"George..." The old woman trailed off gloomily, her gaze unreadable as she recalled the past. "He was a famous and powerful figure in Garcia Village back then. Everyone avoided him.""What do you mean?" Renee urged."It's not what you think. He was unreasonable and very nasty…" The elderly woman's tone became angry. "He was a tyrant in our village, and he bullied almost all the families here. He would either take other people's things away and even beat them up.""Was he really that arrogant?" Renee frowned. "Such a person should have been in jail.""If we could, we would have done it ages ago, but he had connections. He would be released after being locked up for a few days every time the villagers called the cops, then he would take revenge on the person who reported him. So... nobody dared to say anything."Jeffrey frowned. "I heard about his family when I was young because my village is only nearby. Mom always told me not to sail my boat too far while fishing in case I acciden
Renee knew that Quinton had suffered a lot, but she had no idea that it was that bad. They were both siblings, but while Renee's parents doted on her and loved her greatly, Quinton had gone through hell."Yes, George was despicable, and his family got their karma..." The old woman hesitated, then continued softly, "His family members were all wicked except for his youngest daughter. We called her Joanne, and she was a nice girl who always took care of her foster brother. Unfortunately, George's eldest son tried to take advantage of the girl, even though he was her biological brother, and then... a sudden fire burned down their house. All of them ended up dead! Honestly, most of George's family were better off dead, but Joanne and the adopted child didn't deserve such a fate. They were very kind, but their lives were ruined."Daisy listened to the old woman attentively, then chimed in, "But it seems like that girl had been possessed by the sea witch, and purposely seduced her biologic
Renee also agreed with the old woman—the couple seemed quite strange. If she had the chance, she wanted to meet them, but the old woman didn't know much about them and didn't remember much since they had come to Garcia Village ages ago.Renee's mind was troubled the whole night at the old woman's house. She didn't wake Jeffrey and Daisy up the next morning, and decided to wander around the island to see if she could find clues instead. She soon found a house that matched the old woman's description of George's house… but it was nothing but ruins. All that was left were ashes and burned items, and after many years of wind and rain, even those had practically disappeared into the ground. There was no trace of anyone ever living there. However, that area was the best in the village—it faced the vast sea and the soil was rich, making it ideal for both fishing and farming. Renee imagined her brother living there many years ago, and uneasiness gripped her when she imagined the suffering he
To Renee's shock, the person she had been yearning for day and night had appeared in front of her. She could scarcely believe it."Hold me tight," the man whispered as he lowered his head to look into Renee's eyes. They were still at the edge of the cliff and had yet to swim out of the rip current. If they let their guard down, they would die at sea."I will! I have to hold on to you because I have so much to say to you. I… Ack!" Renee choked, too excited to talk to Stefan. She couldn't tell if she was dreaming, so she just tried her best to hold on to him. However, the current was strong, and Renee's grip started to loosen. She couldn't hold on any longer, and eventually blacked out.When she woke up, she found herself lying in a hospital bed, a vast expanse of whiteness above her."Renee! You're finally awake!" Jeffrey jumped in his seat, almost in tears."Where am I?" Renee's head was aching, but she forced herself to sit up and look around. She remembered being stuck in surgin
Then, before Jeffrey could stop her, Renee dashed out of the ward. Jeffrey couldn't catch up with her, and watched her run off nervously.When Renee reached the corner of the stairs, she suddenly saw a tall figure in familiar clothes. He looked just like Stefan."Stefan!" Renee screamed and rushed over to the man, grabbing his clothes firmly. "I've caught you! You can't run away now..." She gripped his clothes, then hugged his waist. "I knew you were still alive!""Umm..." The person Renee was hugging recovered from their shock, then mumbled awkwardly, "Sorry to disappoint, but it's just me." Renee's jaw dropped, and she looked up at the man in anger. "Haze, are you out of your mind? Why are you wearing Stefan's clothes?" The person she had grabbed was not Stefan or Jovan, but Justin. She had thought he was Stefan because Justin was wearing a casual jacket that Stefan had once worn. Renee remembered that jacket because Stefan always wore formal clothes, and it was a rare occasion
