It did not sit well with Tania that her son was so thoughtful toward her daughter-in-law. It was a good thing her daughter-in-law showed more consideration than her son. “Let me try.”Tania took a bite out of the food Serenity served her. After getting a taste, Tania wanted to say that her son was a better cook than Serenity, but it was not something she could say in good conscience. Tania debated in her mind for a while before deciding to go for the truth. “Zack can’t beat Serenity. You should spend some time in the kitchen and cook for Serenity more often.” It could help the couple to bond too. Tania trailed on, “But you usually are busy at work…” “Don’t worry, Mom. I won’t let Zachary into the kitchen during workdays.” Mrs. Lane was part of the family now. Tania was pleased with Serenity’s stance. “Do you want the shrimp, Mom?” Zachary asked his mother. “I had dinner, but Serenity asked me to be the judge of who is the better cook between you two. That’s why I t
After dinner, Zachary cleared the table while Serenity wiped and tidied the place. She then ventured out of the dining room to take a seat opposite her mother-in-law. Serenity looked at the time and said, “Mom, why don’t you drive the car into the driveway and stay the night?” “It’s okay. I’ll head back in a bit. Your father-in-law doesn’t feel comfortable if I’m not at home with him.” After her son took over the company, her husband retired and had not left Tania’s side since. Her husband could not get used to Tania staying away from home. Serenity was envious of her parents-in-law’s relationship. They had been together for decades and were still faithful to each other into their golden years. “Mom, I didn’t know Zachary bought this villa. He never told me. I only heard about it now. The place is bigger than the apartment in Brynfield. It feels empty that it’s just the two of us here. How about you move in with Dad?” Tania was taken aback. “You want to live with your in-
Tania stared intently at her son for a while before breaking the silence. “You call the shots for your own affairs. I can only give you some advice. I’m going back before your dad gets worried. Are you and your wife coming home for New Year?” “Didn’t Nana tell you? I’ll be back with Seren to the old residence for New Year.” “The old residence. Oh, you’re referring to that mansion. No wonder your nana has been going there lately.” It turned out her son wanted to take Serenity back to Whitmore Mansion to celebrate New Year’s holiday. The place had been through the vicissitude of life and reflected the former glory of the Yorks’ ancestors. “How long are you planning to keep up with the act?” “I got it thought out, Mom. I know what I’m doing. I’ll let the whole of Wiltspoon know about my marriage to Seren when the time comes.” He could get a start on wedding planning. Zachary envisioned a beautiful ending, but only God knew how reality would pan out. Tania replied, “Sure. I
On the other end of the line, Clive curtly said, “I’ll reveal to Serenity who you are if I don’t see you there. She might not be angry about the other things you hide from her, but the fact that you’re the great Mr. York will rub her the wrong way because of Elisa.” Black in the face, Zachary snapped back, “I said I’ll be there. Just wait for me.” The nerve of Clive to threaten him! “I’m the older cousin. Shouldn’t you be the one to wait for me?” Zachary coldly uttered, “The Grand Hotel belongs to you. You can be there any time. If you change the location to the Wiltspoon Hotel, I’ll arrive early and welcome you in the presidential suite.” “Is something riding on your guilty conscience? Are you scared? Is that why you’re making me wait for you?” “Clive, cut the crap.” Clive chuckled. “I’m older than you. You can’t change the fact that Serenity is my cousin. You don’t have to acknowledge me as the older figure if you don’t want to be Serenity’s husband. It’s rude that you
Clive relayed the whole phone conversation he had with Zachary to his wife, clearing any doubts that he swung both ways. Zachary did not tell Serenity about the call from Clive to meet up. He went back into the house and joined his wife on the sofa to watch TV. They enjoyed the TV program until Serenity started to yawn. Zachary eagerly turned off the TV and carried her upstairs. Back in the bedroom, Zachary lay in bed with Serenity to chat for a while. The conversation ended when the person next to him stopped speaking. Tilting his head, Zachary realized Serenity had drifted into slumberland. Zachary heaved himself up and drew close to her before murmuring, “Seren. Seren.” Serenity was asleep to realize what was going on around her. With his mind at ease, Zachary kissed her cheeks and tenderly uttered, “Goodnight, Seren.” He then lifted the covers and tiptoed out of bed. Zachary tucked Serenity in, grabbed his coat, and snuck out of the bedroom. Out of the villa, Z
“Mr. York.” The bodyguard spoke up once more. Zachary turned his attention to the bodyguard. The bodyguard uttered, “Mr. Stone said you need to get it yourself to show your sincerity. You can’t let your bodyguards run the errand for you. Your respect for Mr. Stone represents your love for Ms. Hunt.” In other words, Zachary would be insulting Clive if he did not make the purchase himself. It meant he did not love Serenity enough to give Clive basic respect. Clive’s terrorization saw Zachary seething with rage. Yet, Clive got him where it hurt. Although Serenity and Mrs. Stone had not known each other for long, they were related by blood. Zachary could not take the Stones lightly. Without another word, Zachary turned on his heel and left. He went to get a gift for Clive. The major supermarkets were closed. Zachary had to go to a convenience store that operated 24/7. He did not take his time to pick a gift. Instead, he led his security team into the convenience sto
