Jessica took pleasure in her boss’s courtship and preferential treatment, accepting the flowers and gifts as they came. However, she refused to cross the line of making out with her boss. This was not a matter of protecting her chastity, but rather a means for Hank to yearn for something he so desired. Jessica’s eyes were not set on becoming a mistress, but rather the rightful woman next to Hank. Nevertheless, Hank had been in a relationship with his wife for many years since college. Liberty used to be the finance director of the company, but she quit her job to be a full-time housewife by the time Jessica joined the company. Jessica had never met Liberty, but through the mouths of old colleagues, she got to know that Liberty gave birth to a son a year into the marriage and became a stay-at-home mom since. It was said that Liberty became way out of shape after giving birth. Hank had whined about his obese wife more than once. Jessica thought to herself, ‘Liberty is such a
Meanwhile, a train of luxury sedans cruised along with one of them being a Rolls Royce. It was Zachary’s private ride. With the convoy stopping at the side of the road, Zachary rolled down his window and looked at the scar-faced man. He asked, “What are you doing here, Duncan?” “I went to get something, but I came back to a scratch on my car.” “Did you catch the perpetrator?” Out of impulse, Zachary asked, “Do you need my help to catch whoever vandalized your car?” “It’s fine. I got her number. I’ll claim the damages from her after I get my car fixed. Wiltspoon is my city. She can run but she can’t hide.” Returning to his car, Duncan Lewis started the engine and told Zachary, “I’m off.” Without another word, Zachary wound the windows back up. The Rolls Royce followed by its convoy quickly drove away.Time ticked away quickly. It was soon evening. Once the afterschool rush hour had calmed down, Serenity intended to make dinner for her and Jasmine in the kitchen when she
Zachary remained silent. The person who chipped the paint off Duncan’s car was his new sister-in-law. Zachary had not met his sister-in-law. “It’s late, Mr. York. I’m going to turn in for the night.” Despite having reassured her sister that everything would be fine, Serenity was feeling the blues as she did not know what to expect from the damages. She said goodnight to Zachary and went to her room. By the time Zachary opened his mouth to say something, Serenity had already disappeared into her room. The flowers on the balcony… Well, Serenity would sort out the floral arrangement when she saw them in the morning. However, Zachary was feeling weird about it. It was as though he was waiting to be praised after doing a good thing. “Mr. York.” With the door swung open, Serenity popped back out and asked, “I see you got the washing machines. How much were they?” “I spent seven thousand on two washing machines.” Serenity did a comparison to the washing machine at her si
“It’s only a minor issue, so I can’t be bothered to submit a claim. Why the sudden question, Zachary?” Zachary fell silent before uttering, “The woman who scratched your car this morning is the sister of my nana’s lifesaver. The sisters only have each other, and the woman is a housewife without an income. They’re worried they can’t pay for your car’s repairs.” Duncan replied, “… Talk about a coincidence. I can’t believe she was the sister of your grandma’s lifesaver. How did you find out?” Zachary lied. “My nana is fond of her lifesaver and often seeks companionship in her. Nana had to ask why she was looking blue today, so Hunt told her what happened.” “Hunt? Is that her last name? The woman who damaged my car is Liberty Hunt. What’s the name of your grandma’s lifesaver?” “Serenity Hunt.” “They must be sisters, judging by the name. I’ll drop the matter since she’s the sister of your grandma’s lifesaver. The money means nothing to me, but I’m the victim after all. I can’t b
Serenity tossed and turned all night as stressful dreams were triggered. The disturbed sleep drained her energy by the time she woke up the following morning. As usual, Serenity hung her laundry on the balcony after turning the washing machine on before bed. It was then she realized that stainless steel rods had been installed on the balcony. They were for her to air the laundry. There were also a variety of potted plants stacked on the huge balcony. Many of them had bloomed and budded. No matter the size, the petals were all the intricate kind. Serenity’s attention was immediately drawn to the flowers. She hung her clothes out and got straight to assembling the flower stands she bought yesterday morning. Serenity then displayed the potted plants on the stands. While busting her gut over the task, Serenity got a crawling sensation of a pair of prying eyes. She looked up and met Zachary’s unfazed gaze. His eyes were nothing short of piercing and emotionless. Serenity had lea
“What’s the matter, Mr. York?” Serenity’s voice was heard from the balcony. Chewing on the wrap, Zachary made his way to the balcony. “Your sister’s thing is nothing to worry about. The car in question happens to belong to one of our important clients. It dawned on me last night, so I gave Mr. Lewis a call. He said the repairs cost about ten thousand dollars.” Although she appeared rather lively dabbling the plants, Zachary could tell that she was not at her best, likely due to a lack of sleep last night. The matter with her sister was the cause of trouble in slumberland. Serenity lifted her chin and observed him munching on the wrap. While thinking to herself that Zachary was easy to appease in the food department, Serenity asked, “How can you be sure it’s the car of your company’s client?” Her sister was clueless about the car owner’s name. All she knew was that he was big, strong, and had an intimidating scar on his face. Sonny was scared stiff of the man. “I attended to
On the other hand, Zachary spoke to Mr. Lewis on behalf of Liberty and probably put in the good word for her too, so Mr. Lewis knocked a thousand dollars off. Of course, nine thousand bucks were a great deal of money to Liberty now. It would serve as a painful lesson to keep her eyes peeled on the street and stay away from luxury sedans! “Is your husband coming back soon?” asked Liberty.“Yeah. He’ll be back tomorrow.” “Great. My husband and I will be there ahead of time. Are you cooking? I’ll help out.” Having lived independently with her sister for many years, Liberty had so much on the ball from her career, and social life, to domestic life. Now that she was held down by a child and without an income, her husband put her in a position where she could be nothing more than a housewife. The sisters exchanged small talk on the phone before ending the call. “Mr. York, do you work late every day?” “Why?” “It’s almost the weekend that Nana and your parents will come over f
Last night, Serenity stayed up late for Zachary to come home so she could make plans with him to shop for groceries on Saturday morning. Serenity called Nana the night before to get a headcount. As it turned out, Zachary’s brothers and cousins were also coming along. The way Nana saw it, Serenity was part of the York family now that she was married to Zachary. By meeting the family, Nana wanted to bring together everybody to introduce the family tree. Since there was going to be a lot of food, Serenity would not be able to carry all the groceries on her own. Hence, she requested Zachary to take her to the market by car. Like the other day, Zachary was startled awake by Serenity’s morning call at six o’clock sharp. Feeling grumpy from the early rise, Zachary had to bottle up his grievance to stop himself from yelling at Serenity. “Mr. York.” Serenity’s clear voice washed away some of the unpleasantness in the morning. With eyebrows pinched together, Zachary answered gruffl