"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
Justin hadn't exaggerated—in around fifteen minutes, he had hacked Stefan's account and gotten his IP address. "It seems he's at..." Justin pointed at the address on the lingering screen and his eyes widened in disbelief. "Your house?" "Yeah, that's my house!" Renee stared at the familiar address, not sure whether to laugh or cry. She had searched in so many places and met so many people, almost turning the whole city upside down to find him… but he had been at home all this time. It seems he still felt the responsibility to go home, but it was still unkind of him to not show himself when he knew Renee had been going mad trying to find him. "Is he out of his mind? He's not a kid anymore, so why is he playing hide-and-seek with you?" Justin asked helplessly. Justin was a straightforward person, and wasn't very romantic or flirtatious, but… how could Stefan hide in Everheart Manor and not contact Phoenix, knowing she had been searching so frantically for him? The man had to be crazy.
Renee's gaze became unreadable as mixed feelings overwhelmed her. Her guess was right—the person who had saved her was Stefan. His body, embrace, and scent were so familiar to her that she wouldn't have got it wrong. "What happened after that?" Renee took a deep breath and asked slowly."Then, he told us he was a very bad guy, and all he did was make you sad. So, he asked us to lie and tell you that I'd saved you and that we'd never met him," Jeffrey said honestly. "I didn't want to lie to you, Renee, but that man sounded very sincere. He said he'd hurt you so much, and didn't want to keep hurting you. He wants to stay away from you, and I... I also didn't want to see you get hurt, so I chose to lie to you. I'm sorry!" Jeffrey kept his head bowed like a child who had done something wrong, his eyes watery.Justin stared at him, then tugged at Renee's arm, urging, "Hurry up and forgive him. He's heartbroken." "I never blamed him, so there's nothing to forgive." Renee scowled. "All I
Three days later, Renee's vital signs were back to normal, so she requested to be discharged from the hospital. Instead of hiding in Joyner Village to heal, she returned to Beach City with Jeffrey. She promised Cole and Ava that she would show Jeffrey the outside world and make him learn through experiences. She did plan to introduce him to Xavier's company so he could try to make a living in the entertainment field. "You're so nice to my family. We don't know how to repay you!" Ava wiped away her sweat and smiled gratefully at Renee. Rich and noble people would generally pinch their noses and leave when they saw stinky fishermen like them, but Renee was different. Not only did she not despise them, she also regarded them as her family. Back then, she had given them money to help resolve their family crisis, and now, she was helping with Jeffrey's future. Ava felt that she could never repay such kindness even if it took up her entire lifetime."You're welcome, Mrs. Joyner. I want to
Renee looked ahead silently, then sighed and said firmly, "Let's go home." Previously, she'd been gloomy and depressed, and she didn't want her mood to affect the children if she went home. However, the ocean seemed to have cleansed her of all those bad emotions, and she had finally come to her senses and regained the confidence to face her family and friends."Are you feeling more like yourself now?" Justin asked with a smile. Renee was different now—she was like a warrior who had found her armor. It had been a while since Justin had seen her like this, and he was genuinely happy for her."I am." Renee nodded."I'm glad to hear that. Well, people... can get a little crazy sometimes, but it's alright as long as you know how to get your groove back. Welcome back, Phoenix!" Then, Justin stepped on the pedal and sped onto the highway. After around half a day, the car finally reached Everheart Manor. Renee got out of the car, feeling melancholic. Her house was just as she remembered
"Abby!" Renee turned around, and when she saw her daughter, her heart warmed. She carried Abby in her arms. "Yes, it's me. I'm sorry, baby… I was away for a long time. Did you miss me?" Abby looked tense when Renee picked her up, and she shook her head. "You're not Mommy. Mommy's eyes are black, and she can't see.""Umm, well..." Renee smiled in amusement, then blinked and said, "I've changed my eyes, and now I can see you, Abby. What do you think? Do you like my new eyes?" "Are you really my mommy?" Abby looked doubtful. Abby was still young and naive, so when Renee looked different from what Abby was familiar with, she became suspicious. "Yes, touch me if you don't believe me. Don't I look the same?" Renee put Abby's hand on her cheek.At first, Abby was cautious as she tentatively touched Renee's face. However, the moment she felt Renee's skin, the little girl's eyes lit up in joy. "Yes, you're Mommy! Only Mommy has such smooth and soft skin..." She held Renee's arm and sobb
Renee followed Adie to the bedroom on the second floor quickly.Adie smoothly turned on the computer and opened his email inbox, ponting at a recent email excitedly. "This is the email I just got from Daddy. He asked Abby and me to be good and listen to you, and said he'll be back after settling his things." Renee stared at the email with mixed feelings. After taking a deep breath, she leaned towards the screen and read the email. It was roughly what Adie had said—Stefan had told the children that he was safe, asked them to be good, and told them not to anger Renee. He also promised that he would be back soon. The email had been sent from Stefan's private email.Both Adie and Abby didn't know what was going on between Renee and Stefan, and were just happy at the thought of having a family reunion. They hugged Renee. "Mommy, I knew that you and Daddy must have left suddenly because of something. We can be a happy family again soon!" Renee felt uneasy, and touched their faces, sayi
"Mommy, why are you saying that? Did you argue with Daddy again? Did something happen to him? Why are you so sure that he won't be back?" Adie's gaze was sharp as he asked Renee."Umm..." Renee stalled, not knowing how to explain it. Adie squinted at Renee and said slowly, "You must have argued with Daddy. Daddy's probably scared of coming home and facing your anger, right?"Renee sighed deeply, and confessed, "I do want to argue with him… but the problem is that I never saw him again after he left. How can I argue with him?" It was weird. They used to be madly in love with each other, and Stefan was even willing to give up Hunt Enterprise and his life for her, but why did he no longer want to see her? Adie might be right—Stefan might have figured that Renee was aware of his disloyalty and was afraid of her anger, so he was too scared to meet her. "Mommy, ask yourself this—if Daddy appears before you now, will you be happy or mad? Will you welcome him with a hug, or will you slap
"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