Renee followed Leia's finger; her eyes fixated on the man as she frowned. "Mr. Winston? No way… He's one of the first people who partnered with Azure Group, and he's considered an old friend of ours. I wouldn't ."When Azure Group was first founded, it was just a small company with no name and nothing to offer, so there were very few business partners who were willing to work with them. Each partnership they had managed to get back then was the fruit of their hard labor.Mr. Winston was actually great, being a down-to-earth man. Although he wasn't exactly the most powerful person to work with, he was certainly the most reliable one.This was why Renee refused to believe he would ever betray them like this. "I think there's more to the eye…""But… the angle! It's definitely taken from this angle! Even if he hadn't uploaded the video, he was the one who recorded it! It's obvious that he had ulterior motives for doing so!""Ah, let's just forget about it for now. We have to think of
Renee rubbed her eyes groggily. "What is it? Are there people insulting my brother again? Ugh, back to the warzone!""No, no, not your brother, but your ex-husband! Just look… Everyone's going for his throat! This is great!" Leia pridefully exclaimed on the other end of the line."What? Stefan Hunt?" Renee instantly sat up and looked through her phone. The first three trending searches were now all related to Stefan, and each was as shocking as the other.The first three words in the search were all related to Stefan, and every word was enough to be described as explosive.[Stefan Hunt's brutality!][Stefan Hunt should be in jail!][Stefan Hunt is an absolute scum!]The woman's entire body tensed up, her eyes glued to her phone screen. After that, she clicked on each of the articles and read through its contents.A user named 'I_Got_You_Good_Now' seemed to have written a long essay about how Quinton was once abandoned in a village where he fell victim to horrifying abuse during
However, since Liam left, no one sent her any of these cupcakes. She tried looking for it herself, but to no avail, which worsened her cravings. With the comfort awarded by the cupcake, Renee felt much better. She silently chewed on the cupcake at the table as she looked for the user's IP address.Liam glanced at her screen and smiled. "Who's the big shot? Why are you personally looking for them?"Renee waved her hand dismissively, clearly not in the mood for banter. "Oh, you won't get it, kid. Go along and play somewhere else."Liam folded his arms and cleared his throat. "Boss, you can just stop. The person who wrote that article is right underneath your nose.""What do you mean?" Renee finally turned her attention to Liam, looking the man up and down.Liam smirked pridefully. "I mean it literally.""You're not saying you were the one who leaked that information, are you?""Pleasure to meet you." The man nodded, patting Renee on the head as if he wasn't scared for his life
Renee's words piqued Liam's curiosity."Key figure?" Liam rubbed his chin and closer toward the woman with an intrigued expression. "Keep going."Renee rolled her eyes at him and mindlessly scrolled through the webpage, her expression blank. "My brother doesn't only hate Stefan for destroying his face, but also for making his most trusted person betray him. She used to be the light of his life, but she betrayed him for Stefan and stabbed him in the gut.""That's when my brother lost all morality. And well… How do I say this? He takes things to the extreme now.""Yeah, he is pretty extreme." Liam nodded in agreement. "No wonder I felt a sense of empathy when I first saw him. I knew he had hurt the same way I did, for love."Renee rolled her eyes again. "For love? Since when? Oh, stop playing the victim?""Is it not miserable enough that I acted as a loyal lapdog for almost a decade with no one to love me back?"The woman was speechless. "You might not know this, Boss, but peopl
Renee would no longer have to worry once she's brought Joanne back to reconcile with her brother, after all."Hell no." Liam refused, putting his index fingers into the shape of an 'X'. "I can't even handle being there, and I play around a lot! You're a girl and a beautiful one at that! Who knows what would happen when you're there! I won't let you risk your life!""I heard it's a pretty hellish place. Even a beast would be left with scars all over its body. But don't you know me? When have I, Renee Everheart, ever been scared of anyone?""I know you're strong, but you need to know that there are stronger people out there. My master is no joke! I almost made him explode when I refused to be his godson and escaped! He might imprison you and make you his concubine if you went there!""Shut it with the nonsense. Hand me the address!" Renee was impatient, restricting the man's arms behind his back, increasing her force with every word she spoke until it was unbearable to him. "So, a
Renee walked into Stefan's office, led by a secretary. It had been so long since she last came here, but everything was still the same… except the man opposite her. Renee stared at him, and sadness filled her. He was standing in front of the large French windows like he used to, his back as straight as an arrow."What are you doing here?" Stefan turned around and shot Renee a cold glare, looking hostile and unwelcoming.The secretary glanced at Renee, and suggested hesitantly, "Mr. Hunt, I can show Ms. Everheart around if you're too busy. We can come back after you're done with your work." Inwardly, the secretary was grumbling, 'Why is Mr. Hunt behaving like this? They've been married for a long time, but he doesn't show his true feelings for her. He deserves it if Ms. Everheart runs away!'Stefan's face turned livid as he turned to the secretary and growled, "Get out." "I apologize for intruding," Renee said and bowed her head slightly, about to turn around and leave.Stefa
