Brandt responded respectfully, then said in concern, “It’s cold and windy outside, sir. Let’s go back inside. You haven’t eaten anything since you got up today.”Zachary did not move and asked Brandt, “Will she come back if I faint from hunger?”Brandt was speechless.Zachary smiled wryly. “I was just asking. I won’t neglect my own health. I still want to have a lot of children and grandchildren with Seren and live with her until our hair turns gray. I won’t live to have gray hair if I starve myself.”Brandt quickly said, “The missus eats and drinks well. I think this mentality of hers is commendable.”He was terrified that Zachary would deliberately starve to the point of fainting. If the missus did not come back, then he would starve to death.“She... She doesn’t love me as much as I love her.”That was why she could be a little more ruthless.“Jim,” Zachary shouted in a low voice.Jim hurriedly trotted over.“Get the car. I want to go back to the manor for a few days.”“Y
Grandma May choked and said sheepishly, “I thought that would come naturally and didn’t have to be taught.”She added to herself, “A couple only learns to cherish each other by experiencing ups and downs together.”Tania was speechless.A maid entered.“Old Mrs. York and Mrs. York, Mr. Zachary is back.”Upon hearing that, Grandma May scurried away like a startled bird. Her movements were so agile that they were not befitting of her age.“Tania, I’ll go back to my room and lie down. If Zack asks, tell him that I’ve fallen ill because I was too worried about him and Serenity.”Tania was speechless. “Don’t blame me if Zack sends you to the hospital.”“I’ll be fine as long as he doesn’t send me to the crematorium.”Grandma May hid in her room as fast as possible. She lay on the bed and pretended to be sick.After lying down for a while, she did not hear a knock on the door.She thought to herself, ‘Is that brat so angry that he doesn’t even care about my so-called illness? So th
“Mom.”If Zachary did not explain clearly, his mother would actually arrange a blind date for him and cause misunderstandings.He said in a low voice, “When I said Serenity left with her sister, I meant she went back for a small period of time to calm down. She’s not leaving forever. I won’t allow her to not come back either.”God knew how difficult it was for him to let go and allow her to follow her sister home.“I also need time to calm down, but it’s hard for me, so I want to jump into the pool and take a dip. Maybe that will help cool me down. I’m not trying to harm myself to gain her sympathy.”Tania blinked and asked, “You’re not divorced yet?”“Do you want me to get a divorce?”“Yes and no. I’ve always felt that you two weren’t compatible. Your social circles are completely different. It’ll be very hard for Serenity to squeeze in. Perhaps you two can’t understand that now and don’t know what it feels like, so you’re able to get along well in the beginning. However, you’l
“Tania, get someone to cook ginger soup for that boy. Add more ginger so that it’s spicier.”Grandma May came out of the room and instructed her daughter-in-law as she walked outside.Tania agreed and instructed the maid accordingly.When the two women arrived at the pool, Zachary was still swimming around in the water like a fish.“Zachary York,” Grandma May shouted angrily.Zachary glanced at his nana before swimming to the edge of the pool. Then, he climbed up and sat there.Grandma May walked around the pool and went to him, saying in distress, “What are you still doing sitting here? Hurry back into the house.”“I want to relax and calm down, Nana.”Grandma May scolded him. “If you want to calm down, you can lock yourself in your room. I can assure you that no one will bother you. Why do you need to jump into the pool to do so?”“It’s quite effective.”Zachary added indifferently, “The cold water cleared my mind and calmed my irritability.”He was telling the truth.Gra
After changing his clothes, Zachary drank the bowl of ginger soup under his mother’s gaze. He frowned because the soup was way too spicy.“Mom, why is there so much ginger? It’s so spicy.”“Your Nana asked them to add more ginger. If you don’t like ginger soup, then don’t do such stupid things again in the future.”Zachary put down the bowl. “I really was just trying to calm down. I wasn’t trying to do anything stupid.”“Yes, yes, if you say so. Are you calm now? Go talk to Nana. She’s the one who started it. You wouldn’t have ended up like this if not for her.”Tania was somewhat resentful of her mother-in-law.Her son was such an excellent man. It was not like he could not find a wife, but the old woman insisted on him marrying her savior.At first, they were all grateful to Serenity and wanted to thank her, but Serenity refused.Later, Serenity and Grandma May got along well, and Serenity won the old lady’s favor. Tania secretly wondered if Serenity refused their large sum o
Tania thought about how most people only married once in their lives. Serenity married her son, but she did not get anything. It was not strange for her to feel wronged.Tania said, “You can make up for the betrothal gift and wedding ceremony.”Zachary knew that it was possible to make up for it, but indisputably, he had always made her suffer.He stood up. “I’ll go talk to Nana. Don’t blame her. Maybe this is a trial I have to overcome. A trial of love.”It was because his life had been smooth sailing since birth and he had never suffered any setbacks.Thus, God was giving him a trial now.“Zack, I still have to remind you this—our identity has been exposed to the people in Serenity’s circle. Her relatives and sister’s ex-husband’s family may try to pester you. You can’t give them benefits for Serenity’s sake. Those people are like vampires; they’ll come back for more if you give them anything even for once.“They’ll cling to you and suck you dry. It wouldn’t be bad to give the
