"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 don't know how to tell you. I'm sure you can understand." Renee could not bring herself to say more because it was a humiliating privacy. She might as well keep it to herself."Let me guess…" Justin's gaze grew sharp as he went straight to the point. "The man in your story is Stefan, isn't it?" Silence washed over Renee as she kept her head bowed. It was a silent approval.Justin burst into reckless laughter, which was scary. He looked down at his cut wound and laughed pathetically. "This is why he could make you fall in love with him, and I couldn't. I'm too cultured compared to him.""Don't say that, Haze!"Seeing how defeated Justin was, Renee became uneasy. "It isn't written in the stars for us. Plus, I've fallen in love with Stefan a long time ago before I even got to know you. I also rely on him physically and psychologically. I can't control my feelings. It's not something we can change. We…" "Stop!" Heartbroken, Justin pushed away everything in front of him and s
Time passed by. Gradually, the pain knocked some sense into Justin. He no longer wanted to take advantage of Renee."Let me get you some water." Renee had no idea what she could do for Justin. After some contemplation, she got to her feet and poured him a glass of water.Finally, she studied the room closely and found that it was a wedding room as Justin had mentioned. Everything was set up according to her preferences, which she had occasionally mentioned to Justin. For example, she loved keeping some ceramic ornaments on the bedside cabinet and hanging some seashell wind chimes at the windows. The entire room was painted in beige and green, which were her favorites, too. Beige gave a sense of warmth, while green gave a sense of gloominess. All of those details became the perfect wedding room for Renee.If everything went on smoothly, she would spend most of her time there, and he would be her life companion. Unfortunately, there were no ifs in the world.Renee handed the gla
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