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Novel Catalog
Chapter 73
By the time Serenity parked her brand-new car and climbed into Zachary’s, his tone had softened. “This will be the first time I have dinner at your sister’s. I should bring her a gift. What do your sister and brother-in-law like?” he asked. Serenity fastened her seatbelt before answering. “Get a toy for Sonny. My brother-in-law smokes, so pick up a pack or two. We can just bring some fruit as well.”
“Right,” Zachary responded.
As they drove out of Brynfield, Zachary inquired, “Where should we get the stuff?”
“There’s a store not too far from here. We’ll make a quick stop there,” Serenity replied. Then, curious, she asked, “Mr. York, have you lived here before I moved in? I’ve noticed you don’t seem familiar with the area.”
Zachary took a moment before answering, “I bought this house a long time ago, but I left it vacant because I was staying with my parents. I thought it wasn’t right to take up space at my family’s place after we got married, so I moved into this house.”
“Does your family have a big house?” Serenity asked.
Since Zachary rarely spoke about his family, Serenity hadn’t been particularly interested in getting to know them, and now, with the tension between them, she preferred to avoid his personal affairs.
“Our whole family lives in the house under Nana and Gramps’ name,” Zachary said, not lying. The York estate was indeed registered under Nana and Gramps, and after Gramps passed away, Nana had encouraged Zachary’s dad to transfer the estate ownership. It was meant to be a joint family ownership, though Zachary’s dad hadn’t finalized the transfer yet. Zachary suspected his dad intended for the house to pass directly to Nana’s grandchildren, sparing the family from bureaucratic red tape.
Serenity took this to mean the Yorks were a middle-class family, all living together in one large household. She recalled that Grandma May had once mentioned she loved having her children and grandchildren all around her, so it made sense that Nana would want the family to remain united, rather than scattering across the city.
“I’ll take you there at a later date,” Zachary offered unexpectedly, without Serenity asking. He seemed determined to show her the family home, given that they were legally married. The York estate spanned multiple buildings, some of which were meant for employees. Zachary was already thinking ahead, wondering if he could take Serenity to one of the employee residences before revealing his true identity.
“Give me a heads-up when you want to visit your family home. I’ll need to prepare myself for it,” Serenity replied, not entirely sure what to expect.
Zachary curled his lips into a small, hidden smile, but quickly pressed them together, not wanting Serenity to catch him in a rare display of emotion. “Sure,” he said.
The conversation soon ended as they arrived at the store Serenity had mentioned. They went in empty-handed but left with Zachary’s arms full of shopping bags. Serenity had advised against overdoing it, but Zachary wanted to make a good impression, especially since it was his first visit to her sister’s house. Though he didn’t care much about being seen as cheap, he didn’t want anyone to think that Serenity had made a poor decision by marrying him.
Just as they were heading to the car, Serenity’s phone rang. Expecting it to be Liberty, she pulled it out, only to find an unidentified number on the screen. She had a sinking feeling it was a call from the Hunts. She had already blocked cousin Mike’s number.
