"But…" Stefan's cold voice echoed through the silent woods, striking her heart. "I've changed my mind."What do you mean?" Renee looked back at the man, her lonely gaze glinting with anticipation."I've decided to stay," Stefan replied."Really?" The woman beamed, her eyes sparkling with joy. "You've finally decided not to run away? You've finally realized that you can't, haven't you?""Not exactly." Stefan's expression was plastered with natural confidence. "I can leave as long as I want to, none of you will be able to find me.""Pfft!" Renee burst into laughter. 'Just look at him! Even with his current state, he's still the stubborn man I know.'"Yeah yeah, you're the strongest guy out there. You even chose the most dangerous path in these woods because you wanted a difficult challenge, I'm sure. If you're so great, let's make a bet then. If you can find your way out of Dragonmount, I'll send you back to Seraphina. You'll be free."Stefan raised an eyebrow, seemingly intrigued
The man's expression stiffened. His gorgeous eyes still remained unfocused as he replied, "I wish.""You…" Renee felt rather helpless after noticing his pitiful appearance. She waved her hand slowly in front of his face. "Can you really not see?""I have no reason nor interest in pretending to be a blind man," Stefan responded coldly, his elegant face plastered with visible pain."I'm so sorry, you're just way too smart. I couldn't help but doubt you. I… I'm such an idiot!" Renee gave herself a couple of light slaps out of guilt.Stefan was quite a prideful man. He was already feeling quite depressed because of his disability, and yet he was being doubted for it regardless… 'This was no different than trampling all over his insecurities. I'm such a disgusting person!'Stefan maintained an expressionless face, still facing forward as he spoke dismissively, "So are we continuing the bet?"Renee bit on her lip, feeling rather uneasy. "Only if you want to.""Then please step aside
Renee turned to the man, clearly confused. "Weren't you risking your life just to leave? Why the sudden change of heart?""I just wanted to show you that none of you could stop me if I tried to leave. So, if I do stay, it would be of my own volition," Stefan replied arrogantly."But… why?" Renee still couldn't understand. However, she now believed that Stefan was telling the truth, he did in fact have the ability to escape this place. 'But wasn't he missing Seraphina? Why is he so willing to stay now? This makes no sense!'"You mentioned that I risked my life to leave, but you risked your life to save me as well. That shows that we aren't just hospital buddies as you said…" Stefan paused, then continued. "I want to know what kind of past relationship we had to have warranted your desperate efforts."He wasn't sure if he had lost parts of memories, but he could tell that this 'Renee Everheart' had played an important role in his life. Otherwise, her existence alone wouldn't have b
"Oh come on, Margaret, spill everything out at once! You're giving me a heart attack here!" Renee felt her chest tightening as she nervously turned to the old woman once more."My father may have been a great doctor, but he has rather odd ways. The recipes he concurred up on his own aren't accepted within us traditional doctors. That's why I was hesitant in using his methods…" Margaret furrowed her eyebrows, visibly perturbed."What is it? What do you mean odd? Tell me.""All my father's recipes require a special ingredient…" Margaret then whispered into Renee's ear, revealing the ingredient to her.Renee remained silent for a short while, then responded, "It's okay. If you need any, then go ahead. I can provide you with it.""But it'd be harmful to you. Is that heartless man really worth it?""He became this way because of me. I'm even willing to sacrifice my life for him, let alone this special ingredient.""Alright, I understand. You don't want to owe him anything." As the
"You've been rather quiet lately, like you've become a proper lady," Stefan teased lightly. Although he had not spent much time with the woman, her incessant chattering had long made an impression on him. However, for the past few days, she had been unusually quiet. Most times, they merely sat together in silence, not saying a word to each other. Her voice was starting to sound quite weak as well, as if she were a willow in the breeze.'This is odd. Almost too odd!'"That's because I am a proper lady," Renee replied, her voice exceedingly soft."Mmm, a proper lady who knows how to fight a bear. Now I'm really curious as to what you look like." Stefan smirked, his expression plastered with a hint of affection that he himself didn't realize just yet.For some reason, despite having no memories of her, the days he spent with her became rather natural, as if they had known each other for a long time. Such comfort and ease made him feel happier than when he was with Seraphina.If he ha
As she continued grinding the coffee bit by bit, Renee felt satisfied, but also frowned deeply due to the pain in her wrist.Just then, footsteps could be heard behind her. It was Yulia, and she screamed as soon as she noticed the wounds on Renee's wrist. "Ren, what are you doing? Just look at your hands! Let the staff do this for you!""I'm alright, Mrs. Walker, I'm not that fragile." Renee smiled weakly and proceeded."No, you're not. You're already bleeding through the gauze! Do you not cherish your own life?" Despite her usual gentleness, Yulia couldn't help but feel angered by Renee's recklessness.She then snatched the grinder out of her hands and sighed. "Oh child, you're just so foolish. How could you use your own blood for his medicine? If your mother knew that you hurt yourself over a man, she would be devastated!""She won't," Renee replied softly. "I believe Mom would use her own blood if she knew Dad needed it to survive. And you would too, if Mr. Walker needed it, ri
"That year..." Yulia hesitated, looking reluctant to bring up the incident. "It happened ages ago, so let's not talk about it. The most important thing is that we should live in the moment." "No!" Renee shook her head and clenched her fists tightly. Looking pained, she said determinedly, "The Everheart family used to be the head of The Great Eight of Beach City, but we were nearly taken out. Our family went through such pain, and I always wanted to take revenge for my parents, but Grandpa made me vow not to take revenge before he passed away. So, I laid low and didn't do anything about it, but it didn't change anything. I always had nightmares of my parents falling down the stairs, bloody and mutilated, for years. When I think about how my enemies are still living freely while my parents died so cruelly, I get so upset that I can't sleep all night. To make it worse, my brother went through hell after being kidnapped. That's why I have to uncover the truth and take revenge for my fami
There was a shrewd gleam in Renee's eyes, and it was obvious her mind was racing to make sense of all the information Yulia had given her. "You can’t say that. Both the Hunt and Everheart families were developing in Beach City and both families always helped each other. There weren't any big conflicts of interest. Even if they became distant because of your brother's incident, they never meddled in each other's business. I think that the Hunt family's rapid development was mainly caused by their own efforts." "That's true." Renee's gaze softened. "After all, the Hunt family were the only ones who helped my family when they went bankrupt that year. Besides, Grandpa arranged a marriage between Stefan and I because he believed that the Hunt family were the only ones who could truly take care of me. If they really were my parents' murderers, Grandpa would have never let me marry into the family." Renee did suspect the Hunt family that year, but she quickly eliminated that option beca