Duncan shot Liberty an angry look before getting out of the car. He went into the restaurant and picked up the keys to lock the place up. Back in the car, Duncan concentrated behind the wheel and asked, “What happened? You’re all over the place, and you look pale.” “Jasmine called me to say something happened to Seren.” Color washed off Liberty’s complexion further at the mention. Her sister went to the bookshop to tidy up the place today. What could have happened? Did a bookshelf topple over her sister? There were a lot of books on the shelf. The weight of the bookshelf with the help of gravity falling on a person… Liberty stopped herself from dwelling deeper into that scenario. She was terrified. What if something happened to her sister? What if her sister had an accident? Liberty had lost her parents and only had her sister, growing up. If her sister… Tears streamed down Liberty’s face. Duncan asked with concern, “What happened to your sister?” Since Sereni
Jasmine answered, “That’s him!“Mr. York accepted a press interview. I watched the interview, and it was about him and Seren. Seren turned white and stunned like a puppet when she saw the video. I pushed, hit, and yelled at her, but she hasn’t shown any reaction. She’s scaring the hell out of me. That’s why I’m calling you for help.” Liberty had the shock of her life. Her brother-in-law turned out to be the heir of the York family! How could that possibly be? Liberty had met the Yorks. They were no different from ordinary folks. They dressed in clothes without labels and drove mid-range priced cars. They did not seem wealthy to Liberty. The only thing that stood out was that the Yorks carried themselves with grace and culture. “I’ll be right there. Pour a glass of water for Seren and tell her to drink it. If that doesn’t help, splash her with a basin of cold water. That should do the trick.” Jasmine replied, “Won’t Seren catch a cold?” With her head clearer than before,
While Serenity and Jasmine took off from the shop, Liberty got a ride from Duncan and arrived at Wiltspoon School in no time. Since school was still out, it was dead quiet near the school grounds and the shops nearby the entrance were not open for business either. Liberty noticed the door to her sister’s bookshop was shut. “Why is it close?” Liberty got out of the room and approached the shop. She pounded on the door, but there was no response whatsoever from inside. Pulling out her phone, Liberty gave her sister a call. Serenity was bent on storming to York Corporation and getting answers from Zachary. Was he really the heir of the wealthiest York family? Too caught up in her clouded thoughts to hear her phone ring, Serenity did not pick up her sister’s call. Liberty had to call Jasmine. Jasmine was in mid-pursuit of Serenity on her e-bike, but her ride was losing speed. Jasmine had charged the battery of her e-bike a few days ago, and the battery was running out! Wi
Nevertheless, Zachary changed his mind after whipping his phone out. It was a decision he made. It was the path he chose. No matter what, he had to finish it himself.There was no doubt Serenity would be mad. All Zachary must do was apologize and explain. He was willing to do the grunt work of winning his wife’s heart again because it was his cross to bear. Zachary should not count on Nana’s help all the time. Frankly, he was not the only one lying to Serenity. His whole family had Serenity fooled… Nana probably would not be of much help to make the situation better because Seren might also hold a grudge against Nana. The first person to lie about who they were was Nana! If Serenity had watched Zachary’s interview, the others must have seen it too. The public was mostly unbothered by the interview, jealous of Serenity at best since she was so blessed to marry Mr. York and receive his love. However, the Hunts and the Browns took the news rather interestingly. John cam
Old Mr. and Mrs. Hunt could not give the family a moment of rest too. The old folks expected money from their kin for the holidays since their savings were spent on Old Mrs. Hunt’s hospital stay. The seniors did not feel comfortable without any money, so they tried to get money from the rest of the family for retirement. John said, “Dad, Serenity’s husband is the York guy. He’s Mr. York, the heir of the York family. I’m talking about the wealthiest family in Wiltspoon. He’s worth billions.” Baffled, Chris looked at his son as if he could not believe the words coming out of his son’s mouth. Was Serenity’s husband the heir of the wealthiest Yorks? A billionaire? That would mean a lot of money. “Is that true, John?” “Honest to God. His interview was on TV. We’ve met Zachary. The reporters called him Mr. York. It must be him. It is him.” Once Chris got the confirmation he needed, he smacked his lap and said, “I’ll go find your grandparents now. That’s their retirement fund
“Zachary’s not in the office? He hasn’t come in today?” Serenity was in disbelief. Where was he if not the office? Did he not have the interview in his office? Serenity recalled the background of his interview was fancy. However, it was not a familiar place to her. She had never seen that kind of furnishing. She thought that was his office, and she had never stepped into his office before. Serenity had been to York Corporation multiple times, but Zachary had not brought her to his real office. He lied to her, saying that everybody worked at cubicle desks. If she remembered correctly, Callum’s office had an office door sign that read COO. The whole family was in on it! Serenity scowled at the thought that Zachary had her fooled for a long time. “Ms. Hunt, Mr. York hasn’t been in the office today.” The receptionist, who poured Serenity a glass of water, added, “Do you need to speak with Mr. York? Maybe you can call him?” Serenity grabbed the glass of water. She
Jasmine had given Josh a call earlier to say that her ride ran out of juice in the middle of the road. She was trying to push her e-bike back but it was too great of a distance and she did not make much progress either. In the end, she sought Josh for help. This was the first time Jasmine asked Josh for help. She called him to pick her up because she could get a ride and offer solace to her best friend. Otherwise, Jasmine would have called her brother to pick her up instead, and Josh could kiss the opportunity goodbye. John beckoned Serenity to sit as he paused his plans to pick Jasmine up. “Would you like anything to drink, Ms. Hunt?” “No need for that. I want to ask you a few questions. Is Zachary the heir of the wealthiest family in the city? Is he your boss?” After much silence, Josh replied with a question, “Have you seen Mr. York gushing all over his wife in the interview?” “Gushing all over his wife? More like lying to his wife!” Serenity furiously remarked, “I s
“Ms. Hunt, regardless of the reasons Zachary wasn’t honest about who he was, his feelings for you are true. It’s true that he loves you. There’s no doubt about that.” Serenity started laughing until her eyes welled up. Lifting her arm to rub her eyes, Serenity got up and said to Josh, “Thank you for clearing that up for me, Mr. Bucham. I should leave you to your space. Bye.” Now that Serenity got the confirmation she needed, she did not want to spend another second in this place. Without asking her to stay, Josh rose to his feet and walked out with her. He said, “Ms. Hunt, I know you’re in shock and mad right now. Zachary did you wrong, but it was with reason. There’s no malicious intention behind his actions. Once you calm down, give him a chance to explain. No matter what, you’re husband and wife.” Serenity was without a word, but her grimacing expression was telling. Josh went with Serenity to the bottom floor and saw her off outside the office building before going to h
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