That was strictly between the pair of mother and son.
Around this point, a group of night–shift workers who had ended their shifts showed up to have breakfast. Mrs. Lewis promptly stuffed Lily’s picture into her bag and rose to bid a curt farewell,” Liberty, I’ll stop taking your time. You have a business to manage.”
Liberty thoughtfully walked Mrs. Lewis to the entrance, smiling the entire time, “Be careful on your way home, Mrs. Lewis.”
Mrs. Lewis waved goodbye to Liberty and approached a car.
She opened the door and burrowed inside before the car drove away in no time.
Liberty returned to the store to see to her customers after the car had driven off into the distance.
It was Lily who came to pick up Mrs. Lewis.
Things did not go smoothly with Duncan and there was still a lack of progress even at this point.
Charte
Since Duncan was busy with work and had endless rounds of meetings every day, she only got to spend several minutes in his office before the secretary approached to inform her that Duncan had another meeting to attend.
Duncan apologized curtly to her and informed her to set up an appointment with his secretary if she wanted to further discuss the upcoming investments. That way, she would not end up wasting her time by making a fruitless trip to his office.
“Mrs. Lewis, how have you been doing?” Lily greeted kindly.
“Liberty doesn’t fancy Duncan, does she? Did you tell her to back off?”
Mrs. Lewis expressed with a sigh, “No, it doesn’t seem like it. I intentionally slipped your picture out of my pocket so she could see it before telling her I was planning to match you with Duncan. Her reaction seemed very genuine and it doesn’t seem like she has any ulterior motives. “I’d say it’s safe to say that she’s not hatching any ideas about Duncan, at least not for now.”
Lily steered the wheel while remarking, “Which is why I said that the Hunt sisters have very good characters. Considering how Liberty’s marriage had just fallen through, I doubt she would be looking for a new relationship so soon.
“The only thing she’s focused on now is starting her business and making money. Another marriage has probably never even crossed her mind yet.”
People who had experienced a failed marriage tend to be more vigilant when it came to founding a new relationship with another.
Since her mind was fixed on building a foundation for her business, romantic affairs should not concern her in the least.
Mrs. Lewis stated, “If she dares to hatch any ideas about Duncan, I’ll be the one chasing her out of the shop lot first. Don’t even think about setting up her restaurant at our property. It doesn’t seem like she’s up to anything now but I still feel strangely suspicious about her, like something’s going to happen between her and Duncan later on.”
“You can deal with it when it happens, too much precaution can be a bad thing sometimes. Besides, you have to factor in that she’s not all alone. Her sister is the lady of the York household so Liberty has the entire York family backing her. You’ve seen how Tania is so protective of Serena even when she is not very fond of her.”
Mrs. Lewis agreed with Lily’s sentiments. “The Yorks have a close relationship with my family as well, so I certainly cannot brashly shove Liberty out the door just because I wanted to. Otherwise, I’ll risk offending the Yorks. Also, Liberty’s aunt, Mrs. Stone, is not someone I want to mess with.”
Originally, Mrs. Lewis wanted to dissuade her son from renting the shop lot to Liberty for her diner as a means to keep their interaction at a bare minimum. That way, she could rest her worries about a relationship sparking between the two.
The way things were now, she would come off as rather unreasonable for doing so. Pulling off such a stunt would also anger the Yorks as well as the Stones. It might be quite unnecessary as well since it did not seem like Liberty was interested in Duncan.
It was simply not worth it.
However, it might be too late to spring to action only after something happened between Duncan and Liberty.
As a mother, Mrs. Lewis was well informed of Duncan’s personality.
He would not rashly commit to a relationship, but once he did, you could assume that he was committed for life.
They stayed quiet for a while before Lily broke the silence, “Mrs. Lewis, let’s forget about trying to chase Liberty out. It’s not exactly easy for her to start a business as a newly–divorced woman. Besides, business seems good right now, and I wouldn’t want to get in the way of a mother trying to make ends meet for the sake of her son.
“And if something were to happen between Duncan and Liberty… Well, I suppose it will come down to a fair match between me and her for Duncan’s affection. And if I lose, then so be it. When it comes to love, the strong doesn’t always come out on top–that’s the way it is.
