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Novel Catalog
Chapter 3
“I will, Nana.”
Serenity responded casually.
Though Grandma May was kind to her, Zachary was a blood relative, and Serenity was only related by marriage. She couldn’t help but feel that if a conflict arose between them, the York family might side with Zachary.
It reminded her of her sister’s situation with her in-laws. Before her sister married, they were nothing but kind to her—so much so that their biological daughter became jealous.
But after the wedding, things changed. Every time her sister had an argument with her husband, her mother-in-law would criticize her, calling her a bad wife.
In the end, the son was always considered family, while the daughter-in-law remained an outsider.
“You must be heading to work, so I should let you go. I’ll have Zack take you home for dinner tonight,” Grandma May said.
“Nana, I close the shop pretty late. I don’t think I’ll make it tonight. Can we reschedule for the weekend?”
Since the school was closed on weekends, the bookstore was quieter then, allowing Serenity to have more time to herself.
“Sure, the weekend it is. Go on and get to work,” Grandma May said thoughtfully before hanging up.
Instead of going straight to the shop, Serenity sent a quick text to her best friend, Jasmine Sox, letting her know she’d be back before the last school bell rang.
With one major task crossed off her list, Serenity knew it was time to tell her sister and move out.
About ten minutes later, Serenity arrived at her sister’s house.
Her brother-in-law had already left for work, and her sister was hanging clothes on the balcony.
When she saw Serenity, her sister, Liberty, looked concerned. “Why are you back so early, Seren? Is the shop closed today?”
“I’ll go later in the afternoon when it’s busier. Is Sonny awake yet?”
Sonny, her nephew, was currently in his Terrible Twos.
“Not yet. The house is quiet when he’s still asleep.”
Serenity helped with the laundry and asked, “How was everything last night?”
Liberty paused before speaking. “Seren, your brother-in-law isn’t trying to kick you out. He’s just under a lot of stress. It’s not like I’m working.”
Serenity stayed quiet, knowing well that her brother-in-law’s actions were a covert attempt to push her out.
Her brother-in-law, a manager at a firm, earned a good income. Liberty had met him in college, and they both worked at the same company before getting married. After their marriage, he promised to take care of her and said, “I want you to rest while you’re pregnant. You don’t have to work.”
Believing she had found the perfect man, Liberty quit her job and became a full-time housewife. She gave birth to a lovely son a year later, and with all the responsibility of caring for the child and managing the house, she had little time for herself.
Over the years, Liberty went from being a young, vibrant woman to an overweight, tired housewife who had no time for self-care.
Serenity, five years younger, had been just a child when their parents died in a car accident. Since then, it had just been the two of them.
The insurance compensation from their parents’ accident could have supported their studies, but their grandparents on both sides of the family wanted a share of it. With what was left, the sisters had to scrape by to finish college.
Since both sets of grandparents took over the family home, the sisters had no choice but to rent. Their renting days had only ended when Liberty got married.
Liberty adored Serenity and discussed their living arrangement with her fiancé before the wedding. He agreed to take both Liberty and Serenity in, but his resentment had slowly built up over time.
“I’m sorry, Liberty. I’m a burden to you.”
“No, Seren. Don’t think like that…”
