“This is your true personality. You’re always self-centered and lord over everything. You’re overbearing, arrogant, egotistical, and even paranoid!”Serenity’s words were full of mockery.That was Zachary’s character.He behaved the same way at the beginning of their marriage. Even if he pretended to be an ordinary person, his mannerisms were ingrained in him and could not be changed.It was only after the couple’s feelings warmed up and they had two conflicts that his overbearing self improved slightly.Now, he revealed his true colors again.It was suffocating to be with a Zachary York like that.That was especially true for Serenity, a woman who liked her independence. If she had a conflict with a man like Zachary, the fight would escalate and only worsen.Zachary clearly wanted to calm Serenity down, but he kept making mistakes that exacerbated his case, causing her anger to soar even higher. There was no way to extinguish the fury now.“Seren...”Zachary let her go and i
Serenity walked out of the room.Zachary followed suit. He kept silent and walked behind her without making a peep.She went downstairs, and he followed her downstairs.She went outside, and he followed her outside.In short, he was like her shadow now.Serenity walked up to the gate of the villa and tried to open the side gate but found it locked.Turning around, she looked at him and coldly ordered, “Give me the keys.”Brandt, one of the bodyguards, and the other servants followed at a distance. No one dared come forward to talk to them.They all saw how furious Serenity was.Even her words were like ice.Zachary was now her shadow.Zachary took out the key, but instead of giving it to her, he raised his hand and flung it far over and out of the gate.He shrugged and said, “I don’t have the keys.”Serenity wanted to explode from anger.She really wanted to grab him by the collar and give him a good beating.She looked at Brandt and the others.Brandt quickly said, “Do
The enraged and hateful Serenity who could not get out finally went back into the house and locked herself in a guest room. She pulled out her cell phone, wanting to ask her sister or best friend for help, but found that it had already run out of battery.“The heavens sure are testing me!”Zachary did not pester Serenity when she locked herself in the guest room.He was looking for help too.He went to Josh out of habit.Josh had just sent Jasmine back to the bookstore after bringing a charger to charge her e-bike.“Mr. Bucham, could you ask Zachary what he did to Seren?”Jasmine was concerned about Serenity, who was forcibly taken away by Zachary.Josh hummed. “I’ll call him now to ask.”That being said, Josh had a bad feeling in his heart.He knew Zachary inside out.Zachary most likely did not handle it well.Well, he was suffering the consequences of deceiving his wife.Of course, he deserved it.In the beginning, he concealed his identity to examine Serenity’s charac
Jasmine said, “I know Seren better than you do. I can assure you that she won’t do that, so let her come back.”“You’re not her. I can’t trust your assurance.”Jasmine was speechless.He was like a rock, unwilling to listen to a single word she said.Josh quickly took the phone back and comforted Jasmine. “Don’t mind him. He’s going crazy. He hasn’t experienced anything like this before, so it’s normal for him to handle it badly. You’ll be the one angered if you take him seriously.”Jasmine opened her mouth but was at a loss for words.Zachary was usually mature and calm. Although his expression was always solemn, he was excellent at handling people.Unexpectedly, he was now confining Serenity to his side and forbidding her from coming back.“Zachary, how’s Serenity now?”Josh asked with concern, “What did you do to her?”“I-I didn’t do anything to her. She wanted to leave, so I locked the gate and threw the keys away. She wanted to climb over the wall, so I threw the ladder
“Let me calm down, Zachary. I’ll call you back when I think of a solution, but you mustn’t do anything to hurt Serenity again. Otherwise, you really won’t be able to get her back.”Josh was so angry with Zachary that he wanted to hurry up and hang up the phone so he could calm down. He did not want to burst out in expletives in front of Jasmine since he was trying to maintain his good image as Mr. Bucham.After what happened to Zachary, Josh decided to be one hundred percent sincere when treating Jasmine. He would not lie or deceive her as Zachary did to Serenity.He ended the call before Zachary could respond.“Why did you hang up? I still wanted to persuade him. Judging by what he said, he’ll only make Serenity angrier. She might even start to hate him.”Josh said, “Didn’t you hear what he said? Even I’m speechless and getting angry too. I need to take a step back. How did I get a boss with a negative EQ like him?“Ugh, why is my life so hard?!” Josh sighed.He never once comp
“It’s not that he’s not afraid of losing her anymore, but decided to face the consequences of his deception. He has mustered the courage to face reality, but now, he’s going crazy from his fear and made another small mistake.”Jasmine sighed. “We can understand because it’s not happening to us, but we can’t experience Seren’s hurt and anger. In any case, I won’t advise her. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t do it now. She’s the one who was wronged, so why should I help Zachary? Wouldn’t it make her feel more aggrieved?“She was tricked so badly by the person she shares a bed with. Are we supposed to advise her to forgive Zachary instead of helping her vent her anger? I can’t do that. I would beat Zachary up on her behalf if I could.“I wonder if Mr. Stone knows. He can step in to beat Zachary up since he’s her cousin. I’ll be relieved if I see that.”Josh was speechless.Zachary had indeed managed to infuriate a lot of people.“Oh, Elisa. She told me she’d be back in two days. She’
Meanwhile, what was someone who locked herself in the guest room doing?Serenity found a pen and paper in the room. She sat down in front of the sofa, put the paper on the coffee table, and then plopped down to carefully write a divorce agreement.The couple did not buy another house after the marriage, so there was no property to divide.He once said that he would leave the house in Brynfield to her, as well as the national MPV, if they divorced.Serenity did not want them.She did not want the house he used to deceive her!She did not want his car either.The car she was driving now was bought with Zachary’s money. She would pay him the full amount after the divorce.She would not split his property or require him to compensate for her youth that sort of thing, or anything at all. They would each keep whatever assets under their names, and no one would owe the other anything. She just needed him to sign the paper.If he wanted her to compensate for the loss of his youth or t
Back then, she did not care because she was not in love with him.Now that she was, she cared after learning the truth. Her heart clenched in pain.When she thought about the recent time spent together and his affection toward her, her heart felt even more painful, and her fury was reignited too.Was his adoration fake? Was it part of his deception too?Her neck still hurt a little.That jerk!Zachary York was a jerk!Felicia and the others were silent.All of them were cognizant of Zachary’s web of lies to Serenity from the beginning.“Do any of you have an Apple charger? My phone is out of battery. Lend me a charger for a while.”Felicia was about to reply when her colleague next to her nudged her lightly. She snapped back to her senses and quickly said, “Mr. Zachary has a phone of the same brand. You can borrow a charger from him.”Their discreet movements did not go past Serenity’s eyes.She knew that without Zachary’s consent, she would not even have the chance to char
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