We are not aware that the infancy of Vivian Grey was distinguished by any extraordinary incident. The solicitude of the most affectionate of mothers and the care of the most attentive of nurses did their best to injure an excellent constitution.
We are not aware that the infancy of Vivian Grey was distinguished by any extraordinary incident. The solicitude of the most affectionate of mothers, and the care of the most attentive of nurses, did their best to injure an excellent constitution. But Vivian was an only child, and these exertions were therefore excusable.
For the first five years of his life, with his curly locks and his fancy dress, he was the pride of his own and the envy of all neighbouring establishments; but, in process of time, the spirit of boyism began to develop itself, and Vivian not only would brush his hair straight and rebel against his nurse, but actually insisted upon being - breeched! At this crisis it was discovered that he had been spoiled, and it was determined that he should be sent to school. Mr. Grey observed, also, that the child was nearly ten years old, and did not know his alphabet, and Mrs. Grey remarked that he was getting ugly. The fate of Vivian was decided.
"I am told, my dear," observed Mrs. Grey, one day after dinner to her husband, "I am told, my dear, that Dr. Flummery's would do very well for Vivian. Nothing can exceed the attention which is paid to the pupils. There are sixteen young ladies, all the daughters of clergymen, merely to attend to the morals and the linen; terms moderate: 100 guineas per annum, for all under six years of age, and few extras, only for fencing, pure milk, and the guitar. Mrs. Metcalfe has both her boys there, and she says their progress is astonishing! Percy Metcalfe, she assures me, was quite as backward as Vivian; indeed, backwarder; and so was Dudley, who was taught at home on the new system, by a pictorial alphabet, and who persisted to the last, notwithstanding all the exertions of Miss Barrett, in spelling A-P-E, monkey, merely because over the word there was a monster munching an apple."
"And quite right in the child, my dear. Pictorial alphabet! pictorial fool's head!"
"But what do you say to Flummery's, Horace?"
"My dear, do what you like. I never trouble myself, you know, about these matters;" and Mr. Grey refreshed himself, after this domestic attack, with a glass of claret.
Mr. Grey was a gentleman who had succeeded, when the heat of youth was over, to the enjoyment of a life estate of some two thousand a year. He was a man of lettered tastes, and had hailed with no slight pleasure his succession to a fortune which, though limited in its duration, was still a great thing for a young lounger about town, not only with no profession, but with a mind unfitted for every species of business. Grey, to the astonishment of his former friends, the wits, made an excellent domestic match; and, leaving the whole management of his household to his lady, felt himself as independent in his magnificent library as if he had never ceased to be that true freeman, A MAN OF CHAMBERS.
The young Vivian had not, by the cares which fathers are always heirs to, yet reminded his parent that children were anything else but playthings. The intercourse between father and son was, of course, extremely limited; for Vivian was, as yet, the mother's child; Mr. Grey's parental duties being confined to giving his son a daily glass of claret, pulling his ears with all the awkwardness of literary affection, and trusting to God "that the urchin would never scribble."
"I won't go to school, mamma," bawled Vivian.
"But you must, my love," answered Mrs. Grey; "all good boys go to school;" and in the plenitude of a mother's love she tried to make her offspring's hair curl.
"I won't have my hair curl, mamma; the boys will laugh at me," rebawled the beauty.
"Now who could have told the child that?" monologised mamma, with all a mamma's admiration.
"Charles Appleyard told me so; his hair curled, and the boys called him girl. Papa! give me some more claret; I won't go to school."
Some ten years before the revolt of our American colonies, there was situate in one of our midland counties, on the borders of an extensive forest, an ancient hall that belonged to the Herberts, but which, though ever well preserved, had not until that period been visited by any member of the family, since the exile of the Stuarts.
Joelle thought she could change Adrian's heart after three years of marriage, but she realized too late that it already belonged to another woman. "Give me a baby, and I'll set you free." The day Joelle went into labor, Adrian was traveling with his mistress on his private jet. "I don't care whom you love. My debt is paid. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other." Not long after Joelle left, Adrian found himself begging on his knees. "Please come back to me."
