After leaving the office, Zachary got into Josh’s car.Josh said to him, “I get that you don’t want to take your luxury car, but why aren’t you driving the MPV that you specially bought to deceive your wife?”Zachary said while fastening his seat belt. “If I go with you, my wife won’t have to worry about me being unemployed.”“You, unemployed? Why is Serenity worried that you’ll be unemployed?”Josh almost laughed out loud.Serenity was not worried about anything but Zachary losing his job. If Zachary did not take charge of York Corporation, all eight of his younger brothers would cry to death. He could take on the burden of nine of them by himself.“She didn’t say it, but she’s starting to feel sorry for my wallet and told me not to spend money carelessly. If I’m seen with you frequently, she’ll think that I’m licking your boots, so she won’t have to worry anymore.”Josh said, “She doesn’t know that she’s actually the real boss, huh?”At the mention of Serenity, Zachary’s eyes
Serenity saw Josh and Duncan and asked in surprise, “You mentioned you were going to have dinner with Mr. Bucham and a client. So, that client is Mr. Lewis?”“Yes.”Zachary turned to his friends. After receiving the signal, the two men walked over one after the other.“Mr. Bucham. Mr. Lewis.”Serenity got up and greeted Josh and Duncan with a smile.Jasmine also stood up.After everyone exchanged pleasantries, Serenity said casually, “If you guys don’t mind, you can join us.”“Sure!”Zachary responded the swiftest.Josh looked at Jasmine and said with a smile, “Ms. Sox, do you mind?”Jasmine felt that these two men were ignoring Duncan, their important client, so she looked at Duncan and said, “If Mr. Lewis doesn’t mind, we can eat together.”Mr. Lewis was the main character, yet these two men who were supposed to have dinner with their client marginalized him.Duncan thought, ‘So, they asked me out to be the third wheel, huh?’His friends had their respective partners, so
After all, Duncan started noticing Liberty only because of Zachary.Zachary and Serenity suddenly got married, and Liberty became Zachary’s sister-in-law. For his friend’s sake, Duncan undercharged Liberty for the repair fee when she scratched his car.He knew that his friends had misunderstood him for having a crush on Liberty.However, he could not be bothered to offer an explanation. The more he tried to do so, the more suspicious he would appear; he would come off as defensive.When the men joined, Zachary ordered two bottles of wine. Duncan did not drink because he had to drive later while Josh and Zachary drank a little without getting themselves drunk.After their meal, everyone was ready to leave when Josh suddenly said, “Zachary, Duncan, how am I supposed to go home? I can’t drive ’cause I drank.”Duncan knew in an instant that Josh was doing this on purpose because the latter wanted Jasmine to bring him home.“I’m busy, so I’ll leave first,” Duncan quickly said and sli
“It might be my mom.”Zachary got up and said, “I called her after you fell asleep last night and asked her to come over to accompany you to buy an evening dress for the company’s annual dinner.”Upon hearing that, Serenity’s eyes snapped open. She sat up on the bed and said, “You go back to sleep. I’ll go get the door.”As she spoke, she quickly had a change of clothes and combed her hair.Zachary watched her as she moved swiftly and said, “When you go out, go to the kitchen first and put on an apron.”“Why?”“Just do as I say.”Zachary grinned. “Go on and get the door. Don’t keep your mother-in-law waiting.”Serenity turned to leave. After leaving the room, she followed Zachary’s instructions and went to the kitchen to get an apron. After putting it on, she jogged over to the door while calling out, “Coming.”The person standing in front of the door was indeed her mother-in-law, Tania.“Morning, Mom.”Serenity smiled sweetly and greeted her mother-in-law.Tania was carryi
“What time is it already? And he’s still not up?”“Zachary is always busy and has to work overtime for social engagements. Let him sleep a little longer.”Tania said, “It’s typical for him to work until midnight before coming home, and he still gets up early the next day for his morning run. He’s only lazy now because you’re here. Serenity, you shouldn’t spoil him. Whether it’s men or women, you’ll be the one suffering if you spoil them rotten.”“Mom, are you badmouthing me behind my back?”Zachary came out of the room dressed in a suit. He exuded a certain glow and looked dashing.However, he did not put on his suit jacket and his tie was not worn.He carried those in his hands.Tania got up and walked over. “You came out just as I called you lazy. It’s fortunate I wasn’t scolding you.“The weather has warmed up a bit these two days, but it’s still cold in the morning. Hurry up and put your jacket on so you don’t catch another cold, lest you tire out Serenity again.”Tania wa
