“Clive probably made a deal on the house.”Since the estates were next to each other, it made sense for Clive to buy the property next door and tear down the fence in between to connect the two houses. It would expand the square footage of the Stones’ land. The Stones had the money anyway. Who could beat Clive if he had his eyes on the property? “I can help you to ask around now if you’re interested. Hang on.”Since Duncan felt bad for waking his best friend up, he tried to think of something to make up for it. That was how the Zimmers’ villa came to mind. Using another phone, Duncan checked with his source and quickly got a reply. The Zimmers’ villa was not on the market anyway. Duncan asked his source thinking it was Clive, but his source had no idea who had purchased the house, and that it was not Clive. Clive was one step behind buying the Zimmers’ villa to expand his family’s land as someone else had bought the house off. Sure, the Zimmers’ property was preowned, but
Plopping herself in Zachary’s arms, Serenity yawned and said, “I forgot to talk to you about one thing.” “What’s that?” Zachary took anything that came out of his wife’s mouth seriously—no matter how trivial. “My money-hungry relatives are planning the old switcheroo. They want my cousin to go under the knife to look like me and replace me as Mrs. York.” Zachary glowered. “My cousin is as old as I am. Our dads look a little alike. Plus, we both take after our dads. I guess you can say that we kinda resemble each other. At least, that was what people used to say when we were little. “I haven’t seen her for more than a decade after my parents’ passing. I don’t know what she looks like now.” Zachary uttered with a scowl, “These people have their heads in the clouds. Seren, is my father-in-law really your grandparents’ son?” “That’s not important when you have parents who play favorites. There are cases where the child can get less attention than an adopted child too.“Har
Serenity and Zachary had to wait for the Hunts to make a reckless move and commit a crime before they could send them to jail. “Do they have any vice?” “They gamble. Almost all seniors in the town gamble. It’s their favorite pastime after lunch. I don’t know if my uncles gamble, but I guess they probably took up the habit.” Zachary’s dark eyes shimmered as a plan formed in his mind. Nevertheless, he kept mum about it and said to Serenity, “Leave them to me. Don’t waste your time on them. I’ll be there for you through thick and thin. Just do what you want to do. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come along to the event tonight? We have never attended a party as a couple, honey.” Serenity looked askance at him. “You’re the great Mr. York. Your security detail will be all over you at social events. A lowly peasant like me can’t possibly get close enough to see your face.” Zachary murmured, “That’s in the past…” There was once the couple turned up at the same event before an
Zachary did not bury himself in work right after returning to his office. Instead, he gave his mother a call. Since he was not the type to contact his mother unless necessary, Tania was on tenterhooks when she got the call from her eldest son. The way she saw it, her eldest son would only call her for huge matters. Hence, she was nervous and afraid, especially now that Zachary and Serenity had not gotten back together. As a mother and mother-in-law, Tania felt helpless about the situation. “Zack.” Sensing the worry hidden in his mother’s tone, Zachary answered in a relaxed tone as a way to calm her nerves, “Mom. Clive’s wife is pregnant.” Tania was at first dumbstruck, but soon she came back in a lighter mood. “It is news worth celebrating.” Alice’s pregnancy had not been announced in the business world as the influential family was particular about the timing. The pregnancy would only be released to the public after the pregnant wife got through the first trimester. Sin
Zachary could not even give Serenity one thing because she did not want anything. Serenity was a stubborn woman!Yet, Zachary loved her so! “The etiquette lessons I talked to you and Serenity about…” “Mom, she asked her aunt for help on this. She’ll be going with her aunt to social events, starting tonight. With Mrs. Stone showing her the ropes, it will be quicker and more efficient than taking a class on etiquette.” Tania replied, “Alright. I’ll keep out of this. I can bring her along to social events too, if she wants to.” As Serenity’s mother-in-law, Tania had not spent much time with her. Besides, she believed Zachary was out of Serenity’s league. Tania would only be critical and harsh if she was the one to bring Serenity into the high social circle, and the seemingly cordial relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law would deteriorate. Tania understood why Serenity leaned toward seeking help from Mrs. Stone. Mrs. Stone was once a tough businesswoman. Wit
Jessica’s explanation only drove fear in Oscar. “Jessica, she’s well connected. It won’t go unnoticed if we hired a few hooligans to stir trouble. Her relatives are wealthy and powerful. They’re not people we can mess with. “Did you say that her brother-in-law is the heir of the wealthiest York family? All the more reason to stay away from them. Don’t you know how the Yorks are? We’ve heard of the family even though we live in a rural area. Forget it. A hundred thousand dollars isn’t worth me taking the risk.” Jessica winced her face. “I’m your sister, Oscar. So you’re going to let it go when someone is making my life a living hell?” Oscar replied, “How is she making your life a living hell? I mean, you lied to us. Hank had a wife and a son when he was with you, but you became his mistress and wrecked his family apart. You kept that fact from us. Here we were, thinking you found yourself a good man.“Do you think I don’t know you well? I bet you’re the one picking on the Liberty
“Weren’t you and Jack the reason Mom and Dad asked for a lot of money? Ask any family, and none of them will tell you that they expect that much for a wedding gift. What would you think if your children’s in-laws demand that much for a wedding too? “That kind of money will be good for me to start a family with Hank. How can I possibly allow Hank to give it away? It’s only for formalities’ sake, but what did you tell Mom and Dad? 777,777 dollars is lucky for you. All I get is seven thousand dollars in return, and nothing more. “Mom and Dad will get a hundred thousand dollars while you and Jack get three hundred thousand each. Why? Why are they selling their daughter to give their sons everything? What about the daughter?” Faced with her sister’s questioning, Oscar turned red in the face and lashed out, “You’re favoring outsiders instead of family. We’re your brothers. You should get more out of the Browns since they’re wealthy, but you can’t get anything now because you’re married
Liberty married into the Browns without asking for anything. The wedding gift, be it material items or money, should be given according to the current going rate and local traditions. Nevertheless, Jessica’s parents demanded a lot to give to her brothers and left Jessica nothing to start her own family with. Jessica was not going to say yes to that. Now that Hank put her in control of the purse strings, Jessica was paying for everything their house needed. She felt the pinch every time she footed the bill. The responsibility fell on her to manage the household finances and everything was not cheap. As the head of the household, she started to get on top of their financial situation. Besides, she and Hank were still out of employment. They were eating away what little savings they had, so they had to be budget conscious. Jessica was relieved she only contributed one-third of her past salary to her family. She spent another one-third and saved the remainder in the bank. At