Ring ring ring…Julian’s cell phone rangAfter he answered the phone, he said apologetically, “Mr. York, I have something urgent to attend to. My apologies for not being able to host you.”Zachary quickly stood up.“Josh, please entertain Mr. York on my behalf.”Julian instructed his cousin and left.After Julian left, Josh took Zachary to his place. Zachary then listened to Josh’s mother complaining that if Josh did not get a girlfriend soon, he would be alone forever.Finally, Zachary managed to excuse himself. When they got out of Josh’s house, Zachary said, “Next time when your mother is at home, don’t ask me to come over.”Josh laughed. “Whatever she says just goes in one ear and out the other.”“How was your blind date with Ms. Sox? Didn’t you mention it to your family?”“Julian knows about it, but I didn’t tell anyone else lest they pester Ms. Sox and scare her away.”Zachary patted him on the shoulder sympathetically. “If you like her, you just need to work harder to
Serenity was elated that he had the thoughtfulness to do so, but she still rejected the idea.Just as Zachary was about to anxiously say something, with one arm hugging the flowers, she hooked her other arm around his neck. She pulled his head lower, leaned in closer and said softly, “Don’t put too many flowers at home, or else the owner will be easily charmed.”After she said that, she even patted Zachary’s chest—she was telling him not to be easily charmed by others.Zachary was at a loss for words.Was there such a saying?He would have to ask Josh about this another day.Serenity got into his car.Zachary returned to his car and as he started it, he asked, “How’s Sonny?”“The swelling hasn’t gone away completely. Last night, he had a fever and cried the whole night. This morning, his fever finally went down but he was so tired from crying he only fell asleep in my sister’s arms then.”Serenity’s good mood deflated again once Sonny was mentioned.“Zachary.”Serenity looke
After Zachary parked the car, he remembered the evidence of Hank’s asset transfers and called out to Serenity who was about to get out of the car.“I asked a friend to help look into Hank’s asset transfers. My friend was very helpful and sent me the evidence last night. I put it in the backseat. It’s in that yellow folder.”“Your friend truly was very helpful. He managed to gather the evidence so quickly.”Serenity was not only grateful to that friend of his. She was curious about him and really wanted to meet him.She thought it would take a long time to gather the evidence, since Hank had not just started doing this recently.Yet, Zachary’s friend managed to gather all the evidence in just a day’s time.“Zachary, it’s such a waste if that friend of yours doesn’t open his own detective agency.”After Serenity got out of the car, she opened the door to the backseat and picked up the yellow folder that had been placed there.“He has a relative that specializes in information gat
“Mrs. Lane, it wasn’t easy for Sonny and my sister to fall asleep, so don’t wake them up yet. Just keep some porridge warm on the stove for them to eat when they wake up.”Mrs. Lane nodded. “Alright.”The three ate breakfast together. Serenity made herself a cup of instant coffee to wake herself up.Once Mrs. Lane finished eating, she left the little dining area. Zachary took advantage of this to reach out and hold Serenity’s hand.“Seren.”Zachary said warmly, “You should stay home and rest. I’ll go alone.”Serenity held her hand back and reassured him, “I’m fine. I’ll be able to hold up as long as I finish this cup of coffee. And anyway, you’re going to the Reptons’. You might have to continue arguing with them, and you’re not as good as I am in that department. Even if you brought all your cousins, you might not be able to win against Chelsea Repton in an argument.”All the Yorks were cultured people. Arguing was definitely not in their DNA.“I’m Sonny’s aunt. I definitely h
While Serenity was feeling uneasy, Elisa spoke. Her voice was abnormally calm when she asked Serenity, “Serenity, my mom will come home around noon. Can I go to your place to pick up Sonny?”Elisa did not have much of an impression of her aunt, and could not tell much from the photos of her. In Serenity’s words, children were all cute when they were young.If Sonny looked like her aunt, even if it was just a little, she could not just let it go. She had to let her mother see him.Elisa recalled the moment she first met Serenity. Something inexplicable had made her want to get closer to Serenity.The first time she met Sonny, she liked him right away too.If Sonny was her aunt’s grandson, that might explain why she liked Sonny from the moment she met him.It was not like she had never seen a kid of Sonny’s age before, but only Sonny made her like him from the very first moment. He made her want to kidnap him to be her own nephew and when she bought toys for him, she was not stingy
“Yeah, they’re a pretty big family. Thank you, Elisa.”Elisa felt relieved after hearing that Serenity’s husband had brought backup. “Serenity, you had a shotgun marriage with that husband of yours, right? It seems like he’s not that bad. At least he’s willing to help out when you run into trouble.”Unlike Liberty’s husband. So what if they had known each other for twelve years?He still could not match up to Serenity’s husband from a shotgun marriage.“Alright. I won’t go this time, but the next time, if you run into trouble again, you have to tell me, or else I’ll consider you’re no longer thinking of me as a friend. Send your sister’s address to me. I’ll visit Sonny there.”Serenity did not deny this request.After she ended the call, Serenity sent her sister’s address to Elisa Stone.Zachary had been partially paying attention to Serenity’s conversation with Elisa.When he heard Elisa wanted to bring people over, his hands that were placed on the steering wheel tightened.
