"Oh, he's responding!" Damon saw Stefan's complexion and the twitching of his fingers, and his eyes brightened with excitement. "Ms. Everheart, your medicinal blood is amazing! I've been a physician for many years, but I've never seen blood this strong before. You're more useful than the Thousand Herb!" At first, he didn't believe that Renee had consumed a lot of herbs. After all, people could not make their blood medicinal just by taking a few supplements. However, she had been telling the truth, and it was an eye-opener for Damon. There was so much he had yet to learn about the world. "That's amazing. If people test your blood, it could save a lot of people!" Damon was a medicine enthusiast, so this discovery excited him.Renee smiled bitterly. "Amazing? I got this body because of all the suffering I've endured." She had been on the verge of death so many times, and she had needed rare herbs to cure her at those times. As time passed, her body had become a container to make medicine
Three days had passed since then."Wake up!" Renee felt like she was floating in the sky. She saw a ray of light, and slowly approached it. It looked like it led into another world—one with no sadness, regret, or separation. In that world, Renee's family of four lived a complete and happy life."Mommy, please wake up. It's Abby…" While walking, Renee felt something warm and soft in her palm, and heard Abby's pitiful sobbing. She abruptly opened her eyes and found herself lying on a hospital bed. Abby, Leia, Quinton, and Justin were gathered around her."What's going on? Am I still alive?" Renee whispered, looking dazed. She felt like she had been about to reach heaven earlier, and the feeling had been so real that this world felt like an illusion to her."Stop messing around! If you were sent here late, or if the hospital didn't have enough blood, you would be dead by now!" Quinton scowled, looking concerned and angry. He was upset that Renee had suffered so much, and furious t
"Adie... He..." The others exchanged glances, looking hesitant.Anxiety filled Renee as she watched them. She was about to push away her blanket to get up, ignoring her IV drip. "What's wrong with Adie? Tell me now. If not, I'll go and see him!""Ren, don't!" Leia gently stopped Renee, who was very agitated. "The most important thing for you right now is to get better. Don't worry about the other things for now.""What do you mean?" Renee looked up at Leia, her eyes watery. "You think my Adie is just some 'other thing'? Nothing is more important than him. If anything happens to him, I'll kill myself too!" "Sis, calm down. Lei didn't mean that." Quinton frowned and said solemnly, "Your body is your treasure. If you ruin your body, how can you protect the people you care about?" "But I have the right to know about my son's condition, right?" Renee was no fool. Given their reactions, something must have happened to Adie. It didn't matter what happened to her body for now, she just
"Adie…" Abby knew that Quinton and Leia were reluctant to tell Renee about Adie, but she felt like she had to tell her mother the truth. "Adie's been kidnapped!""Kidnapped?" Renee's heart skipped a beat. "That's impossible. Adie's so smart, there's no way he can get kidnapped. Has there been a misunderstanding?" Adie had always been smarter and more adaptable than other children, so Renee felt that nobody would dare to harm him. To her, it was more plausible that Adie had kidnapped someone or caused trouble, and he was too afraid to see her."Mommy, Adie really got kidnapped! I'm not lying!" Abby hurriedly added, "Someone called you when you were in a coma, and said you had to go to this horrible place to save Adie. But you lost too much blood at that time, so Uncle Quinton took the call and scolded that person. Then… we lost all news about Adie." The day Renee was admitted to the hospital, Quinton sent a helicopter to bring Abby to the hospital. Abby had stayed by the emergency roo
It was like that name set off a bomb, and the others became furious."Stop thinking about that ungrateful jerk!" Quinton snarled. "It's useless trying to rely on others, we can only rely on ourselves at times like this. I can still find Adie even without Stefan's help.""What… do you mean?" Renee didn't know why Quinton was so agitated. "Where is he now? Is he at the hospital? Does he know that Adie is kidnapped?""Stop talking about him!" Leia gritted her teeth and sighed in frustration. "You almost bled out for him, but what did he do? He turned around and left once he recovered. He's a cruel scumbag!" She was tired of watching Stefan and Renee separate then get back together. Initially, she had supported their relationship, then, she grew to hate Stefan, and now, she was just indifferent about it. She knew how dramatic they were, so there was no point getting emotional over their relationship because things might change again eventually. However, it still infuriated her to see Re
