Zachary was speechless.He refused to budge from a stare-down before saying faintly, “It’s late. Get some early rest. Don’t fall asleep here again. It’s chilly at night. You’ll feel the pain when you catch a cold.” Zachary then turned on his heel and left. Soon, Serenity picked up on his door closing and locking. Serenity muttered amusedly, “He even locked the door. That’s hilarious. Who is he trying to keep out?”If Zachary could hear Serenity’s mutter, he would snap back that Serenity was the one he was trying to keep out.Back in his room, Zachary went straight to the bathroom, but not for a bath. He stood in front of the mirror and stared at his reflection. Judging by the faint blush, he did turn red on the face. Lifting his hand, he traced his facial lines and rubbed the spot Serenity touched while searching for the tickling sensation he got when her fingers ran along his face.He turned on the tap and washed his face. Thinking back on his reaction, Zachary smiled an
Feasting his eyes on the balcony garden, Zachary uttered faintly, “You can grow the whole yard with roses when we move into a bungalow. When they grow and climb the walls, the full bloom is a sight to behold.” Serenity replied with a smile, “The price of properties has skyrocketed to an all-time high. I can’t even scrape together the deposit for a studio apartment, let alone a bungalow.”Of course, Serenity had considered getting a bungalow… in her dreams. Anyone would’ve wanted to live in a bungalow if they had the means to do so. Privacy was guaranteed in the standalone building. An apartment was not exactly the perfect sanctuary as the walls were not thick enough to soundproof from upstairs and downstairs. Zachary held his tongue. The place they were staying now was a last-minute purchase before their marriage. He had been staying in a huge mansion prior to this. “Mr. York, get some breakfast. I’ll join you after I’m done watering the flowers.” “Sure.” Zachary turne
Josh was holding a small stack of paper which could easily be mistaken for office documents. “Here you go.” After slipping the papers to Zachary across his desk, Josh took a seat and put his breakfast on the table. He asked his boss, “Do you want some? I got my food delivered from the Wiltspoon Hotel. It’s delicious.” Since Wiltspoon Hotel operated under York Corporation, Zachary usually grabbed his breakfast, lunch, and dinner there. Now that Zachary had a wife, it had been a while since Josh dined with his boss. Hmm… Josh kinda missed those moments. “I’m good.” Picking up the file, Zachary flipped through and asked, “Is everything here?” “Yeah. It’s all there. No stone is left unturned.” “It’s not a lot.” “The younger members of the family have it pretty good while the seniors spent their lives on the farm. What more can there be?” Zachary was without a word. As mentioned by Josh, there was nothing much to write about the seniors, albeit the info on the younge
Ring, ring, ring… The office phone was ringing. Zachary accepted the call and put it on loudspeaker. “Mr. York, Ms. Stone is here again.” With his face falling, Zachary uttered in a flat tone, “Ignore her.” The secretary replied, “Ms. Stone ordered a truck of flowers to be arranged into a heart shape and delivered to the entrance of our building. Apparently, the heart represents her love for you.” Josh’s eyes on his boss were sparkling with gossip. Zachary looked askance at Josh before retorting, “What’s the security here for? Why are they allowing trash at our doorstep?” He then terminated the call. The secretary got the message loud and clear. Josh chuckled. “Elisa is a great girl. She’s forthcoming with her feelings. I mean, the number of women who have a thing for you has got to be as many as the hair on my head, but only Elisa has the guts to profess her love and prove it with her actions.” “Go for her then if you think she’s great. Get her to give you all th
Elisa was the heiress of the Stones after all. Stone Group and York Corporation were not on good terms, so the security guards’ inhospitality toward Elisa could aggravate the hostility between both giants. It was not a responsibility the security guards could shoulder. Soon, a few speeding cars pulled up in front of York Corporation. Getting out of the car, Clive took quick strides toward his sister who was yelling out all the love she had for Zachary through a megaphone. The scowl on his handsome face did not go amiss. There was no question that Zachary called Clive again to make a fuss about his sister’s antics. Clive happened to be in a meeting when he received the complaint. Frustration could barely describe Clive’s emotions right now. Ditching his team of executives, Clive took his bodyguard and came all the way to drag Elisa back. “Zachary…” Before Elisa could finish, the megaphone was snatched right out of her hands. She looked over and met the stern eyes of h
Back in the bookshop near Wiltspoon School, Serenity sat behind the cash register, scrolling on her phone reading news while Jasmine was lost in a romance book. As the owner of a bookshop, Jasmine had free rein to explore all the books she wanted. That was the perk for doing what she loved for a living. Jasmine had read almost all the romance novels in the shop. At times, Serenity would tease by asking Jasmine to become a writer since she had always enjoyed romance novels.“Seren, the main characters of this story got married at first sight too.” As she put down the book, Jasmine added with a smile, “Just like you.” Serenity was fixated on Jasmine. “Lots of people got married after dating shortly. Well, you did say that the female character of that book blindly married a billionaire. My husband is only a wage earner.” Even though Zachary was a senior white-collar worker in a major group, he was working for someone. “You might want to cut down on reading. I think the stor