“Every man has a different preference for a partner. Some are just desperate for a partner and can settle for any common lady while others prefer a strong character in the person they are going to spend the rest of their lives with to form the ideal power couple. We don’t know yet if Duncan is the former or latter type.”
Mrs. Lewis expressed with a sigh, “Lily, it’s admirable that you are staying true to your conviction. but just remember that I’m on your side.
“Liberty might not be hatching any ideas about Duncan right now but if she does fall in love with him later on, I will be the first to object to their marriage. She shouldn’t even think about joining my family. My son has not even had a girlfriend yet, so why should he be marrying a woman already burdened with a child?”
Lily smiled and said kindly, “Thank you, I will do my best and know that however this ends, I gave it my all.”
She was beaming with confidence.
“Lily, you don’t even know how fond I am of you. I truly hope things will work out between you and Duncan. I believe in you! I long for the day we become family.”
Lily smiled warmly.
A crew had come to deliver the hand–woven goods to Serena again.
After inspecting the delivery and ensuring that there was no problem with the products, she settled the payment before issuing yet another new order.
After seeing the part–time crafters off, she put the handicraft into packages and called a courier to collect them.
Shortly after, the courier showed up to collect said packages. After the matter was settled, Serena looked at the time and turned to Jasmine, “Jas, I’m taking Sonny to go shopping with me.”
“See you.
Jasmine did not avert her eyes from the book she was reading the entire time. Serena observed how intently she was reading and teased her, “Jas, you’ve probably read all the books lying around here enough times to recite them from memory. It’s a wonder to me that you’re still amused by the same books over and over.
“Why don’t you learn to write a novel? With your years of experience as a bookworm, I guarantee your work will be a hit that’s going to fly off the shelves. I promise you I’ll place your books in the most prominent spot.
“What do you say? Embark on your journey as a star author.”
Jasmine smiled and dismissed the idea, “I just enjoy reading, writing is not for me. I’m so lazy that the only thing that would motivate me to move at all is good food, but you’re expecting me to write an entire novel? Besides, do you think writing a book is easy as you make it out to be? Just coming up with the plot alone is going to make you pull your hair out.”
Serena grabbed the car keys and the same wallet she had used for ages. Then, she took her dear nephew by the hand and prepared to go shopping for groceries.
She candidly noted to Jasmine, “Take inspiration from real life and write about the love affair between you and Mr. Bucham—a guaranteed hit right there.”
“Our relationship is too straightforward and boring. There were no unexpected twists and love rivals for me to talk about. On that note, your experiences with Zack would make a good story, but I’m not going to write it. Why don’t you consider writing a biography?”
Serena grinned, “I’m not interested in doing that either. I’m busy enough as is. Oh, by the way, I’m attending this banquet tomorrow with my man. Are you going as well?”
“Yeah, Josh has been telling me about it. Speaking of which, our engagement ceremony is coming up soon. You and Zack must attend no matter what! It’s going to be set before May for sure. He had his family pick out the earliest date possible. I’ve never seen anyone in such a rush to get married.”
“That’s because he loves you very much. He can’t wait to marry you and take you home to pamper you.”
Jasmine chuckled, Josh was certainly very fond of her..
Their relationship had always been very stable. There was never any kind of dramatic disagreements, and they always kept it plain and simple. It seemed to be working out for the loving couple and their marriage was going to turn out more than just fine.
“We’re leaving, see you later.”
Serena took her nephew with her and ordered the two bodyguards to stay at their posts in the bookshop.
She knew that other undercover bodyguards were tailing her and keeping her safe, so she figured it would be fine to leave two bodyguards at the bookshop.
As soon as Serena left, Elisa showed up.
When she was told that Serena had left to buy groceries, she remarked, “She’s the heralded lady of the Yorks now but it seems like nothing’s changed for her–it’s the same old routine.”
“This says a lot about Zack’s affection for Seren, doesn’t it?” Jasmine pointed out, “He knows the exact kind of life she wants to live and lets her do as she wants. He’s not trying to force her to change or anything like that.”
Elisa thought about it for a second and found herself agreeing with this.
“Did she take Sonny with her?”
“Yeah.”
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.