Infuriated by his carefree attitude, Renee stormed over to him and grabbed his tie, jerking his head down as she snarled, "Can you swear that you didn't slash and ruin my brother's face? Can you honestly tell me that you didn’t defeat my brother because of Joanne's betrayal?" "Joanne just did what she felt was right. I don't think it was a betrayal." Stefan looked up and met Renee's gaze intently. They were so close that they could feel each other's breath on their skin, and suddenly, the air became thick with tension. Renee swallowed briefly and put some distance between them. She gritted her teeth and said, "As a man, you should at least have the integrity to admit to what you did. You tricked Joanna and ruined my brother… Don't you feel even the least bit guilty?""As opponents in a battle, it's only natural that there's a winner and a loser. If I didn’t do what I did, it might have been my face ruined or my corpse in the sea.""You..." Renee couldn't argue."Do you believe t
Renee felt relieved after getting Stefan's answer. Some part of her knew that the man wasn't as aloof and cruel as he made himself out to be. Although she did not have much time to carry out that difficult mission, at least Stefan would not do anything to Quinton during that period. She could leave Beach City with peace of mind.After she walked out of the president's office, she saw a lot of employees in the corridor. She only knew some of them, but all of them looked at her with sparkling eyes. "Hi, Mrs. Hunt!"When some of the senior employees saw her, they waved at her frantically as if they were fans who were meeting their idols."Umm… hi." Renee nodded politely before she corrected them, "Please don't address me as Mrs. Hunt anymore. I've divorced your president." She felt annoyed every time she thought about it. She had divorced the same man twice, and the second time had been thanks to Quinton. It was just like when Stefan pretended to be Mr. Q and married her. She was
Renee covered her lips, her tone filled with disbelief. "I…cut myself." Justin leaned against the corner and frowned deeply. He was in deep pain."Why did you cut yourself?" Renee was scared out of her wits and grew more sober. In her panic, she threw herself at him and tried to stop his bleeding.Justin reacted aggressively as he waved his dagger and warned fiercely, "Get away from me! Don't touch me!" "I…" Renee paused, too afraid to act recklessly. She pointed at his wound and said, "I'm just worried about you. You're bleeding. It must hurt a lot. Why did you hurt yourself?" "It's better to be in pain!" Justin gnashed his teeth and said in agony, "The pain will knock some sense into me, so I won't act like an animal and lose control of myself.""I see…" Stunned, Renee was moved to tears. She understood why he cut himself. Surprisingly, he wanted to stay sober and not be controlled by the drug in the wine.He could have used her to satisfy his desire, and she would never b
"You're playing with fire!" Justin leaned close to Renee's ears and said fiercely, "What do you think there is in the wine? Maybe I'm not someone who will take liberty on women, but I can't promise that the wine won't make me so." "So, you're saying that the wine…" Suddenly, Renee realized the wine was not as simple as she thought. She also understood why Rose had behaved in such a mysterious manner. "Stay…away from me!" Suddenly, she became frightened and wanted to keep some distance from Justin. She knew that people could not be trusted completely, especially under the effects of chemical reactions. Things would certainly get out of control. Justin probably did not want to do anything to her, but both of them would lose their minds under the effect of the wine and do something that would fill them with regret. The only way to prevent such an incident was to avoid each other."You want to stay away from me, but it's too late now. I'm no saint. I'm just a normal guy!"Just
"I'm so thirsty!" The burning sensation of the wine made Renee thirsty. She wanted to drink some water.In the dark, she heard some rustling. The next second, something was on her lips. It seemed to be someone else's lips. She wondered if someone had secretly kissed her."Who are you?" Renee grabbed the person in front of her and interrogated angrily, "How dare you kiss me without my permission! Do you know who I am? I'll cut off your lips!""Let's see if you can do that or not." The man sounded dull and drunk, but he was also overbearing.Although Renee was drunk, she could discern who it was. She called out in the dark and tried to confirm her doubt. "Haze…?" "Yeah, it's me," Justin admitted, but he did not plan to let her go. He used a more overbearing manner and trapped her between him and the door."What do you want?" Renee panicked. She wanted to kick him away, but she did not resist when she learned that it was Justin. After she had done so many things to hurt him, s
