"What should we do?" Margaret anxiously watched Renee writhe and moan in pain. At her wits' end, she put her palms together and looked up, sobbing. "Sir, Madam, please bless Ms. Ren if you feel sorry for her. Please let Mr. Hunt come back right away!"And suddenly, just like a miracle, the door to Renee's bedroom swung open, and in walked Stefan."Thank God you're home, Mr. Hunt! Ms. Ren really needs you right now!" Margaret said in relief, wiping her tears away. Renee's parents probably couldn't stand to see their daughter suffer such pain, so they sent Stefan home."I'm sorry I'm late. I'm sorry!" Stefan looked exhausted. His perfect appearance was gone—his chin was full of stubble and his puffy eyes had dark circles underneath them. He looked like he had lost his soul. "I'm here. It'll stop hurting soon..." Stefan rushed to Renee's bed and held her hand tightly like he never wanted to let it go."You're annoying. Where did you go?" When Stefan's hand touched hers, her anger surp
Stefan tried to pacify Renee patiently, sounding more gentle than when he tried to comfort Abby. "I don't want to forgive you, you'll just do it again! I want to give you up; I wouldn't be this helpless when I'm in pain then..." Renee muttered crossly. "You're my painkiller, but I'm slowly building resistance towards you. I didn't feel so bad when I didn't see you for ten days or half a month before this, but I feel so sad when I don't see you for just a day. I don't want this!" If there was drug resistance, she had to increase the dosage to numb the pain, but... Stefan wasn't a drug. What would she do if he refused to help her stop the pain one day?"That'll never happen, I promise. I'll give you all my time as long as you need me..." After a pause, Stefan added seriously, "Plus, I'm not a painkiller—I'm the drug that can bring you back to life. I'll cure you. Owen told me that he could make the antidote in three days at most. You won't be in pain again." "Really?" Renee asked in
Once Owen had gotten the poison components from Stefan, he immediately rushed to the laboratory to make the antidote. The more he researched the poison, the more scary he found it. He quickly called Stefan over. "It's terrifying! I can't believe someone so malicious exists in this world. It's madness!" Stefan worriedly approached him, and Owen showed him the list of heavy metals in the poison. "Look! There's thallium, lead, and uranium... One is already toxic on its own, but this poison practically has all the elements in the periodic table! The person who made this is a demon!""She's crazy." Stefan clenched his fists anxiously. He couldn't imagine how someone as slim and weak as Renee could bear such pain. If Owen hadn't broken his promise and shown Stefan Renee's medical report, she might still have hidden it from Stefan, pretending to be happy while enduring excruciating pain. "I guess you know who the culprit is since you got the prescription. I won't say much, but… you have to
Owen warned Stefan because he knew how hard it was to get those herbs. "I don't care—I'll get them!" Stefan said firmly."Okay, I can rest easy then." Owen nodded and stopped worrying about the herbs. It seemed like Stefan, the all-powerful president of Hunt Enterprise, might be the only one who could save Renee.Owen handed a list to Stefan. "These are the herbs I need and their quantities. Get them for me within a week."Stefan studied the list intently and frowned. There were four herbs on it, and their names were so strange Stefan doubted their existence. "Are you sure... these are real?" Stefan stared at the names, perplexed."Yes, they're real, but they're extremely hard to obtain. If not, I wouldn't be so worried." Owen sounded serious. He wouldn't lie about something like this. The herbs were hard to get because of their excellent healing properties. "Southern Oceanic Stone? Western Hills Fruit? Northern Lake Anaconda? Eastern Dragon Saliva?" Stefan's face sank. He stop
Stefan was silent as he looked at the list of herbs, then said, "Wait for me to come back!" He exited Owen's office, staring at the herbs. It was a good thing manpower and resources were not limited thanks to his position—something so trivial couldn't stop him. The first thing he wanted to find was the Southern Oceanic Stone. He felt that it was the easiest to find because it was just an older pearl. He made his preparations and bade Renee goodbye before setting off. "I might be gone for a while this time, maybe about a week. Stay here, and we'll keep in touch. When I'm back, you'll be cured," Stefan said gently as he hugged Renee.Renee's pain was numbed because she had just taken a painkiller, so she was in rather good spirits. "I heard from Dr. Wagner about the herbs you have to find. Do they really exist?" Renee was worried that Stefan was going on a pointless search—dragons only existed in legends. "I doubt Dr. Wagner would lie because he knows we're already so stressed and I'm
