“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
Serenity said, “I understand that another marriage isn’t on the table now, but I’m speaking in terms of the future. You’re young, Liberty. Are you planning to be single for the rest of your life?” “Why not? I think I’m doing fine. I don’t need to wait on my in-laws hand and foot or deal with any issue with a mother-in-law and a sister-in-law. I can do whatever I want and spend on whatever I want. I feel free.” Thanks to her newfound freedom, it dawned on Liberty why more and more women did not want to take the marriage route. Serenity was speechless. “Don’t worry about me, Seren. My life can’t be better. Don’t you think I’m happier now that I’m divorced?” Serenity nodded her head. “Don’t you wish I’ll always be happy?” “Of course.” “Don’t bring up the possibility of a second marriage. I just escaped from hell, but Seren, this shouldn’t be a reason for you to be afraid of marriage. Yours is different from mine. Zachary seems like a reliable guy. There was no guarantee
“Zachary owns a villa in a high-end residential area. The villa is huge with a front and back garden. The view is breathtaking. I did my research and found the price of the villas starting from ten million dollars.” Liberty was speechless. “Zachary said he makes millions in annual income and doesn’t have big spending. He saved quite a bit of money to buy the villa, but it’s still on a mortgage.”“How much does he have to pay for his mortgage?” “I didn’t ask. It’s his house. The mortgage is his business. I won’t demand a share of his house if we end up separating.” “Don’t jinx yourself. What do you mean separate? Your marriage has only begun. You should invest in your relationship. Don’t be like me.” Liberty wanted nothing about a divorce coming from her sister’s mouth. Since she failed in her marriage, she hoped her sister had a better chance at spending the rest of her life with Zachary. “It’s right for you to think so. His house is his unless he offers to put you in th
“Zachary’s back from the business trip. You can take him to meet Aunt Audrey when you have time.” Liberty changed the subject.Liberty had no way to tell whether Zachary was related to the richest family in Wiltspoon, but their aunt was the wife of Stone Group’s chairman, so she must have seen the York brothers before. If Serenity took Zachary to see their aunt, they would know whether Zachary deceived Serenity about his identity.Mrs. Lane was listening on the side and thought she should remind Zachary when he got home at night.It would be better for him to confess to Serenity as soon as possible.“Zachary said he won’t be free until after New Year. He’s been very busy recently, and his company is holding an annual dinner soon.”“Does his company allow employees to bring their family members to the annual dinner? Did Zachary say that he’ll take you?”Serenity had never worked in corporate before, but Liberty did and was familiar with the culture. Liberty thought that if Zachary
Serenity understood that it would take a while for Elisa to let go of her feelings for Mr. York. Elisa had not pestered Mr. York for a long time. She was probably here now because she wanted to secretly take a look at Mr. York.It must be painful for Elisa to fall in love with someone who did not love her back.“I’ve had the milk tea here a few times before, and I think the milk tea and desserts in this store are quite nice, so I came here to try them again. But now, I just find them average.”Elisa said it very naturally as if she actually came here just to drink milk tea.She had indeed tried the milk tea from the same shop before and thought it was delicious. Maybe because back then, it was worth the wait.Now, she found it mediocre because she no longer had someone to wait for.“Are you here to wait for your husband to get off work? Since he’s back from his business trip, when will you bring him to my house?”“Probably after New Year. He’s very busy now and can’t spare any t
Elisa sped off. She was originally behind Remy’s convoy, but she stepped on the gas and quickly overtook him.Unexpectedly, her car stopped moving in two minutes.It was a flat tire, so she had to make an emergency pullover to check her tire.How could her tire be leaking?When Elisa got out of the car, Remy, who was behind her, recognized her.Remy’s driver also recognized Elisa. That was because he gave way to Elisa last time, and the incident was memorable.“Stop,” Remy ordered the driver to stop the car.The driver hurriedly pulled over and stopped right next to Elisa’s car.Remy instructed the driver, “Ask Ms. Stone what’s wrong.”He guessed Elisa was here because of Zachary.Remy lived in Wiltspoon for a long time, so he was aware that Elisa was chasing after Zachary. Since Zachary announced to his circle of friends that he was married, Elisa stopped pestering Zachary.They met again today.Remy thought, ‘Zachary is so much like my elder brother. Even though they’re m
FC & Co. and the York Corporation had in-depth cooperation. Elisa heard that Remy was in charge of FC & Co.’s branch in Wiltspoon. No wonder Remy was at York Corporation.“Mr. Johnson.”Elisa was the daughter of the Stone family and had heard of Annenburg’s FC & Co. She knew that FC & Co. was the same as York Corporation and was a multi-billion dollar corporation. These two families were the richest people in their respective cities.Moreover, the Johnson family was just like the York family. Although they were rich, all family members got along well with each other and worked together. They were a truly harmonious and cohesive family.Elisa’s mother often said that the York family could become the richest family and be at the top of the social hierarchy for so long because they had an excellent upbringing. The York children and grandchildren were well-trained to be amiable with each other. The York brothers would not turn against each other for personal interest and get along well
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
“Yes, it’s her.”“What’s wrong with her? Why don’t you pursue her? I remember you did for a while.”Dylan looked at her and said, “Ms. Doyle is great. I deliberately approached her and pursued her at first because of Nana’s arrangement, but later, I realized I kept thinking about you. I never felt any true affection for Ms. Doyle before. Even though she’s wonderful, and I trust my nana’s judgment, I can’t force myself.“Marriage is a lifelong commitment, and the men of the York family never divorce. I don’t want to marry someone I don’t truly love and end up being the first York man to divorce. Nana would break my legs for bringing shame to the family.”Grandma May allowed them to choose freely before they were married.However, once married, they had to fulfill their responsibilities as husbands and adhere to the York family’s unwritten rules—to remain loyal to their families and marriages, loving only their wives for life.If any dared to have an affair, they would be expelled
“Little fox, I did take your stuff, but it was retaliation. Think about why I took your stuff. I wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t made the first move. Don’t think you can deny everything you’ve done just because I took back what you took from me.”Dylan defended himself innocently. “Honestly, I thought of returning it to you, but you’re so elusive. You’re like a ghost sometimes. Even if I wanted to return it, I wouldn’t know where to find you. If you’d just told me your name, where you live, or given me a way to contact you, I would’ve returned it long ago.”Fox laughed coldly. “Is it my fault now? How many times have we met after you took back your stuff? You had plenty of chances to return it to me. I even went to your house to ask for it, but did you give it to me?“Dylan York, your shamelessness has reached a new level in the short time we haven’t met. Does your grandmother know how brazen you are? Does your mother know?”Dylan chuckled. “Whether my mom knows doesn’t matter.
Therefore, she left Wiltspoon.Although she did go to Wiltspoon again as Sugar, it was purely because of Silver and not Dylan.Imogen did not expect Dylan would be interested in her again a few months later.Unlike last time, he had been secretive and observed her every move. Did he think she did not notice him?Imogen wanted to know what Dylan was up to.Was he trying to pursue “Imogen” again?Were the York men not loyal forever to the women they fell in love with?Why was Dylan acting differently?It seemed he was going for his previous target since he had failed to pursue Chameleon Fox.“I came here for you.”Dylan told the truth.Indeed, he was in Huntington for his little fox while suspecting she was Imogen.He wanted to confirm whether Fox was both Imogen and Sugar.Dylan observed his little fox closely. She did not look like Imogen or Sugar. Well, she did have some similar habitual movements as Sugar.That was why he suspected that Sugar was Chameleon Fox.He ev