“Mrs. York.”They were stopped by Mrs. Newman and Camryn just after taking several steps. Camryn was being dragged by Mrs. Newman. When Serenity saw Camryn was about to fall, she instinctively stretched her hand to support her. “Be careful, Camryn.”Serenity steadied Camryn before looking toward Mrs. Newman. Mrs. Newman squeezed a smile. “Thank you for helping Camryn, Mrs. York. She can’t see, so she falls easily.”Elisa said, “She’s blind, yet you keep dragging her.”Mrs. Newman’s smile faltered. “I guess the sun will rise from the west tomorrow,” Elisa said sarcastically. She gave Mrs. Newman a sidelong glance. “This is your first time bringing Camryn to a banquet, Mrs. Newman. How rare. Do you guys think the sun will rise from the west tomorrow?”Elisa’s mockery infuriated Mrs. Newman, but she did not let it show on her face. She maintained her smile and said, “Camryn is blind, and I can’t always be by her side even if I brought her to banquets. I was afraid of her ge
Serenity asked Camryn softly, “Is she trying to arrange a marriage for you and some rich man’s son?”After pressing her lips together, Camryn replied softly, “She won’t let me get married to a rich man. She’ll only give me to someone else. She can give me to anyone who’ll benefit her.”Serenity was furious upon hearing that. Sensing her anger, Camryn smiled unexpectedly. She said, “Don’t worry. I can protect myself.” She had a small blade with her wherever she went. Serenity still wanted to say something, but Camryn poked her palm again. Therefore, she did not say anything else. Mrs. Newman chose a quiet and relatively remote spot. She gestured to Serenity to sit. “Do you want anything to eat, Mrs. York? I’ll take some food for you.”“No, thank you. You can talk about what you want, Mrs. Newman.”Mrs. Newman laughed sheepishly. She said, “Mrs. York, you and Camryn clicked right away and are friends. Carrie is Camryn’s biological sister. Can you not sue Carrie for Camryn’s s
Serenity said seriously, “Mrs. Newman, I’m not insisting on having your daughter sentenced. Your daughter committed a crime. Whether or not she’ll be convicted, I don’t want myself to get hurt anymore. You should know your daughter well. You said she knows her mistake and guarantees not to hire someone to hurt me again. “You might believe her, but I don’t.”Mrs. Newman glared at Serenity with a dark expression. Her husband kept telling her to build a good relationship with Serenity and plead for mercy for their daughter. Did he think she did not want to build a good relationship with that country bumpkin? Did she not apologize, offer compensation, and plead for mercy for their daughter?She even asked Camryn to look for Serenity. However, Serenity was stubborn. She was determined to sue Carrie. Hatred boiled in Mrs. Newman’s heart. Since Serenity would not make things easier for them, she would not let Serenity live a peaceful life either.Mrs. Newman stood up and said wit
Serenity used to see scenes of people being drugged and set up in novels or TV shows. She did not think that that would actually happen in real life. Moreover, it was a younger sister drugging her elder sister to ruin her life. After a moment of silence, Camryn said, “It’s not once or twice that she drugged me.”Serenity was speechless. “They’re treating you so poorly. You can move out.”The risk of living together with them was too huge. Camryn was silent again before saying angrily, “My father left me that house. Why do I have to move out? The people who are supposed to move out are them! They used to bully me for being a kid, and now they’re bullying me for being blind.”Serenity’s eyes gleamed. That was a lot of information. Zachary analyzed the situation for her before. Camryn’s biological father might have been killed. Camryn almost died from being gravely ill when she was sixteen years old, but no one in the Newman family sent her to the hospital. It was obvious tha
Callum said cheekily, “It’s only a matter of time before she becomes my wife. I’m just doing this to get in some early practice. I wouldn’t want to end up like my brother who had trouble doing so.” Serenity chuckled, “That’s a strange lesson you took from your brother.” “Using my brother’s many mistakes as a guide allows me to avoid many pitfalls in my relationship.” Serenity was speechless. When was the first time Zachary addressed her as his wife? She barely remembered. Perhaps it was not a very significant experience for her, which explained why it did not leave an impression. If it was something impactful, she would have remembered. Fortunately, Zachary would never find out that this was her impression. It would have plagued him with countless sleepless nights thinking about it. Serenity walked away. She was going to see her business partner. Elisa took Jasmine with her to introduce Jasmine to her best friend Tasha. Tasha’s cousin was joining them as well
“You! Certainly.” “Doesn’t that make me the matchmaker?” Josh thought about it and answered, “Yes.” “I’m giving you my bank details so you can send me a little token of appreciation for pairing you two together. Come on, I’m not going to give you money as a wedding gift, I have better things in mind than something as impersonal as that. However, I will admit that I am a shallow man and would like some money as a way of thank-you for my role as a matchmaker..” Josh was struck speechless. Serenity had transformed Zachary into a man who kept checks and balances even when it came to his interpersonal relationships. This banquet continued well into midnight. In the past, Zachary would only show up for ten to fifteen minutes at most, just as a formality. After that, he would immediately excuse himself. Tonight was an exception. He waited until the banquet was over before leaving with his beloved wife. His actions were a testament to the love and affection he had for his
