It alerted Liberty’s internal alarm bells to ring. She callously asked, “Who told you that I got that much money? I didn’t work or have any income after I got married.” “Your mother-in-law said so. Liberty, my business has hit a rough patch and is in the red. I lost all the money I profited from over the years. I don’t have cash going into the business, so I was thinking if you could lend me a million bucks.” Liberty sneered in anger. There were no boundaries when it came to these people. They would not stop bugging her and Serenity. “You might want to look in the mirror and see if you can find your dignity, Mike. After all that you’ve done to me and my sister, you have the gall to ask me for money?! That’s right. I do have a million dollars, but I won’t lend it to you. I’d rather give the money to anyone else than you!” “Oh, come on, Liberty. We’re family after all. Look, you girls were stubborn then. You didn’t get your husband to pay us for family support. He married y
Despite John’s persistent questioning, the human resource managers would not reveal to him who else, apart from Stone Group, was putting an end to his professional career. John knew that someone had Serenity and her sister’s back. He thought it was Elisa at first, but now it seemed there was someone more powerful than Elisa standing behind the sister. Who could it be? The person had the power to stop anybody from hiring him in Wiltspoon. Having lost his confidence, John decided to wait until Grandmom was out of the hospital and send his grandparents back to their hometown before figuring something out in the new year. “What do we do now?” Stuart was anxious. “Whoever’s behind Serenity and her sister must be some sort of big shot. They’re the reason for our job losses and business failures. You’re feeling the pinch too even though you don’t run a huge business.“Mike, we can have a family meeting when your grandmom is out of the hospital. We should apologize sincerely as Se
Elisa was there to hear the entire conversation between Liberty and Mike. She angrily uttered, “I can’t believe they’re still hounding you for money.” “He wants to borrow money from me, saying that business is bad now, and he’s in the red. He needs to pump in a million bucks into operations.” “How shameless of him! And I thought I was the most brazen person in Wiltspoon. People called me shameless for going after Mr. York, but compared to your relatives, I’m considered modest.” Liberty ended up soothing Elisa instead. “Don’t get worked up over these people, Elisa. Serenity and I will never be on good terms with them. Those people can go to hell for all I care.” The hardship the Hunts faced right now was karma hitting back at them. “Come on, let’s enjoy the buffet and alcohol. Elisa, your pastry chef makes the best desserts. I’m going to eat to my heart’s content today!” Jasmine turned the subject of conversation elsewhere. Elisa laughed at her. “Desserts are fattening… Li
Liberty said to Mrs. Stone, “Aunt Audrey, Seren and I are young and able. We don’t need your help. Don’t worry too much about us. Have faith in us. We will get to the top with our own effort.“I do have one thing to ask of you. Try not to let everybody know that Seren and I are your nieces. We have seen all kinds of people and the ugly side of humanity. I’m worried that others might use us against you or the Stone Group.” After much thought, Mrs. Stone replied, “I’m happy that you think that way, Liberty. You are both strong-willed like me. I’ll take a step back since you don’t need my help, but you must let me know if things get tough for you. “It doesn’t matter if others don’t know about our relationship, but your relatives must know of that fact, or they’ll continue to pester you girls for money.” Stone Group’s reputation came in handy at times. “They already know Elisa stands behind us.” Elisa got into it with the Hunts at the shop. “I won’t go out of my way to tell th
Even though Serenity had been hanging around Zachary every day, he could not kiss his wife, the love of his life. Zachary had trouble keeping it in his pants. Now that the ban was lifted, he could not keep his hands off Serenity and demanded kisses. A while later, Serenity rested against his chest and caught up on her breathing. “Seren.” Serenity lifted her chin to meet him at eye level. With Zachary looking rather solemn, Serenity blinked her eyes. That was quite a quick change of mood. She asked, “What’s the matter? Why do you have that teacher look?“Do you still remember the first time you came to my shop to help? The students didn’t even dare set foot into the shop because you were there.” Zachary put his hand on her face, caressing his thumb against her soft skin. There was a smile across his face. “You rushed me to go back to the office. I was furious because you didn’t appreciate that I was trying to help you. You even tried to hurry me along.” In the past, he
To think Zachary owned a villa there and it was on the hilltop with the best view too. Stuffing her phone back into her pocket, Serenity turned around and walked to the sofa for a seat. She did not break gaze with Zachary. Zachary was looking at her. He wondered if she was angry or pleasantly surprised. Serenity appeared surprised, but not the good kind. “Seren, w-we rushed to get married, so I…” Zachary drew close and sat next to her. The moment he took a seat, Serenity scooted to the side, pulling a distance between them. She told him off, “Stay right there. Don’t come too close to me.” Tensing her facial lines, Serenity uttered furiously, “I know why you kept it from me. Do you think I'll go after your money when I find out you own a villa?“How much do you make annually as a senior executive in York Corporation? I bet it’s a few million dollars. You’re always busy at work, either working overtime or going to business parties. Do you claim the spending and hours from