It could also be that Elisa Stone could not envision how her aunt might appear as an adult.Serenity considered that once she returned from the Reptons', she would immediately work on sketching a portrayal of Elisa's aunt as an adult. Would there be a resemblance to her sister?“Does that mean your mother is Ms. Stone’s aunt?”Zachary could only sum it up in one word: melodrama!It was just too much melodrama!To top everything off, it had to happen to his wife.The worst part was, Elisa Stone had publicly confessed her love to him before and openly pursued him too. Serenity had even helped her pursue him before.If it were not for him putting on his ring and showing it off, Elisa Stone would still be coming to his office to make a fuss every day and annoy him.At first, he wanted to teach Elisa Stone a harsh lesson, but unexpectedly, she became good friends with Serenity, which stopped him from being able to do anything.He had to give special treatment to people who were sin
First things first, they had to deal with the problem at hand and that was seeking justice for Sonny.The issue of his identity being exposed could probably be delayed a little more because he would be leaving for Annenburg soon to attend Ben Young-Johnson and Jane Murphy’s wedding.Anyway, it could be delayed for a while.He also had to confess the truth to Serenity before Mrs. Stone saw him.He hoped Serenity’s reaction would not be too fierce.In the beginning, when he did not feel anything for her at all and did not understand her either, he thought it was normal for him to hide his identity in order to test her character.After all, with his status, who knew if the women who approached him did so for the money or for him as a person?Now that he had learned about Serenity’s character, way of handling things, self-confidence, strength, and independence, they were very much to his liking, and he was unconsciously attracted to her.On Elisa’s side, once she ended the call wit
“But as time passed, we treated you decently, no? Yet, you’ve never had any regard for us, your brothers, and not even for Dad.“You’ve been back with us for several years now. Even if we weren’t particularly close to you, we weren’t exactly terrible either, but you’ve always shut us out, never treating us as family. It’s you who couldn’t integrate into this family, not us who rejected you.”Every time Adrian saw Caroline, he had a lot to say. He always complained that Caroline was not close to them and that she was not on their side.Caroline wore a neutral expression. “Adrian, you might be much older than me, but you’re only middle-aged. Has your memory already started failing? Do I need to remind you of all the things you’ve done behind my back?“It’s not that I didn’t want to integrate into this family, it’s you who’ve always excluded me. You never treated me as your sister. “In your hearts, Celine was your sister, while I was just an intruder who shouldn’t have come back, wh
Adrian’s housekeeper was long bribed by Darren. Whenever he needed them, they would do his bidding. The video and audio recordings were sent by the housekeeper to Darren, who then forwarded them to Caroline.After reviewing the evidence, Caroline no longer felt like resting. She got out of bed, went into the bathroom, and quickly freshened up. When she came out, she grabbed her phone and left the lounge.She first brewed herself a cup of coffee, then carried the steaming cup to her desk and sat down, leisurely sipping it.Then, a knock sounded at the door.“Come in,” Caroline said.The door opened, and in walked Adrian.Seeing him enter, Caroline’s beautiful eyes flickered slightly, but her expression remained calm. She continued sipping her coffee as she watched her eldest brother approach.“Carol,” Adrian said with a forced smile, his tone somewhat affectionate.Caroline stopped drinking her coffee. She casually placed the cup on the table, straightened up, and said, “Adrian,
“You’re new here, so you wouldn’t know. I’ve been working here longer, and since the eldest son lives here, I’ve been able to hear the latest news about the Fisher family.”After all, family matters like these were not usually spread all over the city. Only major events that caught the media’s attention would get leaked. Adrian had no idea about the two security guards’ conversation. He believed he had executed his plan perfectly and was now just waiting for the final step to be carried out tonight in eliminating Caroline to avenge Celine and his mother, as well as reclaiming all of his mother’s private assets.He could not let Caroline take everything for herself.Adrian blamed Caroline for the deaths of Celine and Belinda, convinced that Caroline was responsible for their demise. However, in reality, even without Caroline, Audrey would have returned to seek justice for her mother, and the Fisher family would still have ended up in the same situation. Belinda’s descendants woul
“If you ever encounter any difficulties in the future, come to us. If we can help, we will. If we can’t, then there’s nothing we can do,” Adrian said.The Dott brothers pretended to decline the money, but after some back-and-forth, they eventually accepted, repeatedly expressing their gratitude.“I’ll call a car to take you back,” Adrian said, pulling out his phone to arrange transportation for them.Of course, they were not actually leaving Jensburg. They planned to start their operation tonight, aiming to deal with Caroline quickly to avoid any complications.“Thank you, Mr. Clark. You've already done so much for us,” the Dott brothers said, continuing to play their roles. They had come this far in their act and did not mind keeping up the charade a little longer.Soon, a black car really did arrive and stopped nearby. The driver stepped out and approached, respectfully greeting the three Clark brothers.“Take these two gentlemen home. They are Ms. Celine’s biological brothers,
