"That's different! I even said that you were my Prince Charming but you're just charming on the outside and rotten on the inside!" Leia typed out furiously. "You two are the same, and Ren and I should just distance ourselves from you both. You were the reason for my bad luck today!""Why me?" Xavier shrugged helplessly, wondering why he was being blamed when he wasn't even there."Do you know who threw manure on Ren and I today?""Ugh, who?" Xavier asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust. He wondered who would do something so vulgar to the blind Renee and mute Leia."Your fans and Shirley's fans, that's who! Shirley is only offended by me because of you, and that's the reason her fans bully me! Your fans were just as bad, so I'm guessing they all learned it from the both of you!" Leia typed out her complaint and shot Xavier a glare.Xavier read the message and looked at her incredulously. "Why are you blaming me? The fans did that to you, so what does it have to do with me? They're a
"Are you sure my fans were involved in today's accident?" Xavier didn't care about his fame and image. If not for his pursuit of Leia, he would never have exposed himself in front of the media, let alone joined such an awkward reality dating show. He was surprised he had so many fans, but he assumed they'd be laid-back and obedient like him. However, to his shock, they were reckless and rude. "You don't believe me, do you?" Leia found the video and showed it to Xavier. "Listen to what they said. They said you're handsome, rich, and nice. You're just the perfect man, and you and Shirley would make the perfect couple. You should protect Shirley forever. It was I, a wicked woman, who ruined your relationship with her. They even scolded Ren. Oh, I just can't take it!" "They scolded my wife?" Stefan had been watching their fight calmly, but he immediately straightened when Leia mentioned Renee. He snatched the phone away from Xavier and watched the video angrily. After a while, his eyes
A long sigh escaped Xavier as he read the words Leia typed out. "It's okay if you want Shirley to apologize to you, but that might just cause more cyberbullying. I think you should just hold the troublemakers responsible for it instead of the idols.""Of course you wouldn't want to involve the idols—you're one of them. Plus, your first love is involved, so you don't want to humiliate or trouble her!" Leia had never seen Xavier so concerned about anyone other than Shirley. She would never forgive such a disloyal man."If you had even a little bit of sense, you would know who I'm actually worried about." Xavier felt like he could never win with Leia. Finally, he gave up on trying to prove his innocence and said coldly, "I'll never let you involve the idols in this." As the president of Universal Entertainment, he was the capitalist of the entertainment circle, so he knew full well how things worked in that circle. Sometimes, a trend or rumor would push people to a desperate end. There
"That's different. People will change." Renee had finished her bath at some point, and put a bathroom on as she left the room. She heard Xavier and Leia criticizing Stefan from the second floor, and was determined to defend her beloved. The three of them looked up as she appeared, and when they saw Renee, their faces lit up."Ren, why did you come out alone? Wait there, I'll come help you." Stefan rushed upstairs, treating Renee like a newborn.Both Leia and Xavier also treated Renee carefully, and didn't dare say anything harsh to her."Ren, how are you feeling now? Are you feeling sick or unhappy?" Stefan guided Renee to sit in the living room, and Leia quickly went over and held Renee's arms in concern."No, I'm fine. Well, I've bumped into a lot of things. It's just a prank by some childish people. It's no big deal." Renee patted the back of Leia's hand and tried to reassure her. "You shouldn't take it to heart, or you'll be the one suffering. Remember—people like this don't ma
"You want me to do something?" Renee smiled mysteriously, then told Xavier, "If I were you, I'd seek justice for Leia whether or not it had anything to do with Shirley. Your beloved was humiliated, but instead of fighting for her, you wanted her to compromise. It means you don't love her at all.""Renee, don't make this worse. Everyone handles things differently. Is it wise to create a bigger mess just for the sake of revenge?" Xavier did not expect such an answer from an open-minded person like Renee. Was she trying to make Xavier and Leia's relationship worse?"You still don't understand." Renee shook her head and continued, "It's not about the outcome—it's about your attitude. It would upset any woman.""I..." Xavier scratched his head, in a dilemma. Why did loving someone have to be so hard?"Ren, you know me so well." Leia typed out, practically in tears as she hugged Renee. Only women understood such feelings; men would only find them pretentious. Leia couldn't stop crying, h
Xavier frowned in confusion. "I can't believe my ears. Do you mean we have to do whatever women say? You're the most indifferent and overbearing man in Beach City, so how could you be so submissive around your wife? It's not like you at all." Although Xavier had experience in pursuing women, his ways were vastly different from Stefan's. He would buy them gifts and sweet-talk them to win their hearts, but no woman had ever owned his heart and mind. If a woman tried to control him, he would break up with her without any hesitation. Even if it was Leia, he would not compromise when it came to his principles, which was why they were always fighting."I've wasted many years to come to this conclusion. Yes, we'll go through many things in our lives, but the key is to figure out what's most important to you. If you think your principles are more important than your relationship with her, you can give her up." Stefan was unusually patient as he tried to teach a playboy like Xavier a lesson in