After much silence, Zachary said, “I don’t have much savings left after purchasing the villa and the apartment in Brynfield. The car is only a mode of transport. I don’t need a luxury car since the one I have now does the job.” Zachary was flustered as he was making up more lies to cover up the web of lies from before. Serenity gave him another push. “Let go of me.” “Are you going to run?” “Where can I run to? I won’t tell you if I plan to run away. I can just pack my stuff and leave. I would be bluffing and trying to scare you if I made a huge commotion to leave. I’d be quiet if I wanted to leave for sure. It will be without hesitation, and you won’t be able to find me.” With his heart beating out of his chest, Zachary cautiously asked, “Seren, in what circumstances would you leave me?” “You must be guilty of doing me dirty to ask that question.” Zachary was quick to deny, “I just want to know, so that I won’t make that mistake and hurt you. I don’t want to give you a ch
“Yeah, right.” Zachary went on to pack his bags. Serenity sat down, carrying on with her money counting. York Corporation was the top company in Wiltspoon for sure. The corporation had deep pockets that even the subsidiary company was generous. Serenity earned a few thousand dollars for the few days of caring for Zachary. Mr. Tank would have given Serenity more money, but she might suspect something. After counting the cash, Serenity got up and grabbed her go-to purse. It was a cheap canvas purse that cost a few dollars if bought in bulk online. Nevertheless, the purse was useful and could hold bills worth tens of thousands. Serenity stuffed the cash into the purse and watched Zachary pack the suitcase. There was not a lot of stuff. She packed his bags before Zachary went on his business trip. Since Serenity came in a hurry, she only brought along two changes of clothes. The daily necessities were bought here. It did not take long for Zachary to finish packing. He appro
If they could do more, oppressing the Longbottoms’ family businesses in Havenmill would help Laurence greatly.However, Zachary had told Serenity that even though Laurence’s enemy had taken over the family business after killing Laurence’s family, the man was unable to make it his own or mobilize the elites of the Longbottom family. That was because Mr. Longbottom did not have the family totem and seal, as well as the family head’s token. Those items were with Doc. Jane had given them to Doc, hoping he would keep them safe for Laurence. The legendary masters were pioneers of the Imperial Force. Since they were inactive, not many people remembered them, much less their hideout. Therefore, leaving the items in Doc’s care was safer than putting them in FC Manor. Meanwhile, the Longbottom family’s totem was carved on Laurence’s back.When Serenity saw it, she thought the totem was not only a representation of his identity, but also carried secrets of the Longbottom family. However,
Zachary held Serenity’s hand. “Let’s go. I’ll go with you to your prenatal checkup first.”He would not be going to the company in the morning because of that. When they turned to leave, they met Carrie. She was holding a little girl’s hand, talking to the girl as she walked. However, the little girl did not seem bothered to listen to Carrie. “Mr. and Mrs. York, you must be here to drop Sonny off.”When Carrie saw Zachary and Serenity, Carrie stopped and greeted them with a smile. Her gaze landed on Zachary, then Serenity. Serenity was twenty-eight weeks pregnant. Jasmine was a month ahead of her and already at thirty-two weeks. Josh did not really want Jasmine to go to the bookstore anymore, but Jasmine refused to stay home because she was too bored. Jasmine said she would look after the bookstore for another month before staying home to prepare for labor and delivery. Josh had no choice but to follow her wishes. The Bucham family’s bodyguards were following her all th
Lilian thought of her teacher and smiled. “The elderly are like that. My teacher does this too. If he didn’t see baby Oliver for three days, he’d say that Oliver got thinner and that we didn’t take good care of Oliver. He even suspected that I wasn’t feeding Oliver.“That’s the baby I gave birth to after months of pregnancy. Although Oliver is a crybaby and pretty annoying, my love for him isn’t less than my teacher’s. How could I have abused my own son?“The elderly love exaggerating things. They’re closer to their grandchildren. My teacher was very strict with me. If I didn’t complete the homework he assigned, he wouldn’t even let me eat. I didn’t see him worry about me getting thinner from hunger back then.”Serenity laughed as well. “You’re right. Our parents are usually closer to our children. Jane said her family used to adore her the most whenever she visited them. However, after she had children, her mom wouldn’t be as welcoming if she didn’t bring her children along for vis
