Jasmine ordered food delivery for Mrs. Lane and passed the store key to her. She said, “Mrs. Lane, you can close the store and go home whenever you want after you have dinner. You can keep the key or pass it to your missus.”“Missus said that she won’t be available for the next few days. So I’ll come over to help out on her behalf. Let me keep the key.”Mrs. Lane added with a smile, “Ms. Sox and Mr. Bucham, both of you can go ahead and eat together. I can watch the store.”Mrs. Lane had helped in the store for quite a long period. She could remember the book prices. Even if she was alone, it would not affect the operation of the store.Jasmine felt at ease when she left with Josh. They headed to Wiltspoon Hotel for dinner.“How has Zachary been lately?” Jasmine asked concernedly.While driving, Josh said, “He’s busier than ever. He’s been working around the clock like Superman. I could hardly keep up with him. Those working under him have been grumbling, and many of them expect m
At that time, Josh did not take Jasmine seriously at all.It was only until Jasmine’s aunt stopped setting up blind dates for her that Josh started to pay attention to her after the incident at Mrs. Dawson’s birthday party. He found Jasmine interesting.After going on a blind date with Jasmine, Josh felt that she was his cup of tea. Similar to him, Jasmine enjoyed joining in on the fun and gossiping. Coincidentally, he knew a lot of juicy gossip. He could share it with someone who was eager to listen to gossip. Little by little, the thought of marrying Jasmine occurred to him.“After all, I’m already in my 30s. I have common love knowledge. Furthermore, onlookers see most of the game. I can see things clearer than Zachary and have become his love consultant. Unfortunately, his relationship with Serenity is still a mess despite the help of an excellent love consultant.”Jasmine let out a sigh. “Seren isn’t cold-hearted. It was because Zachary concealed his identity and lied to her.
“Josh!”After Mrs. Bucham called her son, she saw that he was pulling a young girl to hurry inside to shy away from her.Mrs. Bucham could not help but scurry forward. She caught up with them shortly and stopped in front of Josh.“Josh, you brat. Didn’t you hear me calling you?”Mrs. Bucham gave him the piece of her mind first. When she turned her gaze to Jasmine, she wore a smile and said to Jasmine, “Young lady, don’t be intimidated. I had to tell Josh off. How dare he turn a deaf ear to his mother’s words and run away when his mother was calling him!”“Mom.”Never in his wildest dreams did he think that he would bump into his mother here.Mrs. Bucham checked Jasmine out from head to toe and saw her holding a bouquet of flowers. Even though Josh had let go of Jasmine’s hand, Mrs. Bucham clearly saw her son holding Jasmine’s hand just now.Giving flowers and holding hands were daily acts of a couple. When did that brat get into a relationship? He did not even let his family
Jasmine smiled and replied, “I’m afraid I’ll disturb you.”“No worries. I enjoy having you around, in fact.”Mrs. Bucham brought Jasmine upstairs as if she knew in which room Josh was going to have a meal. Once they entered the room, it happened to be the private room that Josh had reserved.After being seated, Mrs. Bucham took off her fine charm bracelet. Then, she lifted Jasmine’s hand with the bracelet that Josh gave to Jasmine, and she removed that bracelet. After that, Mrs. Bucham put her bracelet on Jasmine’s wrist and said, “Jasmine, this is our first time meeting. I didn’t prepare anything, so I’ll give you my bracelet as a gift. That bracelet was given by Josh, right? The fineness of this charm bracelet is better.”Jasmine was born into a wealthy family and had a wealthy aunt. Therefore, she had come across all kinds of jewelry and could determine the value of the jewelry.The bracelet Josh gave her was quite costly. It was estimated to be worth a hundred thousand doll
Jasmine thought about how her parents liked Josh. If their parents were to meet, they would likely start discussing their nuptials immediately. And so, she said tactfully, “Mrs. Bucham, my parents are currently traveling and may only be back in a few months.”Mrs. Bucham said regretfully, “Oh, they’re out traveling? Then we’ll wait for them to come back and have a meal together. Jasmine, have your parents met Josh yet?”“They have.”“What did they think of him?”Jasmine looked at Josh and said, “I didn’t ask my parents that because when Josh came to my house, ninety percent of the reason was to look for my brother and treat him to a meal, so my parents think he likes my brother.”Mrs. Bucham was at a loss for words.Josh’s handsome face appeared slightly embarrassed but he did not try to explain himself.He knew Jasmine still did not want their parents to meet yet. He was not in a hurry anyway—it was enough for him to be able to bring home this beautiful woman this year.“Jasmi
Serenity helped her sister close up before getting into the car with her.“I asked Aunt Audrey for help and she was very happy to help. Oh, right! I have some good news. Alice is pregnant.”Alice had gone for a medical check-up and found that her discomfort as of late was due to pregnancy.She had been married to Clive for many years but had not had children not because of her body but because they had a very good relationship and wanted to have a few years to themselves.After Mrs. Stone and the Hunt sisters found each other, Alice saw how cute Sonny was and after discussing it with Clive, decided to start trying for a kid. They did not expect they would succeed so quickly and without her realizing too.After discovering she was pregnant, Alice went straight to her husband’s office to look for him and tell him the good news.The husband and wife were so happy celebrating on their own that they only announced that Alice was pregnant to the rest of the family that evening after re
When Zachary received the call from the bodyguards, he was at Wiltspoon Hotel, having a meeting with a client.After hearing from the bodyguards that Serenity had entered the drugstore to buy pregnancy tests, his hand holding the phone clenched, although he was still relatively calm. He said in his deep voice, “Got it.”After hanging up, Zachary immediately placed a call to Callum.“Hey.”“Callum, where are you now?”“I’m still in the office, doing some overtime.”Lately, his cousin had been working nonstop and everyone under him was tired to their bones.Even Callum, as the COO, was also having a hard time. After dinner, he still had to work overtime.“Come to the hotel now to discuss our collaboration with Mr. Fletcher. We’ve had a few meetings about this, so you should know about it.”“Alright.”Callum did not even dare ask where Zachary was going at the last minute. His cousin told him to go to the hotel and off he went.The York Corporation office was not far from Wilts
“You shouldn’t feel too much pressure about it either. Sometimes, you’ll get affected when there’s too much stress too. Anyway, let nature take its course. If you still don’t manage to get pregnant in two or three years, then you should go and get checked to find out the reason for it.”Some couples did not get pregnant even after a few years but even after getting examined, no problems turned up. Then after getting divorced and both married other people, they were able to become parents.“Maybe it just happened to be during the safe period every time.”Serenity could only guess.Liberty wanted to say that it was not necessarily safe during the safe period.She still felt that it just was not time for them to have kids yet, so it was hard for Serenity to get pregnant.There definitely was no problem with Zachary’s health. Her sister looked healthy too. And because she raised her sister, she was very familiar with her sister’s state of health. If there was something even a little
“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