MasukChase nodded and walked over to Renee. "Ms. Everheart, if there isn't anything else, I'll take you to the lounge to rest. The boss still has other matters to handle."Renee looked at him in surprise. "Chase, what's wrong with you? Didn't you hear what Quinton just said? He's planning to go back to doing dangerous, illegal things! Weren't you always against Carmine Pawnshop heading in that direction? You should be helping me talk him out of it, not blindly going along with him!"She still remembered how, when Stefan had been posing as the owner of Carmine Pawnshop, he'd cleaned up many of the business' shady dealings. Chase had played a big role in that. He had been a true believer in Stefan's ideals and carried them out faithfully.Later, when Quinton returned and exposed Stefan's deception, Chase decided to stand by Quinton. Even so, he had secretly adhered to Stefan's ideologies behind the scenes. He slowly guided Quinton toward that same business model even at the risk of angerin
Quinton froze for a moment. He stared at Renee for a long time without speaking. He probably hadn't expected her thoughts to go in that direction. Oddly enough, he seemed relieved."Yeah. I'm planning to do something shady. Since it's not meant to be seen, maybe you should pretend you never heard any of it!"He bared his hands and admitted it openly.Quinton would rather Renee think he was a terrible person than let her uncover secrets that would only make her sad or even hurt her.Besides, in Renee's eyes, this brother of hers who'd suddenly reappeared in her life had never exactly been a saint. He was already known as the secret owner behind Carmine Pawnshop. There wasn't much left to clean up. He might as well remain the villain."What? Are you seriously planning to go down that path again?"Renee stared at him in disbelief.She hadn't expected him to admit it so openly. He sounded less like a man choosing the wrong path and more like someone proudly walking the right one. He
Renee realized she had been caught. She swallowed hard and figured she should make a quick escape.As if her shoes had been greased, she slipped and landed right inside.Quinton and Chase looked down at the sprawled-out Renee. They were both startled."What are you doing, Renee?"Quinton snapped out of it and hurried over to help her up. He checked to see if she'd hurt herself."Nothing. I just came to look for you guys. I slipped and fell, that's all. I'm fine, really."Renee waved it off casually and tried to justify her eavesdropping even when she was already feeling terribly embarrassed."You're fine, but I'm not."After making sure she wasn't hurt, Quinton's expression turned stern.The second Renee saw that look, she knew she was done for. There was no way she could smooth this over so easily. She forced an innocent smile."What's wrong, Quinton? Did I interrupt something? Sorry about that. I'll leave you two to talk."She turned around to leave, but before she could t
"That won't do," Renee refused immediately.She was curious about what had happened to Quinton, but Joanne clearly needed her more. There was no way she would just leave Joanne behind."Why not? I'm not a baby. The house is only a few hundred yards from Abby and Adie's school. I can pick them up and take them home myself. Nothing will happen. Don't worry!"Joanne held Renee's hand while she explained calmly."But…"Renee wavered a little after hearing that.After all, the house really wasn't far away from school. The kids were exceptionally smart. Couldn't they look after Joanne for her?Most importantly, Joanne had been emotionally stable lately. She was almost like a normal person now. Maybe there was no need to be so overly cautious."Don't hesitate. Trust me and the kids. I'm really fine," Joanne said with a reassuring smile.Renee bit her lip and nodded. "Alright. I'll leave for a bit and come right back. If anything happens, call me immediately."After giving Joanne som
Quinton's words made Joanne frown. She felt a little uncomfortable, but she didn't say anything.Renee glanced back at Joanne and immediately softened. She could only shrug helplessly. "You're right. I'm not worried about the kids. I'm worried about Joanne. I'll stay.""That's more like it." The seriousness on Quinton's face finally eased into a smile. He turned and left with peace of mind.Joanne watched him leave, and her shoulders slumped in defeat. She muttered under her breath, "Seriously? In your eyes, am I even more useless than an elementary school kid? Does someone really need to stay here just to take care of me?"She hated being treated like a child who needed special attention.Staying with the Everheart family already made her feel indebted. Now she felt like a burden, someone who only caused trouble for them."Needing someone to take care of you doesn't mean you're useless. It just means we care about you a lot. Your emotions really aren't stable yet. You shouldn't
"Alright, it's just a painting. Let's eat."Although Quinton acted indifferent about the painting and urged Renee and Joanne to keep eating, he was actually very concerned. He kept trying to recall where he'd seen it before.Suddenly, a memory surfaced in his mind. It was the first time he ever saw the painting. The realization hit him so hard that his plate slipped from his hand and crashed on the floor."What's wrong, Quinton? Did you recall something?" Renee noticed how distracted he seemed and asked in a nervous tone."N-Nothing." Quinton grabbed another plate and kept his head down while he ate. He didn't seem to want her to notice his strange behavior. "Hurry up and eat."Renee could tell he was intentionally hiding something, but she didn't press further. They were both distracted for the rest of the meal.Soon, it was time to pick up the kids from school.Recently, Renee had been busy with Azure Group, so Quinton and Joanne had been the ones picking them up.She assumed
"I don't know. Why don't you ask the guards to get us some fried chicken and French fries? Didn't Mateo say that we can ask the guards for food?" Renee said.Leia's anxiety eased as she relaxed. She turned around and got out of bed, then gestured at the guard and ordered quite a lot of food. Meanwhil
"Stop!" Quinton looked at Timothy suspiciously, and abruptly aimed the gun toward Timothy's head.Angry, Renee tried to stop him. "Quinton, put the gun down! You can't be rude to Grandpa!" Stefan rushed over angrily and warned Quinton coldly, "You can't make a scene here! Put the gun down, or you'll
They spoke as if they were going to stay apart forever. It sounded melancholic. Renee, however, found it amusing. She turned around and kept going downstairs without pausing. As she almost walked out of the entrance of Hunt Manor, she happened to bump into Timothy. "Ren?" Timothy was exercising, cla
"Sure, go on and ask," Joanne said. She looked at Renee calmly. It seemed like she knew what Renee was about to ask."I can tell you and Quinton can't make peace. I want to know if it's because of the bad experiences, or some other reason..." Renee said, trying to sound Joanne out. "For example, was







