"Have you considered a partnership between Azure Group and Hunt Enterprise?" Stefan asked slowly. "We've been competing for years, but there was never a clear winner while losses continued to mount. Maybe we could reach new heights if we worked together.""A partnership?" Renee was surprised—the man took her for quite a ride, only to start discussing business?It didn't make sense. Azure Group was small fry to Hunt Enterprise at best, and they were at completely different levels. Even if Azure Group did see rapid growth and aggressively cut a territory of its own in the stock market, they were far from the level needed to necessitate a partnership with Hunt Enterprise.So why would Stefan suddenly come up with something like that? Was he extending an olive branch?"Take your time to consider. If possible, we can discuss the details with Quinton next Wednesday." With those words, Stefan unlocked the car doors and said coolly, "And if there's nothing else, you can get out of my car."
In reality, Renee was hoping to get Stefan to make peace with Quinton—even if Stefan did not extend an olive branch.Their families had been allies for three generations, and their grandfathers were practically brothers who supported each other for years—they certainly would not want them to turn against each other. Quinton was too impulsive and radical—he would inevitably upset many, and they would certainly come seeking revenge. However, if Quinton allied himself with the Hunt family, those enemies would have to be wary of both families, which spared them a lot of unnecessary conflict.To put it roughly… Renee was helping her brother get a sugar daddy. If the day came when she was not around or something bad happened, at least he would not be alone and helpless."Consider it, Quinton. If there are no issues, we can talk to him about the finer details next Wednesday," Renee said earnestly, hoping that Quinton would say yes.Quinton, however, snorted coolly, the look behind his
Quinton returned to his bedroom with Chase following closely behind, at his beck and call as always."Welcome back, sir. None of us had been sleeping soundly ever since we lost contact with you—we almost brought the cavalry down on the heads of the Hunt family!" "You've lost contact with me plenty of times before. Why so serious?" Quinton asked, impassive even as he took off his mask and suit.Chase quickly went to take both, and hung them up primly. "Yes, we did, but this is Stefan Hunt we're talking about. You two have history, so what if he decided to pull the trigger?'Quinton raised a brow, but said confidently, "You don't have to worry about that. He won't go for the kill like me, or it's over between him and my sister."Having fought Stefan for years, he dared say he knew Stefan better than Renee. From a certain perspective, they were like eternal rivals—if either of them won, their dynasty won as well.And Quinton was convinced that if every Everheart could see him now,
"Who's there?" Chase immediately started struggling in his attacker's grip, and elbowed the person hard."Calm down, it's just me." Renee awkwardly removed her hand from the man's eyes and rubbed her aching stomach. "I was just messing with you! I didn't expect that you'd be so skilled at martial arts—that elbow of yours nearly killed me!" "Oh, it's you, Ms. Everheart! I'm so sorry. Please punish me as you see fit." Chase lowered his head guiltily, about to kneel. He was wearing a white suit, which made him look gentle and elegant."Please don't. You don't have to be so careful in front of me, I'm not like my brother." Renee glanced at Quinton's bedroom, then quietly asked, "Is my brother asleep?""Yes, Ms. Everheart.""Let's go and grab a bite then." "Ms. Everheart, we can't. You're my superior, so how—""Chase, I told you before that I'm not my brother. Let's go." Renee dragged him to a street nearby that was full of hawker stalls. "Sir, we'd like to order burgers, chips,
"No, I was just a lackey. It was all because of my boss' great wisdom that Carmine Pawnshop became successful. You don't know how hard he worked back then. He was even dragged a few dozen metres from a car just to get an item his enemy had! He truly risked his life to establish Carmine Pawnshop bit by bit." "I know he's always been a hard worker. I feel like a worthless piece of trash who muddles through life compared to him…" Renee admitted."You can't say that, Ms. Everheart. You come from a totally different background. You're a rich, young lady that enjoyed luxury and led a worry-free life… but my boss was different. He couldn't even afford to eat when he was younger, and his foster parents used to abuse him. Only his sister was a bit nice to him, but at last, she also..." Chase stopped, realising he had said too much, then quickly continued, "In short, you can't blame him for being extreme. He's had to suffer his whole life just to survive." "I know that he's suffered, we're
Chase was silent for a while, then finally heaved a long sigh. "Forget it. Ms. Everheart, I can tell you if you really want to know. I believe that you're the only one in this world who truly cares about him and wants him to be happy. I won't regret it as long as he can resolve that hatred of his. Even if he wants to punish me for it, I'm willing to take the risk..." The man abruptly gulped down his beer, then started to talk about their past."You know that he was abandoned when he was young, right? After that, he got adopted by a poor couple in that small fishing village. The couple already had a son and a daughter, so they were very reluctant to adopt my boss. Because of that, they used to hit and scold him all the time, and they also didn't give him food and made him do heavy labour every day." Chase had also grown up poor in that small fishing village, but because he was the only son in his family, he had lived a worry-free life."When we were young, the boss was very handsome,
