Zachary went back to work. His wife would pick him up from the office in the afternoon, and they would go and celebrate Josh and Jasmine’s marriage together. Zachary could dive right back into his work, but Duncan could not focus on his. Duncan’s mom asked him right after Zachary ended the call, “Duncan, what did Zachary tell you?” “Mom, do I need to tell you the content of my calls? You didn’t even take me seriously when I was a child. Now that I’m in my thirties, you’re here to control me. Don’t you think it’s too late?” Mrs. Lewis choked. “Mom, you’ve finished what you wanted to say. I have to get back to work.” Duncan wanted his mom to leave. Mrs. Lewis said after a moment of silence, “Since Josh is treating you to dinner tonight, take Lily with you and let her slowly integrate into your circle of friends.” “No!” Duncan directly refused. Mrs. Lewis asked, “Do you hate Lily that much? What about her that is inferior to Liberty? She’s better than Liberty—be it h
If Old Mrs. Lewis were alive, she would not stop Duncan from pursuing Liberty. In Duncan’s words, his granny only wanted him to be happy. If he truly loved Liberty, his granny would definitely support him to pursue Liberty. “Ms. Harmon, you don’t have fantasies about me still, do you?” Lily responded, There’s no such thing. I now know what kind of person you are, Duncan. Since you don’t love me, why should I harbor fantasies about you? You’re not the only outstanding man in this world. “Why should I cling to you when you don’t belong to me? Wouldn’t it be good for me to find someone else? I can also find more than one man. “Alright, then I’ll stop acting too. I’ll have dinner with Mrs. Lewis later and make things clear, then I’ll move out of your house and live in Wiltspoon Hotel. We might not end up as a couple, but we can still be friends.” Lily was well-intentioned. Even so, Duncan was also reasonable. It would be better for Lily to make things clear to Mrs. Lewis an
“Thanks for your concern, Mr. Charles. My sister is doing much better now and is recovering quite well,” Serenity replied. “That’s good, that’s good.” Mr. Charles ate some of the vegetables in his bowl again. “Serenity, I’ll tell you something. Can you give me some advice and tell me if it’s reliable or not? I told Mrs. Charles, and she scolded me.” Serenity chuckled and said, “Mr. Charles, go ahead. What is it? I’ll listen to it and give you some advice.” “You know I can tell fortunes, right? But I didn’t learn it from a teacher and somehow learned from others to get into it. I also read some books and figured it out myself.” Mr. Charles stopped eating and said softly, “But I think I can now set up a fortune-telling stall by the road or in the park. I’ll just do it during my free time so I can get some extra money for my family, though I still have to tend to our grocery store. “It’s just that as our children and elders grow older, middle-aged people like us are under mo
Serenity visited her sister in the hospital first. When she arrived at the hospital, Liberty and Sonny had finished their dinner. “Aunt Ser.” Sonny was delighted to see Serenity. He ran to her asking her to carry him. Serenity picked him up and saw her sister getting ready to wash the insulated lunch boxes. She quickly said, “Liberty, I’ll wash them.” “You don’t need to. I’m also bored now, so I’m just looking for things to do.” Otherwise, Liberty would have let Mrs. Lane wash the lunch boxes long ago. “You closed the bookstore pretty early today.” Serenity stood at the bathroom door with her nephew in her arms. While watching her sister wash the lunch boxes with hot water, she responded, “Jasmine is treating us to dinner. Sonny, you’re full from dinner already. I was going to take you to dinner.” Liberty chuckled and said, “I’m being raised like a pig now. I eat, sleep, and repeat every day. Moreover, the food brought by Sam every day is delicious. If I keep going at t
Everyone imagined Zachary coming to work with a baby in his arms. They could not help but shiver and did not dare imagine it! The senior managers who were talking to Serenity said with a smile, “Mrs. York, Mr. York is here. We’ll be leaving first.” They did not want to be third wheels. Serenity grinned and nodded. After the senior managers left, she walked over to the man and the kid with a smile. “Zachary, you have to hold him tight.” Some people did not hold their children tight when lifting or spinning them, causing them to fall on the ground. The consequences would be serious. Zachary stopped lifting and spinning Sonny in the air. He lowered Sonny and carried him instead as he responded with a smile, “Don’t worry, I’ll hold him tight. I won’t let him fall no matter what.“Sonny, am I good?” Sonny answered, “Uncle Zak, you’re good—very good.” The little guy thought, ‘As long as you stop calling me a third wheel, you’ll be even better.’ Sonny finished talking and
“It’s still early, but we have to get ready nonetheless.” Zachary added, “You don’t need to worry about it and just need to work with the designer. The designer will create a wedding dress that suits your figure and temperament. You’ll definitely be the most beautiful bride when you put it on.” Serenity smiled and said, “I think I’ll still be your most beautiful bride even if I don’t wear a bespoke wedding dress.” She was confident about her appearance. Zachary grinned as well. “Yes, you’ve always been my prettiest bride. I just want to give you the best.” He also wanted to prepare his wedding gifts for her. His properties and what would be given by his family would be used as the bridewealth. Zachary and Serenity left the office building and walked together to Zachary’s Rolls-Royce. “You don’t need to follow us anymore,” Zachary said to the bodyguards. The bodyguards responded to him with respect. Only after Zachary started the car and drove out of York Corporation