Zachary could not hide the embarrassment on his handsome face when he got a good look at the item. Clive gave Zachary hell. Zachary reacted by going all the way to the convenience store and clearing the shelves. He did not even look at what he grabbed, so he had no idea the sanitary pads were caught among the stuff. “You have a wife.” Zachary threw the pack of sanitary pads back to Clive. Clive burst into laughter. Clive laughed so hard that Zachary wanted to pounce on him and strangle him! In all the years of fighting, Zachary had never been so awkward before Clive. Clive could not stop guffawing for a long time. Rubbing his belly, he said, “Zachary, are you trying to make me laugh to my grave so you can inherit my family’s fortune? Man, you’re killing me.” “You better have a will written out to pass down your inheritance to me before you die laughing.” Clive’s laughter mellowed into a chuckle. “You probably won’t think much about my fortune. I’m not as wealthy as yo
Zachary fell silent for a while before gruffly uttering, “I believe you should be on top of keeping Elisa away.” He could not possibly be the one to get rid of Elisa. “We’ll make arrangements. You need to text me before coming, so I can distract her away from seeing you. I’ll keep my parents in the loop too.” Zachary had no problems with the plan. He did not want Elisa to know about him and Serenity for now. They were in the honeymoon period of their relationship. God knew what Elisa would do in a moment of madness when she found out. “I probably can’t make time before New Year, but I’ll find time to visit your family with Serenity after.” Serenity had lost her parents. There was no way she would visit her money-hungry relatives back in her hometown. Family to Serenity was Liberty and the Stones. Clive asked, “What are you doing before New Year? Isn’t your office closed by Christmas Eve?” Stone Group was giving its employees time off around that time. Major corpora
“Still not up yet?” Leticia smiled and said as she entered her daughter’s room after the door opened. Imogen’s room was decorated in a warm style, but the furniture was minimal. Aside from the bed, a computer desk, and a set of sofas, she preferred things to be simple. Her room was also the smallest. She said that if the room was too big, it felt empty and she could not sleep well. Leticia thought it was because when her daughter learned self-defense from her master, she lived in a small room with her fellow disciples, so she had gotten used to smaller spaces.Compared to the average person, Imogen's room was actually quite large, but against the rooms of the other family members, hers looked smaller.Leticia sat down on the sofa.“Mom, let me change first.” With her mother here, Imogen could no longer lie in bed. She went to change and wash up, then came out of the bathroom. She poured her mother a cup of water and placed it in front of her before sitting next to her. “Mom, a
Dylan was speechless.Leaving the warm indoors, he felt Huntington's winter was really cold. It was below freezing, and the temperature was as low as 14°F to 32°F. He had never experienced such low temperatures in Wiltspoon.In Wiltspoon, the moment the temperature dropped to 50°F, everyone would start saying it was freezing.Winston and Leticia headed back. Leticia whispered to her husband, “What if he really stands there for two hours without his coat and freezes to death?”They wanted to stand up for their daughter, but they did not want to kill Dylan. That would make them enemies of the Yorks. Even if they could not become in-laws, they definitely did not want to become enemies.Winston replied, “If he really does it, in half an hour, I’ll let Jen come out and call him inside. If he doesn't follow my request, he won’t freeze to death.”At most, he would just catch a cold. If he did not do it, nothing would happen.“I don’t think he’s here for love this time either. I’m not s
Leticia harrumphed as well. “Mr. York, why are you here?” Leticia asked coldly. “We don't welcome you here. Go back to wherever you came from.”Dylan smiled awkwardly, “Mrs. Doyle, I just want to see Ms. Imogen.”“Imogen doesn't want to see you. Hurry up and leave, or we'll let the guard dogs out.” Leticia rejected him outright. “And you’d better stay as far away as possible. Do you think our Imogen is someone you can just toy and flirt with just because you want to, then say you haven't fallen for her and play with her feelings?“What's the matter? Has the Mr. York, whose heart belongs to someone else, still not managed to win his lady love over?” Leticia mocked, though she was actually probing into the reason for Dylan's visit.Dylan just took the insults without getting angry. He knew he had hurt Imogen. Even though she was someone who could take things in stride, the fact remained he had flirted with her and turned to claim he did not like her, which had hurt her feelings.
