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
Serenity struggled and finally managed to push him away, but he wanted to continue. She was so angry that she swung her hand at him.The slap resounded across the room and shocked Brandt and the maids.Zachary was also stunned.He looked at Serenity’s face, which was red from the anger within. When she glared at him, her eyes gradually reddened, and he saw tears brimming at the corners of her eyes.He had again brought her more pain and further angered her.Zachary blamed himself.He thought his warmth could make her calm down...Brandt snapped back to his senses and hurriedly sent a message to Sam since the latter was the actual butler here. Brandt was only filling in for Sam since Sam was on leave, but he felt he could no longer handle the situation here. He had to call Sam back.It was frightening. The missus actually raised her hand against Mr. Zachary.This was a scene they had never witnessed in all the years they had worked for the Yorks.The men of the York family had
Brandt and the maids did not even dare to breathe.After a long time, Zachary raised his voice and ordered Brandt, “Go and bring my phone charger for the missus.”“Yes, sir.”Brandt quickly went to get the charger for Serenity.Was Zachary allowing her to charge her phone a sign that he would let her leave?In fact, Brandt also felt that Mr. Zachary should not keep Serenity under house arrest and that he should let her leave so that they could both calm down.However, he did not dare say such a thing.Serenity was too important to Zachary and he was afraid she would never come back if she left.That was why he forced her to stay with him. However, that would only aggravate the couple’s conflict.Brandt soon returned with the charger.He handed it to Zachary.When Zachary passed it to Serenity, he could not help but grab her hand when she took the charger, begging, “Seren, don’t bring up divorce again, okay?”Serenity drew her hand back and took the charger.She turned away
Zachary was also relieved.After a moment of silence, he walked over and sat across from Serenity.He used his fork to put food on her plate, but she picked up her plate to avoid the gesture, refusing his food.Zachary bitterly retracted his hand and placed the food his fork held on his own plate instead.“Seren, these are all your favorites. Have more,” he said tenderly.Serenity paid him no response, not even a glance. She simply ate by herself.“I’ll help you peel your favorite shrimps.”Zachary put on the disposable gloves to help her peel the shrimp, but Serenity simply took a shrimp and ate it whole, shell and all.Zachary was speechless.His wife did not even give him the chance to perform.Ding dong... Ding dong...The doorbell rang.It was already dark and chilly outside. Who would visit at this time of day?“I’ll get the door.”Brandt went to open the door.There was a car parked in front of the villa. However, Brandt did not recognize the vehicle, which meant
Serenity was surprised to see that the person who came in was her sister. She immediately put down her plate and walked toward Liberty.Zachary’s knee-jerk reaction was to grab her wrist.Serenity stared at him coldly.“Seren...”Zachary’s heart ached with such a glare from her. He felt like their relationship as husband and wife had returned to the way it was on their first night. No, it was even colder than the beginning of their marriage.He finally let go of her hand and let her walk toward her sister.“Seren.”Liberty jogged over.When the two sisters were face to face, Serenity plunged into her sister’s arms and wailed her heart out.“Seren...”Liberty hugged her sister tightly.“Cry if you want to. I’m here.”“Liberty...”The floodgates to Serenity’s suppressed emotions finally broke free when she fell into her sister’s embrace. She cried pitifully for a long time.Zachary stood not far away, watching his petite wife cry. His heart ached, but he could offer her com
“I don’t want to lose Seren, Liberty. I don’t want to divorce.”Zachary spoke first.“I know I deceived Seren by hiding my identity. Seren is different from the rest. She won’t be particularly happy just because I’m rich. I let her down, so she can get angry. She can scold me and hit me, but she can’t leave me. She can’t divorce me!”When Zachary finished, Liberty said to him, “Do you think you’ll never see Seren again if you let her walk out of this villa?”He stayed silent.He was afraid.He was truly terrified that he would never see Serenity again if she left the villa.“Zachary, Serenity is my sister. We’ve depended on each other for many years, and no one knows her better than I do. She’s not the kind of person who retreats and runs away when things go wrong. No matter how angry and upset she gets, even if she asks you for a divorce, she won’t run away.“Running away isn’t going to solve the problem.“No matter how bad the situation is, you have to face reality.“Let he