Everyone present knew Josh and Jasmine’s wedding date had been set. The wedding will be held at the end of this month, so they all teased Josh. Josh openly accepted everyone’s banters and blessings. “Except for Zachary, everyone here is a bachelor.” Josh filled his glass with wine and said to everyone with a smile, “Here’s a toast to all you bachelors. From today onward, I’m officially out of your ranks. You don’t need to invite me to any bachelor activity from now on. Enjoy getting high among yourselves.” Remy remarked with a smile, “I envy you, Mr. Bucham.” On the other hand, Duncan noted, “From today onward, Josh will be henpecked like Zachary.” Zachary responded in a deep voice, “I can be henpecked, but you don’t have the chance to even if you want to.” Duncan replied to him, “Zachary… that’s hurtful. Serenity, you need to control him.” Serenity took some food for her nephew. Sonny had eaten dinner and did not want to eat again, but there were some sides that he lik
Josh asked with concern, “Julian, why are you not a normal person?” Julian pursed his lips and answered, “I’m quite close to all of you, and Jasmine and Serenity are experienced in relationships, so I’m not afraid of being laughed at by you. I don’t react to women.” Everyone was lost for words. Serenity and Jasmine were best friends indeed. The shrimps they picked up fell back into their plate at the same time. “Julian, y-you’re making an excuse, right? We won’t rush you to get married, so you don’t need to tell us that and scare me.” Josh thought of his uncle’s hopeful gaze and his aunt’s expectant look. He felt that he had asked something he should not have. His cousin’s words were shocking. It scared him. “Julian, what about men…?” Remy asked probingly. He and Julian were sitting next to each other. Remy had moved his hips discreetly. He was ready to switch seats if Julian said that he was into men. However, who was Julian? Remy’s petty action could not escape
The night passed peacefully.The next morning, Dylan woke up. He had been woken by the heat.The room was heated, and he had bundled himself up tightly before going to sleep. By midnight, he had started sweating, but he continued to sleep, so by morning, he was feeling too hot and woke up.“Imogen…” He instinctively called out her name.His voice was still hoarse, but it was much better than yesterday. When he received no answer, he remembered that Imogen had gone home last night. He was alone in the hospital.Late last night, his mother had called him, but only to laugh at him.Now, all alone, in a strange place, and sick, Dylan felt just a tiny bit homesick. It was much more comfortable at Wildridge Manor, after all. When all the York boys were home, it was lively and warm. There was his nana to fuss over him, and even though his parents liked to make jabs at him, they still cared deeply for him.It felt boring at home, but once he left, he realized how warm home really was.
Sasha chimed in, “Exactly. It’s fine to laugh in front of us, but you laughed so loudly on the call too. Dylan is hurt both physically and emotionally, and no one is comforting him.”Rosella responded, “But Imogen is there to take care of him. She’ll comfort him.”Sasha sighed. “It’s so late now. Imogen needs to go back and rest, doesn’t she? Dylan hasn’t even won her over yet, so how could Imogen stay the entire night in the hospital with him?”Grandma May laughed, “You ladies know it’s late too, so why aren’t you three going back to your rooms to rest? Fortunately, the rooms are big enough that we can all chat here without disturbing anyone.“Remember, we’re guests. We mustn’t disturb the rest of the Johnsons just because we’ve come.”The three sisters-in-law glanced at the clock. It was almost midnight.As the eldest sister-in-law, Tania led the way. She stood up and said to Grandma May, “Mom, we’ll head back to rest now. Tomorrow, let’s go out and walk around.”The scenery a
“Mom, I’m your real son!”“If you weren’t, I wouldn’t even bother with you and don’t even want to make this call.”Rosella added, “Alright, now that I know you’re fine, I can relax. Be good to Imogen, she’s a really good girl. I like her a lot. I hope you can get together this year.“Once you’re finally not single anymore, it should be about time for your younger brother to start dating too. Once all three of you are out of the bachelor’s club, all I have to do is wait for my first grandchild to be born.“I’ve saved up a lot of money for both your weddings, though honestly, I don’t think you’ll need it. You all are capable enough to make your own money to get married, so the money I saved for you can go toward my granddaughter instead.“I don’t even know if I’ll be fortunate enough to have a granddaughter.” Rosella sighed. “After seeing little Clo-clo, I finally understand why your nana is so fixated on her and wants to kidnap her. “That kid is so cute. She’s pretty, adorable,
