Based on the Bucham family’s network, Josh was extremely clear about her entire family history stretching back eighteen generations. He even knew about how many children her grandmother had had and how many had survived to adulthood. She did not even know that.She only knew her father had four siblings and thought her grandparents had only had five children.Once, she had no idea what they had been talking about before that, but Josh mentioned her father had eight siblings. It was just that only five of them reached adulthood, while the remaining four had died when they were infants.At the time, Jasmine was struck dumb.She then returned home and asked her father, but he had no idea either. When she asked her grandmother about it, it was only then her grandmother admitted that that was the truth.In the past, living standards were bad and many people had many children, but most had at least one child who passed away.Her grandmother asked her how she knew about that.It had be
While Josh’s proposal had failed, elsewhere, Zachary and his wife were happily enjoying their honeymoon phase.After dinner, Serenity sat on the sofa watching television as Zachary washed the dishes in the kitchen.A life like this made Serenity feel very fulfilled and also blissful.After sitting for a moment, she got up and walked to the kitchen. Leaning on the doorway, she watched Zachary wash the dishes.“Don’t you want to watch TV anymore?”Her stare was quickly noticed by Zachary. He turned his head to glance at her before he resumed washing the dishes.“I don’t follow any dramas, and I don’t know which ones are good. I didn’t find any that I wanted to watch after flipping through the channels either. I feel like TV dramas aren’t as good as they used to be. The special effects are over the top. Maybe I’m just old, but anyway, I can’t bring myself to watch anything.”Zachary laughed and said, “You’re so young, but you’re calling yourself old already. You normally come back
Zachary finished wiping down the stove, washed the rag, and proceeded to wash his hands again. Then he turned to walk toward Serenity and stopped before her. His large hands cradled her face and pinched it lightly a few times before he said, smiling, “I told you, you should go only if you want to go. If you don’t, then you don’t. I don’t mind either way.”Serenity grabbed his hand, walked to the balcony with him, and sat down on the swing.She leaned against his shoulder and together, they looked out at the city lights.“When all the houses below are all lit up, the huge building opposite us goes all dark. They’ve all gone home for New Year’s.”“Tomorrow morning, we’re going back to the old residence. I’ve already informed Nana and there’s already a room arranged for us to stay in.”Zachary had his arm around her shoulders as their heads leaned against each other.That moment was full of warmth and sweetness.“Seren, our old York family residence is really old. I hope you won’t
Serenity nodded, and also reminded him, “You need to put your jacket on too. If you get sick, there are jabs waiting for you every day.”Zachary was speechless for a moment. “With you constantly monitoring me like this every day, how could I dare let myself get sick?”Those few days of daily injections were enough to strike fear into him for the rest of his life.Zachary went back into the bedroom to get Serenity’s jacket and put on his jacket too.After coming out of the room, they heard a phone ring. It was not Zachary’s phone but Serenity’s. He saw Serenity scoop her phone out and look at it for a long while before doubtfully picking up the call.“Hello. May I know who this is?”Zachary figured it was an unfamiliar number just by hearing her ask that question.The person on the other side of the line did not speak right away.Serenity asked again, “May I know who this is?”“Serenity, it’s me.”A familiar voice filtered through the phone and Serenity’s expression turned ugl
Jasmine and Josh as a couple would probably be impossible then.For the sake of Josh’s love, they would leave Lowe Enterprise with a way out.“He knows you’re married and that our relationship is stable, but he’s still bugging you. You even told me you guys were like siblings. If I hadn’t been jealous and made a fuss, you probably still wouldn’t know right now he’d long had romantic feelings for you.”Zachary cynically poked Serenity’s forehead.Serenity touched the place that had been poked and said in defense of her innocence, “I’ve known him since I was young and I watched him grow up. I always thought of him as my own little cousin. Who knew he would like me?“That’s not my fault. I never provoked him in any way.”Serenity said as she hugged his arm and walked outside with him, further saying, “Doesn’t him liking me prove that Nana has good taste and chosen a good wife for you?”Zachary could not help but laugh. “Right, right. Nana has good taste and chose a good wife for me
Zachary said without inflection, “I don’t remember anymore. She hasn’t shown up before me as of late.”“You don’t remember?”“Do I have to? I don’t like her, so what’s the point of remembering? If I did remember and you got jealous, what should I do then? You’re the person I’m going to spend the rest of my life with, so I only need to remember you. To me, all other women are just passersby. I probably couldn’t even remember what they looked like even if they stood in front of me.”Zachary was very much indifferent to women and was naturally unappreciative.In this life, he would not fall for another woman except Serenity.Serenity laughed, saying, “I won’t get mad and I won’t get jealous either. You don’t have to be so defensive.”“I’m really not being defensive. I’m telling the truth. Other than my relatives, you’re the only one I care about. I don’t care about anyone else.”“Then we’re even. Shawn Lowe may admire me but you have an admirer too.”Zachary wanted to say that Sha
