Francine initially wanted to scold Renee, but upon seeing her dejected expression, her heart softened. She couldn't bear to say anything harsh to her, and said instead, "I know that Stef nearly died in your hands again. I don't know what he's done to make you do this to him repeatedly, but you were once my daughter-in-law. Do me the favor and stay far away from Stef for his sake. Don't you see accidents always happen when you both get close to each other? The both of you might love each other truly, but you're not suitable for each other." Francine sincerely liked and admired Renee, but unfortunately, she was not fated to be with her son. Francine felt that she had to break them up for the sake of Stefan's health.Renee nodded calmly. "Don't worry, you don't have to remind me. I know that I should stay far away from Stefan but sometimes I need to come to him for urgent matters. It's alright, I'll give you my word now that I'll never see him again unless I'm forced to.""R–Really?" Fr
"I know I shouldn't beg you for this, but you're a good person, so I think I can discuss it with you."Renee was curious now. "Please go on." "It's about Adie and Abby's custody—" Francine started, but was immediately interrupted by Renee."No, I'll never give up custody of them," Reene said firmly.Although Francine had anticipated this, she still felt very aggrieved. "Normally, I wouldn't give up custody of either of them because they're Hunts at the end of the day…"Renee shook her head and argued, "You're wrong. Biologically, only women's genes are passed down, which means Adie and Abby are Everhearts and don't have much to do with the Hunt family." Francine frowned petulantly and complained, "Stop being so stubborn. If this becomes a court case, the judge will surely give the Hunt family one of the kids.""Fine, go ahead. I have the most outstanding civil attorney who has never lost custody cases like this before. Try it if you don't believe me. The Murphy family won't be
Renee felt dejected after she came back from the hospital. When she arrived at the Everheart Manor, she found Quinton digging the ground with Adie and Abby in the large back garden. The children were jumping around Quinton happily, a thin layer of sweat on their chubby faces."What are you all doing?" Renee's heart softened and she smiled tenderly when she saw them."Mommy, look! Uncle is teaching us how to plant flowers." Abby's cheeks were flushed from all the jumping around, making her look even more adorable."Really? What kind of flowers are you planting?" Renee walked into the garden and asked curiously. "Of course, we're planting sunflowers, your favorite. Uncle said this kind of sunflower will blossom in a month, and by then, this garden will be filled with golden sunflowers as pretty as the ones in Sun Island!" Abby exclaimed, sounding a little wistful. Sun Island was where she and Adie were born, and they had so many wonderful memories there."Mommy, when can we go back
"Umm… Can you ask Daddy to go too?" Abby asked Renee carefully. "Why are you calling him Daddy? He's just a scumbag, so forget about him!" Adie said angrily, his deep hatred for Stefan obvious. He didn't know how it happened, but he'd read in the news that the man who promised to take good care of his mother was now dating another woman and was about to marry her. Also, he had purposely snuck away from Quinton's bodyguards one day to go to Stefan's office, but when he found him, Stefan had just walked past him, laughing and talking to another woman, as if he didn't know him. At that moment, he knew that his father had been snatched by someone else, and he had lost him. He was fine with it since he hadn't grown up with him, but he just couldn't bear to see his mother get hurt. "I knew he was a bad guy! He let Mommy down. I would have taken revenge on him if Mommy didn't stop me," Adie huffed sulkily. "But… But the teacher said both Daddy and Mommy have to come. What will we do?"
Renee handed her phone to Quinton."That's…" Quinton saw the familiar woman playing the piano enchantingly, and his eyes became watery."Give it time, Quinton. I believe that the both of you will surely meet one day." Renee patted Quinton's shoulder and consoled him gently."I'm just glad she's alive… That's all I want," Quinton choked out hoarsely, his voice thick with emotion. After a while of staring at the woman on the screen, he finally calmed down and returned the phone to Renee. "Renee, I know you mean well. Don't worry, I've thought a lot about it, and I'll be okay.""Great! There's no time to grieve—the fort master still has Liam, and Chase is still missing. We didn't even find our parents' murderer, and we have yet to see our family prosper… We must stay strong and hold on." Renee was forced to pressure him like this so he would be hopeful and motivated again. He did well under pressure, and needed the drive to move on.After that day, Renee could feel that Quinton had g
It was practically a given that Renee's family would win the game today because their charming costumes would definitely earn them high marks."I think so too. We'll be the champions for sure! Adie, Abby… Let's do our best!" Renee said to her children eagerly.Miss Apple then turned to look at Quinton, and was mesmerized by his good looks. Blushing, she asked shyly, "Sir, are you Adie and Abby's father? You're so handsome." She had taken over Adie and Abby's class during the previous semester, so she usually only met Margaret. She had no idea what Adie and Abby's father looked like. "Umm… he is—" Renee started awkwardly, but Quinton interrupted her."Yeah, I'm Adie and Abby's father," he said firmly."Great, because we need the kids' parents to help them complete their tasks today. The rules are that only the kids' parents can join the competition, and relatives and friends can only watch and cheer them on," Miss Apple explained."Understood, Miss Apple. We'll try our best," Qui
The competition started with ten teams and different tasks. Each task was rather difficult, and quite a lot of teams were disqualified after the first few rounds, but Renee and her family were strong. Naturally, they conquered each task successfully and soon ended up at the final task.There were only three teams remaining for the final task, which was to raise an artificial moon to the highest spot on the platform the fastest. The team that managed to raise it to the highest spot would be the champion, and there was also a climbing wall for the task that tested the parents' strength and endurance. "Okay, each team has to send a representative for the final task. Ladies and gentlemen, you can start preparing now," the judge announced excitedly.Renee looked up at the tall wall and clenched her fists eagerly. "Quinton, leave this to me. I'm good at climbing!""No, it looks dangerous. Let me do it instead. You can cheer me on with Adie and Abby," Quinton insisted though he was terri
Justin admired Renee a lot, and it was so mind-boggling to him that she was great at everything except romantic relationships.Meanwhile, Stefan was still recuperating in bed. He felt rather bored until Francine turned on the TV to watch the live broadcast of the kindergarten carnival. When he saw Renee and the children, he snorted disdainfully. "I didn't expect her to be married with kids..."Francine glanced at him helplessly. She yearned to tell him that Renee was married to him and the children were his, but she eventually decided against it because the doctor said to avoid stimulating his mind before he fully recovered. If she told him that Renee was his wife and Adie and Abby were his children, it would be a fatal blow. Things would get worse if his mind was affected, and he fell sick again. "Yes, she's a mother, so you'd better stop getting involved in her affairs." Francine tried to persuade Stefan, hoping he would give up on Renee and not have any thoughts about her before