Zachary smiled lovingly and embraced her tightly. He felt like the luckiest man in the world to get to call himself her husband. It did not take long before Serenity fell asleep. After ensuring that she was asleep, Zachary took off his suit jacket and threw it over her, careful to not wake her up. “Take us back to the hilltop villa,” Zachary instructed the driver in a low voice. The driver nodded dutifully. With that, Zachary leaned against the backseat of the car with his beloved wife in his arms. He closed his eyes and got some rest. By the time they arrived at the villa, he had fallen asleep as well. The driver stopped the car, then he turned around and peeked at Zachary and Serenity who were both sleeping soundly in the backseat. He turned to Jim in the passenger seat and asked, “Jim, should we wake Mr. Zachary and Missus up?” Jim immediately remarked, “Of course. Are you going to just let them sleep in the car for the night? If you do that, you’ll be out of a jo
With an air of nonchalance as if the matter did not concern him at all, Jim remarked, “It’ll be fine. The missus can always keep Mr. Zachary in check no matter what. No matter how he tries to lash out, he inevitably loses to the missus once she tries to reason with him. It’s the same thing every time.” Sam shot a look at him. Jim grinned pompously. “It’s true, you know it is! Sam, don’t worry about it, as long as the missus is here, she’ll keep everything in control no matter what happens. We don’t need to do anything even if Mr. Zachary gets upset. Just wait for the missus to step in and handle the situation.” They knew that no matter how upset Mr. Zachary got, he would never try to hurt the missus. “Sam, it’s getting late, why don’t you get some rest? I need to get some shuteye too,” Jim said with an exaggerated yawn before excusing himself and walking away. Sam was replaying what Jim had told him in his mind. Soon, he concluded that this was why the brat had always ma
“Isa, Austin promised me that he would make cartoon-shaped snacks for us this Saturday. You won’t mind, right? I’ve already told my classmates, and they’re all coming to our house!”The little boy was also concerned about his image. He was afraid his serious eldest cousin would refuse, and if that happened, he would be so embarrassed. After all, after Austin promised him, the other kids at preschool treated him so well. They all wanted to try the cartoon-shaped snacks Austin made. However, since Austin was Isabella’s private chef, if Isabella did not agree, there would be nothing even Austin could do about it.Isabella lightly pinched Phillip’s cheek. “Since Austin’s promised, he’ll keep his word. I’ll be resting at home this weekend and won’t stop you, but don’t make a racket here. Go do it at your own house. I need to rest.”“Thanks, Isa! I’ll tell my friends not to disturb your rest. Isa, has Louis not woken up yet?”With Isa’s promise, Phillip’s little face lit up with a smil
Upon hearing that Phillip might be coming, Louis moved much faster.Isabella did not wait for her brother. She said, “Head downstairs by yourself later, and make sure to check your schoolbag to see if you’ve packed your books and water bottle.”She would not help her brother check those things. Every day, she made sure her brother checked everything himself because it was his responsibility. If their parents or employees tried to help, she would scold them.Now, their parents no longer dared to help Louis with things he could do himself. They let her take charge of him. Her parents had Louis when they were in their forties, and he was their only son. If they were the ones raising him, Isabella was sure her brother would have been spoiled beyond reason.“I know, Isa,” Louis replied, already starting to brush his teeth.After leaving her brother’s room, Isabella headed downstairs. As soon as she reached the first floor, she saw Phillip running in with his little schoolbag on his
Isabella patiently said, “No, you can’t. If you sleep for ten more minutes, time will be too tight, and we’ll hit the worst of rush hour when everyone’s heading to school or work. There’ll be too much traffic and you’ll be late. You mustn’t be late.” If her brother was constantly late, he would get used to it and start liking to sleep in. Isabella would not let him develop such a bad habit.“Isa, I won’t be late. Every day when I arrive at school, there are still plenty of classmates who haven’t arrived. I can just tell the driver to speed up.”“Absolutely not! It’s not safe to drive too fast. It doesn’t matter if the other students are late, but you can’t be late. Get up now, or I’m going to get angry.”Louis pouted.Amused, Isabella pinched his lips, saying, “Come on, get up. In two more days, it will be the weekend, and you’ll get another two days off.”“This holiday was too short.”Under his sister’s urging, Louis reluctantly sat up. “It feels like we just got let out for w