Serenity sat up and picked her phone up. “I’ll watch a movie.”Zachary took her phone away. Then, he went to his study, picked a book at random, and shoved it into her hands. “Why don’t you read something? It’s easy to fall asleep this way.”Holding the book he had shoved at her, Serenity looked at the title of the book and blinked. She was not seeing things wrongly, was she? This book was…She flipped it open to the first page.Zachary placed her phone on the bedside dresser and turned back around to her. He was taken aback when he glimpsed the contents of the book and instinctively snatched the book away. With slight embarrassment on his handsome face, he said, “I-I grabbed the wrong thing. Wait for a second—I’ll grab a magazine for you,” he said as he left hastily, book in his hands.Serenity came out of her stupor and laughed, “Zachary, so this is the sort of person you are.”Zachary blushed all the way to the tips of his ears.That book had been given to him by Josh many ye
“Zachary, are you a liar?” Serenity asked Zachary.Zachary just looked at her and did not answer her question.“Zachary, are you really a liar?” Serenity raised her voice this time. Then, she woke up.Even after waking up, Serenity was still dazed. After a long moment, she came to her senses and muttered, “So, it was a dream… What did I dream of?”Turning her head to the side, she noticed the man who had painstakingly lulled her to sleep was no longer there.“I knew he was up to something, trying to get me to sleep early. No wonder I had a nightmare like that.”Serenity picked up her phone to check the time and then proceeded to go back to sleep.This time, she did not dream again and slept soundly.Meanwhile, at Wiltspoon Hotel, Mr. Lowe sat in the lobby on the first floor, waiting for Zachary’s arrival.He had suddenly received Josh’s call earlier, notifying him that Zachary was willing to squeeze a little time out to meet him and telling him to wait at the Wiltspoon Hotel
Isabella’s bodyguard had only called out to her, not daring to touch her, so she had not woken up. However, when Austin gently patted her face and called her, she woke up almost immediately. When she opened her eyes and saw Austin’s handsome face, Isabella was momentarily dazed, thinking she was dreaming about him.She had actually dreamed about Austin. Had she developed feelings for him? If she had not, why would she dream about him? In all her life, this was the first time she had dreamed about a man. Isabella wanted to touch Austin’s face, but as she raised her hand, she realized she was not dreaming.Austin was real. She could smell the fresh scent on him because they were so close.He had showered.Isabella quietly lowered her hand, hoping Austin had not noticed her earlier intention, lest he misunderstood.“Ms. Isabella,” Austin’s warm and pleasant voice reached her ears, making her want to close her eyes and go back to sleep. With him around, she felt safe and secure.
Hunter had neither money nor power. What could he possibly use to save his sons?“Dad, go home. When the trial starts, we’ll send someone to pick you up so you can attend and observe.”Hunter stood up angrily and stormed off.After he left, Ellie asked Ava, “Are we really not going to do anything? My child is still young. Having a father in prison will always be a stain on their life.”“What can we do? Even if we wanted to save them, we don’t have the means. We know what Caroline is like. She’s not going to let this go lightly this time,” Ava replied. “Anyway, think about last year, when they were caught cheating. How did they treat us then?”Remembering the events from last year, Ellie said, “Let them serve a few years in prison, then. Ava, Caroline is in the hospital. Should we go visit her?”“We should. Let’s go tomorrow. We’ll call Emma and visit Caroline together. The Fisher family is full of terrible people, but Caroline still has some conscience. She’s always been kind t
Hunter was momentarily speechless. He did not have much money. When Belinda was alive, he never had more than five hundred dollars on him. After his children grew up, he secretly asked them for money. During that time, he had money to spend freely, living a lavish life outside.However, all that money had been spent. He had no savings, mainly because he was used to spending extravagantly.He had been unable to save money. He did not own any shops or properties either; Belinda had kept him on a tight leash.The house in their hometown had been built with Belinda’s money, but it was not under his name. It was under his three sons’ names.After Belinda’s death, his sons supported him. Each son gave him over a hundred thousand dollars a month for living expenses.Combined, that was several hundred thousand dollars a month, allowing him to live comfortably in Ashford. He had managed to save a little, but not much, just over a million dollars in total. Hiring the best lawyers for h