"Yes, Ms. Garcia was wonderful. She was like a pure flower—simple and naive without any malice in her. She was my boss' motivation to survive. Eventually, he gained enough power to leave the small fishing village, but he suppressed his talent and capabilities just so he could be with her. He stayed in that tiny village and became a humble fisherman...""What happened afterwards? Where did she go? Why didn't my brother mention her?" Renee had so many questions."After that..." Chase frowned and murmured, "That wicked brother of hers bullied her, so my boss beat him up and ran away with Ms. Garcia. I was a rebel too back then, so I went with them. We were just broke kids at the time, so we decided to go to the chaotic Water Dock to survive. We then risked our lives to establish Carmine Pawnshop.""Quinton really is amazing... All of you were." Renee could not imagine how three penniless youths established Carmine Pawnshop in that land of chaos. It was the border of three countries, an
"Hmph! Of course." Chase snorted in disdain. "He's just a sanctimonious and disloyal man who'll do anything to get what he wants. He was so shameless that he even tricked and fooled a pure, naive girl! Even if he behaves differently and does a lot of charity now, he can’t hide the fact that he's rotten to the core." Chase's opinion of Stefan was similar to his opinion of Joanne—though he hated the man, he couldn't deny that he respected him very much too. After all, he had been Stefan's subordinate for four years at some point. During that time, the despicable man seemed... not as despicable as Chase had thought. It was very conflicting."The light that saved him turned out to be a knife that stabbed him... Joanne's betrayal was a fatal blow to Quinton. No wonder he hates Stefan so much!" After listening to Chase's explanation, Renee finally understood Quinton's character.A betrayal by the person you loved the most was the worst—it could turn even the most innocent person into a m
Renee was well aware of the situation and was calm in the face of death. "If Macsen wants to kill us, Benjamin will feign ignorance. I think we're doomed here today.""Whatever. I'm not afraid!" Leia didn't take it too seriously, grinning. "You and Liam are the most important people to me. Although we weren't born on the same day, it's great that we can die on the same day. I want us to be siblings in our next lives!""Silly, you're so optimistic. We're going to get killed, not attending a party! Why are you this happy?" Liam's gloominess and tenseness gradually relaxed because of Leia's optimistic and happy tone. "Yeah, it isn't a big deal. I have no regrets since I can die with you guys.""You guys have no regrets, but I'm unlucky!"Mateo kept sighing. "If I knew, I wouldn't have meddled in this or caught you guys. At most, I'd be suppressed by another guy. But now, I'm about to get killed. I regret it! You have big supporters, don't you? Is there any way to contact either of
When the fight reached an intense moment, Macsen's subordinates managed to surround Liam and Mateo. They were disappointing.Macsen's most loyal subordinate aimed a gun at Liam's head and screamed at Renee, who had gone mad. He tried to threaten her. "Let our boss go, or I'll make you pay a price!" Renee regained her wits and turned to look at Liam. Her mouth was bloody. A helpless sigh escaped her. "Why are you this useless? How could they get you?"Helpless, she slowly got up and let Macsen go temporarily. "Motherfucker! Go to hell!"When Macsen regained freedom, he was no longer a gentleman. He slapped Renee twice with one hand and held his neck with the other. Then, he ordered his subordinates, "Tie them up with the woman on that ship!""Okay!" Macsen's subordinates were obedient. They quickly grabbed a thick and heavy rope to tie up Renee, Liam, Leia, and Mateo together, tying the rope around them thrice."Liam, why are you caught too? You're so useless. We even wanted
Everyone looked at each other in dismay before raising their weapons to attack Renee.Liam ordered his subordinates to fight Macsen's men when he noticed the danger. "Don't hurt her, or I'll fight you!"There were more than ten people from both sides. When they started fighting, the whole jetty was filled with the sounds of weapons and bullets. It was a mess.That battle sacrificed a lot of Liam's subordinates. Gradually, he failed to hold on."Mateo, where are your men? Get them into the fight. If anything happens to Boss, you'll suffer too. That crazy Stefan will kill everyone!"While fighting Macsen's subordinates, Liam wanted to involve Mateo in the fight since the latter was merely watching. Besides, he knew what a man like Mateo, who was good at weighing the pros and cons, cared about the most.As expected, Mateo chose to side with Liam when he heard that this mess would affect his relationship with Stefan.After all, Macsen was the most powerful person in the fort. It wou