Justin returned to the dining room and packed up all the leftover dishes they had not finished, along with the opened but unfinished bottle of wine. He stuffed everything into several bags and carried them out. Handing the leftovers to Jacob, he said, “If we’re going to keep up appearances, we need to make it look like we’re really giving you our charity, so take these leftovers back with you. You can heat them up for dinner tonight, otherwise, just toss them in the trash after you leave, but don’t throw away the wine—only you two had it. We haven’t touched it.“This wine is really good stuff, too. Where you’re from, even if you had the money, you wouldn’t be able to buy such fine wine. And if you did find any, it’d probably be fake.”Jacob took the leftovers and the unfinished bottle of wine from Justin. The wine was indeed excellent. In fact, he would have asked for it himself even if Justin had not offered it. In all his life, he had never tasted such good wine.“Once you’re re
Adrian beckoned Celine’s brothers closer in a low voice. The two had had some alcohol, and it was going to their heads. Their faces reddened in excitement and they hurried over.Adrian handed the suitcase to Jacob by the handle. He watched as Jacob laid it on the ground and opened it, exposing the thick wads of cash within.The Dott brothers' hands were trembling from excitement, for they had never seen so much cash before. At the thought that the bagful of cash was theirs now, wide smiles broke out across their faces. They each took a bundle and kissed it a couple of times.“I love this the most,” Jacob exclaimed excitedly. “The more, the better, and the more, the merrier.”“Me, too. Jacob, we’ll take ten bundles each. Let’s just keep the cash in this bag for now and when we get home, we’ll secretly divide it. For now, let’s not tell Mom, your wife, or any others.”The more people knew, the more talk there would be, so it was better for as few people as possible to know.Actuall
Ever since Belinda passed away, they were worried their cruel sister would cancel their bank cards. Therefore, they withdrew all the remaining money from the accounts from which they received their monthly allowance. Adrian rarely used the money on that particular card of his because it was a meager sum to him. Tens to hundreds of thousands a month was not even enough to buy a high-quality watch. In the past, he would only transfer the money from that card to another account every one or two years. Otherwise, he would withdraw the money and use it to flirt with women; cash could always draw many gorgeous women to him. Not many people could resist someone who could take out bundles of cash. Adrian recalled that he had withdrawn a few million dollars. He kept it all in a safe. When their mother was still alive, they spent money extravagantly. When they switched cars, they would get cars that cost millions and pay for them in full. They also made full payment when buying houses.
Jacob said, “Add one more million to it and make it six. My brother and I will get three million each. We won't do the job if you offer anything less than this.“After all, we’re the ones solving a problem for you guys. The benefits you’ll obtain from this are more than ten times the amount you’re offering us.“Besides, you three are adamant about killing Caroline, not us. We might even go to prison for this.“If we get three million each, we can consider helping you out.”Michael added, “That’s right. We may be poor, but our lives aren’t worth any less. There’s no such thing as wanting us to sacrifice our lives for you without giving us money.”Adrian went to take a fine bottle of wine and poured a glass each for Jacob and Michael. Meanwhile, he took a sip of his juice and told them, “We won’t be drinking alcohol since we have to drive and go to work. This is a precious wine I’ve been keeping. It’s sold for a high price outside.“Help yourselves to it. If you think it’s good,
It could not satisfy their appetites. After all, the Clark brothers were asking them to commit a crime. If they were caught, they had to pay the price and go to jail for several years. Losing their freedom for a few years in exchange for a million dollars was not worth it at all. “Mr. Adrian, we do hate Caroline, but she won’t do anything to us if we remain in the countryside away from Jensburg and avoid offending her.“We can still live a peaceful life. Although we’ll face financial difficulties, we can still afford basic necessities and be free.“You guys are the ones in a rush to eliminate Caroline. Her existence affects your benefits the most. Of course, you can choose to accept reality by resigning from Fisher Enterprise, selling your assets, and leaving Jensburg.“If you flee to the countryside like us, you can enjoy a comfortable life away from Caroline’s control. You won’t have to reward us for doing your bidding and can save that money.”Jacob could accept not gett