Both Renee and Leia were having a deep conversation upstairs.At first, Leia was crying silently but to her surprise, she suddenly could speak again. "Ah, I can speak! Finally!" Leia wiped away her tears and hugged Renee happily. "Ren, my throat is cured! I'm sure your eyes can be cured too. Don't worry, I'll find you suitable eyes. It's only a matter of time before you can see again!""Great! Well, I'm just glad you got your voice back. If not, we'll be worse off than those wretched fans." Renee was happy for Leia. She and Leia hadn't been able to fight back that morning mainly because Leia had lost her voice. She, Liam, and Leia had been a tight-knit group since university because they all had their own roles—Renee was the violent one, Liam was the smart one, and Leia was the eloquent one. However, now that Renee was blind, she could no longer attack others, and Leia hadn't been able to argue either because she had lost her voice. It had made them an easy target for those crazed fa
"A breakthrough?" "Yes, a point of realization for you both that will finally make the both of you choose each other." Renee hoped they could reach that point because both she and Stefan had experienced it too. She knew full well how terrible it felt to be trapped in an ambiguous relationship; Leia and Xavier would only realize that they were meant for each other after going through hardships together.As the night went on, Renee and Leia's conversations grew deeper. Leia had spoken a lot, and after a while, she fell asleep with tears on her cheeks. However, Renee couldn't fall asleep because she felt like this was just the calm before the storm...What she didn't know was that Jovan's car was parked outside the manor.The street lights illuminated Jovan's face as he sat in the car, bathing half of his face in light and the other in darkness. It reflected his current state well—he never knew if he was a good person or a bad one. He had been waiting for a long time outside the mano
Liam casually twirled the wine glass in his hand and asked Mateo coldly, "So, you won't stop until you marry Gem?""Not just that." Mateo tore off a drumstick and bit into it, then cracked a cunning sneer. "Marrying Amber is always in my plans. I'll marry her even if you're not involved. Tonight, I want to talk to you about the few territories in your hands.""The territories in my hands?" Liam frowned. Initially, he was confused—then, he understood it and chuckled. "What territories? I just work for Mr. Jenkins. The territories we took in belong to him. You'd better ask them from him instead of me. That's more straightforward."When Liam and Amber decided to fake their marriage, Benjamin focused on training Liam. In the process, he gave Liam a lot of power and authority.Liam didn't fail Benjamin. He did a great job even with his limited power. In half a year, he took three territories, namely the East River, West River, and South River. The three territories came with an importan
"Just forget about it?" Luneth fell into a daze when she heard Amber's words. She glanced at Amber darkly before letting out a twisted laugh. Then, she shook her head."No, I can't let it go just like that! Grady was hurt. How can I call myself a mother if I let it go like that? I must make the two people who hurt Grady pay dearly!"Luneth's expression shocked Amber. She subconsciously swallowed and asked, "Well, how will you handle it?" "I told Mateo to lock them up. When Grady's condition stabilizes, I'll make them pay!" Luneth's eyes shone with fury and vengeance, and she gnashed her teeth. "They hurt Grady, so I'll give them a taste of their medicine! I won't break their limbs or cut off their tongues. I'll just cut their foreheads and tear off their scalps! What do you think?""You want to…tear off their scalps?" Terror gripped Amber when she heard Luneth's plan. An awkward laughter escaped her. "Isn't that too ruthless? If they didn't do it on purpose, I don't think you sh
Amber grabbed some tissues beside her and carefully covered the scratch between her brows. She kept calm in hopes that she could make Luneth let down her guard. She knew very well that Liam, Renee, and Leia would be doomed if she didn't stop Luneth from telling Benjamin and Macsen about this incident. Although her face hurt badly from the teacup, it was nothing compared to their safety. "I'm sorry, Gem… I didn't do it on purpose. I was too angry and scared!" Luneth realized how aggressive she had been, and apologized to Amber in sobs. At the same time, she complained piteously, "You know how hard it was for me to get a child. Grady is very dear to Macsen and me. We don't even speak loudly to him or beat him up. But today, someone pressed him to the ground and beat him up. There's such a large hole in his head! The doctors told me that we needed to take good care of his wound. If it gets infected or he gets tetanus, the bacteria or virus might invade his brain and turn him mentall