Zachary’s words instantly ignited his mother’s anger.“Who said that a wife has to get up early to make breakfast for you? Who said that a wife has to clean up the house? It’s not natural at all. She doesn’t owe you anything and doesn’t need to serve you like a king. Zack, you said you learned from your father, but you couldn’t be more wrong about that.“You better correct yourself right now. Where did you learn those ideas from? All women who married into our family are spoiled by their husbands. You’re the only one who treats Serenity like a servant, and you dare say it’s only natural? Thank goodness I was the one coming over today. If your nana heard what you just said, she’ll knock you over with her cane and beat you half to death.“Serenity, Serenity!”After Tania scolded her son, she called out to Serenity, who was busy in the kitchen.Serenity quickly came out of the kitchen. “What’s wrong?”“Come here.”When Serenity approached Tania, the latter pulled off Serenity’s apr
Tania, who felt cheated by her son, deliberately treated Serenity well during breakfast. Her son got jealous and said bitterly, “Mom, was I adopted?”She gave him a sidelong glance and said, “This is how I treat my daughter and my son.”It was the brat’s fault for tricking her.Zachary was speechless.After the meal, Serenity sent Zachary off downstairs.“I actually have an evening dress, so there’s no need to buy a new one.”Serenity said to her husband, “Evening dresses are a little expensive, and I only wear one once a year. If I buy another, it’s just going to stay untouched at home. It’ll be a waste if I can’t wear it anymore. I think having one dress is enough, so there’s no need to buy a new one. We still need a lot of money to buy Christmas gifts.“You didn’t tell me about this earlier, and now you had Mom come over.”Zachary listened to his wife’s complaints. Before getting in the car, he gently brushed Serenity’s pretty nose and said, “Seren, I told you before that we
Tania had the intention to make her daughter-in-law the most dazzling woman in the room at the company’s annual dinner. The evening gown she selected for Serenity was the most beautiful one. Thanks to Serenity’s mien, she was able to flaunt the selling points of the dress.Tania stared at Serenity, who looked like a different person when she changed into the evening dress. She commented, “Seren, you bear a pretty decent aura. You’ll definitely become a celebrity if you’re willing to learn etiquette.”“Mom, my goal is to earn more money to buy a house. I’m not interested in becoming a celebrity. Celebrities have strong family backgrounds whereas I’m just a small bookseller who relies on collaboration with a school to earn a living. How would I dare dream of something that impossible?”“Zack already has two houses...”Honestly, Tania wanted to say but kept it to herself, ‘My son doesn’t have much of anything but money and houses.’“I want to buy a house in a school district in advan
“Whether he actually feels any fatherly affection or not, as long as he's still my father and is staying in the hospital, as his daughter, I should at least go visit him. Every time I come back from the hospital, my mood might be low, but how much better do you think his mood can be?” Caroline and her father and brothers were essentially hurting each other in a war of attrition. Darren remained silent. On the way, Caroline asked Darren to stop in front of a flower shop. She got out and bought a bouquet of flowers. She did not buy any fruits or nutritional supplements.Seeing that she only came back with a bouquet, Darren could not help but smile. “Mr. Clark is going to be upset when he sees you only bought flowers. Flowers are cheap, they can’t be eaten, and they wither after a few days. He’d much prefer it if you bought some supplements for him.”“I’m not buying those for him. He'll sell whatever nutritional products I send him to make money. It feels like they've become obsessed
Caroline's ability to successfully run and grow her company and do increasingly better in the past showed that she was a capable person.“She also has Darren by her side. Darren is excellent in every way, especially his loyalty. People like him are like loyal retainers of old. Even if they die, they will never betray their master.”Duncan had a very good impression of Darren. “I hope they can be happy together. They should be. The way Darren looks at her, it’s full of tenderness.”“You know what they say, birds of a feather flock together—people are drawn to those similar to them. The fact that they get along so well with us and we appreciate each other means we’re of the same kind. Darren will absolutely be a doting husband in the future.”Duncan was sure that a new member would soon join the ranks of the doting husband team and that would be Darren. Liberty smiled at him, and Duncan could not help but reach out and gently pinch her cheek.“Why are you smiling at me like that?
