Ever since the start of the school’s winter holidays, Jasmine had been holing up at home. Her daily routine consisted of eating, sleeping, and reading romance novels on her phone. Her brother would get the occasional phone call from Josh to dine out, and Jasmine would invite herself to the get-together in case her brother might sell her out behind her back. Now that Jasmine received a message from Serenity that the latter was back, Jasmine quickly replied with a voice message. “How about Italian tonight? Mr. Bucham took my brother to an Italian place, and the food was great. I’ve been waiting for you to come back so we can try out the place. You have no idea. I couldn’t binge when dining with my brother and Mr. Bucham because I’d eat more than them.” Serenity responded to her with a smile, “I can’t tonight. I just got back with Mr. York. We’re going to have a slow night. How about tomorrow night? Get my sister and Elisa to join us.” “We don’t have to include Elisa since she e

After unlocking the gate, Zachary got back into the car and started the engine. He drove into the villa compound and parked on the empty driveway. He replied without Serenity pressing for answers. “My parents and Nana prefer living in the old residence and away from the bustle. They’re used to the place because they have been there for decades. They prefer their peace away from us kids. Nana would stay with us for a few days and disappear somewhere else.” Serenity concurred, “Yeah. Sounds like it.” She got out of the car and strolled around the front lawn. The landscape was great. The estate had a front lawn and backyard. There was a swimming pool, some pruned trees, and a pergola in the front. The tree near the pergola had a swing installed onto the branch. It was perfect to enjoy a good book or the view while sitting there. The backyard was lush with scenic and fruit trees. There were homegrown Wiltspoonian trees like apple and mango trees. Serenity observed the open spac

Having been caught searching the web, Serenity could not stop the burn in her cheeks. She sat up and snatched her phone back. Locking the screen, Serenity pretended like nothing ever happened and said, “I was just looking around because I was bored. Where’s the alcohol?” Zachary brought two glasses of alcohol over and gave one to Serenity. He uttered, “We didn’t have dinner, so we can’t drink much. Just a little will do.” “That’s so little. I’ll finish this in two gulps before I can taste the alcohol.” Serenity whined before taking the glass from Zachary. She took a sip to savor the taste. As expected, the liquor was not strong enough. He must be afraid she would get wasted. She downed the drink like it was water. Zachary took a sip and stared at her. Since he was not self-conscious, he did not need alcohol to psyche up. “Aren’t you going to drink that? I’ll have it if you’re not going to.” Serenity reached out to grab his wine glass. His glass was bigger and had mor

After a phone conversation with her sister, Serenity felt a lot better. She stood up and got out of the bath. Her darling husband had thoughtfully left a change of clothes for her before she went into the tub. Ten minutes later, Serenity went down the stairs. All was quiet downstairs. Serenity thought their house in Brynfield was eerily silent. Since he was always home late, she did not have anyone to talk to when she got home. That was why she wanted to have pets. Mrs. Lane later joined the family, adding some noise to the quiet home. To her dismay, he bought a villa that was bigger than the property in Brynfield. It was a quieter environment for the couple to live in. Once on the ground floor, Serenity could hear the commotion in the kitchen. Serenity drew close and saw Zachary busy in the kitchen. Without startling him, she leaned against the door frame and observed him. He looked most charming when he was earnest at work!Nevertheless, he was attractive doing a

Zachary’s loving statement gave Serenity assurance. She uttered with a smile, “I’ll open the gate for your mom now. Don’t come at me if I fight your mom for accusing me of skipping on house chores.” Serenity was a firm believer that all household tasks should not fall on the married women’s shoulders. She would argue with her mother-in-law if the latter started criticizing her as Mrs. Brown did to her sister. Zachary smiled. “Alright. I won’t come at you, but I trust my mom won’t say that to you.”Even if Mom had a problem with Serenity, she would only mention it to Zachary. Mom would only tell it to Serenity’s face when she felt Serenity had crossed the line. Serenity went to unlock the gate for her mother-in-law. Tania was getting impatient from waiting, but she did not show it on her face. While opening the gate, Serenity apologetically said, “Sorry to keep you waiting, Mom.” Tania tenderly asked, “Have you and Zachary eaten?” “Not yet. Zachary’s cooking in the kitc