"How dare you!" Leia was fuming with anger. When she recalled how she had been beaten, she lost her temper and slapped Shirley fiercely."Ah!" Shirley screamed and fell to the floor. She gingerly touched her wounded cheek and looked up at Leia with watery eyes. "Ms. Osborne, I'm sorry. I know that I've made you suffer. If slapping me helps ease your anger, just slap me. Take revenge on me for all that you've suffered through!""Hmph, at least you're not stupid. Well, I won't say no then." Leia stopped holding back. She rolled up her sleeves and pointed at Shirley. "Your fans kicked me, shaved off almost all my hair, and nearly stripped me bare. But don't worry… You're going to suffer more. It won't end today." "Ms. Osborne, I didn't do it on purpose, but I know that you've suffered because of me. I won't resist even if you want to hit or scold me, shave my hair, tear off my clothes, or spit at me. I won't take revenge on you either..." Shirley closed her eyes and tears rolled down
"Is it bad? I find it simple actually." Leia snorted and looked at Shirley, who appeared pitiful. "I want to avenge myself and vent my anger. I want to beat her up, and she gave me permission to. We don't think it's bad, but an outsider like you does, huh?" "I know that you're mad, so you're acting out of spite and can't see the consequences, but I'm rational. I won't see you go mad like this..." Xavier held Leia's hand and pulled her into his arms. "Trust me—you'll regret it if you take revenge on her today.""What's there to regret? Will I be afraid that she'll take revenge on me or are you going to take revenge on me? Do you want to help her slap me?" Leia was so close to Xavier that he could see the anger and grief in her eyes. She leaned in close and whispered in his ear, "I won't stop you if you want to save the damsel in distress, but please get in line. We'll settle our grudges once I'm done avenging myself." Then, Leia struggled out of Xavier's grip and quickly slapped Shir
Leia rolled her eyes when she heard that. She had to hand it to Shirley—she was quite skilled at pretending to be pitiful. All she needed was to lower her head or pout and she would look innocent… It was something Leia could never do."Oh, your legs are numb? How sad! But that doesn't mean I can't beat you up," Leia scoffed, putting her hands on her waist. She approached Shirley, looking like she wanted to teach her a lesson."Don't... Don't come near me! My legs are numb. Xavier... save me!" Shirley whimpered, still seated on the floor as Leia approached her. She couldn't admit she was lying about her legs, so she could only depend on Xavier to save her.Suddenly, Leia pointed behind Shirley and screamed in panic. "Ah! It's a rat!" "Ah! Where is it?" Shirley instantly leaped up and hid behind Xavier since rats were one of her greatest fears. However, there was no rat to be seen in the corridor."Aren't your legs numb? How did you jump so high? Well, it's certainly no surprise
God was fair—if one thing was lacking, something else would be provided. If one had too many things, God would take some away. It was the same case with Leia. She was born into a very loving family with parents and a twin brother who doted on her. The luckiest thing in her life was that she had a best friend like Renee, and they were very close. Leia had already gained a lot of precious things, so it was destined that she would suffer in her romantic affairs. Once she thought about it, she found it fair. She wouldn't be so stubborn even if she lost someone she loved."Okay, stop arguing. We should just wait for the test results." Xavier finally spoke up because he wanted to put an end to their meaningless fight. "I don't want to argue with her, but she came to a place she shouldn't be in to peek at something she shouldn't. I asked her to leave but she said no, so I couldn't be polite to her anymore," Leia said directly, implying that her grudge against Shirley was because of Renee a
"What do you think?" Stefan's gaze turned steely, his patience running thin. Although Leia did crazy things sometimes, she was acting quite strange. Besides, surgery wasn't a small thing."Okay, I'll tell you..." Leia took a deep breath and braced herself. "Yes, Ren is having surgery, but she didn't want me to tell you guys because... How should I put this? It's a little personal.""What kind of surgery is personal?" Stefan growled, "Stop messing around, I won't go easy on you if anything goes wrong!""Fine, I'll tell you..." Leia swallowed and said seriously, "She's having an appendectomy. Her belly has been hurting lately, so she asked Dr. Wagner to do it for her while they perform the test.""Appendectomy?" Stefan's frown deepened as he looked at the door dubiously. "When did she have a problem with her appendix? How come I didn't know?" "You don't know because you're not observant and considerate enough. Ren's digestive system isn't always good, and she doesn't eat much. If y
"Haha! That's ridiculous. You didn't care enough about Ren and were ignorant about her condition, but you have the nerve to say that I'm lying. Why would I lie for no reason? What good will it do me? I'm not lying, and the person who feels guilty here is the real liar." Leia didn't expect that Stefan would see through her lies so easily, and started rambling out of nervousness.After hearing Leia, even Xavier felt like she was hiding something. "Lei, did you have wine? Why are you rambling?" Xavier took a step forward and held Leia's hand, looking concerned. "Should I take you somewhere to rest? You don't seem well." "No, you can save that for yourself. If I don't seem well, it's because of your witch. I didn't slap her enough. Let me slap her, then I'll be fine." Leia tried to turn the conversation back to Shirley, and hoped the surgery would end soon because she couldn't deflect for much longer."Ms. Osborne, go ahead and slap me if you want. I won't complain this time." Shirley
As Shirley and Leia were busy arguing, they didn't realize that Stefan had slowly approached the door of the room. He didn't believe that Renee was having an appendectomy, and felt that there was more going on in the room. He tried to push open the door to take a look, but when he placed his hand on the doorknob, Leia noticed what he was doing."What are you doing? You can't go in!" Leia rushed over and stood between the door and Stefan, blocking him from looking inside. She had promised Renee to hold off the others, and she would do it even if Stefan got offended and she got into trouble."This is my wife's house, and my wife is in there. I have no idea what she's going through. Can't I go in and take a look?" Stefan's words were polite, but his tone was dangerous. Leia had anticipated that he would lash out, and she knew that if she kept this up, things would turn sour. Nonetheless, she spread her hands out to block his path and said stubbornly, "Over my dead body! I'll never bac
"That's patient confidentiality. Why do I have to tell you?" Owen sounded righteous. He tilted his head a little and instructed the nurse handling the surgery table behind him, "Don't forget to put Ms. Everheart on an IV drip later. Her body is weak after the surgery. Don't be careless." The nurse had cleaned up the surgery table. Renee was lying on it motionlessly, waiting for the anesthetic to pass. At first, Owen said that Renee could have a medical abortion because the fetus was still small. But after the check-up, he found that the fetus was adhered quite firmly, so eventually he needed to perform dilation and a curettage to clear everything. Renee was afraid of pain, so she chose regional anesthesia and let Owen handle it. Now, after everything was over, grief hit her like a wave. She couldn't even protect her baby. Lying on the surgery table, she could hear the fight outside, and tears ran down her cheeks."Confidentiality?" Stefan tried his best to control his temper an
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