“It would be a shame for Ms. Stone if Mr. York plays for the other team.” Jasmine added regrettably, “It’s disappointing that someone finally had the courage to go after Mr. York, but it didn’t have a happy ending. Speaking of which, do you think the heir swings the other way?” Serenity replied amusedly, “How would I know?” It was only their suspicion, but of course, Mr. York’s sexual orientation would be determined should he accept and marry Ms. Stone. Nevertheless, what did it have to do with Serenity? The hottest gossip, even if it was about Mr. York, was not worthy of Serenity’s time. Jasmine, however, loved getting into it. Every so often, Jasmine would babble about local big stories within Serenity’s earshot. Refusing to engage in gossip, Serenity took out her tools to get into her crafting. Jasmine rambled on under her breath while checking out the trending news. Not too long later, her expression turned stern, and she then slammed hard on the cash register.The
Ring, ring, ring… Serenity’s phone rang. Picking up the phone for a look, Serenity saw that it was her sister and took the call. “Seren, did you see the news on Twitter? They’re too much!” Liberty was up in arms. As she was fifteen when their parents died in the accident, Liberty had a clearer memory of the events that followed. Liberty kept a diary of every detail of their grandparents and uncles’ heartless deeds. She still had the diary in possession. It never occurred to Liberty that these relatives would do a one-eighty and point finger at the sisters. “It’s not like they turned bad overnight. They have always been evil.” “I’ll go online now to explain our side of the story.” Liberty was about to hang up when Serenity stopped her. “No need to jump to our defense. Let the story sit for a while before we respond. Then, it’s our turn to show the whole world who they are.“Since they put our faces and numbers online, we should do our homework and stick the evidence
“Josh was very mischievous when he was young. I’d never think he could be that naughty until I heard my mother-in-law telling me stories from his younger days.”Jasmine had always been under the impression that Josh was gentlemanly and more approachable than Zachary.After their marriage, he treated her well and doted on her a lot.Jasmine did not have to worry about a thing because she could always turn to Josh for help.However, such a man used to be a troublemaker when he was younger. He would climb every wall he saw and give his parents terrible headaches.“Nana brought her daughters-in-law out to gallivant,” Serenity said as she stared at her phone.She just saw Grandma May’s post on Instagram. It was a video of her with Rosella and Sasha. “Nana didn’t even tell me that she was heading out,” Serenity muttered and caressed her bump. She sighed. “I can only travel after this baby is born. Zachary and I haven’t even gone on our honeymoon. He’ll make it up to me after I give
Meanwhile, Serenity, Elisa, and Jasmine were in the office of their fresh produce company.However, the only person working was Elisa.The two pregnant women were simply there to watch her and pass the time.“Has Dylan’s livestream of him eating chili peppers ended?”Jasmine had just returned from the bathroom. She got curious when she saw her two friends no longer watching their phones.“It ended long ago. Imogen stopped him before it even got to fifteen minutes. She got soft-hearted too quickly.”Serenity was eating a plate of fruits. She said, “The person who falls in love first will always give in quickly.”“Dylan can’t eat spicy food. Eating chili peppers for more than ten minutes is enough. He might really die from the heat if he continues.”Elisa smiled and said, “Well, it’s not as if Dylan isn’t in love too. At least he was willing to eat hot chili peppers for Imogen. He even ate them for over ten minutes. From the livestream, it seemed like the chili peppers Layla had
Grandma May had the next two months all planned out.She would gallivant to other places for two months.Half a month after her return, she would become a great-grandmother. Rosella had no opinions. She would simply follow her mother-in-law’s plans.She left and returned to her place to pack her luggage. However, she met Sasha on the way back. When Sasha asked what she was up to, she told Sasha about the plan. Sasha ended up wanting to tag along.Just as Grandma May was ready to leave with Rosella and Sasha, Tania returned home. Upon seeing her mother-in-law taking her two sisters-in-law to roam, Tania held Grandma May’s hand and insisted on going with them.Grandma May was speechless. She glanced at Rosella, who smiled sheepishly.Ultimately, Grandma May and her three daughters-in-law left Wildridge Manor together.When her sons returned home and realized their wives had been “kidnapped” by their mother, they were utterly dumbfounded.Liam immediately called Zachary and co
“Yeah. I thought of that old man. He left me alone in this world so soon.”Grandma May wiped her tears. “I’ll stop thinking about him. I’m more fortunate than him to be able to see my grandsons get married. If I am luckier, I might even live to see Rowan married too.“However, I want nothing more than to have a great-granddaughter before I die. My husband’s biggest regret before he passed away was not having a daughter or granddaughter.”Rosella consoled her. She said, “You’ll definitely be able to live a long life, Mom. You’ll live till you’re a hundred and twenty years old, see Rowan get married, and carry your great-granddaughter. You have nine grandsons and granddaughters-in-law. Surely one of the pairs will be able to give birth to a daughter.”Actually, Rosella was not too confident about it.After all, the York family had not had a baby girl born into their family for three generations. While there were a few daughters before that, they all passed away at a very young age.
