“Give each other some time.” Liberty patted her sister’s hand and put the document back into the envelope. She added, “Don’t put such an important document in my rental house. Although I live in a nice neighborhood, we don’t know much about our neighbors.“Brynfield has a tighter security measure in place. You can buy a safe to keep in your home with Zachary. It’ll be safer to lock the document in there. This is everything Zachary owns.”Serenity fell silent before uttering, “I’ll give Nana a call later. I’ll hand the document to Nana to hold onto. Their home is a better place.” “Sounds good.” Liberty had no problems with that. She asked, “Are you staying for lunch?” “I’m going to the Stones’ residence to talk to Aunt Audrey. I might have my lunch there.” “What are you going to talk to Aunt Audrey about?” Liberty asked with concern, “Do you need help from Aunt Audrey or something?” Mrs. Stone was their aunt and a person of position in Wiltspoon. Although the sisters had r
Liberty adhered to a strict diet, skipping out on food with high sugar and fat content. She now weighed a hundred and fifty pounds. Her goal was a hundred pounds. With another fifty pounds to go, Liberty only had to persevere to get her figure back. Having shed a lot of pounds, Liberty looked a lot better on the exterior front. By the time Liberty jogged back to her restaurant, her ex-husband was expectedly waiting for her there. Hank’s car was parked right in front of the restaurant. As Liberty had locked the glass door, he could not get into the place. Leaning against his car, he slipped one hand in his pocket and held a cigarette with the other. He took a puff every now and then. Liberty furrowed her brows. Her ex-husband’s presence was the last thing she wanted to have in her life. It was not like he came to see his son. Liberty found it ironic. Before the divorce happened, Hank was never home. The couple barely had time to talk. He was not willing to communicate
Furious, Liberty let out a smirk. “Did I cost you your job? Do you think your greed will go unnoticed? You’re to be blamed for your job loss. Don’t take your anger out on anyone else.” She curtly added, “I have my regrets too. I regret not seeing through you and not divorcing you sooner! Hank, if there’s one thing I don’t regret in life, it’s our divorce!” Hank shot her a glare and uttered angrily, “Even so! I will lose my job anyway because you have Zachary to help you! Liberty, we were husband and wife for many years. That should count for something, but you are so wicked to pull that on me!” During the divorce, he asked her not to get back at him with the evidence. She gave him her word and promised not to act in retribution. Hank did not count on Serenity and her husband to play a part in this. This was a deliberate act. “I bet you knew Zachary is Mr. York right from the start. You knew he would give me a hard time, get me fired, and destroy my future.” “How was I supp
Hank wanted to say that he had lost interest in Liberty a long time ago. Liberty was fat, and her weight took away all redeeming assets. However, now that Liberty shed a lot of pounds, she looked better than before. Hank could no longer say that in full confidence. Liberty was beautiful before the birth of their son. She was no lesser than Jessica in every single way. “Jessica loves to overthink. We were once a married couple after all. Jessica will take it the wrong way so long as we remain in contact. Don’t take it to heart, Liberty.” If Liberty still loved him… It was a huge ego boost for Hank with two women fighting over him. It was all in his head though. Liberty had stopped loving him a long time ago. Hank had mixed feelings about it. He was the one who betrayed Liberty, but it did not sit well with Hank that Liberty let go of her feelings for him. Hank hoped his life with Jessica would only get better after the divorce while Liberty could live her days miserabl
Hank fled away in his car. On his way home, he could not stop cussing Liberty out. Jessica was the sweetest and kindest little thing. Hank did not regret divorcing Liberty! Back at his rented place, Hank saw a familiar car downstairs. Hank’s head was about to explode. It was his sister.Here came his sister again. Hank ran his fingers along his hair in annoyance. He had better go home. He and Jessica were out of work. It was clear that Zachary was out to get him. Did Zachary have something to do with his sister and brother-in-law losing their jobs too? In that case, Hank had dragged his sister down with him. Once outside the door, Hank could hear the arguments inside. Since the company let Jessica and Hank go together, the couple left the office together. However, Hank told Jessica to get out and hail a cab mid-journey as he needed to blow some steam off. Showing understanding, Jessica took a cab home. She was not in a good mood either. Hank always looked out for
