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
Renee's calmness surprised the others."How do you know that Adie was the one who sent the message?" Quinton read the message over and over again and couldn't see anything unusual. He frowned in concern. "But we can't just let him be. Leave this to me—I'll bring Adie home safely." Quinton knew that Renee wouldn't recover well as long as she was worried about Adie… but Renee seemed strangely unbothered about the situation."Adie always adds exclusive codes to his messages, and if you decipher them, you'll find out his true thoughts…" Renee inhaled deeply and explained, "You won't be able to bring him back unless he wants to come back. You'll just be troubling yourselves, so I suggest waiting for him. Once he sees things through, he'll come home." In the past, Adie had gone to Beach City and even snuck into Hunt Enterprise on his own. If he could survive that, he could survive being kidnapped by an ordinary woman. Given Adie's capabilities, Renee was more worried about Tiffany's mother
Adie recalled how Madelyn acted like a wicked witch in the cave at first, but now, she was gentle and compassionate. It was like seeing two different people, and he had no idea what had happened in between. Maybe he had charmed Tiffany's mother, or maybe she had suddenly realized her mistake. All he knew was that Madelyn tied him and Tiffany up before moving them to that deserted island, and gave them food and water from time to time. At night, she would chat with them and sing nursery rhymes for them to put them to sleep. It was baffling. Tiffany seemed happy, but sometimes she cried and clung to Madelyn. Adie was very curious but kept himself from asking about it. Once Madelyn trusted him more, he would bring it up."It's because..." Madelyn stopped flicking the firewood as her gaze grew fierce. "I think of my dead child every time I look at you kids. It's so unfair... Why are you kids so loved by everyone while my child didn't even get to be born? I want you kids to die with my chi
"Madam, snap out of it!" Adie helplessly pointed at his face. "Look at me—I'm not your son. I'm Renee and Stefan's son, and I have nothing to do with you. Stop trying to steal me away!""You..." Madelyn covered her face as she burst into tears. "Why? Why is God punishing me like this? I just want a child who belongs to me… Is that too much to ask?""It isn't!" Adie shrugged and said bluntly, "Since Tiffany's father stopped you from having kids, you should divorce him and have kids with another man." "Don't you think I've thought of that?" Madelyn looked up, her face wet with tears. "After that incident, I became infertile… I can never be a mother for the rest of my life, which is why I hate her father and her. I hate everyone who stops me from being a mother!" Madelyn sobbed miserably. After graduating from college, she had married Damon, who had been married before. Besides, Damon had Tiffany too. Back then, Madelyn regarded Tiffany as her own daughter and gave Tiffany endless car
Tiffany watched Madelyn with teary eyes, then said carefully, "Mommy, I love you. I've always loved you. I've never been mad at you… and I've wronged my brother. Can you forgive me?" She was just a child, but she understood Madelyn's mood swings and feelings toward her. She did not blame Madelyn, and instead, held on by recalling how nicely Madelyn had treated her before. If Madelyn called her, Tiffany would rush over without hesitation regardless of how much Madelyn had hurt her. "No, I should be the one apologizing…" Madelyn admitted finally. "I wasn't good enough. I made you feel insecure, so you were anxious about the arrival of your brother. I wasn't good enough, so your daddy had no confidence that I would treat you well.""It's okay." Madelyn's words moved Tiffany to tears, and the little girl threw herself into Madelyn's arms. "I'll always be your daughter as long as you want me to. I see you as my biological mother!""Thank you for forgiving me. I hope this realization of
Adie was brave when he lived on Sun Island back then, but the one thing he feared was the yearly hurricane season. During that time, there would be heavy rain and strong winds, and trees and houses on the island would be uprooted. It was the scariest time of the year, which was why Adie had learned the signs of an impending hurricane."Hurricane?" Madelyn was stunned. "The weather forecast didn't mention any hurricanes.""Weather forecasts can't be trusted. Stop wasting time—we have to go now!" Adie shouted anxiously, the strong winds nearly knocking him to his feet."Go?" Madelyn looked around, dazed. "Where can we go? We can't sail the yacht in such weather, we'll end up in the sea." She suddenly regretted kidnapping the children and bringing them to such a dangerous place."Let's try to find a cave to shelter from the wind," Adie suggested calmly."That will do!" Madelyn was clueless about all this, so she just regarded Adie as the leader of their group.The three of them stag
"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
Liam walked ahead of Amber, then turned to glance at her. He faked a smile and asked, "What's the matter? Are you worried that I might take advantage of you?" "No, of course not!" Amber quickly shook her head and pushed her scarf up. It had fallen a little. "I just find it improper," she answered softly.She looked like a typical woman from Southeast Aeos, petite and with a small face. Her skin was tanned, and her facial features weren't very distinct. She was charming and reserved, exuding a girlish pureness. She had put on her country's special traditional clothes. The thick clothes, embroidered with various patterns, wrapped around her petite body and gave her an exotic impression. From afar, she appeared like a colorful oil painting. "Hey, it's not improper. If I wanted to do anything to you, I would've done that long ago. I don't have to wait until now." Liam sounded relaxed and prudent to ease Amber's anxiety."Don't worry. I've always regarded you as my younger siste
Amber hurriedly turned Liam down. "You can't help with my affairs. I can handle it.""Well, tell me why I can't help you," Liam pressed. "I… I want to sew a wedding gown. And there are a lot of details that I need to add." Amber became competitive for no reason, and added stubbornly, "Your words aren't absolute. Yes, your business is important, but so is mine!""Oh, you want to sew a wedding gown. I can help you with that…" Liam said, relaxed. "Maybe I didn't get to tell you that I went to a small country in Southeast Aeos when I traveled around the world. I got to know a great sewing master. The pictures he sewed looked real like paintings! I found them interesting, so I learned from him. My sewing skills are probably better than yours. I can help you with that.""Really? You can sew?" Amber was full of surprise and admiration. Her eyes lit up. "I can't sew well. I want to learn from a great master too! If you can do it, can you teach me?""Of course!" Liam promised. "Can you he