It was none other than Seraphina.She had bribed the nurses working on the floor Quinton was on, and had found out that Renee and the others had gone to the cafeteria to eat. Once they had left, Seraphina had opened the door and entered Quinton's ward. Quinton was now lying in bed after the surgery. He was wearing an oxygen mask and looked very weak.Seraphina walked to Quinton's bed. She stared at him for a while, then put something beside his pillow and took off his oxygen mask. "I'm sorry. I don't want to be cruel, but I just need you to be in a coma so Renee can learn her lesson. I didn't expect you to be so tough. Stefan even helped hire Owen for you..." Her eyes flashed in anger. "You should blame your shameless sister for this. She's been pestering Stefan relentlessly even though he's engaged to me, so unfortunately, you have to suffer the consequences!"After that, she avoided the surveillance cameras and left the hospital quietly.Meanwhile, in the cafeteria, Renee was s
Justin stiffened, his eyes widening. "What… What did you say?" "I'm saying that you're a spy! You probably ordered someone to harm my brother. If not, why did this happen right after we left to eat at the cafeteria?" Renee demanded hoarsely, her eyes watery. She and Justin were the only ones aware of Quinton's condition. On the surface, Justin appeared to be taking good care of her. Maybe he was doing it on purpose to divert her attention so someone could harm Quinton. After all, he was a Baldwin. Everyone knew how ambitious the Baldwins were. They might want to take Quinton's place after getting rid of him.Leia tugged on Renee's sleeve and urged her softly, "Ren, that's too harsh. There's no way he could be a spy. If he was, he wouldn't have spent so much time on you, and would have gotten rid of Quinton long ago. The real spy is someone else..."Renee turned to look at Leia immediately. "Do you know something about this?" "I..." Leia clenched and unclenched her fists hesitantl
"Renee..." Quinton moved his fingers as a tear rolled down his cheek. "I've let you down. You must have suffered a lot worrying about me.""Don't say that. I should take care of you since you're my brother. I'm… I'm just glad you're awake!" Renee sobbed as she laid beside him. "I know that I was in a coma. It felt like my soul was locked away in some small part of my body, and I wanted to stay there forever, but I couldn't forget about you. So, I tried my best to escape, and I'm so grateful I did," Quinton said softly, his voice raw with emotion. He seemed gentler somehow, as if he had lost his sharp edges and ferocity."Ah, don't say such things. You'll live long, and you'll see Adie and Abby grow up and get married and have kids of their own. You've just been asleep for a long time, you weren't dying!" Renee wiped away her tears and smiled at Quinton tenderly. "Alright, I won't give up so easily, for your sake and the kids'. I have to live a long life, and we can stay together
After Leia and Renee walked out of the ward, Leia pulled Renee to a corner near the stairs. "That ring... It's Stefan's, right?""Yes." Renee nodded tiredly, unable to run from the truth any longer. "I'm sure you've gained some information, right?" Leia knew that she could no longer hide it since things had turned out this way. She could only tell Renee everything she knew. "I'd been wondering if someone had done this on purpose after something went wrong with Quinton's accident. So, I went to the medical staff and interrogated them.""What did they say?" Renee asked cautiously."That nurse claimed that the main surgeon received a call before Quinton's surgery telling him to do the surgery well or something like that. The caller was Shirley, so I went to find her and confront her. She claimed that it was Stefan's order..." Leia told Renee everything. "I thought Shirley was just trying to create problems, so I wanted to get more evidence first, but… it seems that the evidence came
Justin was wearing a thin shirt, and shrugged half-heartedly. "We came at the same time.""You're ridiculous. Weren't you bored sitting here for five to six hours?" Even so, Renee still moved aside a little to give him some space.Justin gladly sat down next to her and smiled. "Didn't you do the same thing though?""It's because there's something troubling me. Time passed by very quickly.""Well, we're the same. Watching you is like watching the most beautiful scenery in the world—hours passed in the blink of an eye.""Stop that!" Renee playfully pushed him and sighed. After a while, she said slowly, "This afternoon... Umm, I'm sorry. I was so anxious that I accused you for no reason. I wasn't targeting you; I would have scolded a dog too if it came at that time."Her explanation amused him. "It's fine. Anyone in your position would've done it." He didn't want her to blame herself. Despite everything, he still wanted to marry her and bring glory to his family. It was fine if she
Renee did not broach that topic, feeling embarrassed to do so."Let me guess... Is it Stefan?" Justin instantly guessed from the look on her face, but there was one thing he couldn't figure out. "If he wanted to harm Quinton, why would he go to all that trouble to hire Owen? It doesn't make sense." "Who knows? Maybe he wanted to make me let my guard down and then use a crueler way to get rid of my brother. If my brother's gone, both the Everheart family and my brother's status in Water Dock will no longer be a threat to him," Renee suggested. She generally didn't like to see the bad in people, but she had seen how complicated and wicked people could become with time."It could be, but I think you should ask him about it. He's rather straightforward, so I'm sure he won't deny it if he was the one who did it," Justin said slowly.Renee stared at him for a while, then smiled oddly at him. "You're... weird."He grinned back at her. "I'm being nice, okay?" "That's what's puzzling me
Stefan's shock surprised Owen. Raising his brows, Owen asked, "You didn't know about it?"Stefan was speechless, a solemn expression on his face. A waiter immediately came forward with a new glass for Stefan, and carefully filled it with wine. "You really didn't know?" Owen found it strange. "Shouldn't Miss Everheart inform you if something happens to her brother? You two seemed pretty close." "Close? Hardly," Stefan scoffed and drank his wine grumpily."Stefan, you can't be that blind. It's obvious you both have feelings for each other, but you both keep trying to hide it!" Owen always traveled, so he wasn't aware of the news in Beach City. He also didn't know that Stefan and Renee were once married to each other, and as an outsider, he only noticed that the two had feelings for each other. "We did have history, but I had an accident, and I forgot all about my past with her. All the people around me claimed that she did a lot of things to harm me, and even she admitted that I
"Have you got a minute? I want to ask you something." Renee sounded very cold on the phone."Come to Tipsy Grove." Stefan ordered the driver to stop the car at the door of Tipsy Grove and waited for Renee. Renee arrived not long after. When she saw his car, she knocked on the car window.Joel Montana, Stefan's driver, opened the door and said to Renee, "Miss Everheart, there you are. Mr. Hunt, uhh… had a bit too much to drink tonight. Should I drive you guys to a hotel or..." It was late, and Joel felt a hotel was suitable given Renee's relationship with his boss.Renee glanced at Stefan, who was clearly drunk. She then sighed heavily. "Drive us to Hunt Villa.""Okay. Please get in the car, Miss Everheart. I'll get you guys there." Joel asked nothing more. All he needed to do was to drive his boss to his destination. Renee took the shotgun seat. She did not converse much with Stefan, who just kept his eyes closed. Nobody knew if he was actually sleeping or if he was just drunk.
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