Sonny refused Duncan and slid out of bed himself, looking for his mother while crying. When he searched the house but still did not find Liberty, he cried even harder.“Sonny, do you want some candy? Don’t cry. Dunc will give you candy.”Duncan tried to coax him.“I don’t want candy. I want Mommy...”“I’ll bring you outside and buy you a windmill, okay?”“I don’t want windmill. I want Mommy...”Sonny’s cries grew louder.Duncan was unable to soothe Sonny no matter how he tried. He did not know how to coax children.In the end, he took out his cell phone, unlocked it, and handed it to Sonny. “Don’t cry, okay? Come here, I’ll let you play with my phone. We can watch cartoons.”Sonny slapped his phone away with one hand.“I don’t want phone.”Duncan scratched his head, feeling a headache. “I thought children these days could be dealt with easily if they have a phone to play with.”Sonny did not want to play with his phone.However, there were many harmful effects of children
Serenity laughed and said, “I hope I’ll be toasting at your wedding soon.”Peter replied, “I think I'll get married before Dylan does.”Dylan’s romantic path had been much more complicated because he had not wanted to follow the smooth, well-paved road that Grandma May had arranged for him.“We have lots of happy occasions lined up after Christmas, then,” Camryn remarked.“Yes, lots,” Serenity agreed.The courtyard was lively, with the elders occasionally joining in on the fun. Meanwhile, inside the house, Dylan was thinking about what Serenity had told him. She had repeatedly said that the person Grandma May picked for him would definitely be the right one, someone who would suit him well.She also suggested that he look into Imogen and that there might be a pleasant surprise in store for him, but that he was not to let Imogen know. The implication in Serenity’s words was that Imogen might be Fox and that Fox’s real identity was Imogen Doyle herself.After understanding Serenit
Dylan frowned as he pondered deeply.“The scent from outside is wafting in. I think the food’s ready. I’m going out to have a couple of skewers to satisfy my cravings. You can stay here and think things through.”Seeing that Dylan had finally grasped the main point, Serenity stopped the conversation and went out to have some barbecue. It had been a long time since she had eaten barbecue.After getting pregnant, although she was not as strictly monitored as Jasmine was, she still paid close attention to her diet and would do her best to avoid things she could not eat or had to limit. Liberty called her every few days to remind her to be careful.When Zachary saw Serenity come out of the house, he immediately picked up a plate of freshly grilled skewers to his beloved wife, saying, “I deliberately used less seasoning on these for you, so you can eat them with peace of mind. Sonny’s asleep now, right?” “He fell asleep long ago, after playing so hard today,” Serenity replied, then gr
In that case, Grandma May would not even need to step in to teach him a lesson. His older brothers would beat him up multiple times for tarnishing the York family’s reputation and dragging their names in the mud with his own.“Dylan, I told you that if you didn’t trust Nana, you’d face the consequences. Look, you’re starting to suffer now, aren’t you?” Serenity said. Who was Grandma May? She was a kind-hearted but cunning old fox who could sell someone out and still make them feel grateful for it as they counted the money she made for her. How could she pick a bad match for her grandsons? There was no way they would be unsuitable. “Serenity, it’s not that I don’t trust Nana, it’s just that I really couldn’t fall in love with Imogen. I feel like if I couldn’t fall for her in almost three months then I just won’t. And I always thought about Fox when I was with Imogen. I’m not some naïve kid who doesn’t understand what that means.” Dylan smiled bitterly. His family always compla
“Callum and Camryn came with Trenton, so they’re all having a barbecue together.”Serenity hummed in response. She closed the door to Sonny's room and said to Dylan, “Is it something you don’t want Zachary to know? If so, let’s go to his study to talk." “It’s not that. It’s fine if he knows, but I’ve talked to him, and he couldn’t be bothered. Then I asked Julian, but he said he was busy. He’s taking Ms. Crawford to register their marriage tomorrow. I just wanted a little help from him; I didn’t need him to do it personally.” Dylan grumbled a little about Julian being unhelpful.If Julian could hear this, he would retort, “Why should I help you? Even Zachary isn’t that demanding.”If it were not for the fact that Zachary and his cousin, Josh, were best buddies, Julian would not be so obliging either. Among the Yorks, Grandma May was the person the Buchams most respected. Of course, if it were something important, the Bucham family would definitely help, but Dylan’s request se
