Who was here bright early in the morning? Serenity went downstairs and found the keys to open the main door. She then walked out of the house to find a figure standing at the gate. The person was carrying two bags. By the looks of it, he must be a food deliveryman. “Morning, Ms. Hunt.” Mr. Zen gleefully greeted her. “Oh, it’s you. Good morning.” It never occurred to Serenity that it was the lobby manager of Wiltspoon Hotel. Raising the bags in his hands, Mr. Zen uttered with a smile, “Mr. York called me last night to order two sets of breakfast. I’m here to deliver the food at the requested time. Sorry to bother you this early in the morning, Ms. Hunt.” Serenity wondered when Zachary found the time to order breakfast from Mr. Zen as she was with him the whole night. Zachary often got Wiltspoon Hotel to do the delivery too. Although Zachary enjoyed discounts at the hotel as an employee of York Corporation, he should not pour all his money into the place. Serenity kep
Since no children were in the picture yet, the couple could enjoy the finer things in life. The expenses would become costly when the family grew. It would take a lot of money to raise children. “I have an income, and I’m part of the family. I’ll pay for some of the household expenses. Save some money and clear the mortgage early if you can. At least then you’ll have spare cash once the house loan is out of the way.” Serenity did not propose chipping in on the mortgage. Zachary bought the villa before they were married, and he was still paying the mortgage like Hank. Even though Serenity and Zachary were no longer married in name and could not be in a better place in their marriage, Serenity did not want to end up on the same path as her sister. It was his house, and she would not covet it nor help with the mortgage. What if she and Zachary were not meant to be? The divorce would be ugly with the division of assets and quarrels. It was better to keep their assets apart ri
“It’s my company’s annual dinner in a few days. I’ll get an invitation for you. You need a gown for the event. I can come back and pick you up, or you can drive there.“Why should I go to your company’s annual dinner? I’m not an employee.” Serenity was not keen on attending social events. The only reason she would ever go was for the food. Nevertheless, as Jasmine said, Serenity would have to curb her eating if she was there as Zachary’s plus-one.Serenity would rather check out new eateries with Jasmine. “We can bring a family member to the company’s annual dinner. Others would bring theirs, so why can’t I?” Serenity had no words as she stared at Zachary. “I’ll be helping out a little at the dinner. It might be a little later if you want me to pick you up. I’ll come straight after I’m done.” “Alright. Let me know on that day itself. I’ll head over myself, so you don’t have to rush back. You can come out to bring me in when I reach your office. You can’t expect me to en
Duncan went and gave the pinwheel to Sonny. Sonny refused to take the pinwheel from him. “Mr. Lewis, Sonny has a lot of toys already.” “It’s not much. I was passing by a toy store and thought the pinwheel at the entrance was nice. I bought him one since the wind’s strong today, and he’d probably enjoy it.” He dropped by to give Sonny the pinwheel. Otherwise, Duncan would not have come in. Handing the pinwheel to Liberty, Duncan said, “Hold it for Sonny.” Since the pinwheel did not cost a lot, Liberty accepted the gift and thanked Duncan on behalf of Sonny before handing the pinwheel to her son. Sonny took the pinwheel. Duncan said hesitantly, “Sonny’s scared of me. I gave him the pinwheel, but he didn’t want it. He took it the moment you gave it to him.” Liberty replied amid chuckles, “I’m his mother. I have been with him since he was in my womb till today, so I’m his closest person.” Duncan laughed in delight. “Sorry, that came out wrong.” Looking around the shop
Even so, Mrs. Brown did not like it one bit. Duncan was the boss of a company. Although his face was ruined, the man was loaded. Mrs. Brown and her daughter stood in front of Lewis & Co.’s office building the whole morning while waiting for Liberty back then. She heard from her son that Lewis & Co. was one of the biggest corporations in Wiltspoon and a more influential company than the place her son was working at. Her son mentioned that he himself might not pass the interview and become a senior executive at Lewis & Co. It did not sit well with Hank that Liberty was employed by Lewis & Co. as he realized Liberty could get back on track to a successful career when she returned to the workplace. It was a good thing that the couple was divorced now. Hank did not have to worry about being overshadowed by his wife. Since Jessica was his secretary and she relied heavily on him, it fed his ego as a man. Having recognized Mrs. Brown, Duncan stopped in his tracks and shot a glare
“Sonny.” Mrs. Brown entered the shop smiling and pulled up a toy car from her purse. She said to Sonny, “Look, Sonny. I bought you a toy.” “Grandma.” Sonny had no idea what happened among the adults, so he would still acknowledge his grandparents’ and father’s presence. Liberty held grudges against the Browns, but she was ready to move on after the divorce. So long as the Browns stayed out of her business, Liberty could keep her cool when meeting her ex-husband’s family. She never spoke ill about her ex-husband’s family while Sonny was around. No matter what, Hank was Sonny’s father. Liberty put Sonny down. Mrs. Brown crouched to get to Sonny’s eye level. She handed the toy car to Sonny in exchange for the pinwheel which was a gift from Duncan. Call it her killer instinct but she had the feeling that Duncan was trying to get to Liberty through Sonny. For a divorced single mother to find a second chance in love, the most important thing was to see whether the man was
“Jessica wants the reception to be at Wiltspoon Hotel. How much is that going to cost? We’re paying for the reception. Instead of marrying for love, Hank is marrying himself into debt.” Mrs. Brown whined, “It’s not like she can lay a golden egg.” Liberty grabbed a cloth and wiped the table. All the while, she listened to whatever Mrs. Brown had to say without giving her two cents. Her former mother-in-law came to her to vent about Jessica because the latter was demanding and did not hold back on splurging. If Jessica was foolish like Liberty for paying for the renovations and refusing the Browns to pay for the wedding and family support, her ex-mother-in-law would probably brag about Hank marrying someone younger and more beautiful right after the divorce. Mrs. Brown would laugh at her for being fat and ugly. No one would want Liberty after she left Hank. “Liberty, have you been thrifty and skipping meals lately? You seem to have lost a lot of weight.” “Mrs. Brown, I’m no
“Liberty, I got to go. I’ll visit you and Sonny some other time.” Mrs. Brown left these words before making the run for it. Serenity carried Sonny out the door as they watched Mrs. Brown get into a taxi. Serenity clicked her tongue once it was confirmed that the old lady had left the building. She shot off. “She’s never been so eager to see Sonny before, so why change now?” Sonny was holding the toy car that Mrs. Brown stuffed in his hands before leaving. Taking the toy car from Sonny, Serenity asked, “Do you like the toy car, Sonny?” “No.” Shaking his head, Sonny replied, “I have a lot of toy cars.” All of them could move whereas the toy car that Grandma gave him could not.“Why don’t we throw it away?” After much thought, Sonny answered, “For Lucas.” He believed Lucas would not go after his toys if he had his own toy car. “Sonny, Lucas will never fight with you over your toys anymore. If you don’t want to throw the toy car away, we can give it away to other child
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