Jovan left the room, and found Stefan sitting in the living room with a worried expression. "You're still here?" Jovan asked teasingly, sliding his hands into his pockets. "It's late. Why aren't you home with your wife and kids since you claim that you're such a good husband?" Stefan got to his feet and glared at Jovan. "I was waiting for you!""You were waiting for me?" Jovan chuckled and sneered sarcastically, "What an honor to have the great Stefan Hunt wait for a nobody like me." "Cut the crap!" Stefan growled and demanded, "What did you talk about with Grandpa? Tell me. He doesn't have a say in a lot of things." He figured that Timothy might have tried to offer something to Jovan to protect Stefan. He just hoped that Jovan wouldn't be too cruel. Stefan knew Timothy held him in high regard, but he always felt that it was unnecessary. "You're a smart man; I'm sure you don't need me to spell it out for you, right?" Jovan walked over to Stefan, then turned to the large French w
"You won't?" A chuckle escaped Jovan. "But Grandpa said that you would. He painted you as a soft-hearted god who would show me mercy, and that weakness of yours would be your demise. He begged me, hoping I would let you go!" Jovan laughed, mocking Timothy. He'd never assumed that Stefan would go easy on him—he just hadn't pushed Stefan's limits yet."I knew it!" Stefan asked urgently, "What did he offer you?" Timothy had been mysterious lately, and always chatted with Jovan behind Stefan's back. Stefan figured that Timothy might have heard rumors about the board of directors being unhappy with him, and figured that Jovan would defeat Stefan in a battle for the company, so he had tried to make peace with Jovan humbly for Stefan's sake… but that wasn't the truth. Stefan could have fought back, but he was exhausted, and he had something else he valued more now. He didn't care about fighting Jovan anymore."He said he would let me have full power over Hunt Enterprise, and you'll only be
Stefan frowned and asked Jovan, "What do you want?" In his mind, all Jovan wanted was the right to rule Hunt Enterprise and be superior to Stefan. Timothy's offer had met those requirements, so Stefan couldn't figure out why Jovan would say reject it. "I want your woman… Will you let me have her?" Jovan smiled teasingly as he asked.Stefan stopped in his tracks, and an uncontrollable rage overwhelmed him. He punched Jovan in the face, sending him tumbling to the ground. Jovan didn't retaliate, and just wiped away the blood on his lips. He stared at Stefan contemplatively, then sneered, "I won't fight you. I'll let you have Hunt Enterprise, but you have to give your woman to me. Can you do that?""How dare you say those words again!" Stefan's expression was livid. He wanted to punch Jovan again, but stopped himself, resorting to clenching his fists instead. "If what I said makes you angry, then don't you understand how I could be angry when you and Grandpa offered me such a choi
"You're crazy, Jovan! You know full well how you got your eyes. She sacrificed her future so you could see again, and you'd be a horrible excuse for a human being if you tortured her like this!" Stefan snarled. He had tried his best to accept it, but no man would be okay with their lover giving up her eyes to another man who now refused to let her go. If Stefan thought about it any more, he was worried he would fight with Renee again."I know my eyes are hers. You should know why she gave up her eyes to me..." Jovan stared at Stefan's eyes and sneered. "What right do you have to order me around and demand things from me since you're the one benefiting from all this? Return my eyes to me if you can then!""How dare you!" Jovan's words struck Stefan like lightning. Stefan wanted to say he would… but he couldn't. He didn't want to live in that endless darkness again, and he needed to take care of Renee. If he behaved impulsively and returned his eyes to Jovan, no one could take care of
"Is there anything else?" Stefan stopped and turned to look at Leia wearily. His talk with Jovan had tired him out, and he had to worry about Renee and the children. Even if he was energetic, there were times he wanted to rest too. For now, he just wanted one night where he could rest quietly. "You left early and came home late. You didn't spend much time with Ren, and now you want to go straight to bed. Have you ever thought that Ren might be waiting for you? Wouldn't she be disappointed if you just went to sleep?" Leia asked meaningfully. She wasn't usually a busybody, but today was a special day. She knew Renee well, and figured she was probably still awake and waiting for Stefan to comfort her. If Stefan went to bed now, Renee might be mulling over the news the whole night."You're right. I wasn't being considerate enough." Stefan nodded and took a deep breath before he headed upstairs quietly. "Hey, you..." Leia's heart ached as the sight of his lonely figure heading up the s
