“I’ll open the door.”
Zack uttered as he made his way to the door.
Standing at the door were Liberty and her son.
“Liberty.”
Zack affectionately said hello before picking Sonny up. Zack grinned from ear to ear. “Do you miss your Uncle Zack, Sonny?”
“I do,” Sonny answered in a soft voice and propped against Zack’s shoulder.
“What’s wrong with Sonny? Is he sick?”
The little man was without his usual friendly self. Thinking that Sonny was unwell, Zack felt his head. Sonny did not have a temperature.
Liberty stepped into the house and replied, “Sonny was still asleep when I was leaving the house. He’s still out of it since I woke him up and brought him here.”
Feeling at ease, Zack carried Sonny inside the apartment. “You can rest in the car on the way there.”
It would be at least a fifty-mile drive from the city to the Hunts’ hometown.
“Breakfast is ready, Liberty.”
Serena emerged from the dining room. Seeing that her nephew was listless, she took Sonny from her husband and said, ‘Liberty, why don’t you get a car? At least, Sonny can take naps during car rides. It’ll shelter him from the wind and storm too.”
“Do you have oats?” Liberty asked her sister. “Well, we’ll see how business goes after the opening on Monday. I’ll ride your e-bike if the business doesn’t pick up. I know it’s time to get a car when business is good.”
“I have a lot of cars in the garage. You can pick whichever.”
“I’m good. My rental house is not too far from the diner.”
Zack drove luxury cars, so Liberty would be looking at a heft bill if she took one out and bumped into anyone’s car. Her brother-in-law would refuse to take her money too. All the favors simply did not sit right with Liberty.
Hence the reason for her turning down the kind gesture.
Liberty could afford a car in the range of a hundred thousand dollars, but she did not see the need right now. She wanted to practice caution and see how the business would take off beforehand.
Knowing her sister well, Serena did not pursue the topic. She carried Sonny into the dining room and sat Sonny down at the table. She made a full English breakfast of toast, ham, eggs, and roasted potatoes.
Sonny had a thing for potatoes.
The lot got a call from Elisa when they finished their breakfast.
With a convoy of Zack’s security detail, they took a ride in Zack’s car and met up with Mrs. Stone at the community entrance before making their way to the Hunts’ hometown.
Serena, Liberty, Mrs. Stone, and the others were on their way to the Hunts’ hometown when Old Mr. Hunt brought his sons and two grandsons to Wiltspoon School. Here they were to talk cash with Serena again.
Old Mr. Hunt refused to believe the Yorks were unfazed by all the big hoo-ha the Hunts stirred in the last few days.
Serena might be feeling the pressure now.
Alas, they arrived at Wiltspoon School only to find that Serena’s bookshop was closed.
“Why isn’t it operating for business? It’s eight o’clock. It says here they open at eight.”
Getting out of the car, Old Mr. Hunt grimaced upon noticing the shop was closed. He ran his mouth and called Serena out for being a lousy businessperson.
Mike looked at the shops around and said, “Granddad, it’s Saturday today. The school is off. These shops target students as customers. They won’t bother opening when the school is closed.”
Old Mr. Hunt mumbled, “The brat usually stays open on the weekend. She thinks she’s all that now that she’s the wife of a wealthy man. I bet the profit of this shop isn’t much to her now. Mike, maybe we can change the plans and get her to give you the business if the brat refuses to relent.”
“Serena established the shop with her friend, Granddad. She could only afford a business because of her friend. The Sox girl comes from a well-to-do family. I heard that the Sox family makes their money off collecting rent. Apparently, her aunt is the wife of some local businessman. The whole family is pretty business-minded.”
There was no way they could take over Serena’s book-selling business.
“God knows why the brat is so lucky.”
The public was not the only one jealous of Serena’s good fortune. Her own grandfather could not stand to see her living large.
So what if Serena married well? She refused to share the fortune with her family.
“Since she’s not open for business, should we head to your house then?”
Old Mr. Hunt asked John as John was his favorite grandson. Old Mr. Hunt often asked for John’s opinion before doing anything.
His sons were merely here to make up for the headcount. It was power in numbers after all.
The rest of the family had returned to their hometown.
It was a huge expense for everybody to stay in the city. Even though Old Mr. Hunt did not have to cover the expenses, he felt the pinch for his sons and grandsons’ wallets. Old Mr. Hunt did not want to spend too much of their money back when they were still working, much less now that they were eating away their savings.
That was why Old Mr. Hunt thought about Serena and Liberty when his spouse needed to have surgery in the city. Why spend his sons and grandsons’ money when he could spend Liberty and Serena’s?
To Old Mr. Hunt, his sons and grandsons were family. Their money was his money.
His granddaughters would marry into other families and their money was their husbands’ money. Why should Old Mr. Hunt care?
Old Mr. Hunt wanted to manipulate Serena and her sister since they were doing well in life. However, the plan backfired and blew up in their faces. Not only did they fail to get anything out of the sisters, his sons and grandsons lost their sources of income.
He hated the sisters’ guts for that, especially Serena. She married into a wealthy family, and her in-laws were loaded. Why could she not spare them some change? A bit of change went a long way.
What was the point of having a granddaughter when she could not include her family in all the money and success?
Old Mr. Hunt hoped to drive Zack and Serena to divorce. He wanted Serena to lose everything.
He also wished Harriet’s plastic surgery would go well, so the latter could take Serena’s place.
“She lives in a gated community. We can’t get in. She might be staying in some villa right now, and God knows which one. Mr. York owns a lot of properties.”
Old Mr. Hunt turned green with envy at the mention of Zack’s multiple properties.
Although his son had built a nice estate in his hometown, the rural buildings could not compare to the structures in the city.
They had caused a scene at Wildridge Manor. Although the Hunts could not enter the residence, they caught a glimpse of the manor through the gaps in the gate. The place was huge and beautiful. Old Mr. Hunt was envious as he imagined himself living there.
“Never mind. Let’s go after Liberty. What line of business is she in?”
“F&B, breakfast place.”
“Oh, right. A breakfast diner. We can have free breakfast at her place then.”
After finding out that Liberty was starting a new business, Old Mr. Hunt ran his mouth about Liberty and her refusal to lend a million to his grandson to get back on his feet. If that was not enough, Old Mr. Hunt shot off at his dead son, Scott, for having two disloyal daughters. Serena and Liberty would be the death of Old Mr. Hunt.
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.