“I haven’t felt like snacking lately.”“Is the stuff made at home not to your taste anymore?” Whenever Serenity said she did not want to eat something she usually loved, Zachary would wonder if it was because the chef’s skills had declined, causing his beloved wife to lose her appetite. “It’s not that, I just don’t feel like eating them. I think maybe the baby is like you and doesn’t like sweets.”Zachary smiled. “If our son is like me, that’s fine. He’ll be steady, and in the future, the two of us will protect you.” If they had a daughter, he hoped she would be like Serenity. If she had his personality… Well, it would not be the most charming. Zachary wanted his daughter to be very likable. “I don’t need you guys to protect me, I can protect myself.”“Honey, don’t say that. I’m your husband, your man. You have to give me a chance to show off, or else people will say you married a useless husband. That would be so unfair to me.”Serenity chuckled.“Do you want to go watch So
“I can be just as considerate and attentive to you.”Quinn looked at him and could not help but laugh. “I don't mean anything else by that, you don’t need to be so defensive.”“You envy Serenity,” Julian said. “I don't want you to envy anyone. I want you to be someone others envy.”Uh, this sounded exactly like something Zachary would say. It looked like, occasionally, he really had learned a thing or two from Zachary.Quinn instantly felt smitten. She looped her arm through Julian's and whispered, “I already am someone others envy. I’m not envious of Serenity—I was just making an observation. They say Mr. Zachary dotes on his wife, and Serenity is very lucky. Now that I’ve witnessed it with my own eyes, I believe it. So, I genuinely sighed with admiration. I know I’m very lucky as well. You treat me so well, and I am content. I really don’t envy anyone.”The young couple’s conversation went unnoticed by Zachary. He waited for his wife to settle before answering a call from Dylan.
“Well, Rowan can play for a couple of days, but he has to start working on his homework soon. The college entrance exam is around the corner, and we can't let him relax too much.”“Rowan's grades are very stable and good. It won’t be hard for him to get into college, so don't put too much pressure on him. It's not necessary for him to get into the same university you and the others went to.”Serenity still remembered the pressure she had felt in high school, though it was not as much as Rowan felt, and her sister's expectations for her were more relaxed; she was only expected to do her best. No matter what the results were, Liberty would accept it. Of course, if she could get into an Ivy League university, that would be great. Otherwise, getting into an Ivy Plus university would also be fine. If that did not work out, she could go to a public university or even take a gap year. Liberty would have been okay with any of it. Her sister always told her that as long as she was physica
Zachary would not do such a thing. Julian laughed. “It’s my first time getting married. I’m asking around because I’m inexperienced. That way, I can make a plan.”Zachary turned to look at him. He said, “How many more times do you intend to get married? I didn’t have any experience either back then. It was my first time going to City Hall. Besides, Seren and I got married in a rush and did not even know each other well. After getting our marriage license, I completely forgot that I was a married man.“You’re in a better situation than I was. At least you and Quinn have feelings for each other and a stable relationship.”Julian chuckled. He caught up to Zachary and placed his arm on his shoulder. He said, “We all know what we should avoid after you’ve set an example.”Zachary was speechless. “You and Serenity are an enviable couple now.“I want to learn from you and make people jealous of Quinn as well.”Zachary brushed Julian’s hand off. “I think you’ll do a better job than m
Zachary and Julian exited the house with two housekeepers behind them, holding a tray each with snacks and drinks. The two men had excellent eyesight and quickly spotted the love of their lives sitting at a bench some distance away. Zachary knew that it was because Serenity got tired from walking. In the past, some pregnant female employees would return to work despite being pretty far along in their pregnancies. Their workload was only slightly lighter. Since Zachary had seen those employees insisting on working even though they were pregnant, he used to think being pregnant and giving birth were not that difficult. He had never put himself in the shoes of the female employees. They insisted on working because they feared being replaced if they took an extended maternity leave. When they returned, they could be discriminated against and had to start all over again. While there were opportunities to be promoted in a megacorporation, one had to climb the corporate ladder ste