Seeing the simple, absolutely brutal, and cool style, Renee instantly knew the most oppressive man in Beach City, the crazy young master Stefan, was here.But she didn't understand. Why would this aristocrat come to this dilapidated haunted house?Charles had just been dropped on his ass by Renee, and now someone else had kicked him so hard he felt it to the bones. He could barely restrain his anger, and he was about to start cursing when he turned to meet Stefan's burning eyes. He immediately went pale and almost wet himself again."M-Mr. Hunt! W-why are you here?!"Stefan stared down at Charles, who was prostrating on the ground. His brows were furrowed, and he asked in an obviously upset tone, "Are you one of Jeremy's people?"He could vaguely recall the man beside Jeremy from a business deal before this, where they had met. Ah, he was Jeremy's top bodyguard, wasn't he? Jeremy was very close to him too."Yes, that's right, Sir! My name is Charles. I've been working with Mr. Su
Stefan didn't reply to Renee's question but proceeded to survey the manor. "The layout doesn't work. The hall is too cramped, the dome looks awful, and the staircase is too steep. It needs a complete renovation. The decorations are so ancient they look like leftovers from the Republican era. The carvings on the pillars at the entrance aren't exquisite enough, either. It's best you knock it down and start from scratch."Stefan continued to nitpick on everything about the manor in an arrogant tone, and Renee was thoroughly confused. ‘What’s wrong with this man? He still thinks of himself as my husband, doesn’t he?!’"Do you have that much free time on your hands, Stefan? Did you get a degree in interior design when I wasn't looking? You don't need to point out anything about my house!"Stefan was currently standing in the middle of the living room, staring hard at the landscape painting hanging on the wall and ignoring Renee's moody words. "This is a nice painting. It's the famo
Renee realized she was the only one who felt awkward. Stefan seemed comfortable and acted as free as he was at home. It profoundly interpreted the quote, "It's only embarrassing if you care what people think."Earlier, Charles smashed the stuff in the entire living room and made a terrible mess. Only the sofa area seemed to be untouched.Stefan sat gracefully on the couch and crossed his legs. He asked Renee, "How are you? Have you gotten used to your new place?""What do you think? This is my home. Why can't I get comfortable here?"Renee looked around and flashed a meek smile. "I'm finally home after four years of wandering. I have to say, home sweet home!"Stefan's eyes turned slightly gloomy. He said quietly, "As you said, you have half of the property rights to Hunt Villa. If you want to go back, you can move anytime. It's your home."Renee almost thought she had misheard Stefan. The kind look on her face vanished, replaced by disdain."Stefan, aren't you being a hypocrit
Renee found Stefan's sudden change in attitude ridiculous. It must have been hard for an arrogant guy like Stefan to put up such a gentle facade for his lover. Renee lifted her chin and said with a fake smile, "Haven't I made it clear enough? All you have to do is let your lover kneel and apologize to me in front of all the media.""Don't go overboard." Stefan's eyes turned cold. Somehow, Renee seemed like a complete stranger to him. The old Renee was not so aggressive."I told you. Briar is still in the hospital with an unstable pregnancy. How can you have her kneel and apologize to you?""Is that so?!"Renee silently clenched her firsts. Despite the heartache, she maintained her arrogance and mocked Stefan. "She can't kneel, but you can kneel on her behalf. Well, Mr. Hunt, aren't you a man who would bend over for true love? How touching!"Nothing mattered to Renee anymore. Just let Stefan think of her as a mean and cold-blooded woman. Despite being kind and meek for the past
"We have feelings for each other?"Renee stopped eating and smiled helplessly. "Margaret, you're always good at reading people, but not today. Unfortunately, you've misread the situation. Do you know the reason behind Stefan's sudden visit and all that courting?""That's because… he can't let go of you and wants to reconcile?"Renee shook her head. "He came to plead for his lover. He's a prideful man but stripped his pride for such an awful woman. That's unacceptable. I'll never forgive him for that!""What…" Margaret looked at Renee, appalled. She did not expect Renee's former husband, who seemed so upright and noble, to be so dishonorable. That was a great disappointment."I don't think he's that kind of man. He should be able to distinguish between right and wrong. He probably won't condone his lover and her bad character. Is there some misunderstanding?""Misunderstanding?"Renee sneered, "Margaret, you lack experience in relationships. Do you know? There's no right and wron
'Here for a reason?!' When Stefan heard those words, he remembered his unpleasant exchange with Renee and got angrier."What business do you have? Don't blabber, or I'll block you."After that, Stefan continued to bury himself in work. He had a cold aura around him, as though he was an iceberg completely isolated from the world.'Gee. Stefan's really pissed!' Xavier thought and gulped. He finally realized Rachel's good intentions in telling him to come back another day.As Xavier turned to Rachel, trying to ask for help, Rachel obligingly smiled at him and left. "Mr. Stuarts, please feel free and talk to Mr. Hunt. I'm going back to work."And then... She just left like that!‘Damn! Rachel, seriously?!’Xavier watched Rachel as she casually locked the door and left the room. He suddenly felt a sense of despair, like he’d been strategically fed to the beast.‘Nevermind,’ he thought. 'I'm here already. Might as carry on.'After all, who else would suffer here if not him?"Ahem!"