Zachary pursed his lips for a while before saying, “She wants to calm down, so don’t bother yet. Don’t go for now.”Grandma May hummed. “Zack, I’m glad you let her go back with her sister. You’ve improved. You’re not as domineering as before and didn’t force her to stay. It’s good that you learned when to let go and how to give each other some space.”Zachary’s face was sullen.“I’ll go find Seren in a couple of days, but not to plead for you. I should also apologize to her since I lied to her first.”Zachary snorted coldly.The grandmother and grandson took after one another.“What are you planning to do next?”“What do you think I should do next?” Zachary retorted.Grandma May smiled and reached out to touch her eldest grandson’s handsome face lovingly. Then, she poked him in the head. “You have a brain, so think for yourself. Take your time and slowly figure out what to do.“Loving someone isn’t as simple as falling in love. You need to learn to understand her, trust her, a
Grandma May patted his shoulder. “Go get her! You have my moral support in chasing after your wife!”Zachary said, “Nana, I sense the sarcasm in your tone.”Grandma May’s eyes twinkled, but she denied it and said, “Do you, now? How am I being sarcastic?”“I said before that I won’t pursue my wife...”“Ah, now that you’ve reminded me, you did indeed mention… Either way, haven’t you been eating your words recently? Once you get used to it, nothing would come as a surprise anymore the more you eat your words.”Zachary was speechless.Was she his nana or not?After bickering with Nana and listening to her reminisce about the past he was not privy to, Zachary somewhat understood why she insisted that he marry Serenity.It was because of his grandfather’s last words and that nameless fortune-teller, who said that Serenity and he were destined to be husband and wife, so his nana stubbornly insisted on him marrying Serenity.Of course, Zachary was grateful to that fortune-teller now.
“I’m sorry. I have a business appointment tonight.”Tati rejected Manny’s invitation without hesitation. Manny had been pursuing her relentlessly. If she were to have a meal with him, the paparazzi stalking them would take pictures and she would be on the local entertainment headlines the next day. She would not give Manny any chances to advertise false information about their relationship. Manny looked disappointed. “Another day then.“By the way, you’ll be attending a banquet two days later, right? Can I be your escort?”Tati and Isabella would not attend just any banquet. Families who could invite them were wealthy and close to the O’Connors. Ordinary banquets could never have Tati and Isabella as guests. Manny had gathered information for two days. He heard that one of the wealthy families in Satbury would be holding a banquet to celebrate their old missus’s eightieth birthday, and many guests were invited to liven up the celebration. A missus of that family was clos
“My family isn’t inferior to yours, sweet Tati. The Longbottoms even surpass the O’Connors. As a young master of the Longbottoms, why will I go after your family’s money?“Money has never been a problem for the Longbottom family. In fact, you and I are the best match for each other. Our families are equally rich. If we get together, it’ll be a joining of two strong forces.”Tati wanted to say that while the Longbottom family surpassed the O’Connors, Manny was not the true person in power within his family. Even his father was not the legitimate head. The power and wealth of the Longbottom family belonged to the true head of the family. Tony and Manny Longbottom were simply managing the family in the interim. Did they think the family had become theirs?If the son of the previous Longbottom family head grew up and returned to take charge of the family, Tony and Manny would no longer have any influence. They would only receive some compensation for their hard work. Without the L
Tati looked toward Manny and said in a serious tone, “If you love someone, you’d be considerate of her and do what’s best for her.“Meanwhile, you’re disregarding any inconvenience this might cause me just to appear romantic. You know I’m busy, yet you put flowers here and blocked my way, wasting my time.“Do your actions truly reflect your love for me? Are you being considerate of me?”Tati would not have said a word if Manny had asked his people to place the flowers in an empty spot. However, he just had to do it at the entrance of the company, attracting many people. Her company security team could not even chase them away. They knew Manny’s identity and that he was pursuing her. If the security chased him away, the Longbottom and O’Connor families could end up enemies. Secondly, they were worried about getting fired if Tati were to accept Manny’s feelings one day and decide to punish them. Tati would not blame the security for failing to execute their duty. After Manny s
