Duncan went and gave the pinwheel to Sonny. Sonny refused to take the pinwheel from him. “Mr. Lewis, Sonny has a lot of toys already.” “It’s not much. I was passing by a toy store and thought the pinwheel at the entrance was nice. I bought him one since the wind’s strong today, and he’d probably enjoy it.” He dropped by to give Sonny the pinwheel. Otherwise, Duncan would not have come in. Handing the pinwheel to Liberty, Duncan said, “Hold it for Sonny.” Since the pinwheel did not cost a lot, Liberty accepted the gift and thanked Duncan on behalf of Sonny before handing the pinwheel to her son. Sonny took the pinwheel. Duncan said hesitantly, “Sonny’s scared of me. I gave him the pinwheel, but he didn’t want it. He took it the moment you gave it to him.” Liberty replied amid chuckles, “I’m his mother. I have been with him since he was in my womb till today, so I’m his closest person.” Duncan laughed in delight. “Sorry, that came out wrong.” Looking around the shop
Even so, Mrs. Brown did not like it one bit. Duncan was the boss of a company. Although his face was ruined, the man was loaded. Mrs. Brown and her daughter stood in front of Lewis & Co.’s office building the whole morning while waiting for Liberty back then. She heard from her son that Lewis & Co. was one of the biggest corporations in Wiltspoon and a more influential company than the place her son was working at. Her son mentioned that he himself might not pass the interview and become a senior executive at Lewis & Co. It did not sit well with Hank that Liberty was employed by Lewis & Co. as he realized Liberty could get back on track to a successful career when she returned to the workplace. It was a good thing that the couple was divorced now. Hank did not have to worry about being overshadowed by his wife. Since Jessica was his secretary and she relied heavily on him, it fed his ego as a man. Having recognized Mrs. Brown, Duncan stopped in his tracks and shot a glare
“Sonny.” Mrs. Brown entered the shop smiling and pulled up a toy car from her purse. She said to Sonny, “Look, Sonny. I bought you a toy.” “Grandma.” Sonny had no idea what happened among the adults, so he would still acknowledge his grandparents’ and father’s presence. Liberty held grudges against the Browns, but she was ready to move on after the divorce. So long as the Browns stayed out of her business, Liberty could keep her cool when meeting her ex-husband’s family. She never spoke ill about her ex-husband’s family while Sonny was around. No matter what, Hank was Sonny’s father. Liberty put Sonny down. Mrs. Brown crouched to get to Sonny’s eye level. She handed the toy car to Sonny in exchange for the pinwheel which was a gift from Duncan. Call it her killer instinct but she had the feeling that Duncan was trying to get to Liberty through Sonny. For a divorced single mother to find a second chance in love, the most important thing was to see whether the man was
“Jessica wants the reception to be at Wiltspoon Hotel. How much is that going to cost? We’re paying for the reception. Instead of marrying for love, Hank is marrying himself into debt.” Mrs. Brown whined, “It’s not like she can lay a golden egg.” Liberty grabbed a cloth and wiped the table. All the while, she listened to whatever Mrs. Brown had to say without giving her two cents. Her former mother-in-law came to her to vent about Jessica because the latter was demanding and did not hold back on splurging. If Jessica was foolish like Liberty for paying for the renovations and refusing the Browns to pay for the wedding and family support, her ex-mother-in-law would probably brag about Hank marrying someone younger and more beautiful right after the divorce. Mrs. Brown would laugh at her for being fat and ugly. No one would want Liberty after she left Hank. “Liberty, have you been thrifty and skipping meals lately? You seem to have lost a lot of weight.” “Mrs. Brown, I’m no
“Liberty, I got to go. I’ll visit you and Sonny some other time.” Mrs. Brown left these words before making the run for it. Serenity carried Sonny out the door as they watched Mrs. Brown get into a taxi. Serenity clicked her tongue once it was confirmed that the old lady had left the building. She shot off. “She’s never been so eager to see Sonny before, so why change now?” Sonny was holding the toy car that Mrs. Brown stuffed in his hands before leaving. Taking the toy car from Sonny, Serenity asked, “Do you like the toy car, Sonny?” “No.” Shaking his head, Sonny replied, “I have a lot of toy cars.” All of them could move whereas the toy car that Grandma gave him could not.“Why don’t we throw it away?” After much thought, Sonny answered, “For Lucas.” He believed Lucas would not go after his toys if he had his own toy car. “Sonny, Lucas will never fight with you over your toys anymore. If you don’t want to throw the toy car away, we can give it away to other child
Serenity said, “I understand that another marriage isn’t on the table now, but I’m speaking in terms of the future. You’re young, Liberty. Are you planning to be single for the rest of your life?” “Why not? I think I’m doing fine. I don’t need to wait on my in-laws hand and foot or deal with any issue with a mother-in-law and a sister-in-law. I can do whatever I want and spend on whatever I want. I feel free.” Thanks to her newfound freedom, it dawned on Liberty why more and more women did not want to take the marriage route. Serenity was speechless. “Don’t worry about me, Seren. My life can’t be better. Don’t you think I’m happier now that I’m divorced?” Serenity nodded her head. “Don’t you wish I’ll always be happy?” “Of course.” “Don’t bring up the possibility of a second marriage. I just escaped from hell, but Seren, this shouldn’t be a reason for you to be afraid of marriage. Yours is different from mine. Zachary seems like a reliable guy. There was no guarantee
“Zachary owns a villa in a high-end residential area. The villa is huge with a front and back garden. The view is breathtaking. I did my research and found the price of the villas starting from ten million dollars.” Liberty was speechless. “Zachary said he makes millions in annual income and doesn’t have big spending. He saved quite a bit of money to buy the villa, but it’s still on a mortgage.”“How much does he have to pay for his mortgage?” “I didn’t ask. It’s his house. The mortgage is his business. I won’t demand a share of his house if we end up separating.” “Don’t jinx yourself. What do you mean separate? Your marriage has only begun. You should invest in your relationship. Don’t be like me.” Liberty wanted nothing about a divorce coming from her sister’s mouth. Since she failed in her marriage, she hoped her sister had a better chance at spending the rest of her life with Zachary. “It’s right for you to think so. His house is his unless he offers to put you in th
“Zachary’s back from the business trip. You can take him to meet Aunt Audrey when you have time.” Liberty changed the subject.Liberty had no way to tell whether Zachary was related to the richest family in Wiltspoon, but their aunt was the wife of Stone Group’s chairman, so she must have seen the York brothers before. If Serenity took Zachary to see their aunt, they would know whether Zachary deceived Serenity about his identity.Mrs. Lane was listening on the side and thought she should remind Zachary when he got home at night.It would be better for him to confess to Serenity as soon as possible.“Zachary said he won’t be free until after New Year. He’s been very busy recently, and his company is holding an annual dinner soon.”“Does his company allow employees to bring their family members to the annual dinner? Did Zachary say that he’ll take you?”Serenity had never worked in corporate before, but Liberty did and was familiar with the culture. Liberty thought that if Zachary