Justin smiled, but his gaze was menacing. "Phoenix, your charms really are boundless. You managed to turn a hothead into a loyal dog!" They were both men, and although they were around ten years apart, Justin could tell that Jeffrey had feelings for Renee. He felt jealous, but also marveled at Renee's charms—he had such a diverse group of competitors! Not only did he have to compete against an exceptional man like Stefan, but he also had to fight against a youth like Jeffrey… How exhausting!"Cut the crap! Jeffrey is just a boy," Renee growled weakly from where she lay in bed. Justin was so weird, thinking that way about a boy. What a scoundrel! Renee wished he hadn't been the one to find her.Jeffrey's face flushed in embarrassment, and he mumbled awkwardly, "Ah, so you both know each other. Umm... I'll give you both some privacy then." Hurriedly, he left the ward. He knew that Renee was way out of his league, so even spending these few days with her felt like winning the lottery. T
"Of course!" Justin raised his chin proudly. "Nobody can beat me in that, not even you, Phoenix. Isn't that right?""Yes, that's true." Renee nodded, giving him a thumbs up. She was being humble because Justin was more skilled than her in that area, and the one time Justin beat Renee to become champion of the Global Hacker Competition, he had done it by defeating her at cracking IPs."Why are you asking?" Justin's eyes brightened, and he asked Renee excitedly, "Are you planning to compete with me at the Global Hacker Competition this year? If Haze and Phoenix, the perfect couple of the hacker world, made a comeback this year, there'll be an uproar!" Justin rubbed his hands together eagerly. When Phoenix retreated from the hacker competition, Haze followed suit, and even left the hacker world. Their story became a legend in their circle, and everyone had heard about it even if they had never met them. If Renee wanted to return to the circle again, Justin would immediately follow suit.
"Stefan!" Renee answered directly.Justin's expression immediately changed. "No way!""Why not?" Renee huffed, then complained, "I rarely ask for your help. I just need you to find someone's IP address, which you said was easy to do, but you don't even want to help me with that." "You don't understand!" Justin sighed. "He's a special case. I can even get you the president's IP address, but I'm sorry, just don't ask me to get you Stefan's." There was only one reason he couldn't do it—Austin had specifically warned Justin not to stick his nose into Stefan's affairs before he left for Beach City, and told him that if he did, he would break his legs. Justin loved his legs too much to disobey Austin. "Please!" Renee put her hands together and begged, "You know I've been going mad searching for him. This is the only clue he left behind, but I can't use it the way you can. Please do me a favor and help me crack it. I'm sure it won't take up much of your time." Justin shifted uncomfor
"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
Being a sensitive woman, Amber immediately noticed Liam's displeasure. She kept her head lower and explained carefully, "I want a chance to choose again… I want to choose another person to fall in love with. You know that Matt and I grew up together. We're childhood friends. He likes me and always protects me without asking for anything back. I feel that it's happier to marry a person who loves me instead of marrying someone far beyond my reach."For the first time, she expressed the exhaustion she felt from her relationship with Liam. She no longer wanted to be the one who kept fawning over him. She wanted to give up and relax by being the one who was loved and adored in a relationship."Tsk!" Liam snorted arrogantly. "You don't know Mateo. He's not a nice guy. He's just good at pretending. Maybe it's just his means to get what he wants, but you assume that he loves and wants to protect you."Liam hadn't made that statement to purposely put Mateo down. After standing against Mate
Liam focused on holding Amber's hand and leading her through the orange grove. At the same time, he carefully scanned the ground and trees to find any related clues left by Renee and Leia."I don't care what others say, because I didn't do anything wrong," he said indifferently. "I hope you'll feel the same. I don't think you need to stop being my friend after choosing to marry Mateo. Am I not the friend you like the most?""That's different," Amber said.She followed Liam passively. At first, she couldn't adapt to it. After walking briefly, she felt better and found it easier to do. "Although I'm not good at my studies, I know men and women should keep a polite distance. You can't take my hand and sound righteous at the same time," she mumbled."Why not?" Liam retorted firmly. "When I was young, I always held my sister's hand wherever we went. I'm holding your hand because this fog is thick and the ground is slippery. I'm afraid of being separated from you. Just walk with me. St