George wanted to open his own construction material business. It cost around a hundred thousand dollars to rent a space and give it a facelift. Chelsea was reluctant to use her savings for her husband’s business setup now that the couple was no longer with an income. She would lose her savings if the business became a bust. Nevertheless, Chelsea wanted her husband to try it out. She would become the boss’s wife if the business was up and running. Accustomed to getting financial help from her family, Chelsea naturally came to her parents and brother for help. “I’m not Liberty!” Jessica broke down and yelled, “Go to Liberty if you like her that much. See if she even cares!” She was most bitter when the Browns compared her with Liberty. Before, the Browns often disgruntledly pointed out this and that about Liberty to Jessica. Since the divorce and Jessica joining the family, the Browns were now fawning over Liberty. “Chelsea, your son messed up my room, so you have to cle
“I married you without having a wedding reception. Your sister’s terrorizing me. I guess she can’t be bothered to play the nice sister-in-law.” Jessica heard that the Browns acted as though they adored Liberty and her sister before Hank and Liberty got married. After Liberty gave birth, the Browns showed their true colors, probably thinking Liberty would not leave since there was a child in the picture. Jessica had to admit that the Browns were good actors. The Browns did not care to put on a show now that Jessica married Hank. Jessica had real feelings for Hank. Otherwise, she would have thought twice before marrying into the family. As for the crazy in-laws, she had the confidence to sort them out. Her in-laws did not scare her. There was nothing to fear so long as she clung tight to Hank’s heart and his wallet. Jessica whined amid tears. Hank’s heart was broken as he stared at her tearful face. He scanned the room with anger building inside him. Wrapping his arm ar
Hank gave his sister the stink eye. “Clean up my room, Chelsea. You should keep an eye on Lucas next time. Don’t turn the place upside down every time you come. Lucas always picked on Sonny and stole his toys back then. He even lied and beat Sonny up so bad he was in the hospital. I know he’s young, but you should start disciplining him now. You’ll regret not doing anything about his behavior when he grows up.” Despite wanting to say her piece, Chelsea was reminded of why she was here. Hence, she reluctantly uttered, “Got it. I’ll tidy up your bedroom. That’s how Lucas is. How am I supposed to do anything about it?” After soothing his wife, Hank asked his sister, “What brings you here, Chelsea?” “Your brother-in-law and I are out of work. We haven’t been lucky with our job prospects, and our age is not helping either. The employees are looking for people not older than thirty-five years old. Your brother-in-law and I are in our forties. “So now your brother-in-law is thinkin
“Whether he actually feels any fatherly affection or not, as long as he's still my father and is staying in the hospital, as his daughter, I should at least go visit him. Every time I come back from the hospital, my mood might be low, but how much better do you think his mood can be?” Caroline and her father and brothers were essentially hurting each other in a war of attrition. Darren remained silent. On the way, Caroline asked Darren to stop in front of a flower shop. She got out and bought a bouquet of flowers. She did not buy any fruits or nutritional supplements.Seeing that she only came back with a bouquet, Darren could not help but smile. “Mr. Clark is going to be upset when he sees you only bought flowers. Flowers are cheap, they can’t be eaten, and they wither after a few days. He’d much prefer it if you bought some supplements for him.”“I’m not buying those for him. He'll sell whatever nutritional products I send him to make money. It feels like they've become obsessed
Caroline's ability to successfully run and grow her company and do increasingly better in the past showed that she was a capable person.“She also has Darren by her side. Darren is excellent in every way, especially his loyalty. People like him are like loyal retainers of old. Even if they die, they will never betray their master.”Duncan had a very good impression of Darren. “I hope they can be happy together. They should be. The way Darren looks at her, it’s full of tenderness.”“You know what they say, birds of a feather flock together—people are drawn to those similar to them. The fact that they get along so well with us and we appreciate each other means we’re of the same kind. Darren will absolutely be a doting husband in the future.”Duncan was sure that a new member would soon join the ranks of the doting husband team and that would be Darren. Liberty smiled at him, and Duncan could not help but reach out and gently pinch her cheek.“Why are you smiling at me like that?