Otherwise, the Old Mrs. York would not have taken a liking to her in the first place.“I'll go out and have a look.” Leticia could not sit still and stood up to leave. She wanted to mock that York boy. Winston replied, “I'll go with you.”He was worried that his wife might soften her heart because she was quite pleased with Dylan at first. Well, to be honest, he was too.It was mainly because everyone in Huntington knew of the Wiltspoon Yorks’ reputation. The men of the York family were devoted and loyal to their marriages, and once they married, it was for life.For women, the York family was an excellent family for marriage. Who would not want to marry into it? Families with daughters also hoped their daughters would marry York men, or those who were as devoted as them. Leticia hummed in assent and the couple hurried out.Dylan's car was parked in front of the Doyles’ residence. He had switched to a different car, afraid the security guards might recognize his vehicle, eve
“Goodnight, Mom,” Imogen said.As Leticia turned the doorknob to enter her room, Imogen suddenly asked, “Mom, if Dylan comes looking for me again, would you let him in?”“I'd set the guard dog on him.”Imogen chuckled softly, “Mom, you’re all talk. If he really does, you might just smile from ear to ear and think he’s realized he actually loves me.”Leticia was silent for a moment before she said, “Regardless, I have to make him sweat a little.” After saying that, Leticia quickly closed the door, feeling too embarrassed to face her daughter. She internally sighed. Dylan was the son-in-law she had hoped for. If Dylan really did realize that he actually loved Jen and came back for her, Leticia wondered if she should forgive him for the things he had done months ago. Dylan had hurt her daughter, but… never mind. It was between the two young ones. She should let them handle it themselves. There was no way Dylan would come back anyway.Leticia did not expect her daughter’s hypothet
Leticia then heard faint footsteps. When she went out to check, she saw it was her daughter. That was why she asked.“My friend invited me out for a late-night snack.” Imogen lied, not telling her mother that she had gone to meet that thief. She knew that Dylan wanted to break in by climbing the wall, but she kept to herself because she did not want her mother to have a bad impression of him.Leticia had met Dylan back when he was deliberately approaching her and knowing he was one of the Wiltspoon Yorks, she was very pleased with him. Since Leticia thought so highly of Dylan and said a lot of good things about the York family before her, Imogen took this into consideration and saw him as a potential partner. However, when she started to have feelings for him, he told her that after trying for two or three months, he still could not fall for her.“I thought you didn’t like eating late-night snacks? Anyway, you should just eat what you want at home. Why go out? It’s so cold,” Let
It was already two in the morning by the time she returned to the Doyle residence.Fox changed her clothes in the car, the one she frequently used that always carried several outfits, multiple hyper-realistic masks, and various makeup supplies.Sometimes, she would simply wear a mask and transform herself into someone else.Other times, she would change her outfit and use her exceptional makeup skills to alter her appearance.However, makeup would sometimes reveal small flaws, so wearing a mask was much safer.Imogen moved as quietly as possible when she went upstairs, not wanting to wake her family.Although it was the holidays, her mother was still exhausted from all the preparations.Imogen no longer felt the same anticipation for the holidays as she did in childhood.When she was little, she always looked forward to the holidays when she could take a break from homework. Receiving gifts was secondary.Children of the Doyle family, whether boy or girl, faced extreme pressur
“Sugar is a young and beautiful woman like you. She’s also skilled in self-defense.”Dylan walked toward her.“Little fox, are you Sugar? Silver once had ‘Fox’ as his nickname too. You’re one of Silver’s disciples, right?”Dylan did not know if Imogen was Fox, but he had long suspected Sugar was.That was because Sugar had small details that mirrored Fox’s.He was not able to confirm it because Sugar noticed that he suspected her and no longer gave him the chance to test her.That only made him more certain that Sugar was Fox.“Does he have to be my master just because his nickname used to be ‘Fox’? There are plenty of people with nicknames like that.“I’m not Sugar, so stop guessing. However, I’ve heard of Silver before. The York family is quite impressive to know of him even though he’s been in seclusion for decades. That means your family is quite close to him.”Dylan stared at her intently.Her expression was calm without a trace of guilt.The more she acted like that, t
“Dylan York, are you trying to pursue Ms. Doyle again?” Fox asked.Dylan denied it. “No. I made it clear to Ms. Doyle before. It’s my fault for not being able to love her. That was months ago, so she should’ve moved on from me. I won’t go looking for her again just to stir things up. Little fox, the person I like is you. You’re the only one I’ll marry in my lifetime.”Dylan declared that he would not marry anyone other than Fox.He had only set his eyes on Imogen because he suspected that she and Fox were the same person.Imogen never noticed, but Fox did.She was sharp as ever.Dylan did not mind that his future wife was better than him. He was confident in himself as a man. Besides, there was nothing embarrassing about being defeated by his wife.For example, Hayden was more capable than Kevin, but was Kevin embarrassed about it?Not at all. Kevin doted on his wife like she was the center of his world.Hayden was an amazing woman who lived more than two decades as a man, but