“That’s fine. You can get your marriage license first, then slowly pick a good day or the wedding. “You two must invite us to your wedding when the time comes,” Liberty repeated.Caroline smiled and replied, “We’ll see when the time comes. For now, it’s still early.” She knew that Liberty wanted to support her, to show Darren that she had someone supporting her. Although Darren would not mistreat her, Liberty’s kindness still moved Caroline. If not for her mother having committed such heinous acts, she and Liberty would surely have become good friends. Caroline sighed inwardly. After sitting for a little while longer, Caroline got up and said, “Liberty, you’re busy, so I won’t disturb you any longer. I’ll leave now. See you next year.”Liberty got up to see her off and walked her and Darren to the elevator. Duncan followed them out too in his wheelchair.“Mr. Fletcher, treat Caroline well. She’s a good girl.” Liberty could not help but stress, although she knew that Darren w
Caroline smiled gently. “I do quite like Sonny, he's really cute. Liberty, you've done a great job raising your son. It's easy to see that in ten or twenty years, Sonny will be very successful.”The only little one in Wiltspoon who had a familial connection to her was Sonny, as well as Clive’s son. Serenity's baby had not been born yet, after all.“Oh, by the way, I've prepared Christmas gifts for all of you, and I've written your names on them so it's clear whose gift is which. One of them is for Serenity's unborn baby. That generation will call me ‘grandaunt’, right? I'm not sure whether Serenity’s having a boy or a girl, so I've prepared a gift for both a boy and a girl. If it's a boy, then the other gift will be for her second child.”Caroline smiled and said, “Considering how much the Yorks wish for a daughter, I think Serenity and Zachary will probably give it another go and try for a daughter.”In this case, giving double the gifts was not excessive.“My nephew isn't even b
Caroline sighed internally once again. She would not ruminate about the past, and neither could she bring herself to. Mr. Foster was still alive, but he had returned to seek revenge for his master, and in doing so, he made Belinda fully realize that she would never receive his love in this lifetime. Now that Belinda was dead, all the love, hatred, and grudges had dissipated with her. Fortunately, she came to a realization before she passed on and regretted the things she had done to Tiara.Liberty said, “Your mother truly was very shrewd.”Belinda was ruthless, but when it came to making her posthumous arrangements, she had been meticulous, especially in preventing Hunter and his sons from plundering the Fisher family's assets. It had to be said that Belinda had truly done her duty as the head of the Fisher family, though as a mother, she had been too biased. She appeared very good to her three sons on the surface, but when dividing the family estate, she was very objective. “Did
The backing Liberty had was too strong.Although Caroline was familiar with the family business and internal affairs, she had no backing. The number of people supporting her within the family had also decreased. It was not because she was incompetent but because she was Belinda’s daughter. Whatever Belinda did was exposed by the media and circulated among the people of Jensburg. It would be a lie to say that the Fisher family members did not hold a grudge at all. Even if Caroline was kinder than Belinda, they could not support Belinda’s daughter as the next matriarch. People would change. When Belinda first assumed the position decades ago, she was friendly to the family. However, once her position was stabilized, she started eliminating those who were capable and those who disagreed with her. She wanted to monopolize power. Therefore, nobody wanted Caroline to take over as matriarch. On the other hand, Liberty received much more support. Unless Liberty gave up on the
At that moment, the office phone rang. Liberty picked up the call and was informed by the secretary that Caroline had arrived.“Please let her in,” replied Liberty before hanging up. “Caroline is here.”Liberty told Duncan. He said calmly, “So what? We aren’t doing anything shameful. There’s nothing to hide.”He was Liberty’s fiancée. Most people in WIltspoon and Jensburg were aware of this. Seeing him in Liberty’s office would be completely normal to Caroline. Besides, he was one of the shareholders of Liberty’s company. Therefore, the company was also Duncan’s territory. He was uninvolved in the operations and only invested his money. He believed that Liberty could manage the company well. Liberty smiled and did not say anything else. She went to prepare a pot of tea. Soon, Caroline entered. Darren was behind her with multiple shopping bags in his hands. When Liberty saw the bags upon exiting the pantry with a pot of tea, she told Caroline, “What did you br
“What’s wrong?”Duncan replied softly, “I’m fine. I thought you caught a cold because you kept sneezing.”He wanted to fuss over her, yet he received her concern instead. That was the kind of relationship he wanted—mutual concern, understanding, and trust. Liberty understood why he suddenly came to her. She said, “You got so worried over an occasional sneeze. Don’t worry. I’m fine. I’ve gotten used to the winter in Jensburg after staying here for some time.“Maybe I was sneezing because someone said something bad about me behind my back.”Duncan immediately said, “Who dares to badmouth my fiancée?”Liberty feigned anger with a glance, but she was clearly happy. Duncan was very protective of her. Even Hank was not as protective as when she was dating him back then. The difference between true and fake love was so apparent. Duncan guessed, “I can’t think of anyone who’d scold you besides your previous in-laws.”Liberty replied, “You shouldn’t think about them. I no lo
“Anyway, you’re not allowed to take advantage of Sonny. He’ll catch on because he’s growing up. Don’t offend Serenity either. Otherwise, your hardware store that has finally stabilized will have to close down.”Chelsea’s expression changed when she recalled why she and her husband lost their jobs. “One more thing. If Liberty and Duncan get married, don’t be ignorant and stir up trouble at their wedding.”Olivia was worried that her daughter would be unreasonable and make a fuss. Chelsea was unhappy. “Do I look like someone who likes to create trouble? Liberty is different and isn’t as gullible as before. I don’t have the guts to make a ruckus at their wedding.“Do you think I’m that fearless? I’m afraid of losing everything too.”Nevertheless, Chelsea was still jealous that the sister-in-law she used to bully was able to marry into a wealthy family two years after her divorce. Olivia knew well of the daughter she birthed. She said, “Think about who rescued Lucas when someth