Xavier was afraid that Justin might escape, so he tightened his grip, but... something felt wrong. The body in his grasp was soft, and it didn't feel like Justin. In fact, it felt like… However, before he could come to a realization, someone slapped him. "Xavier, you jerk! Just what do you think you're grabbing?" Leia blushed and smoothed her clothes, then slapped Xavier again. "I thought you've changed and become more polite, but it seems you've just become a bigger pervert. You're disgusting!"Stunned, Xavier realized that he had grabbed the wrong person… and the wrong part. Feeling awkward, he tried to explain, "No, I wasn't trying to grab you or that area. It's all a misunderstanding, I swear…" Xavier rubbed his stinging cheeks miserably. "Even if I wanted to be handsy with you, I would have done it in private. I didn't do it on purpose; you have to believe me."Everyone found it amusing, but they were too embarrassed to laugh.Renee turned to Justin and said jokingly, "Did y
Xavier had no choice but to betray his buddy to save himself. "Okay, okay, I'll talk!" Xavier still had his eye mask on, but he looked towards the manor where Stefan was. "As I said, he's nearby… probably within a radius of two kilometers. But as for the identity of the pervert, I'm sure you can find out if you want."Renee looked in the same direction and saw the manor opposite her and that giant French window. The window was draped with thick curtains, which didn't make sense since it was broad daylight. That meant that the pervert was probably hidden in the manor. Renee had no idea if it was her imagination, but as she stared at the window, she felt like someone was staring back at her. Although the window was far away, Renee felt something in her heart stir. Leia looked in the same direction but found nothing out of the ordinary. Confused, she asked Renee, "Ren, what are you staring at? Is there something there? I can't see anything.""No, I'm not staring at anything..." Renee
Xavier's eyes widened in despair. "I care so much about you, but you're trying to kill me?" Phones were even more private than one's body, and they couldn't simply be exposed to people."You took a risk and lost. You should be punished since you lost the game..." Impatient, Leia urged, "Stop wasting time and just give it to me. Is there anything bad in there?" "You're too violent. No one can tolerate you in this world except me." Although Xavier was complaining, he still obediently handed his phone to Leia. He had a clear conscience when it came to intimacy, but there were other secrets on his phone such as... Stefan's secret. Leia sat under a tree and started going through Xavier's phone.Georgiana: Master Xavier, I miss you. Let's go to the bar tonight. See you there...Xavier immediately explained, "She's a new celebrity my company hired lately. She's rather enthusiastic." Leia ignored him and kept on reading.Mr. Clarke: Master Xavier, what do you think about Willie from
At night, Renee finally breathed a sigh of relief after putting the children to bed. Renee stood at the large balcony in her room, enjoying the cool night breeze under the dim moonlight. "Do you want a drink?" Leia walked into Renee's room, her eyes bright as she carried two cans of fruit beer with a high alcohol percentage.When Renee heard Leia, she turned around eagerly. "Sure!" She hadn't had alcohol since she turned blind and got poisoned. It had also been a long time since she had been this relaxed. "Wait!" Leia dragged a chair over to Renee, then ran downstairs and brought up a large bag of takeouts. "I bought some fried prawns and French fries. Let's have a feast tonight!""Sure! It's been a long time since I had fried prawns!" Renee sniffed the tasty prawns eagerly. Previously, she couldn't eat spicy food, but over the past few years, she was learning to try food with strong flavours.They unscrewed the cans and clinked them before gulping the beer down. Then, they put
Leia almost choked on her beer. Her eyes widened as she stared at Renee in disbelief. "Ren, what did you say?! Stefan had an affair?""Maybe." Renee shrugged and laughed bitterly. "Isn't it dramatic?" She had suffered so much pain lately. She had lost her sight and her baby, then had nearly died from the pain of heavy metal poisoning. She had yearned for Stefan to come home quickly when she was in so much pain that she wished to die because he had been her strength and support. She had never been so depressed back then, but she had almost had a mental breakdown when she found out about Stefan and Briar. It had disgusted her so much that she had finally given up hope; All that was left in her was disappointment. "It can't be!" Leia put the can down and sat up straight. She looked at Renee and said firmly, "I know Stefan—he's not the type to cheat on his lover. If he wanted to, he would have done it ages ago. You both were entangled for many years, and I know that he's always been hon
"Briar?" Leia gaped at Renee in bewilderment. "Why is that wicked woman suddenly back in the picture? She just doesn't go away!" However, considering how obsessed Briar was with Stefan, Leia could picture it happening. After all, Briar had gone to extremes to meddle in Stefan and Renee's relationship, and it had made Renee and Stefan miss the chance to be with each other for many years. If Briar hadn't meddled in it, Renee and Stefan might not have gotten a divorce, and they would have been a happy family of four. "Briar said Stefan was a normal man with desires, and since I was sick and bedridden back then, I couldn't satisfy him… which was why he went to her." Renee explained calmly, reiterating to Leia what Briar had told her. Surprisingly, she no longer felt pain when she spoke about it; It just sounded ridiculous, like one of those melodramatic dramas she had watched. "Don't listen to her crap!" Leia snorted. "That scumbag wasn't the kind of man who indulged in such things—he'
