"If you really are allergic to alcohol," Stefan told Renee snidely, "it's not too late to back out."His sole purpose was to make her realize the difficulty that came with her new position and give up, not to harm her in any way. But Renee kept on pretending to be a pitiful young girl and replied, "It's okay. I just want to prove my sincerity in front of everyone."What a silly and stubborn woman! Now that his patience was exhausted, Stefan held his head high and declared, "Let's begin, then."Everyone held their breath and subconsciously stepped back a little to quietly observe the game.They decided on the simplest iteration of the game. In truth, Stefan, being the serious and austere man that he was, rarely ever played the finger-guessing game. When he did, it was only for fun when he was hanging out with Christopher and Xavier. He knew that his skills in the game were nothing to write home about, but he was sure that he could defeat a naive woman like Renee with ease.To eve
"What else should I do?"As Renee looked into Stefan's bleary eyes, she was reminded of the night when he blocked her way domineeringly just as he was doing now, which led to them having sex. But after that night, he pretended that nothing ever happened, and it was precisely this kind of irresponsible behavior, like a tortoise hiding in its shell, that made her furious!"Since it's clear that I'm the winner," she said, "I'm under no obligation to be here with you as you continue to act like a madman. Don't be a sore loser, and stop wasting other people's time!"With her long suppressed anger boiling under the surface, she walked away from the man with an icy expression on her face, not even looking back once as she walked out the door.Stefan stood still in the same spot, feeling like he had just been slapped on the face. For a very long time, he just remained there with an emotionless expression, cold as ice and completely inscrutable.Inside the room, the atmosphere was very str
Elijah could hardly stifle his laughter as soon as he saw the playlist.The first song Stefan had chosen was one called "Love Is Like A Tide," while the second song was "When Our Love Was In The Past." The third song was "Love that Came Too Late,"...In short, he had selected love songs that dealt with heartbreak, failed love, and regrets that came too late.It seemed like Mrs. Hunt had really given Stefan quite a blow today.Typically, Stefan led his life solely on the basis of reason and rationality, but as soon as he got drunk, he would instantly reveal the hidden side of his personality…But the best person to cure his current ailment would be the one who had caused it in the first place, which meant that the only person who could save him from this bad habit of getting drunk and singing lovesick songs in a karaoke bar was Mrs. Hunt herself and no one else!After singing a few songs with Stefan, Elijah excused himself, saying, "You go on and sing, Mr. Hunt. I need to go to th
Under the glow of the dim lights of the private lounge, Renee didn't just see Stefan, but he was surrounded by several young, exquisitely good-looking men, each dressed in their own distinct style.And all those men were exhausting every last skill in their arsenal to impress Stefan."Ahem!" Renee coughed awkwardly, feeling as if she really was not supposed to be there at all.Stefan did not notice that Renee was there. He was too busy singing a famous song called "Ten Years Ago" with a microphone in his hand."Ten years ago…" he sang, "I did not know you, and you were not mine; we were still…"Although Renee had initially planned to leave right away, she was suddenly attracted to Stefan's voice. Despite being married to him for several years, it was actually her first time hearing him sing.She never expected a man like Stefan, who was always so serious and rigid, would ever be able to sing so passionately. Sure, he had a deep and hypnotic voice, but what was more impressive was
After speaking, she walked up to Stefan and told the handsome young man who was singing with him, "Hey, do you mind scooting over a little? The place beside him belongs to me."The young man looked like he was only in his early twenties, but he had a pretty imposing attitude because he was the most popular singing escort in this karaoke bar. "You'll have to get in line," he told Renee. "I was here first, so why the hell should I let you have my place?"Renee held her head high and confidently replied, "Because I'm his ex-wife."The young man was taken aback for a while. He didn't become the most popular escort in this karaoke without going through a lot of experience."So what?" he snapped more confidently than Renee. "Even if you're his current wife, I still won't let you have my place. If you're unhappy, then you can go outside and complain to our manager. I should warn you, though, that our establishment has some powerful backers.""You…!"Renee was left momentarily speechle
Renee and Stefan were so close that they could feel each other's breath. The warm air that Stefan exhaled reeked of alcohol. Misty-eyed, he gently lifted her chin with his lanky fingers and asked, "What happened that night?"Renee frowned, suspicion written all over her face."Have you genuinely forgotten, or are you just evading any responsibility?""Why don't you tell me?" Stefan replied in a husky voice, though it was unclear if he was serious when he added, "Only after you tell me will I find out what I remember and forgot." "That night…" Renee almost blurted out the truth, but in the end, she still chose to remain silent about it.After all, even though she rarely got drunk, she would still have the impression of what she said and did the night before when she did. She would never cleanly forget everything. So, she found it hard to believe that Stefan did not remember anything.Unless… he deliberately chose to forget!Since he intended to forget it, she would only make t
Elijah pushed his glasses and matter-of-factly told Renee, "You might not know this, Madam, but whenever Mr. Hunt gets drunk, he always ends up like this. In fact, you're not the first person he hugs so tightly like a bolster, unwilling to let go. Trust me, Madam. We've been through this. I know for a fact that it's perfectly feasible.""So," he added, "if you don't mind, I must trouble you to endure it for just a while. Once Mr. Hunt has sobered up, I'm sure he'll be really grateful."Naturally, everything he said was nonsense. He merely intended to give Stefan and Renee a chance to be closer, because the sober version of Stefan Hunt would never do anything that would hurt his ego or embarrass him. Despite that, women's hearts were conquered by the constant pursuit, especially a woman as perfect as Renee, now that she had become the director of the Electronics Technology Association. How else could Stefan win her heart if he refused to exert a little effort and employ a few tricks?
