“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.
“Daddy,” Sonny called Hank.Hank took two steps forward, picked his son up, and teased him for a while. When Liberty parked the e-bike, he said, “Your granddad took some of your cousins to my office to look for me.”Liberty frowned. “What for?”She already divorced Hank.Right before the divorce was finalized, her granddad even took a sum of money from her ex-mother-in-law amounting to several tens of thousands.She wondered if her ex-mother-in-law managed to get the money back.Probably not.There was no way money that went into her granddad’s pocket could come back out again.Both parties were brazen and shameless. It would definitely be fun watching them tear into each other. It was a shame she could not witness it.“I’m guessing they came to town to find Serenity after finding out that she’s Mr. York’s wife. They couldn’t find her—Serenity’s store wasn’t open, so they went to Brynfield, but they couldn’t enter. Serenity isn’t answering their calls either.“They wanted to
As Jessica was not yet pregnant, Hank was afraid that his relationship with Sonny would become increasingly distant.That was especially so when he saw Liberty and Duncan together. Even if he felt that Duncan could not possibly like Liberty, he was still worried that his son would call another man “father”.He wanted to take the opportunity to take Sonny with him and raise him for a period of time, so as to cultivate their relationship as father and son.He wanted to let Jessica get along with Sonny too. If Jessica could not get pregnant, and Liberty wanted to remarry, he would fight for Sonny’s custody and take him back.Hank was still Sonny’s father, after all. In no way Hank could allow Sonny to call another man his father.“They already know we’re divorced—why would they pester me? Even if they come, I’m not afraid of them. Sonny isn’t close enough to you all. Besides, you just married that Yates girl. What will she think if you take Sonny back with you?“You’ll have a child
“Yeah.”Sonny wrapped his arms around Serenity’s neck and returned her kisses with several of his own on her cheek, making Serenity’s heart burst with joy and love for this little cutie.“Why are you back so late, Liberty? I finished making dinner long ago,” Serenity asked her sister while hugging her nephew.“The interior designer finished work late, so I had to leave a little later as well. I was thinking of coming back to cook for you, but you already did.”Serenity said, “I just suffered some emotional hurt. It’s not like I’m sick. You don’t need to cook for me.”Liberty walked over and looked at the painting Serenity made. It was a hairpin.“Your drawing sucks when you’re not in a good mood. Stop drawing for now.”Liberty helped her sister put the drawing board away. “Did you go out for a walk today?”“I didn’t want to move, so I slept all day.”“Take a walk tomorrow. You’ll just feel worse if you stay cooped up at home all day.”Serenity hummed. “I’ll go back to work to
Austin said, “He’s definitely here to discuss a potential partnership with your company.“He's just the acting head of the Longbottoms. He doesn’t truly control the family. If the real head returns, everything he’s worked for will go to someone else.“The downfall of Belinda Fisher probably gave him a wake-up call and he doesn’t want to end up like that.“He’s definitely seeking to cooperate with you regarding his personal business. He’s just using the Longbottoms’ name, since their influence in Windermere is enormous.”In terms of wealth, the O'Connors and the Longbottoms were on equal footing, but the O'Connors had fewer members and did not have the same level of influence in Windermere as the Longbottoms.Isabella said, “He’s very ambitious. A partnership would only just be the beginning. Once it’s established, he’ll start thinking about how to cheat us and steal our business.“Plus, he’s very lecherous. Nobody can put a number to how many women he’s toyed with. Some even lost
Tony was aware that whenever his wife had to play the villain, it was always to protect him. He said, “You're right, I misspoke. Your mother isn’t that kind of person.”“Manny, I’ll be leaving soon. You stay here, and I’ll leave half of my men with you. If anything comes up that you can't handle, contact me. I’ll be waiting to hear good news from you.” Tony decided to fly to Wiltspoon in the afternoon. He would only stay for two or three days before returning to Havenmill to handle business.However, as he thought about how he was working like a horse for Longbottom Corporation when many of the benefits did not even belong to him personally, Tony felt a bit disgruntled.“Got it.” Manny did not reject his father’s arrangement.As the Longbottom father and son were discussing how to deal with the O’Connors, Austin entered Isabella’s office.Isabella was busy, so Austin did not disturb her. He quietly sat at the tea table and made some tea.“It seems you’ve learned the art of tea-
Manny had never been to Wiltspoon, but he knew from his father that several prominent families in Wiltspoon had close ties with the Johnsons from Annenburg. It was possible that the child adopted by the Johnsons’ young missus was Laurence. Unfortunately, he could not meet that child, so he could not be a hundred percent certain. The child was currently out of sight and well-protected, hidden so effectively that even the Longbottoms’ information network could not find anything. The other prominent families in Wiltspoon were also helping to keep the child hidden, so Manny deeply disliked the people from these families. Even though they were thousands of miles away, they were still an obstacle to him and his father in their pursuit of becoming the true head of the family.“That's right. If we can conquer the O’Connors, we’ll have a backup plan,” his father said. “You must put your all into it, son. If you need help, just let me know, though this is also an opportunity for you to ge