Both women had things on their mind, and once they were both drunk, Leia left the room. Once Leia was gone, Renee lay in bed alone. Her head hurt and she couldn't fall asleep, so she got out of bed and made her way downstairs. At last, a voice in her heart led her to the manor next to hers. It was the manor she had looked at when they played the game today. In the past, a foreign businessman stayed there, but when the neighborhood was rumored to be haunted because of the affairs concerning Everheart Manor, a lot of people left, including the businessman. Renee remembered that the neighboring manor had been vacant when Everheart Manor was being rebuilt, however, though the manor still looked abandoned, it felt like someone was still living there. The lights in the bedroom facing hers were on, so… was Stefan upstairs right now? Renee was quite sure that Stefan was living in that manor. She could always feel an invisible gaze on her back, and Stefan's IP address that Justin had found
"You..." Renee tightened her grip on the tree, squinting at the man below. He seemed familiar, but she couldn't remember his name."It looks like you've forgotten about me, little girl!" The man sighed dramatically, but his eyes shone with mirth. He had sharp features, brown curly hair, and light blue eyes like Renee—he looked like a typical guy from Varangia."You're..." Renee frowned as she tried to recall who this stranger was. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "Are you Jamie? Is that really you, big guy?" "Thank God you remembered—I wouldn't be able to call myself your childhood friend if you didn't!" Jamie Thatcher's smile deepened, dimpling his cheeks. He was the son of the Varangia couple who lived next door to the Everhearts, and he had grown up with Renee. Since they were of different ethnicities, he had always been taller and sturdier than Renee, leading to Renee calling him 'big guy' and him calling her 'little girl'.When they were young, Jamie doted on Renee very much. He al
"What's that?" Justin frowned and said with disdain, "That's something to fool naive women like you. Only lovestruck fools will believe that." As a materialistic person, he never believed in things like horoscopes and fortune-telling. At most, they were mixed with some psychology. They weren't trustworthy at all.If Renee wanted to use those things to talk about their relationships and destinies, it would seem very childish. "Don't be so extreme. Those things are real and logical." Renee acted like an experienced salesperson and gradually eliminated Justin's prejudice. She said patiently, "If you believe those things, they can guide you and help you to see things through. If not, you can use them to kill time. Just try to get to know them. Isn't that nice?"Finally, Justin was convinced. He had some milk and asked her leisurely, "Fine. Tell me what kind of relationship we have based on those things." "I learned that our relationship is a declining friendship based on our birt
"I…" Renee paused. For a moment, she had no idea how to answer that question."Don't put yourself in a difficult position. Just follow your heart," Justin said calmly. "If you want to stay, my family will still welcome you readily. If you want to leave, I'll come up with a way to help you leave smoothly."After listening to Justin, Renee answered honestly, "Maybe it's better for me to leave, though I know this choice will hurt you."She could choose to stay to protect Justin's dignity and give Austin a good explanation. It would be more relaxing and steadier for her. However, Renee knew that it could only last briefly. She would cause Justin greater harm. She might as well be decisive and stop the damage in time. "Don't say that." Justin cracked a bitter smile and said with relief, "I've stopped taking things too seriously. If you like me, you won't stop loving me even if we're apart. Similarly, you'll think about another man if you don't like me, even though you're always b
Austin was having breakfast in the dining room. When he saw Justin and Renee walk over intimately, he finally believed that they had slept together. They seemed like a real couple."Good morning, Grandpa Baldwin!" Renee obediently greeted Austin just like before. She acted normally."Good morning." Austin nodded, unable to suppress his smile. After sizing them up, he calmly said to Renee, "We know how apologetic you are after you toasted to us last night. We'll forget about the past. You're still a part of my family." "Grandpa!" Justin interrupted Austin; he was very protective of Renee. "She's a woman, and we're not married yet. Please don't say that. A woman's reputation is the most important thing.""You…" Austin wanted to refute Justin, but their conflict was just resolved so it would be bad to pressure them more. He shook his head and said, "Fine. You two always have a bland romance. Finally, you've made some progress. I'll let you two decide what to do next.""Got it, Gr
"Hey, Haze! What are you doing? Get off of me!" Renee struggled in confusion."Hush!" Justin gestured and stopped her.In a while, someone unlocked the door of the room."Mr. Baldwin, let me help you and Ms. Everheart change your clothes." A kind middle-aged woman walked into the room casually. When she found them sleeping together intimately, relief washed over her. "Oh, you guys are still sleeping… Fine, I'll leave you be." Then, the woman exited the room.After that, Justin stopped hovering above Renee, looking awkward. "I'm sorry. It happened all of a sudden. If I hadn't done that, they wouldn't let us go. I just did a small thing to resolve the issue." Justin was fully aware of Austin's thoughts. Although Austin was still angry at Renee, he was satisfied with her and wanted to see her get into a real intimate relationship with Justin. If that did not happen, Austin might tie them up together since the drug had failed. Justin could only act with Renee to avoid the in
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