Imogen had been really worried that Dylan’s reaction to the chili peppers would leave him suffering for several days.“Okay,” Dylan hoarsely replied.Imogen let him eat the porridge by himself. There was nothing else to go with it, but the porridge had a little bit of salt sprinkled in, giving it some flavor.Dylan was hungry, so he quickly finished the bowl of oatmeal porridge. “Do you want more? There’s another bowl’s worth in the thermos.”Dylan shook his head. It was late, and he did not want to eat too much, afraid of gaining weight and ruining his good physique. He still had not won over his future wife, so he had to take care of his figure and maintain his handsome and charming look.Once Dylan finished the IV fluids and took his medicine, Imogen finally left the hospital around ten o’clock. Having slept twice in the day, Dylan was not able to fall asleep again, and Imogen did not let him accompany her downstairs, so he stood by the window and watched her walk out of th
A few minutes later, Imogen took the thermometer from under Dylan’s arm and looked at it. She said to him, “It’s 100.4. Your fever hasn’t completely gone down yet, but compared to when you were admitted at 103.64, it’s come down quite a bit.“What time did you take your medicine? It should be time for your next dose.”Dylan shook his head, indicating that he did not remember when he had taken the medicine.Imogen thought for a moment and said, “I think it’s about time. Take your medicine first, then sleep for a while. I’ll have dinner brought over for you. In your condition, you can only have something light, maybe some oatmeal porridge.”Considering Dylan’s sore throat, Imogen knew he would not be able to eat much, so she called home and asked the housekeeper to bring over dinner, specifically requesting a bowl of oatmeal porridge for Dylan.Dylan could only nod in response.After giving instructions to her housekeeper, Imogen looked at Dylan, who could only nod, and said, “The
Kade had once been so gentle and kind. Was he really that kind of person?Imogen did not believe so.It was possible that the Butcher elders were simply being too pragmatic. Seeing that Maria’s family was on the verge of decline, they thought that Maria was not worthy of Kade and tried to stop them from being together.But wait—Maria said that Kade had never told her he loved her or anything of the sort. Maria had basically been secretly in love with Kade, waiting for him to confess, but she had waited in vain all this time.Imogen internally sighed. What a mess. She could not understand what was the problem between them. She would just have to wait until Kade came back, and then she would find a chance to get some answers from him. “Imogen…” A hoarse voice called out from within the room. It was not very loud; he could not speak loudly. Though it was better than this morning when all he could get out were moans.He had received several bags of IV fluids, which had had some eff
Imogen did not know that Dylan had woken up. She was still on the phone with Maria outside.Maria felt reassured when Imogen mentioned that the person she liked was a member of the richest family in Wiltspoon. All was good as long as he was not a social climber. Imogen asked, “Maria, when are you coming back? It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other. Kade will be back soon. Are you really not coming back?“Maria, Kade and I are like siblings. Please don’t misunderstand or overthink it. Actually, you should know this—the person Kade likes is you. You two are the real childhood sweethearts, you grew up together.”Imogen and her mother’s godchildren had known each other since they were young, but the three of them had not actually spent much time together as she had always stayed with her master while she learned the trade, only returning home during the summer and winter holidays.Once the holidays ended, she would leave again. Even her formal education was completed in th
There were so many other possible choices. Why were they so fixated on him?Leticia sighed. “Alright, just pretend I never said that. You youngsters will decide for yourselves anyway, we don’t have a say in it. Remember to fetch Kade from the airport on Saturday.“I’ve already told him and he knows you’re supposed to be picking him up. And remember to get some flowers too. You two haven’t met in ages and you should give flowers at a reunion.” She reminded Imogen.“Mom, I can pick him up, fine, but I’m not giving him flowers. Who said you’re supposed to give flowers at a reunion?” Imogen refused to give Kade flowers when fetching him from the airport. “Oh, Mom, I gotta go. Bye!”Imogen quickly hung up, not allowing her mother the chance to speak further. Then, after a moment of thought, she texted Kade to ask when he was expected to arrive at Huntington Airport.It took a while before Kade replied that he would arrive around eleven in the morning on Saturday.Imogen replied wi
“I know you only view Kade as a brother, but who knows, if you nurture the relationship, those feelings might turn romantic? Jen, before you agree to be with Dylan, give yourself another option.“Make Dylan nervous. He’ll get jealous. He was jealous when he overheard our conversation that day.“You need to make him realize that even without him, you can still marry well. The Butchers like you a lot, and our families have a close relationship. You and Kade have known each other since you were young, so you guys could be considered childhood sweethearts.”Imogen said weakly, “Mom, I’m worried that if I get too close to Kade, not only will Dylan misunderstand, but even Maria might misunderstand. Kade and she are a thing, after all.“I really don’t understand what’s going on with Kade. He and Maria clearly have feelings for each other, they just haven’t made it official yet. Don’t their families see this?”She did not have any romantic feelings for Kade, but both families were trying