The servant walked forward with trepidation and helped Justin back to his room. Austin's eyes were dark. He whispered to his assistant, who nodded and immediately carried out his order.After two glasses of strong wine, Renee felt dizzy and could not stand steadily. "It's weird. Is this wine this strong? I just had two glasses of it, but I feel quite dizzy." It was hard for her to exit the hall. She could not stand properly, so she supported herself against the wall."Ms. Everheart, you didn't seem well. Let me help you to get some rest." Austin's assistant caught up to her and stood behind her. He even sounded respectful. "It's… fine. I can go back to my room." Renee waved; she didn't want to trouble others. Besides, she did not want others to see how miserable she was. She had assumed that she was good at drinking and would not get drunk, but it seemed like she had overestimated herself. After two glasses of wine, she became quite drowsy. She would not easily leave if s
Renee blinked and smiled brightly at Justin, asking him, "Are you worried about me?" "No, I'm not worried about you!" Justin said angrily. "I don't want you to get killed here. I can't explain it to your brother and kids. It's hard to handle the three of them."He was not lying. Although he had befriended Quinton, Adie and Abby might make a scene there if they realized that Renee had drunk so much wine at the party. They were witty, always full of ideas.Hence, it was better not to cause trouble. Before they could make a scene and things get out of control, Justin must stop Renee. He wasn't worried about her at all. "So, you're not worried about me?" Renee's gaze turned dull as she sighed. "It looks like you didn't forgive me. So, I must drink this glass of wine." Something was wrong with Renee, or perhaps she just wanted to torture herself. It seemed like she insisted on drinking the wine. She swung off Justin's hand and gulped down the wine."You're out of your mind!" Justi
The aged white wine was strong. Ordinary people would find it hard to drink a glass of it. Yet, Renee had drunk two glasses of it consecutively. It was a little dangerous. Everyone at the dining table was initially watching the fun, but they showed Renee some pity after she drank two glasses of wine consecutively. After wiping her lips clean, Renee staggered and said to Justin, "Let me toast to you now. I've wronged you the most." Justin, sitting there, said with a poker face, "You don't have to say sorry to me. We don't hold each other any grudge. After all, we can't make others fall in love with us.""No, I must apologize to you. It's for my sake." After that, Renee used a bigger glass and filled it with wine."Whatever!" Justin frowned and ignored Renee. He had no idea what was wrong with her. He had yielded and let her off, but she stubbornly wanted to keep drinking the wine.He wondered if she had forgotten the fact that she had just recovered from a serious illness. She
Suddenly, Justin became mature and stopped making jokes. He talked steadily and was no longer emotional. It filled Austin with worry because it made him feel like Justin was an emotionless robot.In comparison, he liked Justin's previous self better. At that time, Justin was simple and sentimental. He was the grandson Austin doted on the most.Sophia grinned and commented, "Dad, you don't have to worry about Justin. Men will change. Previously, he was just a childish kid even though he was in his twenties. He didn't know how to see through people's pretense. But he's all grown up now. He knows what's right or wrong. That's a great thing!" As a mother, she naturally did not want her son to get hurt. Although she favored Renee and wanted the latter to be her daughter-in-law, she would give up since Renee had let her son down and harmed him. All she wanted was to see Renee get away from her son."Yes, you're right. People need to grow up. He has grown up a lot lately, but the price
After a while, a servant quickly came back with a bottle of wine tied with a piece of red cloth. "Sir, Madam, this bottle of white wine was brewed more than ten years ago. It comes with a rich taste and is strong. I'm sure it's suitable for Ms. Everheart to toast to everyone as a form of apology.""That's good. That's what I want." Rose accepted the heavy bottle of wine. Although it was yet to be unscrewed, she could smell its pungent scent. "I won't easily let anyone drink this. Plus… Believe it or not, a glass of this wine can knock out anyone here." Rose carried the bottle of wine and walked around the table. Finally, she stopped in front of Renee. "I'm letting a sinner like you enjoy such a great thing today. You must drink all of it. You can't waste it.""Huh? Does she have to drink it all? I'm afraid she'll vomit from drinking.""People will lose themselves with only three to five glasses of this wine. If they drink half of it, they might get alcohol poisoning no matter
If any Baldwin demanded an explanation from Renee, she would not resent them."Fine, I won't go easy on you since you said so." Rose laughed recklessly, looking malicious. Everyone knew Rose was fierce and malicious. But none of them said anything, including Justin. They behaved like onlookers and wanted to see how Rose would punish Renee. "Please go ahead." Renee nodded and sounded very calm. "Don't worry. Regardless, you were the only woman my dear grandnephew had loved and wanted to marry. So, I won't be harsh on you. If not, he won't forgive me." At that point, Rose purposely paused and wanted to see how Justin would react.However, Justin merely sat there indifferently and had no intention to get Renee out of the predicament. Hence, Rose became bolder. "Well, let's do this. You've wronged not only Justin but everyone in my family. Since you're here to apologize, you should toast to all of us. Then, we can forget about this."After that, Rose turned to Austin and asked