“That’s fine. You can get your marriage license first, then slowly pick a good day or the wedding. “You two must invite us to your wedding when the time comes,” Liberty repeated.Caroline smiled and replied, “We’ll see when the time comes. For now, it’s still early.” She knew that Liberty wanted to support her, to show Darren that she had someone supporting her. Although Darren would not mistreat her, Liberty’s kindness still moved Caroline. If not for her mother having committed such heinous acts, she and Liberty would surely have become good friends. Caroline sighed inwardly. After sitting for a little while longer, Caroline got up and said, “Liberty, you’re busy, so I won’t disturb you any longer. I’ll leave now. See you next year.”Liberty got up to see her off and walked her and Darren to the elevator. Duncan followed them out too in his wheelchair.“Mr. Fletcher, treat Caroline well. She’s a good girl.” Liberty could not help but stress, although she knew that Darren w
Caroline smiled gently. “I do quite like Sonny, he's really cute. Liberty, you've done a great job raising your son. It's easy to see that in ten or twenty years, Sonny will be very successful.”The only little one in Wiltspoon who had a familial connection to her was Sonny, as well as Clive’s son. Serenity's baby had not been born yet, after all.“Oh, by the way, I've prepared Christmas gifts for all of you, and I've written your names on them so it's clear whose gift is which. One of them is for Serenity's unborn baby. That generation will call me ‘grandaunt’, right? I'm not sure whether Serenity’s having a boy or a girl, so I've prepared a gift for both a boy and a girl. If it's a boy, then the other gift will be for her second child.”Caroline smiled and said, “Considering how much the Yorks wish for a daughter, I think Serenity and Zachary will probably give it another go and try for a daughter.”In this case, giving double the gifts was not excessive.“My nephew isn't even b
Caroline sighed internally once again. She would not ruminate about the past, and neither could she bring herself to. Mr. Foster was still alive, but he had returned to seek revenge for his master, and in doing so, he made Belinda fully realize that she would never receive his love in this lifetime. Now that Belinda was dead, all the love, hatred, and grudges had dissipated with her. Fortunately, she came to a realization before she passed on and regretted the things she had done to Tiara.Liberty said, “Your mother truly was very shrewd.”Belinda was ruthless, but when it came to making her posthumous arrangements, she had been meticulous, especially in preventing Hunter and his sons from plundering the Fisher family's assets. It had to be said that Belinda had truly done her duty as the head of the Fisher family, though as a mother, she had been too biased. She appeared very good to her three sons on the surface, but when dividing the family estate, she was very objective. “Did
The backing Liberty had was too strong.Although Caroline was familiar with the family business and internal affairs, she had no backing. The number of people supporting her within the family had also decreased. It was not because she was incompetent but because she was Belinda’s daughter. Whatever Belinda did was exposed by the media and circulated among the people of Jensburg. It would be a lie to say that the Fisher family members did not hold a grudge at all. Even if Caroline was kinder than Belinda, they could not support Belinda’s daughter as the next matriarch. People would change. When Belinda first assumed the position decades ago, she was friendly to the family. However, once her position was stabilized, she started eliminating those who were capable and those who disagreed with her. She wanted to monopolize power. Therefore, nobody wanted Caroline to take over as matriarch. On the other hand, Liberty received much more support. Unless Liberty gave up on the
At that moment, the office phone rang. Liberty picked up the call and was informed by the secretary that Caroline had arrived.“Please let her in,” replied Liberty before hanging up. “Caroline is here.”Liberty told Duncan. He said calmly, “So what? We aren’t doing anything shameful. There’s nothing to hide.”He was Liberty’s fiancée. Most people in WIltspoon and Jensburg were aware of this. Seeing him in Liberty’s office would be completely normal to Caroline. Besides, he was one of the shareholders of Liberty’s company. Therefore, the company was also Duncan’s territory. He was uninvolved in the operations and only invested his money. He believed that Liberty could manage the company well. Liberty smiled and did not say anything else. She went to prepare a pot of tea. Soon, Caroline entered. Darren was behind her with multiple shopping bags in his hands. When Liberty saw the bags upon exiting the pantry with a pot of tea, she told Caroline, “What did you br
“What’s wrong?”Duncan replied softly, “I’m fine. I thought you caught a cold because you kept sneezing.”He wanted to fuss over her, yet he received her concern instead. That was the kind of relationship he wanted—mutual concern, understanding, and trust. Liberty understood why he suddenly came to her. She said, “You got so worried over an occasional sneeze. Don’t worry. I’m fine. I’ve gotten used to the winter in Jensburg after staying here for some time.“Maybe I was sneezing because someone said something bad about me behind my back.”Duncan immediately said, “Who dares to badmouth my fiancée?”Liberty feigned anger with a glance, but she was clearly happy. Duncan was very protective of her. Even Hank was not as protective as when she was dating him back then. The difference between true and fake love was so apparent. Duncan guessed, “I can’t think of anyone who’d scold you besides your previous in-laws.”Liberty replied, “You shouldn’t think about them. I no lo
“Anyway, you’re not allowed to take advantage of Sonny. He’ll catch on because he’s growing up. Don’t offend Serenity either. Otherwise, your hardware store that has finally stabilized will have to close down.”Chelsea’s expression changed when she recalled why she and her husband lost their jobs. “One more thing. If Liberty and Duncan get married, don’t be ignorant and stir up trouble at their wedding.”Olivia was worried that her daughter would be unreasonable and make a fuss. Chelsea was unhappy. “Do I look like someone who likes to create trouble? Liberty is different and isn’t as gullible as before. I don’t have the guts to make a ruckus at their wedding.“Do you think I’m that fearless? I’m afraid of losing everything too.”Nevertheless, Chelsea was still jealous that the sister-in-law she used to bully was able to marry into a wealthy family two years after her divorce. Olivia knew well of the daughter she birthed. She said, “Think about who rescued Lucas when someth