Tony Longbottom was the only person who would put on such a parade. The big shots in Satbury usually had entourages of their own, but none would put on a spectacle as big as Tony would.As they departed in their car, Tony’s gracious demeanor utterly shattered.His face twisted into an ugly, cruel expression as he said, “I’ve never been treated like this before, even when the legitimate branch of the family still lived, and those two ignorant little girls actually refused to see me multiple times.”Manny was very angry too and he said, “Pops, since they refuse to go about this the easy way, we’ll have to show them the hard way. We can approach it from other angles, and once they’re completely out of business and they have nowhere else to turn to, they’ll be at our mercy.“Won’t they have to do as we please then? I want to marry them, they’ll have to marry me, and if I don’t, I’ll just make them my mistresses. Don’t the O’Connors have plenty of daughters? I’ll fuck every one of them
“Isabella O’Connor is so outstanding, so why are you asking me to go for Tati O’Connor instead?” Manny said under his breath in puzzlement.He had seen photos of the two ladies and Isabella’s appearance was more striking. She had a cold and aloof aura that easily triggered his desire to conquer her, and after just a few glances, he was captivated.If it were up to him, Manny would choose Isabella.Tony looked at his son, smiled, and said, “You can’t control her. Of course, if you manage to make her fall for you, we can talk about switching. But for now, focus on Tati O’Connor.”Tati was also beautiful. However, she did not have Isabella’s cold demeanor. She seemed much gentler, like she smiled often.“Marrying Tati O’Connor would be a big advantage for both you and our family.”Manny thought for a moment and then nodded in understanding. “Got it, Dad.”Manny’s good looks, wealth, honeyed tongue, and generosity toward girls made him good at winning them over. Pursuing a rich youn
After testing the O’Connor sisters and realizing they were not like other women, Mr. Longbottom thought of having his son marry Tati.He knew that his son would not be able to handle or control Isabella, so he set his sights on Tati. Tati probably did not realize she was considered an easy target. Most people underestimated her because she had always kept a low profile.At that moment, a young man got out from the other side of the Rolls-Royce. He resembled Mr. Longbottom. Indeed, he was Mr. Longbotton’s eldest son, Manny.“Dad.”Manny went to his father’s side and glanced at the building before him. He asked, “Aren’t we driving inside?”In Havenmill, Manny could do whatever he wished because his father was the interim head of the Longbottom family. While he had no respect for ordinary people at all, he was clever enough not to offend people he should not.He never parked his car outside the places he wanted to go and simply drove his car through the gates. However, Manny
Meanwhile in Satbury, a few luxury cars stopped at the entrance of Costa Corporation. The door of the first car, a Rolls-Royce, opened. A bodyguard came out of the car.He waited for his boss, who was sitting in the backseat to exit.Mr. Longbottom got out of the car. Although he was over fifty years old, he looked like he was in his forties as he maintained his appearance well.He wore a white tailored suit with a tie, which made him look more youthful.The bodyguards in the other cars alighted as well.They quickly stood behind Mr. Longbottom to protect him. It was also his display of power.A few bodyguards grabbed many gift boxes from the trunks. Mr. Longbottom stood in front of the company and raised his head to look at the sixty-eight-storey office building. It was a symbol of the O’Connor family’s abilities.Costa Corporation was not the family’s only business. They were involved in many industries and were successful in all of them.The O’Connors were wealthy and powe
Jasmine added, “In some cases, the divorced women can get married to a better man, while the divorced men can’t even find a new wife. There are many single men now.“Isn’t there a saying nowadays that men who have wives are extremely lucky?”When Jasmine was at the bookstore, she would also visit the neighboring stores to listen to juicy gossip. Many of the store owners were not locals and they had many stories to tell. Someone said there was an evil mother-in-law in a rural area who looked down on her daughter-in-law. She would egg her son on to abuse his wife and get a divorce. She would also tell her son that she could find a better and younger wife for him. However, once the divorce went through, news of the mother-in-law’s evil deeds and the son’s domestic abuse spread far and wide. Who would dare marry off their daughters to a man like that?Besides, holding another wedding would require a lot of money. The cost of a wedding had increased a lot compared to the past.Whe
“Sonny’s fine. He has recovered. You want to get Sonny from school?”After thinking about it, Serenity agreed and said, “Okay. I’ll message Sonny’s teacher later to tell her you’ll be taking him.”“Okay, Serenity. Thank you.”Hank was thankful that Serenity did not make things difficult for him. Serenity and Liberty had great character. Liberty had a new relationship and already let go of her resentment for Hank. She could coexist with him peacefully. On the other hand, Serenity still held grudges against Hank. However, since he and Liberty had divorced, he could no longer hurt her. He was also Sonny’s father. Serenity was willing to tolerate him for Sonny’s sake. Therefore, she always said yes whenever Hank requested to meet his son. “You’ll be taking Sonny out to eat after picking him up, right? Remember not to let him eat too much fried food, especially fried chicken and fries. He’ll get a sore throat.“He got a fever that day due to a throat inflammation.”“Got it. I’ll