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
The moment Serenity opened the door, a palm swung toward her.She reacted quickly and caught the hand.It was Jessica.Jessica thought the person who came to open the door would be Liberty and raised a hand to slap the moment the door opened. She did not expect it to be Serenity instead. Serenity learned kickboxing and had quick reflexes, so she did not get hit.“It’s you?“What are you doing here?”Jessica saw that it was Serenity.Serenity shoved Jessica and her hand aside, resulting in her taking a few steps back and creating space between them both.“Where’s Liberty? Tell her to get out here. She seduced my husband!”After work, Hank left her behind at the office in a hurry.Jessica was already furious when the Hunt family came to the company to find Hank and called him brother-in-law.Hank and Liberty were divorced. How did they get the nerve to call Hank their brother-in-law? Did they want Hank and Liberty to remarry?Her in-laws thought that way, and so did the Hunt
Jessica knew she was being ridiculous. Whatever she was spouting was nonsense.She was just angry.In the past, Hank used to say that he would lose his appetite when he came home and saw how fat Liberty was.After the divorce, Hank kept looking for Liberty, and Liberty kept losing weight. She had lost tens of pounds in just two months but Liberty was still a fat woman if she were to be compared to a supermodel.However, for an ordinary person, Liberty just looked slightly chubby.Jessica felt that Hank came looking for Liberty because the latter lost weight and looked much better than when she got divorced.Liberty walked over.When Jessica saw her, she looked at Liberty with resentment and fury, and shouted fiercely, “Liberty, I’m not afraid just because you have a rich aunt. I’m not afraid that your brother-in-law is Mr. York either. I’ll tear you apart if you dare seduce my husband.”Liberty was highly amused and said, “Ms. Yates, are you feeling insecure because you stole s
Fortunately, Quinn herself was strong, and her family was not pushovers either. She turned to look at Julian.Without asking, Julian knew exactly what she was thinking, and he quickly reassured her, “Quinn, you don’t have to worry. That kind of thing won’t happen to us. I’m your rock. As long as I’m around, no one can bully you. In my family, apart from my parents, everyone else has to accede to me, and you know how my parents feel about you. They’re so grateful to you that they practically worship you like a goddess.“You’re familiar with the York family now and have seen the way they operate, right? Well, my family and the Yorks are old family friends. Birds of a feather flock together. The reason our two families are so close is we have similar family values.“Setting aside the fact that your family is powerful enough and supportive of you—even if you were like Serenity in the beginning, my family would never look down on you or mistreat you. They would only love and cherish you.
Stacy was actually hoping that Julian and Quinn could get their marriage license today and hold the wedding right away. However, the date they had picked was after Christmas and they still had to wait over a month for the actual wedding. At least once they signed the papers, there was no need to worry about Quinn changing her mind. Stacy was afraid that Quinn and her family might have second thoughts, especially since her son was afflicted with a disorder.“Hey, sweetie.”When Stacy addressed Quinn, her tone was very gentle. Quinn thought that her future mother-in-law was even kinder and more considerate than her own mother. Her father had looked into the Buchams' character and knew that Stacy was actually quite formidable. To Quinn though, Stacy appeared so gentle and kind that she did not seem like the kind of person who would be overly strict or tough. Of course, anyone who could hold fast the position of the Buchams’ head missus and secure her husband’s love for decades as if
Quinn could not stop laughing when she saw him.Julian blushed a little in response. He asked, “What are you laughing at? Is my outfit ugly? Does it not look good?”He was used to wearing black clothes all the time. Although he had a white suit, he rarely wore it. Today, for the special occasion of legally getting married to Quinn, he had specifically chosen to wear white, a color symbolizing purity, to proclaim how his feelings were as pure as snow.“It’s not ugly, it looks great! You look even more handsome than usual. I’m just not used to seeing you in a white suit. Now, you look like a prince from a fairy tale—my prince.”Julian smiled indulgently. “That’s right. I’m your prince charming and yours alone. You look great in white, too, my dear wife.”It was Quinn’s turn to blush slightly. She was not used to being called his wife, especially since they had not even registered yet. Since they were about to go get their marriage license though, she might as well start getting used
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.