Jovan pulled Renee into his arms."You..." Renee started to struggle, but suddenly, a strong smell hit her nose. She opened her mouth to protest, but before she could say anything, she blacked out.-When Renee woke up, she found herself lying in a large bed. She instantly realized that she was at Jovan's manor in the suburbs away from the city. When she had surgery to donate her eyes to Jovan, she had laid in the same bed."You're awake?" Jovan's voice came from above her, gentle and passionate. A chill crept up Renee's spine, and she sat up, leaning back against the head of the bed. "Why did you bring me here? Don't tell me you want to force me to fall in love with you; it doesn't suit you, Jovan.""You still can make jokes. It seems like you're in good spirits." Jovan smiled and walked to the wine cabinet. He poured himself a glass of wine and went to sit on the sofa near the bed, leisurely crossing his legs. Slowly, he said, "Forcing you to love me, hmm? Well, I can certainl
Renee figured that Jovan had lost his mind, so she decided not to waste her time talking to him. She accepted her situation since she couldn't do anything about it.Jovan was surprised at the sudden change in her attitude. Flattered, he fawned over Renee every day diligently.On a bright afternoon, Jovan insisted on listening to some CDs with Renee.Helpless, Renee chose to listen to the songs with him. Yes, Jovan was crazy, but his taste in music was as good as hers. He liked bands that she liked, like Oasis, Keane, and Coldplay. If Renee and Jovan only chatted about music, the atmosphere would be good, and they could talk for the whole afternoon."Listen to this song. It's called Hey Jude, and it's a classic by The Beatles..." Jovan said eagerly as he placed a CD in an old-fashioned record player. The Beatles had been formed in 1960 and was considered the pioneer of rock music. Most of their songs had become hits, including Hey Jude, which was their most popular song. The nice
The sun was setting, and sunlight shone on Renee's face as she tilted her head towards it. "You want to know?" "Of course." Jovan looked serious. "I want to know everything about you, including your sincere thoughts." He knew that Renee didn't like him, at least not yet, but they did get on well sometimes. The thought of it gave him hope. "It's because I want to buy time for Stefan," Renee answered honestly without any hesitation.Jovan abruptly stopped peeling the grape in his hand, his heart aching."If you're spending time with me, you won't have the time to go after him. Then, he'll have the chance to make a counterattack." Renee tried to be as cruel and hurtful as possible."Okay, I know." Jovan gave himself a second to be sad before he reverted to his shameless self. "I admit that I didn't have the time to manage the company or try to look into Stefan's affairs. It's like what they said in the ancient poems: "the king ignores his work because of his romance." Nothing else
Almost a week passed. Renee longed for Stefan day and night, but he still didn't come. Meanwhile, Jovan enjoyed her misfortune and teased her, "What should you do? Your hero hasn't come to your rescue... You'd better spend the rest of your life with me. I won't mistreat you!" He shamelessly tried to get close to Renee, but Renee kicked him away. "Do you have to be like this every day?""Wasn't I right though?" Jovan sneered. "It's fine if it's a day or two, but it's already been two weeks, and he's nowhere to be seen. He's either dead, or he doesn't care about you.""Shut up!" Renee tried to punch Jovan, but Jovan grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms instead. "I know you're sad. To be honest, I'm sad too—I didn't expect that Stefan would be such a worthless piece of trash. He's too timid, and I defeated him easily!" "Let go of me!" Renee struggled in his grip, a look of disgust on her face. Jovan's embrace was more fervent and suffocating than Stefan's. It was like h
Renee spoke calmly, perfectly aware that her words would hurt Jovan.Jovan's lips twitched slightly, and his fingernails dug into his skin in anger. It had only been two weeks, and Renee had spent every day of them hurting him. However, he wasn't tired of it… Maybe he was going crazy."I don't get it. I'm a useless person, and I treat you badly. Why do you keep pestering me?" Renee looked helpless as she tried to persuade him, "You're now the boss of Hunt Enterprise, which makes you very rich. You can have any woman you want, so why are you wasting your time with me and making everyone unhappy?""Yeah, I don't know why either." Jovan smiled bitterly and stared at Renee. "So, let me pester you for a little longer. Maybe I'll get bored one day and let you go, right?"Renee paused and sighed. "Good point. I can't argue with that." She knew that Jovan was a stubborn man, and she wouldn't be able to change his mind. Besides, he might only give up if he got bored or disgusted. Inspired b
"Mmph!" Renee tensed. She never thought Jovan would be this bold, and punched his shoulders, trying to push him away. However, instead of letting her go, he tried to deepen the kiss. Renee squeaked and bit his lip, making him pull away with a hiss of pain. Renee wiped her lips and cursed him fiercely. "Are you out of your mind, Jovan? You said you wouldn't touch me without my permission. How could you break your word?" It was humiliating kissing a man she repulsed, but more than that… she felt guilty. Stefan had risked his life to save her, and his whereabouts were still unknown, but Renee had just kissed his enemy. She felt like killing herself.Slowly, Jovan wiped away the blood on his lips, a satisfied smile on his face. "It doesn't count since I was just kissing you as a friend. Besides, weren't you the one who asked for it?" "When did I do that?" "You said I wouldn't be able to bear the sight of your eyes when I kiss you, so… I just proved it to you. I can take it, and I enjo
Briar sneered. "Oh, I forgot. You're blind now, and I'm wearing a mask. You don't know who I am."Renee clenched her fists, her lips tightly pursed. She knew she had guessed right, and she had no choice but to face her, no matter how afraid she was to do it."You remember?" Briar saw Renee's expression, and her gaze slowly turned fierce and hateful. "You pushed me down the cliff, and I was crushed. I was in so much pain that I wanted to die, but I managed to crawl out of that hell because I told myself that I shouldn't be defeated that easily. No matter what, I had to take you down with me. Well, it certainly looks like I made the right choice." Briar sized Renee up, smirking when she saw Renee's empty and scarred eye sockets. "If I didn't hold on back then, I wouldn't have been able to see you turn this ugly and miserable! Not so smug now, are we?" "Ms. Desrosiers, watch your tongue." Jovan shot Briar a cold glance and warned her. "I didn't bring you here to hurt her." "It's oka
Renee's rare praise of Jovan made him feel uneasy, and he shrugged. "Don't say that. Briar and I are the same kind of people—we'll do whatever it takes to get what we want. So... she and I are now allies, and I'm happy we are.""You're stubborn, Jovan. I was wrong about you." Renee was angry at Jovan for deciding to work with Briar. She didn't want to talk to Briar either, so she stood up and clumsily made her way out.Jovan didn't go after her or explain—he just let her sulk, thinking badly of him. Briar crossed her arms and watched as Renee staggered and nearly fell several times as she walked away. Then, she turned and said to Jovan, "I thought you were a passionate person, but I guess you aren't that nice either since you didn't go comfort her or help her when she almost fell. I finally understand why she refuses to let Stefan go even though you've tried your best to win her over; if it were me, I would have chosen Stefan too."Jovan glared at Briar. "Don't talk about things
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