Stefan grabbed his notebook. With a pen, he wrote "How to court a woman” in capital letters. Xavier took a glance and almost burst out laughing."Stefan, oh, Stefan. Everyone says you're as cold as an iceberg. Why do I feel like you're such a dork? Learn how to court a woman by understanding, not by reading. Why are you taking notes?"Stefan said with a blank face, "There are rules to follow for everything. Courting a woman is no different. I'm not only taking notes, but I'm going to do an analysis later. I'll compare various methods and increase the sample data to evaluate the reasonableness and feasibility of your teachings.""Are you serious… Do you have to go that far?" Stefan acted as if he was performing a feasibility test on a multi-billion project, which pushed Xavier's pressure sky-high."I take everything I do seriously." Stefan looked up at Xavier with a warning gaze. "You better be serious at teaching. If it doesn't work, you're finished."Xavier suddenly felt nervou
Xavier went on, "If she blocks you, use a different number. Whenever you're free, flirt with her and make her happy. Then, you move onto Step 2—romance.""All women like romantic things, especially dreamers like your ex-wife. If you're romantic enough, she's as good as yours."Stefan pushed his glasses into place and recorded everything carefully in his notebook. He was very serious the whole time. He even raised his hand and asked, "How do I be romantic?""That's an entirely different lesson. I won't go into that today because there's simply not enough time. You can try watching some romantic dramas, especially Korean dramas, and see what the male protagonists do. I'll find the time to make some PowerPoint slides to teach you the specifics.""Okay."Stefan nodded. "Go on," he ordered like he was Xavier's boss. "Step 3 is relaxing. After a period of fierce pursuit, you have to stop for a bit. This is called emotional push-and-pull. It's a crucial stage. You must control how much
Amber's emphasis made both of them awkward. It seemed like Liam had flattered himself.Renee and Leia happened to run into that scene when they opened the door. Feeling out of place, they wanted to leave and hide.Finally, Renee walked over and faked a smile despite the stiffness in the air. "Hahaha! Liam, I'm glad that you're awake!""Renee…" Liam's facade faded as he blinked. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" "We did, but you guys were so absorbed in talking to each other that you didn't hear us," Leia eagerly explained.There was a screen between the bed and the door. A servant informed Liam and Amber about the visitors, but they didn't hear that since they were absorbed in their conflict.Thus, Renee and Leia were forced to watch an awkward romance. They found it stifling, just like Liam and Amber."Okay. Let's not talk about that."Liam didn't want to recall that awkward scene and changed the topic. "I was just stabbed. Stop making a big fuss over it. And don't wo
Nothing went wrong that night. Renee and Leia slept soundly after such an exhausting day. The next morning, a servant of the fort woke them up early. "Ms. Everheart, Ms. Osborne, Mr. Osborne is awake. You can visit him." "Great! Liam's awake!" When Leia heard that news, she got out of bed and quickly washed up.Renee, finally relieved, breathed a sigh. They reached Liam's room as quickly as they could. There, armed guards were around, guarding the place fiercely. "What's going on? Do they take Liam as a criminal?" Leia was furious to see it. She wanted to demand an explanation from those guards, but Renee stopped her.They had to bow down since they were staying in Benjamin's territory. It was up to him to treat them politely or otherwise. Even if they were locked up like prisoners, it was only expected.Liam had just regained consciousness and was seriously injured. If they offended Benjamin, he and the others would only suffer.Liam leaned against the head of the bed in
"I'll bring Phoenix to see my parents. If she's okay with it, we'll get married. This army is the wedding gift my family prepared for her." Justin smiled, his tone eager."Stop fantasizing! Renee won't go there with you," Xavier said. He found Justin's plan ridiculous. "I don't believe you. Has Renee ever said yes? You keep saying you were going to do something big, but you might not even get anything out of it.""It's not up to you whether she'll say yes or not." Justin was indifferent toward Xavier's mockery. He seemed to be very confident, his eyes cold. "I told you that because I wanted you to pass the message to Stefan. I'm not trying to take advantage of the situation, because I already gave him a chance to win her back.""Then, I need to thank you on Stefan's behalf." Xavier didn't take Justin seriously at all, and instead waved provocatively at him. "We'll talk about that once you make Renee say yes. Bye!"Back in the guest room, Xavier held his phone, hesitating. In the en
