“How have you two been getting along since getting the marriage license?” Ben pried.He was swept into a whirlwind marriage with Jane, but they had known each other for eleven years. At least, they were old acquaintances. Besides, Ben had his eye on Jane from the very beginning. He had repressed his feelings for her and did not show affection of any kind as she was not of age. Things changed when Jane was pressured by her family to marry—she had to hire him as a boyfriend. Ben took the chance to set Jane up and make their contractual relationship official. He and Jane got married knowing each other, but it was different from Zachary who married a complete stranger. Ben had a yen for some hot gossip. “I made it clear to my nana before going ahead with the marriage that I could marry her, but it was my business how I managed the marriage thereafter. My nana wasn’t to interfere. “I didn’t tell my wife who I was, so I could observe her in her raw moments and see if she was a
“Mr. Young-Johnson, you’ve been through this. I need your advice. How did you confess to your wife about your identity? What was your wife’s reaction when she found out? What did you do that she wholeheartedly accepted you without running the risk of external factors?” Ben finally got to the bottom of Zachary’s internal conflict. Zachary did not have the guts to come clean because he feared the harm it would bring his wife. He got himself in a sticky situation with the heiress of the Stones as well. If handled wrongly, Ms. Stone might get jealous. The cousins may have a fallout or even turn against each other. It would, in turn, come between Zachary and his wife. Picking his cup for a sip of tea, Ben said, “Mr. York, my situation is different from yours though. Although my wife and I jumped into marriage right away, I set her up for it. I had a crush on my wife for eleven years. I fooled her into getting a marriage license with me. “In principle, we did get married in has
“It’s better you tell her the truth than she realizes it or hears it from someone else.” Ben had been there. Jane might not have reacted so strongly if he had been honest with her. It meant that he trusted her to bare his soul to her. Since Jane got the news from Yves’ mouth, Jane believed Ben had no confidence in her and walked on eggshells around her. Plus, his mother-in-law was convinced there was a social gap between them. Worried Jane would be treated like dirt by the Johnsons, his mother-in-law was once against the marriage. “She’ll take it that you trust her if it comes from your mouth, but the moment she finds out from someone else… She’ll be angrier by the minute, thinking the whole world but she knows about it. The deceit won’t sit well with her. In fact, she’ll conclude it to be a lack of trust and confidence. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” With Serenity’s temper coming into mind, Zachary timidly uttered, “I sounded her out to see under what circumst
The seniors of the Johnson family were most worried about Lee and Remy. Lee and Remy had different mothers, so the age gap between these brothers was not huge. Remy was well past the statistical age of marriage among ordinary people. Many men of Remy’s age were fathers of two children by now. Zachary uttered apologetically, “I would help matchmake Mr. Johnson if I could, but I don’t know many young girls. I might not be of much help, but I can ask my wife to keep an eye out, or I can let my nana know. She’s checking out girls for my brothers anyway. I could ask her to introduce a girl to Mr. Johnson too.” Remy was at a loss for words. He had never met Old Mrs. York, but stories that the old lady was young at heart and broadminded had traveled far. Old Mrs. York should be credited for Zachary’s marriage with Serenity. “Thank Old Mrs. York for me.” Ben believed it would be hard for Zachary to play matchmaker for Remy. Zachary and Tim were the same kinds of people—they cou
Zachary did not stay in Annenburg for long after leaving FC Manor. He flew back to Wiltspoon on the same day. He did not inform Serenity of his flight to surprise her with his return. While on the road, Zachary deliberated about Ben’s advice. Ben suggested that he come clean to Serenity about everything. Elisa’s feelings should not be in his consideration. It was Elisa’s business that she loved Zachary. It was not as if Zachary flirted with her. God knew how long before Zachary could let Serenity know about his identity if he waited until Elisa let go of her feelings as Clive mentioned. Besides, Elisa meant nothing to Zachary. Why should he listen to Clive? It was only a matter of time before Serenity and Elisa’s possible fallout. There was no avoiding it. Zachary should pick a special day when Serenity was happy, to be honest about who he was… “Jim,” Zachary called out solemnly. “Sir,” Jim respectfully responded, on standby for Mr. Zachary’s instructions. “Wha
Jim reminded Mr. Zachary. Mr. Zachary did not pay any attention to the missus at the time, so the security team had to remember the missus’s name for him. Jim and his team had to remind Mr. Zachary all the time. Jim would not count on Mr. Zachary to remember a day like the wedding anniversary. Mr. Zachary was not the least bit romantic. Zachary asked, “Are you sure it’s October the 10th?” “I remember it because of the same digits.” It made sense to Zachary now that he thought about it. “A quick check on the marriage license should confirm it.” Seeing that Zachary was in a better mood, Jim boldly asked, “Sir, are you planning to give the missus a surprise?” “Are you expecting me to throw you a surprise too?” Jim replied, “I’ll get more of a horror than a surprise, Sir.” Zachary shot him a glare. Jim bit his tongue. Since Serenity did not receive any message of Zachary’s return, she went Christmas shopping with her sister. Zachary was taking Serenity back to h
Following Hank’s words, Jessica said, “I’m not saying you can’t give your son a hug. I just don’t want you to go alone. I need to be with you.” She intimately wrapped her hands around Hank’s arm. Hank dabbed her forehead amid chuckles. “Silly girl. Don’t be jealous. I divorced her because I wasn’t in love with her. Don’t listen to my mom and sister. I won’t get back together with Liberty.” His mother and sister believed Liberty would be a huge help to his career since Liberty now had a wealthy aunt. Hank had to say that things were not working out for him at Waltham Electronics, but he would not leave so long as his boss did not fire him or take away his perks. He also upped the kickbacks to earn more prior to leaving the company. Hank needed a lot of money since he was about to marry Jessica. Although Liberty welcomed a wealthy aunt in her life, her aunt never offered a helping hand. In fact, Liberty used Hank’s money from the divorce to rent a place to set up a restaura
“You got it wrong, Mr. Brown. I’m the one buying the gifts for my in-laws, not my sister.”Serenity offhandedly added, “Even if my sister’s buying gifts, she’s not spending your money. Nobody wants your two cents.” To think Hank expected her sister to make a note of every expense for Sonny’s upkeep. Hank was a loser for sure! Mrs. Brown had the nerve to persuade Liberty to get back together with Hank. Did Mrs. Brown think her son was the last man left on earth? It was freaking hilarious. “Yours? Why are you getting your in-laws so much?” Hank was surprised. He thought the sisters would be preparing gifts for the Stones. It never crossed his mind that Serenity was getting gifts for her in-laws. Tch. Serenity turned out to be quite generous. Come to think about it, where did Serenity get the money from? Did she ask her sister for money to buy Christmas gifts? “I can get as many as I want. It’s none of your business. You can let the lady next to you know if you’re j