Everyone was shocked to the bones when the news of Rupert Benton's engagement broke out. It was surprising because the lucky girl was said to be a plain Jane, who grew up in the countryside and had nothing to her name. One evening, she showed up at a banquet, stunning everyone present. "Wow, she's so beautiful!" All the men drooled, and the women got so jealous. What they didn't know was that this so-called country girl was actually an heiress to a billion-dollar empire. It wasn't long before her secrets came to light one after the other. The elites couldn't stop talking about her. "Holy smokes! So, her father is the richest man in the world?" "She's also that excellent, but mysterious designer who many people adore! Who would have guessed?" Nonetheless, people thought that Rupert didn't love her. But they were in for another surprise. Rupert released a statement, silencing all the naysayers. "I'm very much in love with my beautiful fiancee. We will be getting married soon." Two questions were on everyone's minds: "Why did she hide her identity? And why was Rupert in love with her all of a sudden?"
To the public, she was the CEO's executive secretary. Behind closed doors, she was the wife he never officially acknowledged. Jenessa was elated when she learned that she was pregnant. But that joy was replaced with dread as her husband, Ryan, showered his affections on his first love. With a heavy heart, she chose to set him free and leave. When they met again, Ryan's attention was caught by Jenessa's protruding belly. "Whose child are you carrying?!" he demanded. But she only scoffed. "It's none of your business, my dear ex-husband!"
Sophie and Gavin's relationship progressed from their first encounter to exchanging vows in less than half a day. However, after their nuptials, Sophie stumbled upon a startling revelation about her husband. Sophie's sister-in-law once requested a hefty sum of money, which Gavin provided without hesitation. One morning, she mentioned wanting a new car. By the afternoon, she had won a lottery that awarded her the very car she had wished for. Additionally, after enduring bullying from a superior at work, she learned the next day that the superior had been unexpectedly fired. Was it possible that Sophie had married a man who was a harbinger of incredible fortune? The true extent of her situation dawned on Sophie only when she came across a photograph of herself tagged as "Mrs. Hewitt" on social media. It was at that moment she realized she had married one of the wealthiest men in the world!
"Hi, I'm here for the job interview," I uttered tremblingly as I turned to face the most attractive man I had ever seen. He looked so attractive; his dark ash brown hair brushed back. His wicked, lethal look might murder with its dark eyes. His face was expressionless due to his tiny lips that created a straight line. His great stature towered over me, as did his exquisite features, sculpted by the hand of God. He embodied everything that made a Greek god. "And you are?" he said in a low, husky voice, maintaining his emotionless demeanor. His icy eyes continued to look into mine as I trembled to speak, "I-I'm Miranda Lucas." He didn't say anything, and when at last his gaze shifted from me to a file in his hands, the room fell silent. Before turning back to face me, he spends a few minutes staring down at the paperwork in his hands. "Age?" "27" was all I said, feeling uneasy once more from his intense looks. He gave a slight nod, then glanced back down at the file. He closed his file and turned to face me, saying only, "You're hired." My eyes widened as I met his. Is that all? Not asking any more questions? • Five years ago, Miranda was drugged by one of her friends and end up pregnant with a stranger's baby. She was against abortion, so when she became despondent, she had no choice but to give birth to the baby. Nine months after giving birth, someone stole her one-week-old baby. After making unsuccessful attempts to find her baby, she was traumatized and spent the rest of her life being afraid to have children or around children. But when she found herself jobless and in debt to her landlord, everything changed. After applying for jobs and getting rejected for every one of them, Miranda found a babysitting job online. All she had to do was look after the CEO's son in exchange for weekly pay, but what would happen if the CEO's son happened to look a little bit like her?
Rosalynn's marriage to Brian wasn't what she envisioned it to be. Her husband, Brian, barely came home. He avoided her like a plague. Worse still, he was always in the news for dating numerous celebrities. Rosalynn persevered until she couldn't take it anymore. She upped and left after filing for a divorce. Everything changed days later. Brian took interest in a designer that worked for his company anonymously. From her profile, he could tell that she was brilliant and dazzling. He pulled the stops to find out her true identity. Little did he know that he was going to receive the greatest shocker of his life. Brian bit his finger with regret when he recalled his past actions and the woman he foolishly let go.