Ring, ring, ring… The office phone was ringing. Zachary accepted the call and put it on loudspeaker. “Mr. York, Ms. Stone is here again.” With his face falling, Zachary uttered in a flat tone, “Ignore her.” The secretary replied, “Ms. Stone ordered a truck of flowers to be arranged into a heart shape and delivered to the entrance of our building. Apparently, the heart represents her love for you.” Josh’s eyes on his boss were sparkling with gossip. Zachary looked askance at Josh before retorting, “What’s the security here for? Why are they allowing trash at our doorstep?” He then terminated the call. The secretary got the message loud and clear. Josh chuckled. “Elisa is a great girl. She’s forthcoming with her feelings. I mean, the number of women who have a thing for you has got to be as many as the hair on my head, but only Elisa has the guts to profess her love and prove it with her actions.” “Go for her then if you think she’s great. Get her to give you all th
Elisa was the heiress of the Stones after all. Stone Group and York Corporation were not on good terms, so the security guards’ inhospitality toward Elisa could aggravate the hostility between both giants. It was not a responsibility the security guards could shoulder. Soon, a few speeding cars pulled up in front of York Corporation. Getting out of the car, Clive took quick strides toward his sister who was yelling out all the love she had for Zachary through a megaphone. The scowl on his handsome face did not go amiss. There was no question that Zachary called Clive again to make a fuss about his sister’s antics. Clive happened to be in a meeting when he received the complaint. Frustration could barely describe Clive’s emotions right now. Ditching his team of executives, Clive took his bodyguard and came all the way to drag Elisa back. “Zachary…” Before Elisa could finish, the megaphone was snatched right out of her hands. She looked over and met the stern eyes of h
Back in the bookshop near Wiltspoon School, Serenity sat behind the cash register, scrolling on her phone reading news while Jasmine was lost in a romance book. As the owner of a bookshop, Jasmine had free rein to explore all the books she wanted. That was the perk for doing what she loved for a living. Jasmine had read almost all the romance novels in the shop. At times, Serenity would tease by asking Jasmine to become a writer since she had always enjoyed romance novels.“Seren, the main characters of this story got married at first sight too.” As she put down the book, Jasmine added with a smile, “Just like you.” Serenity was fixated on Jasmine. “Lots of people got married after dating shortly. Well, you did say that the female character of that book blindly married a billionaire. My husband is only a wage earner.” Even though Zachary was a senior white-collar worker in a major group, he was working for someone. “You might want to cut down on reading. I think the stor
“It would be a shame for Ms. Stone if Mr. York plays for the other team.” Jasmine added regrettably, “It’s disappointing that someone finally had the courage to go after Mr. York, but it didn’t have a happy ending. Speaking of which, do you think the heir swings the other way?” Serenity replied amusedly, “How would I know?” It was only their suspicion, but of course, Mr. York’s sexual orientation would be determined should he accept and marry Ms. Stone. Nevertheless, what did it have to do with Serenity? The hottest gossip, even if it was about Mr. York, was not worthy of Serenity’s time. Jasmine, however, loved getting into it. Every so often, Jasmine would babble about local big stories within Serenity’s earshot. Refusing to engage in gossip, Serenity took out her tools to get into her crafting. Jasmine rambled on under her breath while checking out the trending news. Not too long later, her expression turned stern, and she then slammed hard on the cash register.The
Ring, ring, ring… Serenity’s phone rang. Picking up the phone for a look, Serenity saw that it was her sister and took the call. “Seren, did you see the news on Twitter? They’re too much!” Liberty was up in arms. As she was fifteen when their parents died in the accident, Liberty had a clearer memory of the events that followed. Liberty kept a diary of every detail of their grandparents and uncles’ heartless deeds. She still had the diary in possession. It never occurred to Liberty that these relatives would do a one-eighty and point finger at the sisters. “It’s not like they turned bad overnight. They have always been evil.” “I’ll go online now to explain our side of the story.” Liberty was about to hang up when Serenity stopped her. “No need to jump to our defense. Let the story sit for a while before we respond. Then, it’s our turn to show the whole world who they are.“Since they put our faces and numbers online, we should do our homework and stick the evidence
With her husband blowing up on her, Liberty was furious and disconcerted. She snapped back. “Don’t worry. I won’t get you involved. After what I did to my relatives, I had no intention of staying in touch with them. They’re the ones who won’t leave me and my sister alone. They want me and Serenity to pay for Grandmom’s medical bills.” Realizing that he might have come out harsh, Hank toned it down. “Liberty, you can write a tweet to clear the air. I’ll pay for professional trolling to hype your post. You must refute their claims. Don’t let them twist the story around.” Although Hank was disgusted by Liberty’s presence, he had to admit that her relatives loved to spin the story far from the truth. When he and Liberty got hitched, these relatives filled two cars and intimidated Hank with great numbers to fork out a lump sum of family support. Otherwise, they would not see the marriage through. Hank and Liberty were college sweethearts, so he knew the sisters had it rough coming t
“We’ve been operating our business on this street for years now. You all know what Seren’s like. Whatever that’s written online is bullsh*t.”Serenity did not say much to defend herself. It was Jasmine, who could not stand people getting the wrong message about her best friend, sticking up for Serenity. Jasmine spilled the beans on the sisters’ hardships while they were in the hands of the Hunts. It was a tell-all account that included the latest fiasco of the relatives demanding Serenity to foot the grandmother’s medical bills and cover the cousins’ gas and whatnot after the grandmother had fallen ill. Everybody had borne witness to Serenity’s character. Even the other booksellers down the street, despite the competition among businesses, believed Serenity was not that kind of girl. Now that they got the whole story, everybody was fired up to put the truth across to the netizens. The Hunts should not get away with this. Now that was a low blow even for the Hunts. They we
Serenity fell into contemplation before agreeing to let Zachary come with. Walking around the cash register, Serenity told her best friend, “I’m heading out for a while, Jasmine. I’ll leave the shop in your hands. Reassure my sister that everything’s going to be okay when she comes over. I’ll sort things out.” “Okay.” After telling her best friend to be safe, Jasmine watched as Serenity and Zachary took off. Sitting in Zachary’s car, Serenity asked him, “Mr. York, do you know anyone in the media?” “Yes. Do you need their help with something?” Serenity replied, “I’m going back to my hometown to take photos of my uncles’ houses. It’ll be more convincing with a third party validating it. I still don’t know what my relatives do for a living.” Her grandparents were still hogging her family home too. Serenity intended to snap photos of their living conditions. A visual proof was crucial to disapprove their claims. As for the public witch hunt online, Serenity was not going to