Suddenly, Chase, Quinton's subordinate, rushed into the room. "I have clues! Adie, he…" He stopped when he realized Renee was awake, and glanced at Quinton uncertainly. "What's wrong with Adie? Tell me now!" Renee ignored her injured wrist and leaped out of bed to go to Chase. "Tell me the truth! I'm his mother; I have the right to know!"The bandage around Renee's wrist was red with blood because she had moved too quickly, and when Leia noticed that, she hurriedly held Renee and said soothingly, "Ren, calm down. If not, your wound will open again…""I'll get the nurse!" Justin said anxiously and immediately ran out of the room.A nurse quickly entered a few moments later, and was shocked to see the bloodstained bandage. "Stop moving around. Are you trying to make it worse?""I'm fine!" Renee snapped, determined to get an answer from Chase. "Tell me about Adie's condition now!""Adie, he…" Chase turned to Quinton hesitantly, unsure if he should tell Renee or not."We'll deal wi
After a brief deliberation, Quinton nodded at Chase. "Tell us what's going on then, and don't leave anything out." Then, he turned to the nurse. "Treat her wound carefully. Don't hurt her."The nurse carefully removed the gauze around Renee's wrist. The cut underneath it was deep, and it was bleeding. She hurriedly grabbed some cotton to stop the bleeding, and after a while, the bleeding stopped.Chase swallowed and said carefully, "After a thorough search, our men found Madelyn's location.""Really?" Renee excitedly stood up when she heard that. "Where is she?" "Tiger Island." Chase explained, "Tiger Island is pretty remote and undeveloped. It's quite rough terrain.""I know Tiger Island…" Renee frowned. "It's 100 nautical miles south of the island where the kindergarten held their graduation trip… Why would she go there?" That place was deserted without any shops to provide food or drinks, and today was quite sunny. Renee didn't know how Madelyn got there, and couldn't figure o
"Adie... Well, he..." Chase hesitated, but when he saw Quinton's menacing expression, he hurriedly said, "Adie said that he was happy on the island and didn't want to come home. He even asked us not to disturb him.""What?" Quinton, Leia, and the others were stunned. "Adie was kidnapped—he's not there on vacation! How could he possibly be having fun? Was there some sort of misunderstanding?" Leia asked in disbelief."I'm sure Adie didn't send that!" Quinton glared at Chase. "You're useless. You couldn't handle such a small thing, and you're now trying to lie to us? Get lost!""No, Boss… Adie did say that!" Chase quickly took his phone out and pointed at a text with a picture sent by Adie. "See? That's Adie, right? He even took a selfie, and he looks… happy."Everyone gathered around Chase to read the message. There was a picture of Adie attached to it, and in it, he was sitting on the beach and staring out at the ocean. He looked rather relaxed for someone who had supposedly been
After that, Amber looked at Liam, who kept silent the whole time. She tried to make Liam say something nice. "See, Liam? I told you, Matt's a great guy. He was just joking with us in the orchard to scare us. I'm sure he'll take our sides and protect us. Don't worry.""Is that so?" Liam glanced at Mateo and faked a smile. "Well, I should thank him properly."The air between them grew awkward, but Liam didn't care. He wanted to make Mateo uneasy and force the latter to expose his true self.Amber was simple, but Liam was no fool. Mateo's acting was smooth, but he couldn't trick Liam.Moreover, Mateo was the one who came up with that scheme. He wouldn't let anyone expose it—he wanted to be the one to do it."Okay, aren't we going to get a drink? Let's go. I'll make the chef cook us something nice." Mateo enthusiastically held Liam's shoulders and dragged him forward. At that moment, he turned icy. "If you're a man, stop involving Gem if you want to fight against me. Stop showing of
Liam was no fool. He immediately understood the profound meaning behind Renee's words and stopped saying too much. "Fine, be good. You guys are just taking a rest. I'll handle this well. Wait for my news."He knew very well that the conclusion would be the same regardless if Renee and Leia had offended Luneth's son or the child of an ordinary villager. Mateo simply wanted to use that method to control him. The only way to solve this was to defeat Mateo. However, based on the current situation, Mateo had a lot of followers in the fort. It would be difficult for Liam to defeat him.Luckily, Liam wasn't an easy target either. He had been winning people over these days. That, and he was close with Benjamin's other foster sons. If both parties were to get into a fight, he still had a chance to win.After confirming that Renee and Leia were fine, Liam left the cell. Mateo was waiting outside, grinning triumphantly. He sneered sarcastically, "What do you think? I was telling the trut
"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