Francine shouted at Renee, "You've already divorced Stefan, yet you still pester him. Now you even dare to come to Hunt Villa and provoke us. How could there be such a shameless woman like you!"Elijah wanted to explain, but he was cut short by Renee, who was a step quicker. She retorted back venomously, "Ms. Francine, please open your eyes wider and see who’s bothering who. You failed as a mother for having a son so shameless.""You…"Francine was so mad that she couldn’t form her words properly.“Before this, I was your daughter-in-law, and I respected you. But now that I am no longer related to the Hunts, I will sue you for emotional harm if you offend me again.”After speaking, Renee tried to push Stefan away with all her strength but failed.She couldn’t help but suspect that he was doing it on purpose."Stefan, are you done fooling around? Let go of me, or I will hurt you!"Renee had her fist clenched, and she was about to strike him.She didn't want to spend another sec
"I'll bring Phoenix to see my parents. If she's okay with it, we'll get married. This army is the wedding gift my family prepared for her." Justin smiled, his tone eager."Stop fantasizing! Renee won't go there with you," Xavier said. He found Justin's plan ridiculous. "I don't believe you. Has Renee ever said yes? You keep saying you were going to do something big, but you might not even get anything out of it.""It's not up to you whether she'll say yes or not." Justin was indifferent toward Xavier's mockery. He seemed to be very confident, his eyes cold. "I told you that because I wanted you to pass the message to Stefan. I'm not trying to take advantage of the situation, because I already gave him a chance to win her back.""Then, I need to thank you on Stefan's behalf." Xavier didn't take Justin seriously at all, and instead waved provocatively at him. "We'll talk about that once you make Renee say yes. Bye!"Back in the guest room, Xavier held his phone, hesitating. In the en
After a long wait, there was finally some news."Good news, everyone! Ms. Jenkins' blood matched Mr. Osborne's. Mr. Osborne is out of danger since he got a blood transfusion in time. He'll wake up soon. It's getting late, so you should all get some rest," the doctor said as he exited the blood transfusion room."Great! Liam's out of danger now!" Leia leaped happily, moved to tears. "Wonderful! I knew he'd be fine! Thank god!""Well, I told you not to worry, but you refused to listen. You were worried for nothing." Xavier was delighted, too. He watched her dotingly, happy that she had finally relaxed. At the very least, she would stop being cold to him and find fault with him.Unexpectedly, Leia still found Xavier an eyesore and glared at him. "What does it have anything to do with you? I don't want to talk to you!"Then, she held Renee's arm and yawned. "Let's go, Ren. We can finally sleep. I want to sleep with you tonight."The two friends returned to their room, leaving Xavie
"No, Ms. Jenkins! If Mr. Jenkins learns you're donating your blood for another man, it'll drive him mad!" The doctor looked at Amber, too terrified to act. Everyone in the fort knew how much Benjamin cared about Amber. He would never let anyone off the hook if they harmed her, let alone donating so much blood."He won't be angry." Amber sounded indifferent. "He didn't even care about me. If it weren't for Liam, Matt would have killed me. I want to donate my blood to Liam. No one can stop me, not even Dad.""But…" The doctor was too scared to act rashly. "Do it. If not, I'll cut my veins to release the blood." Amber seemed to have anticipated the doctor's hesitation. She fished out a blade she got somewhere and abruptly placed it against her wrist. "Then, I'll die of blood loss. Is that worth it?""Oh, no!"The doctor never expected the usually gentle Amber would suddenly become so tough and stubborn. He stopped babbling and immediately started the blood transfusion. After all,
"Oh, no! Something's wrong!" someone screamed, "Mr. Osborne lost too much blood and needs a blood transfusion immediately! Whose blood type is O?" Leia couldn't hear that well. She immediately calmed down and returned to Liam's room. "There was a slight deviation when we withdrew the knife, causing massive bleeding. The patient needs a blood transfusion immediately. If not, he'll die!" the nurse announced; her hands were bloody, and she was sweating profusely. "Use mine!" Leia hurriedly dashed over, gasping for breath. "I'm his younger sister. I'm sure my blood type is compatible."The nurse shook her head and cautiously refused, "No, it's advisable not to have an immediate family member do this. There might be a negative response." "Use mine. My blood type is O." Renee stood up and rolled her sleeve, her tone firm."No way!" Leia refused, looking at Renee. "You've just recovered. I can't see you take the risk."Renee was poisoned before, and barely survived because Stefan h