"Silly, that day will never come. You'll be the one getting sick of me." Stefan kissed Renee lovingly. His wife might never realize how attractive she was and how many people were coveting her, so he had to be alert all the time.After a while of kissing, Renee said rather bashfully, "Umm... There's something I want to tell you.""What is it? Why are you being so mysterious about it?" Stefan was curious because both Renee and Leia had been acting strangely. "Open the drawer—there's something in it. I'm sure you'll know when you see it." Renee kept her head ducked, as shy as a schoolgirl. It was not the first time she had gotten pregnant, but she was more nervous and excited than before. Renee felt that the both of them would look forward to this child's arrival. "I'm looking forward to it!" Stefan could not suppress his eagerness as he pulled open the drawer. When he saw the test strip and two lines on it, he became nervous. "Dear, umm... is it positive?" "What?""Why didn't y
"No, of course not!" Stefan immediately covered Renee's lips. "Shush… Don't say such things. If our baby hears that, he or she may hate me, and that would be unfair for me." "What? The baby is just a small cell that can't even be seen at this point, of course it can't hear us." Amused, Renee moved his hand away, feeling relieved at his joy. Of course she had been worried— she was blind, and Stefan was busy gaining a firm foothold in Hunt Enterprise. Besides, they had Adie and Abby. Even if Margaret, Leia, and the others were around, it would still be quite exhausting. If they had another child now, their life would be more chaotic. "I'm serious, darling. I can get rid of it if you think it's not the right time for us to have another child." Leaning into Stefan's arms, Renee said sadly, "We can have another child in the future; I don't want to see our lives get too chaotic, and I don't want to see you stressed." It was already tough taking care of a blind person, and if that person
It was better to communicate instead of making assumptions if there was an issue."Nothing. It's getting late. You should sleep early." Stefan didn't want to tell her because he didn't want her to worry."No, there has to be something going on. Tell me!" Renee said urgently. "I said that there can't be secrets between us. I don't want you to go to bed worrying about whatever that is."Stefan sighed deeply, knowing Renee wouldn't let it go until he told her. "Hurry up. We can sleep after you tell me!" Renee complained. "Okay, I'll tell you." After some hesitation, Stefan explained, "Grandpa talked to Jovan alone again tonight, and I talked to him too. Can you guess… what we talked about?""Control over Hunt Enterprise?" Renee asked instantly. "Isn't that why he constantly fights with you? Doesn't he find it tiring?" Although she had been staying at home recently, she did listen to financial news. She was aware of Jovan making vast changes to Hunt Enterprise that had been pretty
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
Liam immediately noticed something wrong. He asked Mateo fiercely, "What do you mean?""Calm down." Mateo put away his gun and placed it back around his waist. "They broke the rules and barged into the orchard. Plus, they hurt Luneth's child. So, I locked them up for the time being."He appeared calm, as if he was discussing what he had eaten for dinner. He didn't feel that he had been over the line. "Go to hell!" Liam finally failed to hold himself back. He rushed over and grabbed Mateo's neck fiercely. "You can harm me, but how dare you harm them!"At the same time, Mateo's subordinates raised their guns and aimed them at Liam. The recently eased atmosphere immediately became tense again."Hey, don't!" Amber, all tensed up, braced herself to try and stop them. Even so, she was mentally exhausted."What? You want to strangle me?" Mateo was fearless. He grinned deviously and teased, "Cool it. I just locked them up, but they didn't suffer. They're fine. If you harm me, though, I
Livid, Mateo pulled the trigger without hesitation. However, he moved the gun less than an inch. The bullet passed by Liam's ear and hit an orange behind him.The fruit immediately blew up, its juices splashing on Liam's face."Aaaah!" Amber, terrified, trembled. Her eyes turned red, and she hurriedly tried to plead with Mateo. "Matt, cool it! Aren't you and Liam friends? You guys drank and chatted together in the past. You were so close to each other. How could you do this to him? Hurry up and put the gun away! If it goes off accidentally, it'll be over!"However, Mateo ignored her. His eyes were red as he glared at Liam. "Did you see the orange behind you? Let go of her now! If not, I'll blow up your head just like I did to that orange!""Is that all you got?" Liam taunted. He refused to let Amber go. He whispered to Amber, "Watch well. If he shoots me today, promise me not to marry such a man. I can use my life to knock some sense into you.""No!" Amber shook her head. Liam