"Was it really Tess?" Renee asked again, finding Stefan's response a bit strange. It sounded like he was trying to hide something from her. "Why couldn't I get in touch with Tess? Did she tell you who drugged me?" Renee had been trying to contact Tess, but Tess seemed to have gone missing. Renee could not reach Tess' phone, and Tess no longer came to Everheart Manor. If Tess did get the list of ingredients of the poison, she would certainly come to remedy her mistake, but instead, she was avoiding Renee."Tess… has some family issues. Maybe she's just been too busy to get in touch. Give her some time, then ask her," Stefan said lightly, but in truth, he knew that Tess had been forced to leave Beach City. He didn't hold her responsible for what had happened, and had given her some money and asked her to leave Beach City forever. He had also prohibited her from telling Renee anything about what had happened that day. "Okay." A sigh escaped Renee, and she stopped asking about it. It lo
Elijah and the fishermen looked at Stefan in confusion.Stefan took off his coat and said to the fishermen, "Help me get a diving suit and a guide. I'll go look for the pearl myself.""No, Mr. Hunt!" Elijah blurted out, and quickly stopped the fisherman who was going to look for a diving suit. He said anxiously, "I know you're eager to save Ms. Everheart, but you can't be impulsive. Diving is very dangerous, and I don't think you have to do it yourself. We'll just wait for the news by the sea.""They said we need a good diver, and I'm a good diver." Stefan ignored Elijah's objection and again asked the villager to find him a diving suit. He started doing stretches to warm up and prepare for diving. Diving was one of his hobbies, and he loved free-diving without an oxygen tank the most. He loved laying on the soft sand at the bottom of the sea, watching the colorful underwater world and the sky. It brightened his boring life a little, and he'd always wished he could do it with Renee
There had been many stubborn and fearless people like Stefan who had wanted to enter the cave, but they had died before they could get to the end. The only person who had successfully passed through that cave was Stefan's guide, and he knew how dangerous that cave was. He swore never to go close to it anymore.Stefan gestured to show that he was going to enter the cave, then swam into it."Come back! Come back!" The guide got so anxious that he wanted to take off the mouthpiece of his oxygen tank. Unfortunately, Stefan had made up his mind, and swam deeper into the cave. As he passed the heart-shaped cave entrance, Stefan felt like he had entered another world. It was pitch black without any light, and he could feel seagrass against his legs, almost tangling them.There was a gigantic cliff section beside him. He couldn't see the top or the bottom, and people with weak hearts would surely be frightened out of their wits. Heart pounding in his chest, Stefan looked around in the dar
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
"What bad timing!" Mateo's indifferent voice came from behind Amber.Amber turned around and saw Mateo with a team of armed soldiers. Terrified, she quickly put some distance between her and Liam. She stammered an explanation. "Matt… It's not what you think. Liam and I came here to look for people. Ms. Everheart and Ms. Osborne are gone. Liam couldn't find them and guessed they might be in the orchard. He wasn't familiar with the orchard and asked me to guide him."Mateo looked livid, but still cracked a gentle smile. "Silly, you don't have to be scared. I know you're prudent. He must have forced you to come here. I don't blame you."He extended his hand and beckoned Amber toward him. "Come here. You're my fiancee. You should stand with me.""I…" Amber bit her lip—Mateo was right. She kept her head low, about to walk to him.But in the next second, Liam firmly grabbed her wrist. "You can't go!" Liam held Amber's wrist tightly and shot Mateo a challenging look."When did Amb
Liam could only see through Amber's true thoughts if she showed her true self to him. "No, I do like you. I love you the most, and I want to marry you. But you neither like me nor want to marry me. You love freedom and Ms. Everheart. You love and yearn for the kind of life ordinary people like. So, I could only choose to give you up and let you get what you want. What else do you want me to do?" Amber was generally shy and reserved, but when Liam drove her anxious, she rambled a lot."Whatever I want is my business. You don't need to sacrifice yourself to grant my wish!" Liam held Amber's shoulders, acting like a kind senior. He tried to persuade her in earnest. "Marriage isn't a joke. Think it through. Do you like and know Mateo well? You won't be happy after marrying him, given the savage culture around here. And can you divorce him easily?""Matt will be nice to me. Even if he changes his mind, he'll still be nice to me because…my father is Benjamin," Amber replied.She chose