"Of course, it's..." Briar wanted to tell her the truth, but changed her mind when she saw how much Renee cared about it. "Didn't you say you weren't interested in others' business? That was my intimate moment with Stefan, so why are you asking so much about it?" "Of course it's important to me! Now cut the crap, I don't have the time to listen to your nonsense!" Renee grabbed Briar's collar and demanded fiercely, "When did you take those photos?""What's this? Do you want to hit me? Am I obligated to tell you what happened?" Briar wasn't afraid of Renee's threat, and scoffed, "This is Hunt Enterprise, and I'm a shareholder and a member of the board of directors here. How dare you come to my territory and try to rough me up? That's pretty arrogant of you." "Arrogant?" Renee sneered. "You haven't seen the worst of it." Then, she opened the lid on her cup of milk tea and poured the sticky liquid on Briar's head."Ah, you... What are you doing?!" Briar didn't expect Renee to behave
That was why Briar had done so many things. After all, Stefan was missing, and no one knew if he was alive or dead. Briar was the one who had the final say regardless of the truth."Hmph! Do you think I'll believe such a lousy lie?" Renee rolled her eyes. "If Stefan wasn't satisfied, he could always find a more attractive woman. Why would he go for a woman like you who is ugly both on the outside and the inside?" "Why do you ask me if you don't trust me? Isn't that contradictory?" Briar approached Renee, smirking. "You spent so much effort to come here and wait for me. You even scolded and humiliated me, meaning you know what's going on… but you're just deceiving yourself. You just don't want to face reality."Renee was speechless. Yeah, she wouldn't have made a scene if she was indifferent to the whole matter."Everyone has a dark side that's not always understandable. Maybe you don't truly know your so-called Prince Charming." Briar's tone was smug. She knew her words were messi
Sage pursed her lips and started giving Jovan ideas. "You should take Ms. Everheart out for food and comfort her, then take her shopping and watch fireworks with her!" Sage always read CEO romance novels, so she was taking inspiration from those. However, it was usually the hero doing that with the heroine... Jovan was more of a villainous supporting character. It would be going against his station if he did such a thing, but no one said that a supporting character would always remain in that role. As long as he persevered, he could become the hero instead. "Mr. Hunt, our company has always been supporting the romance between Mr. Stefan Hunt and Ms. Everheart, but I'm your secretary, so I've always been rooting for you two. I think that your love for Ms. Everheart isn't any less than Mr. Stefan Hunt's. Just do what I suggested—I'm sure there's a chance for you!" "Really?" Jovan glanced at Renee and laughed at himself. "I feel like I'm just a clown in this game." He knew how to pursue
Renee turned to leave but her belly exposed her by growling loudly."Let's go. You're clearly hungry, so why are you resisting? We're just going to eat, so what are you so afraid of?" Jovan held Renee's arm, smiling in amusement. Eventually, Renee stopped refusing."Wait, Mr. Hunt!" Just as they were about to get into the car, Sage ran over to them, gasping for breath. "Mr. Gunter from Raypeace Group sent over the joint development contract, so please check it and sign it. If everything's okay, I'll send it back to them," Sage said, then handed a contract to Jovan. "Hey, aren't you… that kind person?" Renee immediately recognized Sage as the one who had handed her a blanket and ordered a cup of milk tea for her, and her eyes widened in realization. So she hadn't been lucky… it was just that busybody Jovan."Umm, I... I don't know what you're talking about." After getting Jovan's signature, Sage turned and fled. "So you knew I was there all along?" Renee asked Jovan suspiciously.
