LOGIN"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
Renee looked at Quinton curiously when she noticed his serious expression. "What's wrong, Quinton? Do you have thoughts about this?" Quinton frowned. It seemed like he was struggling to recall something. "I feel like I've seen this painting before.""You've seen it too?"Renee's heart skipped a beat. She looked troubled. "How could you have seen it? This painting had always been part of Mom's personal collection. It'd been in our old house the entire time. Before we reunited, you'd never even had contact with the Everheart family."Quinton shook his head. Fragmented memories seemed to enter his mind. It left him feeling confused."I don't know. I just feel like I've seen it before. I need to think."He stared at the painting while trying to recall more. Suddenly, he froze as if he had uncovered an unbelievable secret."What is it? Did you recall something?" Renee sensed something was off with Quinton and quickly asked.Quinton avoided her gaze and changed the subject. "How a
"Hey, I'm fine. Don't touch me. Don't…"Joanne clearly wasn't used to Quinton's touch. Standing on the stool, she instinctively resisted, but she lost her balance in the process and fell straight into his arms.They locked eyes. For a moment, it felt like time itself had stopped.The way Joanne looked at Quinton was unlike the fear and hesitation she used to have. There was now something else mixed in.Meanwhile, from the way Quinton looked at her, it was obvious his heart went out to her.Renee stood off to the side like an audience member in a romcom flick. She covered her mouth to hide her grin, and she was screaming on the inside. 'They're truly childhood sweethearts. I'm so here for this!'"Ahem! Quinton, aren't your arms getting tired? If they are, maybe you should put Joanne down first."Renee finally spoke up after a few minutes. Seeing how the two were locked in the same pose, she decided she had to interrupt."Oh! Right, right!"The two of them snapped out of it at
"Of course!" Joanne exclaimed.Although she had no idea what kind of help Renee needed, she happily followed Renee into the bedroom.After tidying up for a while, Renee carefully retrieved an ancient painting from a box. She began studying the room and trying to decide where to hang it."Wow, this painting is beautiful! The woman in it has such an elegant presence," Joanne said.She leaned in to look at the painting. She was just as captivated as Renee and Leia had been before."Yeah. Chase gave it to me. I want to hang it in my room. Where do you think it would look best?"Renee treated the painting like family. She was determined to place it just right."Over here. Right across the window. When the sun comes in, the light will hit it perfectly. It'll look even better."Joanne pointed to the wall directly across from the window. That section of the wall happened to be empty. It was almost as if it had been left empty for this exact painting."We really do think alike. That's
After spending some time together, both of them started to feel a little bored."Ren, do you want to walk around the nearby garden? A lot of things have changed around here. At first, there were plans to build a factory here, but the residents protested and decided to make it a habitable neighborhood
Renee knew that Stefan cared about her and the children, and wanted to be with them all the time so he could protect them. However, she also knew the law of the jungle well. If Stefan lost, anyone could bully and humiliate them because Renee was blind now, and she didn't want that to happen."You don
Renee was in her bedroom on the second floor, lying in bed weakly. She could vaguely hear the fight downstairs, but was too tired to get up and listen to it. Ever since she became blind, she seemed to have lost track of time; it felt like only a day had passed since she had lost her sight.Leia knock
"In two to three hours," Santiago replied. "The doctor said they'll put you under anesthesia to clear out the venom in your body, and you can't drink any more water after this until the surgery is done.""Well, there's still time left..." Leia looked around. "Where's my phone? I want to tell Ren I'm