"What do you want? I'm warning you! Stay away from me, or I won't go easy on you!"For an unknown reason, a chill ran down Macsen's spine when he saw how fierce Renee looked. He wondered why she was that fierce. She could walk fast even when dragging a sandbag over 110 pounds—she wasn't ordinary.Holding a gun, Macsen flexed his fingers as his knuckles turned white. "I don't care about people's lives! I can kill them if I'm happy, including you!""Is that so?" Renee stubbornly faced the gun and walked forward. She glared at him coldly. "A demon like you should never live. I'll kill you, even if I have to die for it!"She swiftly pounced on and pushed him down despite the heavy sandbag.Everything happened so fast, Macsen was dumbstruck. Renee even managed to knock on his gun. The gun went off, firing a bullet at a nearby stone pillar. It nearly hurt one of Macsen's subordinates. "Oh, you don't care about people's lives, do you? You can just kill them, huh? I'll make you suffer t
Macsen clenched his fists, agitated. For many years, he was mainly responsible for the armed forces of the fort. On the other hand, Benjamin instructed his adopted sons to take care of his business. Previously, Hunt Enterprise promised the Jenkins family many profits under the condition that Renee and Joanne could leave the fort safely. Hence, Benjamin let them go at that critical point despite the humiliation he faced. Afterward, Stefan continued his close cooperation with the Jenkins family. While this happened, the relationship between Macsen and Benjamin grew tenser. Gradually, Macsen kept gathering power to surpass Benjamin one day and take revenge on Stefan.Renee and Leia's sudden arrival at the fort was beyond Macsen's expectations. Although he was getting stronger, he wasn't powerful enough to fight Benjamin and the Hunts. Despite this, he naturally wouldn't give up such a good chance easily. Macsen's revenge was the result of his impulsiveness. He had been reckless,
"Well, you're bold. A pity that…you fell in love with such a cruel man like Stefan!"Macsen took a deep breath and waved melancholicly. Then, he instructed someone to push Renee into the river.Renee neither resisted nor tried to stall for time. She just wanted to get it over with. Having seen through men and human nature, she suddenly became pessimistic.Macsen's subordinate grabbed Renee and dragged her to the river bank. Before he was about to push her into the river, a dazzling light ruined the darkness and oppresiveness of the jetty. "I knew it was you, Macsen!" a furious voice resonated in the air. Liam, holding a floodlight, shone it into Macsen's eyes. "You and I aren't enemies! Why did you target me? Do you know how important these two people are to me?" he growled fiercely. Mateo followed closely behind. At first, he watched everything in silence. Eventually, he said something to sow discord between them. "Macsen, why couldn't you talk it out with us? You secretly
Disgust overcame Renee. She found Macsen pathetic."You claimed that you love your girlfriend, but you married Luneth. You married her and got a kid. Now, you want to be intimate with the woman you've just met. Do men think that love is just a trivial thing?""How could you…" Macsen was stunned. He didn't expect her to say that so directly. Guilty, he retorted, "You don't know anything! Men's love is different from women's love.""What's the difference?" Renee snorted and shot him a disdainful stare. "Yeah, it's different. Women are superior human beings. Once they fall in love with someone, they'll never sleep with another man. But men are different. Men are simply animals. They can love many people and sleep with different women. Maybe men and women shouldn't exist at the same time. Then, there won't be so many heartbroken women.""I disagree!" Macsen rolled up his sleeves, turning competitive because of Renee's words. "You make it sound like only men will have a change of heart.
"What kind of condition? I'm listening," Renee said curiously."It's very simple. The best way to take revenge on a man is to humiliate his beloved in front of him, especially by making her a slut in front of him. So…"After a pause, Macsen sized Renee up and cracked a wicked smile. "Turn on your social media, go live, and show everyone how you and I fool around. Let them see how you enjoy my lovemaking. Then, I'll consider letting you guys live!""That's outrageous!" Leia snarled, unable to tolerate it any longer. "You're out of your mind! Your woman is humiliated, so you should find fault with the culprit! Why do you want to hurt another innocent woman? If you love live shows, you should go shoot that kind of video yourself and sell it worldwide. It'll satisfy your special tastes!"Her sarcasm angered Macsen, who turned to his subordinate beside him.The subordinate immediately walked forward. Without hesitation, he grabbed Leia to the large ship behind Macsen."It's finally qu
Renee interrupted Leia for fear that the latter's words might drive Macsen up the wall.Macsen's intense reaction proved that he wasn't lying. Stefan had probably done something outrageous to his girlfriend.However, there might be some hidden clues in that incident. Given Renee's understanding of Stefan, he wasn't so ruthless even though he was abominable."No, she's right." Macsen took a deep breath and sneered. "I should make myself clear. If not, you'd never know how wicked someone could be… When I found my girlfriend, she was naked and had all kinds of bruises. She cried and told me that Stefan had assaulted her for several days and nights. In the end, she jumped off a building and died in front of me because of the utter humiliation!""What?!" At that point, Leia expressed her disbelief. "That can't be! There must be some misunderstanding! Stefan's a scumbag, but he's not a skirt-chaser or a deviant. That kind of thing would never have happened. Given his identity and sta