Grandma May was truly the anchor of the York family.Nine of her grandsons were nurtured into talented young men who could hold their own. Even if York Corporation was gone, they could start anew and rise again with their capabilities.Of course, with such capable grandsons, York Corporation would only reach greater heights. It would never fall.Grandma May did not have other wishes aside from hoping she could live to see a daughter being born into the York family and Rowan growing up into an adult.After completing her late husband’s wishes, she could meet him in the afterlife without regrets.Grandma May recalled her marriage with Old Mr. York. She had accompanied him to build an empire when they were young, and they educated their grandchildren after they retired. She thought they could grow old together. Well, they did grow old together, but he passed away before she did.Time flew, and a few years have passed since then.When Old Mr. York passed away, none of the York bro
Imogen knew many powerful people.She had great connections.Upon learning that Dylan had told Grandma May that he could not fall in love with Imogen last year, Rosella complained to her husband that it was Dylan’s loss. How could he give up on an elite daughter and choose a fox instead?Moreover, he still did not know that woman’s name or background even after pursuing her for over half a year.His brothers also refused to help him to obtain any information.Clearly, they wanted Dylan to have a hard time. His elder and younger brothers had listened to their nana. He was the only one who went against her arrangements. It was no surprise that the York brothers did not want to help Dylan.It was only in the new year that Rosella found out Imogen was the Chameleon Fox that Dylan had been pursuing all along and she was also Silver’s student, Sugar.Imogen had even been to Wildridge Manor several times as Sugar. At that time, Rosella could sense that Grandma May was playing matchma
Immediately, someone brought a large cup of water for Dylan. Imogen took the cup and handed it to him, urging him to drink. Dylan accepted the cup and drank it all in one go, which eased the spiciness in his mouth a little. “Imogen, your cousin said I need to finish these peppers, but I haven’t even eaten half yet.” Dylan looked at the basket of peppers and saw that he had not eaten even half of them. He had never eaten this much spice in his life. Right now, his throat felt like it was on fire, and his voice was hoarse. The intense heat was affecting him badly.If this had happened in Wiltspoon where the climate was warmer, after eating so many peppers, his throat would have been terribly inflamed, and he probably would have an upset stomach and a serious case of indigestion. Then, he would be stuck in the toilet for half a day.However, since it was cold in Huntington, eating a little chili every day was not a problem, though not as much as Dylan had just eaten. His stomach
“Did you need me for something, Layla?” Imogen, despite being in a rush to stop Dylan from continuing to eat the chili peppers, asked Layla.“Of course, I came to talk to you about work,” Layla replied.“But the discussion might take a while. Are you going to discuss work with me first, or go downstairs to stop Dylan from eating more peppers first?”Imogen hesitated for a moment but decided to stop Dylan first. Layla guessed that her cousin would choose Dylan and sighed inwardly. Imogen was already wrapped around Dylan's finger. However, Dylan had not entirely escaped Imogen’s influence either. Though he had not fallen in love with Imogen herself, he had fallen for her alter ego, who was still her cousin in the end.Fortunately, the woman Dylan loved was her cousin's alias. If he had chosen another woman, Layla would never have allowed her cousin to take him back. The Doyle ladies did not settle for second place.“Layla, give me about ten minutes.”“Alright, I’ll wait for you
It was already so spicy, there was no way it could get worse. Thus, following his family's advice, he began grabbing huge handfuls of chili peppers and stuffed them into his mouth. The heat made his eyes water, and it felt like his mouth was swelling from the spice. Imogen also saw the comments and watched as Dylan continued to eat the peppers in large mouthfuls. She turned off the livestream, not wanting to keep watching. However, her heart was in such a mess that she could not focus on her work. A few minutes later, she tossed her pen aside, pushed her chair away from the table as she stood up, and walked out quickly. She ran into Layla as soon as she left the office.“Layla,” Imogen called out. “You heading out?” To be honest, Layla knew the answer without asking. “He’s eaten quite a lot of chili peppers already. He doesn’t usually eat spicy food. And eating so much at once will harm his stomach.” Imogen still felt sorry for Dylan. Layla smiled, “If you're worried