Despite this, lying in bed and enduring the pain, Caroline could not help but start to cry, feeling deeply wronged.When Darren came in and saw her crying, he walked over, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently wiped her tears with a tissue.“They’re not worth your tears,” he said, his heart aching for her.Caroline sat up and buried herself in his arms. “Darren, you’re all I have now.”Darren held her tightly, his voice filled with tenderness. “I’ll always be by your side, no matter what happens, Ms. Caroline. Even if the sky falls, I’ll hold it up for you.“If you’re really hurting and need to cry, then cry. Let it all out.”It would also help her sever ties with the past and the family bonds that had caused her so much pain.Caroline did cry—a long, cathartic cry. It would be the last time. From now on, she and the Clarks would go their separate ways.Meanwhile, Hunter went to Justin’s house and called Jason’s wife, Ellie, over. He said to his two daughters-in-law, “By no
After a moment of silence, Hunter repeated the same line. “But you didn’t die, did you? You only got a little hurt, and it’s not even serious.”Caroline almost laughed in anger at this.Sure, she had not died. She had only been injured. Did that erase the fact that her brothers had tried to kill her, though?She retorted, “Dad, if I had tried to kill your three sons, but they didn’t die and only got a little hurt, would you say the same thing to them? Would you tell them it’s just a family dispute, ask them to forgive me, not to sue me, and not to send me to jail?”Hunter instinctively replied, "If you had the intent to kill, how could I let you continue down that path? Of course, I’d have to let you serve a few years in prison…“Carol, I’m old, really old. I only have the boys to rely on in my old age. Are you trying to leave me with no one to depend on in my later years?”Caroline said coldly, “I’ll provide for your living expenses. I’ll make sure you don’t starve. You can even
Darren did not let go even after being struck.Seeing Darren get hit, Caroline’s expression darkened. She coldly said to her father, “Dad, if you really want to kneel, go kneel at the hospital entrance and shout at the top of your lungs that your daughter is unfilial.“Tell everyone that your sons tried to kill your daughter, and your daughter refuses to forgive them, so you’re kneeling there to force her to forgive your sons.“Let’s see if I give in.”Hunter stopped struggling. After slapping Darren, he felt a pang of fear. He was afraid Caroline might retaliate by slapping him to avenge Darren. Fortunately, while Caroline was furious, she did not lay a hand on him.He began to cry. “Carol…” He wept bitterly.Darren released him, and Hunter sat on the sofa, sobbing, “Carol, I’m old. I have no income, my parents are long gone, and your mother is no longer here. I only have your three brothers to rely on.“If you send all three of them to prison, what will happen to me? Who w
Caroline hummed. “I do plan to visit Wiltspoon to see her sometime soon. I just don’t know if I’ll be kicked out when I get there.”“And I should visit Mr. Foster too. How is he, by the way?" Patrick was the longest-living person she had ever met. Back when she lived with her adoptive family in the countryside, the oldest people in town usually lived into their eighties, and few made it to ninety. Patrick was nearly a hundred years old. What was more, he could walk without support and even travel long distances with his old friends.Liberty replied, “He’s doing quite well. Aunt Audrey accompanies him on walks every day. When they don’t go out, he sits by the cradle and watches baby Elias for hours on end.”The bond between generations was strong. When Patrick looked at Clive’s son, Elias, he felt like he was looking at his great-grandson. As Tiara’s great-grandson, Elias was naturally like his own great-grandson, too.“Dr. Carden comes by periodically to check on him and adjus
Liberty had already called Audrey to inform her about what had happened and also mentioned it to Serenity.Knowing the Clark brothers had all been captured, Serenity felt thoroughly relieved and stopped worrying that her sister would run into trouble in Jensburg.She told Zachary that Caroline never let people down.Zachary did not comment.Caroline’s fever had completely subsided, but her coughing had worsened. The doctor had changed her prescription, but the effects were not immediate.When Liberty entered, Caroline was out of bed and walking around, supported by Darren.“Caroline, why are you out of bed?”Liberty scolded her, “Get back in bed and lie down. You’re injured. If you don’t rest properly and keep moving around, you’ll aggravate your wounds, and you’ll regret it.”She did not blame Darren, though. She knew Caroline always came first to him. He always followed her lead and was unable to influence her decisions.“I’ve been lying down all day. My back is sore, and I’m
The housekeeper replied, “Yes, sir.”They did not have much work in the first place, so they did not need to slack off. Once they were done with their work, they had tons of time to entertain themselves.Hunter rushed out the door with his car keys. Despite being over seventy years old, his driving skills were still quite good. Not needing to hire a driver, he drove himself straight to Jensburg.Upon arriving at the city, Hunter did not immediately go looking for Caroline. He was unaware that she had been injured.Instead, he went to meet his old friends to ask them to help him find out if anything had happened in relation to the Fisher family last night.After he finished speaking, one of his friends said, “We were about to ask you the same thing. Your three sons attacked your daughter with knives and even kidnapped her, intending to chop her up and feed her to the fish.“Luckily, that Mr. Fletcher, who works for your daughter, arrived with the police and rescued her, but she wa