Luneth was staying in the southeast of the fort. Her house was a uniquely styled traditional cottage. Upon arriving, Amber could hear a woman crying from afar. Many servants, doctors, and women were standing in front of Luneth's room. Amber walked toward Luneth's servant Jayna Bowie, and asked carefully, "Hello, is Aunt Luneth around?" "Ms. Jenkins, come another day. Mrs. Klein is crying sadly now. She's furious. I'm afraid you might be harmed if you go in," Jayna advised kindly.Those standing in a row at the door were trying to comfort Luneth. However, they were quickly rebuked and became too timid to approach her."It's fine." Amber was aware of her aunt's temper. Smiling, she kept moving forward. "I heard Grady got hurt. As his cousin, I need to see him. Plus, Aunt Luneth always treats me nicely. She won't be angry at me.""Ms. Jenkins, you don't know how serious this is. There's a big hole in the boy's head. The doctor said it might affect his intelligence. Mrs. Klein beca
After that, Amber looked at Liam, who kept silent the whole time. She tried to make Liam say something nice. "See, Liam? I told you, Matt's a great guy. He was just joking with us in the orchard to scare us. I'm sure he'll take our sides and protect us. Don't worry.""Is that so?" Liam glanced at Mateo and faked a smile. "Well, I should thank him properly."The air between them grew awkward, but Liam didn't care. He wanted to make Mateo uneasy and force the latter to expose his true self.Amber was simple, but Liam was no fool. Mateo's acting was smooth, but he couldn't trick Liam.Moreover, Mateo was the one who came up with that scheme. He wouldn't let anyone expose it—he wanted to be the one to do it."Okay, aren't we going to get a drink? Let's go. I'll make the chef cook us something nice." Mateo enthusiastically held Liam's shoulders and dragged him forward. At that moment, he turned icy. "If you're a man, stop involving Gem if you want to fight against me. Stop showing of
Liam was no fool. He immediately understood the profound meaning behind Renee's words and stopped saying too much. "Fine, be good. You guys are just taking a rest. I'll handle this well. Wait for my news."He knew very well that the conclusion would be the same regardless if Renee and Leia had offended Luneth's son or the child of an ordinary villager. Mateo simply wanted to use that method to control him. The only way to solve this was to defeat Mateo. However, based on the current situation, Mateo had a lot of followers in the fort. It would be difficult for Liam to defeat him.Luckily, Liam wasn't an easy target either. He had been winning people over these days. That, and he was close with Benjamin's other foster sons. If both parties were to get into a fight, he still had a chance to win.After confirming that Renee and Leia were fine, Liam left the cell. Mateo was waiting outside, grinning triumphantly. He sneered sarcastically, "What do you think? I was telling the trut
"No, I'm not!" Liam raised his hand to swear. "Trust me. They're just best friends. They're not in that kind of messy relationship. Both of them have a guy they're madly in love with.""I see." Amber watched how Renee and Leia fooled around intimately with each other in the cell. They looked like they were about to kiss! She shook her head and said, "What a pity! They look so lovey-dovey, better than many novels I read about where the women love each other.""You're hopeless!" It was rare for Liam to see such a straightforward and cute side of Amber. Amused, he poked her forehead and sighed. "Stop reading those messy novels! It's harmful."Their actions were loud and finally attracted Renee's attention in the cell."Liam!" Renee, pressed to the chair by Leia, couldn't escape. Finally, she grabbed a chance to leap up and walk to the door.Well… It wasn't a door. Rather, they were iron bars preventing them from escaping.The decoration and facilities in the room weren't bad. Be
Liam tensed up when he heard that voice. He quickened his pace and rushed through the corridor, toward the cell where Renee and Leia were locked up. Suddenly, he became flabbergasted and his face stiffened. For a long time, he couldn't regain his wits."Hey… What are you guys doing?"On a table lay barbecue, jerky, beer, and fruit platters. Meanwhile, both Renee and Leia were playing cards. Leia ran after Renee, then pressed her on the chair and said seriously, "Hey, gorgeous. You can't run away! You got the card for kissing me, so you have to let me kiss you. If not, you're trying to disobey the rules of the game!""Help! Help me…!" Renee kept resisting, amused and befuddled. "Get away from me! I'm a desperate woman who likes men! I can't kiss you! If I kiss you, I'm going to have nightmares… Oh, just kill me! Is there anyone who can save me?" Liam wasn't the only one standing at the door. Amber was also with him since she was following him. Watching Renee and Leia's antics,
"Hurry up and explain to her, then!" Amber said hurriedly. "Matt, you're close to her. You know Ms. Everheart and Ms. Osborne would never do that on purpose. Try to persuade her to let this go, and then you can immediately set them free.""I don't have a say in this." Mateo shook his head, pretending to be helpless. "You know how much Luneth dotes on her son. Ms. Everheart pinned him to the ground and beat him up. His head got injured and started bleeding. I heard it's a large cut with a lot of stitches. We can't let it go just like that.""But you can't—" Amber wanted to say more, but Liam interrupted her. He looked at Mateo, his eyes cold and fierce. "I know you set them up. Just be frank. Why did you do that?" "See?" Mateo sighed. He pretended to be aggrieved as he looked at Amber. "The guy you like is sinister. I kindly helped him, but he didn't thank me. He even accused me of setting this up… He always sees the worst in people. He criticized me in front of you and sowed di