Zack chuckled. “You don’t think we’re very poor and that we don’t have money to build other houses, so that’s why everyone still lives in the old residence left behind by our ancestors?”
Since their grandparents‘ generation, their family had moved out of Whitmore Mansion and built the Wildridge Manor. To the younger generation, Wildridge Manor was considered their old family residence, because all the cousins lived in their own villas and would only return to Wildridge Manor during the holidays.
“You could afford a villa and even paid for our current place in cash. How could you be so poor as to not have money to build another house? The older generation probably kept staying there for nostalgia’s sake.”
Zack smiled. “My wife is so clever. That’s right. Especially Nana–when she married into the York family, she moved straight into Whitmore Mansion, so she was feeling sentimental about the place. She didn’t want to move out, so everyone could only accompany her and spend lots of money and labor every year to maintain the place to prevent it from collapsing.”
“The older generation is all like that,” Serena expressed her understanding.
“Look, Nana came to live with us for only a few days before she ran back home. She’s not used to it.
“To us, living here is great, but Nana just feels that the old residence is better. One’s own shack is better than another’s mansion.”
Zack scoffed internally. Nana only slunk back home early to avoid Mrs. Stone exposing their identities.
“Zack, can we go for a walk? We’ve been married for a while now, but we’ve never held hands and strolled on the streets like other couples do. Most people have gone home for the holidays, so there should be much fewer people and cars on the streets now. It’ll be quiet, too.”
Zack said fondly, “I’ll support you and be by your side no matter what you want to do.”
He got up, pulling her with him. “I’ll go get you a jacket from the room. The temperature drops at night. It’ll be cold.”
Serena nodded, and also reminded him, “You need to put your jacket on too. If you get sick, there are jabs waiting for you every day.”
Zack was speechless for a moment. “With you constantly monitoring me like this every day, how could I dare let myself get sick?”
Those few days of daily injections were enough to strike fear into him for the rest of his life.
Zack went back into the bedroom to get Serena’s jacket and put on his jacket too.
After coming out of the room, they heard a phone ring. It was not Zack’s phone but Serena’s. He saw Serena scoop her phone out and look at it for a long while before doubtfully picking up the call.
“Hello. May I know who this is?”
Zack figured it was an unfamiliar number just by hearing her ask that question.
The person on the other side of the line did not speak right away.
Serena asked again, “May I know who this is?”
“Serena, it’s me.”
A familiar voice filtered through the phone and Serena’s expression turned ugly as she was about to hang up immediately.
“Serena, don’t hang up! I just want to talk to you for a bit. I’m not going to disturb you and go to see you. Serena, I’m about to go mad because I haven’t been able to see you,”
Shawn Lowe begged over the phone, hoping Serena would not hang up.
He endured it for a very long time mainly because he was afraid his mother would really act against Serena in revenge, so he resisted the urge to see her even if he was going crazy from missing her. He had not dared go see Serena at the bookshop nor call her because his mother had his phone tapped.
Right now, he had spent a big sum of money to bribe one of the bodyguards who were supposed to be watching him and borrowed the man’s phone to call Serena.
It had been incredibly difficult to make this call.
Serena hung up without another word.
Shawn Lowe had not appeared before her for a long time, nor had he called her. She knew this was all Jasmine’s effort. They thought this would make Shawn give up on her and start a new life.
Unexpectedly, Shaun called her.
“Who called?”
Zack noticed her expression did not look good, and other than asking who the person on the line was, he did not say another word. He was curious.
As he draped his jacket over her shoulders, he asked, “Was it a crank call?”
“It was Shawn Lowe.”
It could be considered a crank call.
Zack frowned.
Shawn Lowe still had not given up?
Mr. Lowe, Shawn’s father, had tried to meet him multiple times to discuss the halted cooperation between their companies. He had been too busy and had not met Mr. Lowe yet.
However, the discordance between York Corporation and Lowe Enterprise was clear for all to see.
Mr. Lowe was under immense pressure.
The conflict between Lowe Enterprise and York Corporation would not make the former collapse in the short term but would still incur losses. The shareholders of Lowe Enterprise had come looking for him one by one to ask him what the hell had happened.
Everything had been just fine, so how did they end up falling out with York Corporation?
What really made Mr. Lowe angry was their rivals taking advantage of this situation to make their move.
York Corporation put on a show of bluster to make it seem like the two groups had fallen out to become enemies, which placed overwhelming pressure on Lowe Enterprise, and with that their rivals would stir into action.
What Zack was doing was essentially borrowing the hands of another to strike at them.
Zack decided that once Serena had fallen asleep, he would invite Mr. Lowe out to meet that very night and hint to him the real reason their companies were now in conflict.
Lowe Enterprise was truly in a sorry state at the moment. Zack and Josh had wanted to continue, but Josh was pursuing Jasmine and Mrs. Lowe was Jasmine’s aunt. They had a good relationship and if Zack and Josh really drove Lowe Enterprise into bankruptcy and drowned in debt…
Jasmine and Josh as a couple would probably be impossible then.
For the sake of Josh’s love, they would leave Lowe Enterprise with a way out.
“He knows you’re married and that our relationship is stable, but he’s still bugging you. You even told me you guys were like siblings. If I hadn’t been jealous and made a fuss, you probably still wouldn’t know right now he’d long had romantic feelings for you.”
Zack cynically poked Serena’s forehead.
Serena touched the place that had been poked and said in defense of her innocence, “I’ve known him since I was young and I watched him grow up. I always thought of him as my own little cousin. Who knew he would like me?
“That’s not my fault. I never provoked him in any way.”
Serena said as she hugged his arm and walked outside with him, further saying, ” Doesn’t him liking me prove that Nana has good taste and chosen a good wife for you?”
Zack could not help but laugh. “Right, right. Nana has good taste and chose a good wife for me.”
“That’s right. I’m your good wife. With that bad temper of yours, only I can tolerate it. Any other woman would have raised hell a long time ago and given you the silent treatment to the end.”
Zack thought to himself that if it had been any other woman, he would not have gotten married.
“My beloved wife, you must continue to tolerate me then. We still have a long way to go in life.. I think I could live to a hundred. You’ll probably live to ninety–five, so you’ll have to keep tolerating me for another seventy years.”
Serena looked at him, no longer leaning on him. “So you alone can live to a hundred, and there’ll be a five-year difference between our ages in the end?”
“I’m older than you by five years. I’ll be a hundred, you’ll be ninety–five. Alive, we’ll be together, and even in death, we’ll be together.”
Serena was speechless.
What a selfish man he was.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.