Jovan took Renee to a nearby restaurant selling Jamerian food. "This restaurant's food isn't too oily or spicy, which is better for you since your wounds are recovering." While talking, he awkwardly arranged the silverware, and tentatively handed the restaurant's signature dessert to Renee.After such a long day, Renee was starving. She picked up the dessert with her bare hands and started devouring it. "Hey, it tastes pretty good." She generally disliked Jamerian food, especially raw meat. She felt like her brain would get infested by parasites if she ate that kind of food, but sometimes when people were really hungry, it was easy to overlook such things. Jovan smiled as he watched her enjoy the meal, and took out his phone to record the moment. "You must really be starving.""Why are you taking photos?" Renee wiped her hands clean and tried to grab Jovan's phone. They behaved childishly, but looked like a couple being playful and sweet. Unexpectedly, a waiter there snapped a ph
"Underground casino?" Renee asked urgently, "Which underground casino?" "That's hard to say. You don't understand gambling addicts—they'll go to all the underground casinos once they're addicted. They won't stay put in one place." "You're lying!" Renee didn't believe Jovan. Firstly, Stefan would contact Renee immediately if he was alive—there was no way he would be lingering in underground casinos. Secondly, his properties were enough to support him for his whole life, so he didn't have to hide even if he lost money every day. Also, Renee had never seen Stefan show an interest in gambling from the time she'd first met him. It was impossible to imagine Stefan becoming addicted to gambling in the one month he went missing. There was only one possibility when she thought about it, and that was that Jovan was lying to Renee on purpose. "I know you don't trust me, so I wasn't planning on telling you." While talking, Jovan picked up a pancake and munched it slowly. "But I saw you speak
A blonde man appeared in front of Renee half an hour later. "Ms. Ren, is that you? You've changed! You're so pretty now," he said excitedly, staring at Renee like an adoring fan.Renee rolled her eyes. "So, you're saying that I wasn't pretty back then?""No, of course you were very pretty in the gang too, but you're pretty like a princess now. You look like a goddess!""And you're still glib-tongued," Renee grumbled. She had known Harvey Murray for many years. When she was handling orders from the underworld, he was her most trusted spy and always helped her with errands. Although he wasn't that capable, he was smart and worked well with Renee. After leaving that life, Renee naturally stopped contacting Harvey, but people from the underworld always valued their friendships. If there was an emergency, they would be there without any hesitation no matter how much time had passed. "Ms. Ren, you've been pretty low-key for the past few years. My buddies didn't believe me when I told th
"No, there's no way around it." Harvey shook his head. "They've got a very good security system to punish those who try to sneak in. They're very experienced in it. Plus, you can't play the games if you sneak in without an identity, so what's the point of sneaking in?" "I'm looking for someone," Renee answered vaguely, then sighed. "Fine, I'll try to get the money." She thought about her circle of friends, and out of them, there were only two people who could lend her 20 million dollars. One of them was Xavier, the young heir of Universal Entertainment, and the other was Jovan, who pestered her shamelessly every day. After some contemplation, Renee chose to seek Jovan's help. Jovan was aware of the situation, but Xavier was not. Besides, Xavier was a blabbermouth. If he went to the casino with her and exposed their whereabouts, it would be very inconvenient."Wait here. I'll transfer the money to your account soon." Renee went to a milk tea shop and ordered a cup of milk tea for Har
Renee grinned, satisfied after a long rest. "Why didn't you sleep a bit longer? This bed is comfortable and fluffy." While talking, she behaved like a fish as she extended her limbs and rolled around in bed childishly. In comparison to her calmness and ease, Justin behaved gingerly and did not dare to move as he lay in bed."Do you have any idea what had happened? We aren't dreaming. We're lying in the same bed," Justin said.He was certain that Renee was not fully awake. It explained why she was that composed. Otherwise, any normal woman would get out of bed with a start and keep screaming if they found herself lying in a man's bed."I know!" Renee said. After having a great time rolling around, Renee faced Justin with her head on her arm while lying on her side. "I wanted to drink wine to say sorry to you guys last night, but your family drugged the wine. You drank the same wine when you tried to stop me. We were controlled by the drug and were locked up in this room. T
Renee instantly understood what Justin meant by that. It turned out that the incident was just a part of the Baldwin family's plan. If she left, the Baldwin family would not easily let her off the hook.Justin still cared about her at a time like that, which moved her. "Thank you. You're great." Renee cried; she had no idea how to repay him. "You don't have to thank me. I'm not so great, either. I just hate that they always pester me." Justin purposely sounded relaxed. He finally calmed himself down as he casually grabbed some bandages to bandage his wound. Then, he lay in bed.He slept on one side of the bed and said to Renee, "It's late. You should rest early. This bed is large enough. If you don't mind, you can lie in bed too."The bed was large. It was more than enough even if Renee and Justin lay there."I…" Renee hesitated briefly before she finally got in bed. She trusted Justin. If he wanted to do something indecent to her, he would have long done that. He would no
