Furrowing her brows, Mrs. Lewis added, “I wonder if Duncan collects rent from her. I should ask him.
“I told you to keep an eye out for Liberty. The person who can be your rival is Liberty. Out of all the places she could have built her business, Liberty had to choose to operate on that street–Duncan’s route to work.
“It’s clear cut what she’s really after. I bet she wants to marry into a rich family after her sister managed to. Well, she should take a look in the mirror. She’s fat and divorced. Plus, she has a son from her previous marriage. She should consider herself lucky if she is able to find another man. How dare she set her sights on my son.”
Not taking kindly toward Liberty, Mrs. Lewis put whatever blame on Liberty.
“Mrs. Lewis, I think Liberty is not eyeballing Duncan. At least, not at the moment. Let’s not be so quick to label her as a gold digger. Didn’t Serena marry Mr. York without knowing who he was? She nearly had a falling out with Mr. York when she found out the truth.”
Lily carried on talking. “You told me about this. Serena and Liberty are sisters. Serena lost her parents at the age of ten, and it was her sister who raised her. Her sister taught her everything she knew. Serena’s character is the reflection of Liberty’s.
“I believe Liberty isn’t that kind of woman. Maybe she’ll become my rival in love, but it won’t be her intention. The problem lies with Duncan.”
Lily was not a sheltered princess. She held a high position at Harmon Corporation and was well–traveled. Her perspective of the world was likely broader than Mrs. Lewis’s.
“But now that I know about this, it should be enough warning to keep me on my toes.”
Lily was lost in her thoughts. She should pull Duncan to her corner before sparks started to ignite between Duncan and Liberty. That way, Duncan would be hers.
If…
She were to lose to Liberty…
Lily stopped her thoughts from wandering further. She refused to imagine a potential loss.
She was way superior to Liberty in every way. Duncan would be blind to pick a divorcee like Liberty over her.
Liberty, who was back in her hometown with her sister to re–sign a contract with the Hunts, could not stop sneezing.
“Did you catch a cold, Liberty? Get Dr. Sullivan to look at you when you go out later.” Dr. Sullivan was a famous general practitioner around the nearby towns. He had his own clinic. It was the go–to place for any minor ailment.
Serena and her sister often saw Dr. Sullivan when they were little.
“I don’t have the symptoms of a cold, so I don’t think that’s it.” Rubbing her ear, Liberty asked her sister, “Do you think my ear is red, Seren? I get a burning sensation. Maybe someone is talking bad about me.”
Serena took a look at one side of her sister’s ears. It appeared red.
She said, “The customers must be saying something because you aren’t open for business today.”
The only person who would speak ill of Liberty was Jessica and no one else.
The Browns probably would not badmouth the sisters anymore.
Feeling her reddish ear, Liberty put the matter behind her.
Further to what was discussed the day before, the sisters signed a new agreement with Old Mr. and Mrs. Hunt.
The size of the house and vacant land left behind by Serena’s parents were measured. Since half of the land belonged to their mother, Lisa, the sisters invited their maternal grandparents over.
The Howdens had heard that Serena and Liberty were back to fight for the property. They were aware that Serena had married a rich man and reconnected with their aunt. Their aunt was the wife of a wealthy and powerful family too.
It was a worry to the Howdens that Serena might come after them since they took four hundred thousand dollars of the insurance money back then.
It was a good thing Serena did nothing of that sort.
No matter what, the Howdens raised Lisa.
Despite learning that Serena married well, the Howdens did not kick up a fuss or try to benefit from Serena like the Hunts. All they hoped was for Serena and Liberty not to hold a grudge against them.
That was why Serena’s maternal grandparents were happy to sign Lisa’s share of the inheritance over to the sisters when Serena sent people to pick them up.
As such, Old Mr. and Mrs. Hunt had equal shares of the property with Serena and Liberty.
Although the old couple had possession of several hundred square feet, one thing to take into consideration was the different rates between the vacant land and the built property.
Serena did the math, not taking advantage of Old Mr. and Mrs. Hunt’s rights or compromising her and her sister’s own.
This time, they had a lot of witnesses at the signing of the agreement.
Old Mr. Hunt must have said something to his wife because Old Mrs. Hunt was a lot more pleasant to Serena and Liberty now. She did not make a scene like the last time. Instead, she was cooperative with signing the contract.
Old Mr. and Mrs. Hunt needed to be there for the ownership transfer formalities too.
Once the procedure was done, and Liberty’s name was on the title deed, Liberty and Serena then paid the old folks for their share of the property.
Serena wanted to leave her part of the inheritance to Liberty as Liberty was the eldest daughter. Serena had taken into consideration that her sister had it rougher in life.
However, Serena had not told her sister about it.
Now all that was done and out of the way, the mayor said to the sisters, “Liberty, Serena, are you renting your farmland out? We have someone who wants to contract our fields. I had a meeting with the rest of the townspeople. Everybody is on board.
“You’ll get the rent from the contracted fields, and the money will depend on the square footage of your land. The rate per acre will be the same across all. You can leave your number with me if you’re interested. I’ll transfer you the money when we sign the contract and receive the rental money for the land.”
The person who was contracting everybody’s farmland was Serena.
Nevertheless, Serena said nothing about it. She uttered with a smile, “Thank you. My sister and I won’t be back to farm the land. It’ll be a waste to leave the field empty. I’m happy to rent it out if someone is keen to develop it. How long will the contract be for?”
“At least fifteen years,” replied the mayor.
Serena recalled the contract she drew up was for twenty years. However, she had not signed the papers with the town council. The mayor still had no idea that her contract was for twenty years.
“Sure, no problem.”
Although Liberty knew about this, she said nothing as her sister was unwilling to tell the mayor the truth.
Serena told her sister to leave her contact details with the mayor.
The money could go to Liberty when the rent for the farmland was received.
Ring, ring, ring…
Serena’s phone rang.
It was Zack.
She went to a corner to pick up her husband’s call.
“Babe.”
She kept her voice down, not wanting others to listen to her intimate conversation with her husband.
“I can barely hear you, Seren. Say it loud and proud.” A certain somebody was pushing his luck for more.
Serena amusedly asked, “Can’t hear me? There are so many people around. I don’t want them to listen to our conversation. Are you done with your work?”
“The meeting here just ended, so I wanted to call and ask how things were going on there. Will you be back in time to have lunch with me?” Zack asked his wife over the phone as he fell back against his black swiveling chair and twirled it.
She did not need his company but it was hard on Zack because he had not seen her the whole morning.
It felt like an eternity since he last saw her.
“I promised Mrs. Deli that I’ll have lunch at her place. She’s cooking as we speak. We won’t make it back for lunch. I’ll make you a few of my specialties tonight. How about we pop open a bottle tonight?”
Zack poked fun at her. “One glass will take you out. You’ll sleep the night through. Your sister told me to watch you and stop you from drinking. You don’t want me to tell on you to your sister.”
Serena replied, “Don’t threaten me with my sister… I learned to drink a little more after going to events with my aunt. I can handle a couple of drinks now.”
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.