Liberty was furious after listening to Belinda. Clive gave her a comforting glance to calm her fury. Belinda was angering them on purpose. The more riled up they were, the happier she would be. She could only agitate them with words since she had yet to have a flawless plan to eliminate them. “We’re looking forward to seeing if you can put your words into action,” said Clive. “You can’t even handle the mess happening in the Fisher family. I don’t know how you’ve been managing the Fisher family all these years.“Other families have only been growing stronger. The country aside, they can at least maintain their influence in their respective cities. Meanwhile, look at the Fishers’ status in Jensburg now.”Clive was mocking Belinda’s capability on purpose. She may have been able to rile them up, but they could do the same to her. “Look at Serenity’s in-laws. The York family has always been a dominant force in Wiltspoon. While the Stone family can’t surpass them, we mainta
“Take care and goodbye.”Clive and Liberty spoke almost simultaneously. Belinda, who had reached the door, stopped in her tracks and turned to glare at Liberty. She sneered, “Remember that this is Jensburg. The Fisher family is still stronger than you here.”Liberty smiled and admitted. “I didn’t say that the Fisher family is weaker than me. That would hurt your pride too much.“I’ve only been in Jensburg for a few months. If you’re worse than I am, then you probably have to bang your head on the wall. If you’re going to do it, don’t do it in my company and dirty my place.”Belinda had the urge to kill them both right away. However, she held herself back. She was already seventy years old and had enough self-restraint.Belinda opened the office door with her head held high, looking like a rooster that had won a fight. In reality, however, she was a defeated rooster who was simply pretending that everything was fine. “Madam Fisher.”Her bodyguards quickly followed after he
Liberty agreed. “I believe things will only get better for Seren and I.”Herself aside, Serenity had been living a happy life since she got married to Zachary. Serenity treated Liberty well too. “You must be tired after rushing over last night, Clive. Go to the hotel and rest. I don’t think Madam Fisher will do anything to us for now.”Liberty told Clive to head to the hotel for a rest. “Although Madam Fisher wants to kill me, there are still consequences she has to consider. More importantly, she’s probably more ambitious and wants to eliminate all of us at the same time.”Liberty had grasped Belinda’s thoughts well. Clive indeed felt the fatigue from traveling. He said, “Okay. I’ll take a short break at the hotel. Call me if anything happens.”“I will.”Not long after Clive left, Hayden arrived. Liberty’s secretary informed her of Hayden’s arrival. She was about to receive Hayden when a dashing figure was already standing before the office door when she opened it.“
Darren said with a serious face, “Ms. Caroline is your daughter.”Belinda ordered coldly, “Let go, Darren. Don’t forget that I’m still the matriarch. You have to listen to me.”“My only mission has been to protect Ms. Caroline from the moment I was assigned to her. I’ll be loyal to her and follow her instructions for the rest of my life. This is our responsibility as assistants.“We only have one master.“My master is Ms. Caroline, not you. My task is to protect her, and not allow anyone to hurt her, including you.”Belinda was enraged. Indeed, Darren only needed to be loyal to and serve Caroline since he was assigned to her. Even she, the reigning matriarch, was not his master. She had no right to order him to do anything. Of course, he would stop her from hurting Caroline. Caroline told Darren softly, “Let go of my mom, Darren. It’s fine if she wants to vent her anger on me. I’m her daughter.”She was the one who told Darren to share information with Liberty and messed
“I’ve gone through many obstacles throughout my life. My principles and personality are already not going anywhere. I can’t change myself to suit your criteria.”Belinda said icily, “Are you trying to guilt trip me?”Caroline laughed. “I wouldn’t dare. Besides, will you feel guilty even if that was my intention? Do you still have a heart?”After she spoke, Belinda slapped her other cheek. Both sides of Caroline’s face were swollen. More blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.“Ms. Caroline!” Darren exclaimed. He could not hold himself back anymore. If Belinda hit Caroline again, he would probably throw her out of the room. Caroline was the person he had to protect this lifetime. How could he let Belinda hurt her over and over again?Belinda glanced at Darren. “Get out, Darren. This is between Caroline and I. It has nothing to do with you.”She was worried that Darren would chase her out. Darren stayed still. Caroline tried to sit up. Darren quickly helped her u
Caroline knew Darren was worried about her. She told him to go out and even reassured him, “Don’t worry. My mom won’t take my life. She gave birth to me. I ought to be slapped for doing something that ruined her plans.”Caroline felt Belinda did not kill her because they were tied by blood. Darren glanced at Belinda before looking at Caroline’s swollen face. He walked out in silence. He asked a nurse for some ice and told Caroline to apply it on her face. She accepted the ice pack and said, “I’ll use it. You can leave us now.”Darren went out unwillingly. Only Belinda and Caroline were in the room. Caroline put the ice pack on her face and said, “You must be tired from standing. You can grab a chair and sit down.”Belinda glared at her before pulling a chair over. “Can you not slap my face the next time you want to hit me? I’m not pretty to begin with. Now that my face is swollen, I look worse. I don’t even have a boyfriend yet. If I can’t get married and have a daught
Belinda said sternly, “Even if I didn’t obtain my position through legitimate ways, you becoming the next matriarch is justified.“If that position returns to Tiara’s descendants, won’t my efforts for the past decades become a joke? I’ll lose so much.”Belinda touched her daughter’s swollen face and sighed. “Carol, everything I do is for your sake. I want you to inherit everything the family owns.”Caroline stared at Belinda. She believed that her mother wanted to leave everything to her.However, the family did not belong to her mother alone. Belinda wanted to own everything that belonged to the family. She had been trying to remove some of the family rules and her action had garnered dissatisfaction from several family members. Caroline had noticed this since her return.Belinda’s ultimate goal was to take everything the Fishers had for her core family and deny it to the rest of the family. How could the others support her when their rights were being violated?Belinda
If the young ones refused to work, then they deserved to go hungry. It would be better to cancel their living allowance. Only by losing the source of money they were so dependent on would they start looking for jobs and become self-reliant. By doing so, more capable youths would emerge as well. On the other hand, the benefits given to the elderly could stay. “Many useless people in the family rely on us to earn money and provide for them. I want to change this. I want to make this family business belong to us only, but I need your cooperation.“Carol, I’ve sacrificed a lot to become the matriarch and have dedicated decades of effort. Although my abilities are limited, and I couldn’t lead the family back to its prime, I want to centralize our power and benefits so the elders can’t overstep the matriarch’s authority.“We’ll also silence those who dare to oppose us. I’ve done so many evil deeds to achieve what I have today. I’d rather die than hand everything over to Tiara’s descend