"I don't know how to tell you. I'm sure you can understand." Renee could not bring herself to say more because it was a humiliating privacy. She might as well keep it to herself."Let me guess…" Justin's gaze grew sharp as he went straight to the point. "The man in your story is Stefan, isn't it?" Silence washed over Renee as she kept her head bowed. It was a silent approval.Justin burst into reckless laughter, which was scary. He looked down at his cut wound and laughed pathetically. "This is why he could make you fall in love with him, and I couldn't. I'm too cultured compared to him.""Don't say that, Haze!"Seeing how defeated Justin was, Renee became uneasy. "It isn't written in the stars for us. Plus, I've fallen in love with Stefan a long time ago before I even got to know you. I also rely on him physically and psychologically. I can't control my feelings. It's not something we can change. We…" "Stop!" Heartbroken, Justin pushed away everything in front of him and s
Time passed by. Gradually, the pain knocked some sense into Justin. He no longer wanted to take advantage of Renee."Let me get you some water." Renee had no idea what she could do for Justin. After some contemplation, she got to her feet and poured him a glass of water.Finally, she studied the room closely and found that it was a wedding room as Justin had mentioned. Everything was set up according to her preferences, which she had occasionally mentioned to Justin. For example, she loved keeping some ceramic ornaments on the bedside cabinet and hanging some seashell wind chimes at the windows. The entire room was painted in beige and green, which were her favorites, too. Beige gave a sense of warmth, while green gave a sense of gloominess. All of those details became the perfect wedding room for Renee.If everything went on smoothly, she would spend most of her time there, and he would be her life companion. Unfortunately, there were no ifs in the world.Renee handed the gla
Renee covered her lips, her tone filled with disbelief. "I…cut myself." Justin leaned against the corner and frowned deeply. He was in deep pain."Why did you cut yourself?" Renee was scared out of her wits and grew more sober. In her panic, she threw herself at him and tried to stop his bleeding.Justin reacted aggressively as he waved his dagger and warned fiercely, "Get away from me! Don't touch me!" "I…" Renee paused, too afraid to act recklessly. She pointed at his wound and said, "I'm just worried about you. You're bleeding. It must hurt a lot. Why did you hurt yourself?" "It's better to be in pain!" Justin gnashed his teeth and said in agony, "The pain will knock some sense into me, so I won't act like an animal and lose control of myself.""I see…" Stunned, Renee was moved to tears. She understood why he cut himself. Surprisingly, he wanted to stay sober and not be controlled by the drug in the wine.He could have used her to satisfy his desire, and she would never b
"You're playing with fire!" Justin leaned close to Renee's ears and said fiercely, "What do you think there is in the wine? Maybe I'm not someone who will take liberty on women, but I can't promise that the wine won't make me so." "So, you're saying that the wine…" Suddenly, Renee realized the wine was not as simple as she thought. She also understood why Rose had behaved in such a mysterious manner. "Stay…away from me!" Suddenly, she became frightened and wanted to keep some distance from Justin. She knew that people could not be trusted completely, especially under the effects of chemical reactions. Things would certainly get out of control. Justin probably did not want to do anything to her, but both of them would lose their minds under the effect of the wine and do something that would fill them with regret. The only way to prevent such an incident was to avoid each other."You want to stay away from me, but it's too late now. I'm no saint. I'm just a normal guy!"Just
"I'm so thirsty!" The burning sensation of the wine made Renee thirsty. She wanted to drink some water.In the dark, she heard some rustling. The next second, something was on her lips. It seemed to be someone else's lips. She wondered if someone had secretly kissed her."Who are you?" Renee grabbed the person in front of her and interrogated angrily, "How dare you kiss me without my permission! Do you know who I am? I'll cut off your lips!""Let's see if you can do that or not." The man sounded dull and drunk, but he was also overbearing.Although Renee was drunk, she could discern who it was. She called out in the dark and tried to confirm her doubt. "Haze…?" "Yeah, it's me," Justin admitted, but he did not plan to let her go. He used a more overbearing manner and trapped her between him and the door."What do you want?" Renee panicked. She wanted to kick him away, but she did not resist when she learned that it was Justin. After she had done so many things to hurt him, s
The servant walked forward with trepidation and helped Justin back to his room. Austin's eyes were dark. He whispered to his assistant, who nodded and immediately carried out his order.After two glasses of strong wine, Renee felt dizzy and could not stand steadily. "It's weird. Is this wine this strong? I just had two glasses of it, but I feel quite dizzy." It was hard for her to exit the hall. She could not stand properly, so she supported herself against the wall."Ms. Everheart, you didn't seem well. Let me help you to get some rest." Austin's assistant caught up to her and stood behind her. He even sounded respectful. "It's… fine. I can go back to my room." Renee waved; she didn't want to trouble others. Besides, she did not want others to see how miserable she was. She had assumed that she was good at drinking and would not get drunk, but it seemed like she had overestimated herself. After two glasses of wine, she became quite drowsy. She would not easily leave if s
Renee blinked and smiled brightly at Justin, asking him, "Are you worried about me?" "No, I'm not worried about you!" Justin said angrily. "I don't want you to get killed here. I can't explain it to your brother and kids. It's hard to handle the three of them."He was not lying. Although he had befriended Quinton, Adie and Abby might make a scene there if they realized that Renee had drunk so much wine at the party. They were witty, always full of ideas.Hence, it was better not to cause trouble. Before they could make a scene and things get out of control, Justin must stop Renee. He wasn't worried about her at all. "So, you're not worried about me?" Renee's gaze turned dull as she sighed. "It looks like you didn't forgive me. So, I must drink this glass of wine." Something was wrong with Renee, or perhaps she just wanted to torture herself. It seemed like she insisted on drinking the wine. She swung off Justin's hand and gulped down the wine."You're out of your mind!" Justi