“Why is our weather here not suitable, Aunt Ser?”“We have particularly long summers, where the weather is hot. Even if it’s winter, the temperature doesn’t go very low. It’s better to avoid eating fried food in such weather.”Most people from other countries thought Wiltspoonians did not eat greasy food. However, it was not because they disliked it, but because they could not take it.Sonny was still a little confused, but Serenity never explained further. He was still young. Even if she were to give a proper explanation, he would not understand her. “Has Sonny’s fever subsided, Serenity?”Duncan was walking up the stairs with the help of his bodyguards. He spoke as soon as he arrived at the door. Serenity put Sonny down. “Dunc.”Sonny immediately ran toward Duncan. Duncan lifted him as his bodyguards brought his wheelchair over. He sat on the wheelchair and patted Sonny’s head. After a moment, he muttered to himself, “I think there’s still a low fever.”Serenity walked
Sonny waited for Serenity to lift him. He was especially clingy because he was sick. “I want to have oatmeal porridge, Aunt Ser.”Sonny had already lost his appetite when he was at preschool earlier. Now that his fever was gone, he felt hungry but only wanted oatmeal porridge.Serenity lifted him and touched his forehead. His temperature seemed to have returned to normal. She brought him downstairs and measured his temperature with a thermometer.After asking the kitchen to prepare the order for Sonny, she said, “I didn’t get the kitchen to prepare oatmeal porridge beforehand, so you’ll have to wait.”Sonny was all snuggled up in her embrace. He said softly, “But I’m hungry, Aunt Ser. Can I have some snacks?”Serenity looked toward Lilian. She asked, “Can Sonny have snacks after having a fever, Dr. Carden?”“Not too much. He might not have the appetite to have a proper meal later,” said Lilian.Therefore, Serenity brought a small piece of snack for Sonny.“I want you to fee
Serenity had some child-care experience from raising Sonny.She liked children, especially those who were a few months old. She thought they were the cutest.Lilian said, “I can’t take it when Oliver keeps crying. Although I know all babies act that way, I still can’t take it. Being a mom isn’t easy. However, ever since I became a mom, I’ve had a deeper appreciation for my teacher. He never got married or became a dad before, but he learned how to raise a child because he found me.“He raised and nurtured me into a capable person. He taught me everything he knew about medicine. Although he isn’t my biological dad, he feels like one. I’m greatly indebted to him. I’ve decided that I’d be utterly filial to him in the future.“Now, he’s even helping me to take care of my baby and student. Laurence is mostly taught by Doc. Doc said my student is also his student.”Lilian would teach Laurence whenever she had free time.Usually, Laurence lived with Doc and the other masters. They were
“Caroline wants to leave Jensburg, so she wants to finish the handover as soon as possible. She’ll leave once my sister is more familiar with everything. Since Fisher Enterprise resumes operations earlier than most, Liberty had to go to Jensburg earlier.“She’s about to be the Fisher’s matriarch, so she has to communicate with the family’s elders and show concern for them. There are just too many things to handle.”Serenity caressed her bump. “I could’ve helped Liberty if I wasn’t pregnant. She’s on her own now.”Audrey was getting older. While she would go over to Jensburg to see how things were going from time to time, she thought it was best for Liberty, the incoming matriarch, to handle everything herself. It was a test and a chance to establish her influence.Since Duncan was still in recovery, he could not go over with Liberty. It was to prevent her from being distracted. Liberty was truly single-handedly doing everything.Lilian said, “Even if you aren’t pregnant, you can
Serenity walked over and sat down. “I asked Duncan about it. He said Sonny’s grandparents brought him to eat fried chicken, fries, and chips when he was with them last Saturday. Eating too much of those makes the throat inflamed easily.”Before getting married, Serenity would eat some fried chicken occasionally. Her favorite was chicken wings. However, she would always drink lots of hot tea with honey and lemon afterward. Otherwise, she would get a sore throat within two days. That was why most people in Wiltspoon maintained a light diet; it could not be helped.“Is Camryn’s condition improving?”Serenity was concerned about Camryn. Camryn was nursing her body back to health. She had to do it so she could conceive and be a mother.Lilian lifted the cup of hot tea before her and took a few sips. She said, “It’s getting better. She can stop her medications at the end of this year and start trying for a baby six months after that.”By the time Camryn could get pregnant, she wou
After a moment of silence, Serenity said, “I’ll inform Mr. Brown and the rest not to let Sonny eat too much fried food the next time they pick Sonny up. Sonny can’t take it because he is susceptible to sore throats.”It would be better if she did it because she was Sonny’s aunt. She was also familiar with the Browns. Luke and Olivia would not feel offended because they would know she was simply concerned about Sonny. If it were to come from Duncan, the Browns would think he was trying to sour Sonny’s relationship with the Browns. Sonny joining the Lewis family, following Liberty’s marriage, had already become a thorn in the Browns’ hearts. However, they could not say anything for the sake of Sonny’s future. Olivia had talked to Hank about getting Sonny’s custody back.Hank rejected the idea. The Brown couple did not insist after Hank explained the pros and cons of Sonny living with either him or Serenity. Based on living conditions, Serenity was definitely the better choice