After a long wait, there was finally some news."Good news, everyone! Ms. Jenkins' blood matched Mr. Osborne's. Mr. Osborne is out of danger since he got a blood transfusion in time. He'll wake up soon. It's getting late, so you should all get some rest," the doctor said as he exited the blood transfusion room."Great! Liam's out of danger now!" Leia leaped happily, moved to tears. "Wonderful! I knew he'd be fine! Thank god!""Well, I told you not to worry, but you refused to listen. You were worried for nothing." Xavier was delighted, too. He watched her dotingly, happy that she had finally relaxed. At the very least, she would stop being cold to him and find fault with him.Unexpectedly, Leia still found Xavier an eyesore and glared at him. "What does it have anything to do with you? I don't want to talk to you!"Then, she held Renee's arm and yawned. "Let's go, Ren. We can finally sleep. I want to sleep with you tonight."The two friends returned to their room, leaving Xavie
"No, Ms. Jenkins! If Mr. Jenkins learns you're donating your blood for another man, it'll drive him mad!" The doctor looked at Amber, too terrified to act. Everyone in the fort knew how much Benjamin cared about Amber. He would never let anyone off the hook if they harmed her, let alone donating so much blood."He won't be angry." Amber sounded indifferent. "He didn't even care about me. If it weren't for Liam, Matt would have killed me. I want to donate my blood to Liam. No one can stop me, not even Dad.""But…" The doctor was too scared to act rashly. "Do it. If not, I'll cut my veins to release the blood." Amber seemed to have anticipated the doctor's hesitation. She fished out a blade she got somewhere and abruptly placed it against her wrist. "Then, I'll die of blood loss. Is that worth it?""Oh, no!"The doctor never expected the usually gentle Amber would suddenly become so tough and stubborn. He stopped babbling and immediately started the blood transfusion. After all,
"Oh, no! Something's wrong!" someone screamed, "Mr. Osborne lost too much blood and needs a blood transfusion immediately! Whose blood type is O?" Leia couldn't hear that well. She immediately calmed down and returned to Liam's room. "There was a slight deviation when we withdrew the knife, causing massive bleeding. The patient needs a blood transfusion immediately. If not, he'll die!" the nurse announced; her hands were bloody, and she was sweating profusely. "Use mine!" Leia hurriedly dashed over, gasping for breath. "I'm his younger sister. I'm sure my blood type is compatible."The nurse shook her head and cautiously refused, "No, it's advisable not to have an immediate family member do this. There might be a negative response." "Use mine. My blood type is O." Renee stood up and rolled her sleeve, her tone firm."No way!" Leia refused, looking at Renee. "You've just recovered. I can't see you take the risk."Renee was poisoned before, and barely survived because Stefan h
"Oh, please!" Leia rolled her eyes at Xavier; her gesture was far from romantic. "We haven't been together that long. Plus, you dated Shirley for a long time. You were famous in the entire Beach City over how hard you worked to win her over. She made you fall head over heels for her. But you've never made such a big scene when you're dating me. People might even assume that you're single!""Why did you bring up Shirley again?" Xavier held his forehead helplessly. The scariest thing for a man was having his girlfriend repeatedly mention his ex. No matter what the man said, it would always end up in a fight."Why, can't I bring her up?" Leia snapped. Like a lot of women, Leia yearned to travel back in time and replace all the time Xavier had with his ex-girlfriend. She said jealously, "You can't forget about her, so you're afraid of me mentioning her. You're worried you might get exposed when I mention her.""No!" Xavier became impatient, his face looking awful. "I have many
"How silly!" Xavier felt sorry for Leia when he heard her words. He hugged her from behind and whispered, "I feel the same about Renee like you do. I admire her and think she's perfect, but I don't love her the way a man does.""Really?" Leia was surprised. She found it unbelievable, as she had always thought that Xavier loved Renee.She always felt that he was a man with great taste. His love for Renee was unrequited, so he kept a special spot for her in his heart. Since she was aware of that, she always avoided that topic and never asked him about Renee. If she did, he would weigh their positions in his heart. Leia felt that she had no right to ask about that since the answer was obvious."Of course!" Xavier pinched Leia's cheeks and smiled. "Men's love can be divided into many types, but there's only one kind of love for women. I love you like a man loves a woman. Do you understand?"Leia's heart started racing. She felt flattered, but she bit her lips carefully and asked, "
Leia quickly wiped away her tears and acted tough. "I'm crazy now. You shouldn't talk to me.""So?" Xavier calmly walked to Leia and spoiled her as if she were a disobedient child. He doted on her. "It's not the first day you act crazily. Plus, it's not the first time I've found you like this. It's not bad, either. You look pretty cute."Leia turned around and glared at him in confusion. Goosebumps spread across her skin. "Xavier, act normal. When did I act crazily?" "You're not always normal when you're with me. Whenever I said something wrong, you went mad. You'd go mad whenever I talked to any woman, too. Isn't that crazy enough?" Xavier spread his hands, sounding helpless. Previously, he had no idea that the seemingly noisy and careless young lady of the Osborne family would be so sensitive. She cared about details very much, especially ones about him with other women.Their arguments weren't about serious issues. Rather, it was all because of her jealousy. She would go mad