This was the mindset of the older generation. They believed the inheritance should stay in the family by leaving them to the sons and grandsons as daughters would only grow up to marry into another family. For families without a direct descendant to bequeath the inheritance to, fellow townspeople would be eyeing the property. They would keep the wealth in the town. Many were unwilling to leave their hard-earned assets to someone who did not carry the family name. Hence, they would try to bring a son into the family. “Are you talking about John Hunt by chance?” John’s name rang a bell as he was once a senior executive at one of the Stones’ subsidiaries. John made a million dollars annually. For John to earn a huge chunk of change from the Stones, to push around her nieces, and to take over her sister’s property, Mrs. Stone could not say he left a good impression. She needed to get Clive to go hard on John so the latter would not be able to even make a living out of begging
“I know you and your sister aren’t pushovers, but I just want to do right by my sister.” Serenity was without a word. The aunt and niece shared an afternoon of conversation. Mrs. Stone insisted on going with Serenity to pick Liberty up at Lewis & Co. at five o’clock in the evening. Serenity let her be. Taking the wheel, Serenity drove Sonny, Mrs. Stone, and the others to Lewis & Co. Jasmine and Mrs. Lane did not come along. Halfway on the road, Serenity’s mind suddenly flew to Grandma May. She had not seen the old lady the whole afternoon. Serenity immediately gave Grandma May a call. She jumped straight to the question the moment the phone was picked up. “Nana, where were you?” “I was taking a stroll. Are you heading home? I’ll grab a cab back then.” Grandma May had been at Mr. Charles’ shop the whole time. She dared not show her face for fear Mrs. Stone might see her. “Nana, the DNA test results for Mrs. Stone and me are out. She’s my aunt. Aunt Audrey wan
Liberty did not have to look to know who it was. The voice was all too familiar to her. It was Chelsea, her former notorious sister-in-law. Mrs. Brown brought her daughter to Lewis & Co., but Liberty had her lunch at the office cafeteria instead of having it at home. She took a power nap at her desk before continuing her work. All the while, she did not leave the office. The mother and daughter were on a stakeout in front of the office building the whole afternoon. Tempers were flaring, to say the least. Now that Liberty was finally out, Chelsea’s fury had risen to an all-time high. Without regard to the building crowd, she yelled and caught the attention of many. The nosy passersby stopped to watch the drama unfold. Although Liberty was only a measly clerk in the finance department, she was personally hired by Mr. Lewis. That was how she became well-known in the company. The director of the finance department was worried about losing her job as she found out that Lib
Someone stood up to Chelsea. “That’s right. You’re a woman. How can you say that about Liberty? Liberty did the right thing. We’re behind you, Liberty!” “With a sister-in-law like that, I’d divorce and stay away from the family even if my man didn’t cheat on me.” Chelsea grimaced in the face of public criticism. She believed Liberty humiliated her. Suddenly, Chelsea pushed the e-bike that Liberty was holding onto. Liberty had a hard time wheeling the e-bike as it had a flat tire. Chelsea’s sudden push caused Liberty to topple over together with the e-bike. “Give us back the money. Your grandfather took the money from my mom and denied taking it. You’re responsible for your grandfather’s debt. Give the money back to my mom.” Still not feeling satisfied after the push, Chelsea went on to swing her handbag at Liberty. It did not stop there as she also made use of her feet to kick Liberty. Ditching the e-bike, Liberty stumbled onto her feet and snatched the purse from C
Black in the face, Duncan asked, “What’s going on here?” Chelsea got up from the ground and tried to charge at Liberty, but Duncan pushed her away. It took a few steps before Chelsea could steady her balance. Chelsea looked up and saw a towering man with a scowl standing by Liberty. The scar on the man’s face was terrifying. She might have nightmares if she stared at the scar long enough. Shaking in her boots, Chelsea lost the will to pounce on Liberty. Mrs. Brown hurried to her daughter’s side. The mother and daughter were a hot mess, but so was Liberty. The few security guards and female employees who tried intervening in the fight looked disheveled. It never crossed their minds that the fight between two parties involving three women could get so wild. It was impossible to tear them apart. “Who are you?” After catching her breath, Chelsea questioned Duncan. “I’m the boss of this company, and who are you? Who are you to come to my place of business and kick my
The Browns pair tried to flee. Alas, the cops arrived.“Stop them!” Seeing that the mother and daughter were going to make a run for it, Duncan commanded the people to swoop in on them. “Mr. Lewis, did you call the cops? What happened here? There seems to be a commotion.” The cops recognized Duncan. It was mainly because Duncan was a familiar face among the police force but not for a good reason. After turning over a new leaf, Duncan took an honest path and went into business. He grew Lewis & Co. into one of the major corporations in Wiltspoon in the span of a few years and had a net worth of billions. Everybody around here knew who Duncan was. Well, it would be more accurate to say that everybody doing business in Wiltspoon knew Duncan. “They came here to beat up my employee. Look at what they did to her.” Duncan pulled Liberty out from the crowd and showed the train wreck Liberty was. The cops were speechless. A catfight!Their gaze shifted from Liberty to t
The group had only elbowed their way into the crowd when Serenity cried, “Liberty.” Sonny called for his mother. It was not hard to take stock of the situation when Serenity saw Chelsea and her mom as well as the disheveled state her sister was in. Boy, she was riled up. Putting Sonny in her sister’s arms, Serenity rolled up her sleeve and was ready to get into a fight. “Seren.” Mrs. Stone worked fast and swiftly stopped Serenity from trying to stick up for her sister. “Seren, leave it to the cops to handle this.” The cops had been called. It would not look good on Serenity to fight in front of the cops. “Mr. Stone. Mrs. Stone.” Duncan was surprised to see the Stones. Out of respect, he approached them and said hello. Mr. and Mrs. Stone exchanged greetings with Duncan. Mrs. Stone asked, “What’s going on here, Mr. Lewis?” Duncan replied, “Let the cops take their statements at the station, Mrs. Stone.” He then said to the cops, “Officer, my employee has suffere
Mrs. Stone snapped, “Do you think an apology would cut it after you beat my niece up? We don’t accept your apology. You’ve pushed one too far.” She then told the police officers. “We won’t settle with an apology. Do what you need to do, officers. But I think compensation should be in order.” The Browns’ mother and daughter were detained, fined, and ordered to pay Liberty’s medical bills and emotional distress. Since they beat Liberty up and insulted her in public, Liberty could claim emotional distress due to reputation loss. Hearing that Liberty was Mrs. Stone’s niece, Duncan looked at Mrs. Stone in surprise. Mrs. Brown asked Mrs. Stone blankly, “Are you Liberty’s aunt? When did you come into the picture?” Liberty was not related to her mom’s side of the family. The family had not been in touch with Liberty and her sister for the last fifteen years. Serenity was the only family who attended Liberty’s wedding. Their extended families from both their parents’ sides did n