“It’s okay if you don’t want my bouquets. Can you feel my sincere love for you through these letters?“I fell in love with you at first sight, and I fell even harder the second time I saw you.”Manny’s gaze was affectionate as if he truly loved Tati. To be honest, Tati was outstanding in various aspects. She was good enough for him, a young master of the Longbottoms. They were also close in age and definitely had common topics to talk about. However, Tati refused to give him a chance and rejected his confession. That did not matter. After all, it had not been long since he started pursuing Tati. As the O’Connors had more daughters than sons, he could understand that their daughters would be especially cautious regarding romantic relationships. They did not want men dating them solely for the O’Connor family’s money. Although that had been Manny’s initial intention, he was satisfied with Tati after meeting her in person. He was willing to marry her. Besides, Tati was com
Meanwhile, in Satbury, Tati returned to the company but was forced to stop her car at the entrance. Some people were decorating the entrance with flowers. Security tried to chase them away, but they did not even budge. The security guards seemed wary of something and did not force those people to leave. A few cars were parked nearby, including a truck that still carried fresh flowers.Tati did not honk. There were people and flowers on the road before her and honking was useless anyway, or she could simply drive past without a care. She got out of the car to have a look. “Sweet Tati.”An unfamiliar voice rang. Tati looked toward the person who called her and frowned. She recognized that person. He was Manny Longbottom, the eldest son of the interim head of the family.Mr. Longbottom had come over several times for business negotiations. However, it was not yet his scheduled timing. Even if he were the Longbottom family’s interim head, there would be no special treatmen
First, Adrian poured himself a glass of water. He then sat down at his desk, pulled out his phone, and made a call to Jacob while sipping his water.When the call connected, he spoke in a low voice, “We’re going ahead with the plan. Caroline will be heading to Fortress Hotel later to meet with a client. After the meeting, she’ll have dinner there.“The discussion and dinner will take a long time. By the time she leaves the hotel, it’ll already be nighttime. She probably won’t go anywhere else after that.“Wait for her on the route she usually takes home. Her license plate is CA 201. Got it?”Adrian made sure Jacob remembered Caroline’s license plate number. He had also sent the information via text, so unless the person had an exceptionally bad memory, they should be able to recall it.Jacob replied, “Got it. We’ll have to start preparing, then. Try to get Caroline to drink some alcohol. If she’s drunk, it’ll be easier to handle her.”After all, they could not guarantee that the
Adrian snapped, “Are you saying that I don’t do real work? Caroline, I was working at Fisher Enterprise long before we even knew you existed.”Caroline said neutrally, “Yes, yes, Adrian, you’ve been at Fisher Enterprise for a long time, but what achievements have you made? I mean, achievements that you accomplished on your own.“The results credited to you in the past weren’t actually your doing. You know better than anyone how they came about, so I won’t spell it out. I may have joined Fisher Enterprise only recently, but look at the position I’m in now.“Adrian, I’ve made it very clear. If you want to keep your job, do it well and take it seriously. Stop trying to take credit for other people’s work.”Adrian’s expression darkened. “I only said a couple of things, and you fired back with dozens. Can’t you give me some grace? I have pride, too.”“Adrian, go back to work. I need to get ready to head out soon.” Caroline was done talking to her brother.Adrian fell silent for a mo
Adrian was sullenly quiet. Was he really that incompetent? He thought he had done a pretty good job.Back when their mother was still around, he had not even needed to lift a finger. He just had to vaguely outline the requirements, and the elite team under him would come up with a proposal that satisfied everyone upstairs.All he had to do was wait for the praise and the compliments about how capable he was.After doing this for so long, Adrian had started to believe that he truly was talented.Then, he found out that Celine was not his biological sister and that Caroline was, but the latter had grown up in the countryside, appearing weak and timid, and seemed useless to the company—a good-for-nothing. Thus, Adrian began to harbor ambitions. He wanted to replace his sister and become the successor of the Fisher family.He had repeatedly expressed to his mother his desire to take over, to become the first male successor in the Fisher family’s history. He even said he was willing
Adrian tried several times to interrupt his sister, but Caroline’s barrage came at him like a machine gun, rapid and relentless. All he could do was glare at her, his face flush with anger. If looks could kill, Caroline would have been torn to pieces long ago.After finishing her lecture, Caroline picked up her cup and took a few sips of her coffee. She then said, “Adrian, look at me, I’m parched from all this talking. I’ve really gone out of my way to persuade you for your own good, just like how you tried to persuade me not to hand over control of the Fisher family. “To be honest, even if I didn’t give it back to Audrey and the rest, do you think I could hold onto the position of the matriarch?“The rest of the family doesn’t support us. They might not necessarily side with the Wiltspoonians either, but they definitely won’t side with us. They’ve long been dissatisfied with Mom and us.“Without their support and unable to win against Audrey, the Fisher legacy would eventually be