hitting and kicking her. “Tie the sack, Justin,” said Jason in a hurry. The person beating her up was Justin. “I know it’s you guys, Justin and Jason. What are you doing? Let me go. Mmph…”Caroline grunted in pain. She suffered a punch from Justin. She held her head tightly to prevent any injury to it. Many blows landed on her body. “It’s fine even if you know it’s us, Caroline. You better stay
“Ms. Caroline.”The bodyguards looked toward Caroline. Caroline opened her eyes and said calmly, “Stop the car, but don’t get out. Only get out when the situation gets out of hand. Remember to protect yourselves.”“Ms. Caroline…”“I’ll keep myself safe. Don’t worry. I treasure my life. There’s still a long life ahead of me. I haven’t even started enjoying good days. I won’t want to die.”Caroline chuckled, but her smile did not reach her eyes. There was sorrow in those eyes. In the end, she and her brothers could not coexist. It made her realize how bad her luck was with families. She was switched at birth and mistreated by her adoptive family. She thought her biological parents would treat her well after returning to them, but it turned out to be the opposite. Caroline had many family members, yet somehow, she was still alone. The people who truly cared about her were Darren, Liberty, and some others. Caroline’s bodyguards knew she had been waiting for that moment.
The bodyguard in the passenger seat turned and informed Caroline. Caroline remained calm. She said, “Speed up and let them chase us. The road ahead has many curves. A truck will turn over if it goes too fast.”The people in the truck were probably her brothers from the Dott family. She wondered how much money Adrian had given them. Were they planning to drive the truck to chase her and create an accident?Caroline’s driver immediately acted on her orders. The truck behind them accelerated as well. Soon, they arrived at the section of the road with many curves and downhills.Accidents could happen easily if a car drove too quickly at a curve. The truck driver was not ready to give up his life. He decelerated when he saw the curved road ahead. By the time the truck turned, Caroline’s car was gone. The truck driver immediately stepped on the brake. He stopped by the roadside and made a call. He was not one of the Dott brothers but someone else they hired. The driver c
“They’re my biological brothers and father, Em. Although they had attacked me with their words before, they never hurt me physically.“It’s okay. I have bodyguards with me.”Caroline was letting Emma know that she would still be heading home. After sighing, Emma said, “Be careful. Call the police if something feels off. We didn’t treat you well in the past, Carol, but I saw through your family and came to a realization.“You helped me a lot, and you’re the aunt of my children. I wish you well.”Caroline knew Emma was genuinely concerned about her. Ever since she exposed her brothers’ affairs and took her sisters-in-law’s side, her sisters-in-law, especially Emma, have changed their attitudes toward her. When Adrian and Emma were fighting on the verge of divorcing, Caroline stood by Emma unwaveringly. She had also assisted Emma in many instances. Although Emma had left the Fisher family, she would always be Caroline's sister-in-law. “I will be careful and live well, Em.
Since it would be a sleepless night, drinking some coffee could help them stay awake. At eleven o’clock, Caroline and her bodyguards left the cafe. She sensed some people had been following her the entire night. The bodyguards had also noticed it, but Caroline prevented them from alarming those people and let them continue following her. It would be none other than Adrian’s people anyway. Adrian, Justin, and Jason had finished their tasks early and got off work on time. They had the entire night to themselves as they did not have to work or attend events. After Caroline got in her car, she suddenly received a call from Emma. She picked up the call. “Hi, Emma.”“You can call me comfortably, Carol. I’m not your sister-in-law anymore.”Caroline immediately switched to Emma’s nickname. “Why aren’t you asleep but calling me at this hour, Em? I hope my nieces and nephews are obedient. Now that the school term has started, you should be able to relax when they’re at school
Liberty and Sonny had a lot to share with each other. Meanwhile, Caroline had not gone home yet. She told Liberty she was going home after they separated but ended up going shopping instead. It was still early. There were too many cars on the road. Even a fool would not choose that time to make a move. To play along with her brothers’ scheme, she had to go shopping and only head home late at night. That would make it easier for Adrian and his brothers to take action. Darren sent Caroline a message to tell her that the Dott brothers and Clark brothers were waiting to ambush her when she was on her way back. When she approached them, they would hit her car with theirs. Her dying on the spot would be the best-case scenario. If she did not die, they would kidnap her. Adrian was already waiting in a deserted place by the sea. They planned to chop her up and throw her body into the sea. The fish in the sea would eat her up. The Clark brothers were cruel. Caroline wa
Sonny himself needed taking care of. Duncan said, “Summer vacation, then. Since it’s a long holiday, you can be in Jensburg for two months.“Once you graduate from preschool and come over to Jensburg for elementary school, you’ll be able to see your mom every day. I’ll also move my business to Jensburg. That way, the three of us can reunite as a family.”While Lewis & Co. had businesses in Jensburg, there were not many. Since Liberty would be living in Jensburg permanently, Duncan increased his investments there to expand into a new market. Therefore, he had to be in Jensburg as the CEO. It also presented him with the opportunity to accompany Liberty and Sonny there. Sonny pouted. “Okay.“Mom, you haven’t answered my questions.”Sonny turned his attention back to Liberty. Liberty smiled. “I’m not as busy tonight, so I don’t have to work till late. I’m on my way home now. I called you because I knew you’d be going to bed soon.“Do you miss me, Sonny? I miss you so much.”“
Serenity shouted from the stairs, “Sonny, your mom’s on the phone.”Sonny was concentrating on his game of chess with Liam. Naturally, he was not as good as Grandpa Liam. He lost most of the time, aside from the few games Grandpa Liam let him win. However, even if Sonny always ended up losing, he was determined. Liam realized Sonny would change his strategy after every loss. He would learn from his mistakes and even emulate Liam’s playstyle. Sonny had a versatile mind. He was clever. Liam thought, ‘Maybe this is why our family loves Sonny.’Sonny was intelligent, studious, and thoughtful. Serenity was about to give birth. If Liam’s grandson would be as adorable as Sonny, he would not mind having a few more. “Let’s pause this round for now, Grandpa Liam. We can continue after I talk to Mom on the phone.”Liam smiled. “You should go to bed soon, Sonny. You still have to go to school tomorrow. We can leave this here and continue tomorrow evening. I promise not to move the