The O'Connor family, due to a predominance of daughters rather than sons, was extremely cautious about their sons-in-law.Even though they did not have a son-in-law yet, it was clear from the way Isabella’s uncles were not allowed to interfere in the family business that they were worried about a son-in-law taking control of the O'Connor family’s wealth.Even Isabella’s aunts were forbidden from involving themselves in the family business. This was to protect their love-obsessed selves from being easily manipulated or influenced by their in-laws.At twenty-seven, Isabella had not even considered dating, as she knew once she had a partner, her elders would put their guard up against her and her partner.It was not just the elders who would be cautious, Isabella herself would be wary of her own husband.Too many men had used their wives’ family wealth to rise to power, only to later swap their wives out for younger and more beautiful women. Some even swallowed the entire family fort
“If the woman’s side minds her moving so far away and wants us to go to her family, except for Zack, who can’t move because he’s the head of the family, the elders in our family don’t really care. As long as we’re happy, they’re fine with it.”They had the powerful York Corporation backing them, and each of them was highly capable. Even if one of them married into another family, they would not be bullied by the woman’s family. If the woman wanted to push them around, she would have to think twice, with the York family’s influence behind them.However, so far, none of his brothers had done so.Austin thought to himself that he might just set a precedent.Isabella now bore a heavy burden. Her brother was too young, and it would take at least a decade before he could take over. Isabella would have to manage the family business for many more years.Isabella’s eyes sparkled. “Your family’s so open-minded. With your family’s wealth and standing, there’s really no need for you guys to l
“Zack is much more at ease now, but honestly, the person who was the biggest help to him wasn’t any of us—it was Josh. He and Zack are really good friends, and after graduation, Zack brought him into York Corporation.“He’s Zack’s right-hand man, and he’s really impressive.“Zack is incredibly efficient too. Back then, no one in the company could keep up with his work speed. He slowed down a bit after marrying my sister-in-law and starting a family. Now, he likes to stick close to her, and he’s not as crazy about work as he used to be.“He also goes to fewer networking events now. He used to attend these events and work late into the night, but now he’s home before ten at night. No one can stop him.“Those CEOs who work with our family know this too. If they have a business to discuss with him, they try to get it done during the day. They don’t want to drag it into the night.”Isabella laughed softly, her eyes showing a hint of envy. “Before, I didn’t know you were a York. But aft
This was the main reason he insisted on his daily morning runs. Austin did not have much time alone with Isabella because she was always busy. She left for work early and came back late too. He could only see her during mealtimes, but even then, she only had a short time to eat. After finishing her meal, she would try to squeeze in a bit of rest. Austin did not want to disturb her rest, so the only time they could have some quiet moments together and chat was during their morning runs. Fortunately, back in Wiltspoon, he had already gotten into the habit of going for a morning run. “Good morning, Ms. Isabella.”As Isabella approached, Austin smiled and greeted her. Isabella, a bit tired after running for a while, stopped when she saw Austin. She walked over to him and smiled. “Good morning.” Isabella already had a good impression of Austin when she learned that he was a member of the York family, the wealthiest family in Wiltspoon. Now, knowing more about him, her attitud
Zachary had told him that the old pervert from the Longbottom family wanted to take over the O'Connors’ family business and turn it into his own private property because the pervert did not have actual inheritance rights to the Longbottom family headship, nor did he have the family head’s seal, token, or totem.“Dylan, I don’t have much advice for you. As Zachary said, we should trust Nana. As long as you follow what she says, you won’t suffer any losses.”“We’re beyond the age where Nana can make us suffer now anyway.”When they were younger, they often got the short end of the stick, largely because their grandparents would discipline them. They were told that if their abilities and plans were not sufficient, it would make them vulnerable to being taken advantage of.“Dylan, I think I’ll clock in a couple more hours of sleep before my morning run. After that, I have to prepare breakfast for Ms. Isabella.”“Okay, go to bed then. Don’t overwork yourself.”“I’m not. I’m enjoying i
Austin would not admit that he wanted to hear the gossip about Dylan’s love life.Dylan asked, “Are you free to talk right now?”“Sure. I have a whole dormitory unit to myself, and it’s quite spacious. I live quite comfortably. My salary comes on time every month, and I’m well-fed. My cooking skills have improved a lot, too.”Dylan was silent for a moment before he responded with another voice message.“You’ve only been focused on cooking? It’s been several months since you went there, and you didn’t even come back for the Christmas holidays. All you have in your brain is cooking.”“I came here specifically to cook in the first place.”Dylan was speechless.Indeed, Austin had heard that Isabella had an extremely picky palate, which he viewed as a challenge. Their nana had not even urged him once when he had eagerly gone to Satbury of his volition.Occasionally, Dylan heard his family mention Austin, saying that he was always busy researching new recipes and cooking, but seemed