"Oh, please!" Leia rolled her eyes at Xavier; her gesture was far from romantic. "We haven't been together that long. Plus, you dated Shirley for a long time. You were famous in the entire Beach City over how hard you worked to win her over. She made you fall head over heels for her. But you've never made such a big scene when you're dating me. People might even assume that you're single!""Why did you bring up Shirley again?" Xavier held his forehead helplessly. The scariest thing for a man was having his girlfriend repeatedly mention his ex. No matter what the man said, it would always end up in a fight."Why, can't I bring her up?" Leia snapped. Like a lot of women, Leia yearned to travel back in time and replace all the time Xavier had with his ex-girlfriend. She said jealously, "You can't forget about her, so you're afraid of me mentioning her. You're worried you might get exposed when I mention her.""No!" Xavier became impatient, his face looking awful. "I have many
"How silly!" Xavier felt sorry for Leia when he heard her words. He hugged her from behind and whispered, "I feel the same about Renee like you do. I admire her and think she's perfect, but I don't love her the way a man does.""Really?" Leia was surprised. She found it unbelievable, as she had always thought that Xavier loved Renee.She always felt that he was a man with great taste. His love for Renee was unrequited, so he kept a special spot for her in his heart. Since she was aware of that, she always avoided that topic and never asked him about Renee. If she did, he would weigh their positions in his heart. Leia felt that she had no right to ask about that since the answer was obvious."Of course!" Xavier pinched Leia's cheeks and smiled. "Men's love can be divided into many types, but there's only one kind of love for women. I love you like a man loves a woman. Do you understand?"Leia's heart started racing. She felt flattered, but she bit her lips carefully and asked, "
Leia quickly wiped away her tears and acted tough. "I'm crazy now. You shouldn't talk to me.""So?" Xavier calmly walked to Leia and spoiled her as if she were a disobedient child. He doted on her. "It's not the first day you act crazily. Plus, it's not the first time I've found you like this. It's not bad, either. You look pretty cute."Leia turned around and glared at him in confusion. Goosebumps spread across her skin. "Xavier, act normal. When did I act crazily?" "You're not always normal when you're with me. Whenever I said something wrong, you went mad. You'd go mad whenever I talked to any woman, too. Isn't that crazy enough?" Xavier spread his hands, sounding helpless. Previously, he had no idea that the seemingly noisy and careless young lady of the Osborne family would be so sensitive. She cared about details very much, especially ones about him with other women.Their arguments weren't about serious issues. Rather, it was all because of her jealousy. She would go mad
Forsty silence overcame everyone. Everyone was full of complicated emotions."I need some fresh air," Leia said coldly, rising. She silently walked past Renee and went to a deserted corner.She knew she was being impudent, and that she should never blame Renee or get jealous for no reason.However, she was exhausted after so much torture these days. She almost had a mental breakdown, and she couldn't think straight. She just wanted to see Liam safe. She couldn't care about anything else."Lei…" Renee wanted to run after Leia, but Xavier stopped her."I'll be with her. You guys should get some rest." Xavier sighed. He gave Renee and Justin a profound look before he quickly caught up with Leia.Renee flexed her fingers as she watched their backs. She trembled slightly, growing teary. "I knew it! Lei's mad at me. Even I think I'm a scumbag, let alone her… It would be better if I stopped Liam. I was selfish!""It wasn't your fault!" Justin wanted to hug Renee, but he thought it migh
Leia was leaning into Xavier's arms and trembling nervously.Renee paced back and forth at the door, looking guilty. "It's all my fault!" She flexed her fingers and bit the back of her fist, filled with reproach."It has nothing to do with you. Stop blaming yourself." Justin patted her shoulder, hoping to help her relax a bit. "You aren't a superwoman. You can't do everything well. Plus, it's hard for us to do anything under this circumstance. It's hard to control.""No, I knew that Benjamin didn't want to kill Amber. He just wanted to test Mateo and Liam…"Renee was teary as she reflected on what had happened. She felt that she could have stopped that if she was more sensitive and active."I guessed that Mateo would attack Amber and that Liam might resist, but I didn't expect him to use his body to block the knife. Is this some kind of melodramatic movie? I taught him so many self-defense techniques. Why was he so dumb? If I stopped it earlier, this would never have happened!"R