"Is my body really that magical?" Renee asked in surprise, and Stefan came to mind again. I must be because of those precious herbs he had risked his life for. She felt grateful to him, and her resentment slowly ebbed away. Although they couldn't be together, they peacefully separated with love and respect for each other. It was considered a good ending too."Yeah, that's right!" Damon looked at Renee excitedly. "If we experiment on your bones or blood, it'll be a huge breakthrough for the medical field!" Quinton immediately stood in front of Renee protectively, glaring at Damon angrily. "What kind of crap is that? My sister is a human being, not a lab rat. How can you even think of using her for experiments? If you dare to try it, I'll experiment on you!""Calm down, sir, it was just a theory. I wouldn't do experiments on people." Damon hurriedly smiled and explained himself. "That's not the issue right now. You should get Tiffany hospitalized first. The doctor said she needs to
"She was kidnapped…" After hesitating briefly, Renee decided to tell Damon the truth. "The kidnapper was your wife.""Oh, I see..." Damon frowned, not looking surprised at all. "I figured as much since she and Tiffany went missing together. I was waiting for her to get in touch with me, but I didn't expect her to go crazy and kidnap my daughter. She's really lost her mind... By the way, where is she?" He looked around. "S-She's dead!" Renee admitted. "She took the kids to a deserted island, but there was a hurricane, so they hid in a cave. We got away, but she didn't…" Renee told Damon everything, hoping he would resolve things. "She's dead?" Damon's expression changed briefly, then he shrugged indifferently. "She's been wanting to die for a long time now. Maybe this was what she wanted.""What?!" Renee's eyes bulged in disbelief. Damon's wife had died such a miserable death, but he was so calm. What kind of family was this? "She was your wife. Aren't you sad at all? Don't you wa
"We can't do anything about it anyway." Quinton sighed deeply. He could tell that Tiffany's family was strange, especially Damon. But even so, they were just outsiders. The most they could do was pity Tiffany. "You're not Tiffany's guardian, so the most you could do is advise Damon, but it's his business how he wants to raise his child. You can't meddle in that." Quinton frowned and continued, "You'd better worry about your child instead. I think something's wrong with Adie. He seems to be going through something he doesn't want to tell us about. Why don't you try to talk to him?" "Yeah, I noticed that too." Renee forced herself to look away from Tiffany. "That boy is distancing himself from me. I was planning to talk to him anyway.""Do it well. Don't let your anger get in the way and don't threaten to beat him up. He looks strong, but is actually quite fragile and sensitive. You can't be too harsh with him," Quinton instructed Renee. Many parents felt that they could be rough with
Renee arrived at Adie's wards with those doubts in her mind. Leia and Abby were in the ward with Adie, but Adie was lying in bed listlessly without interacting with them much. He also seemed more aloof with Abby. Abby tried to hold his hand a few times, but he shook her hand off. "Adie, why are you sad? Just smile—you look the best when you smile. Can you smile?" Abby wasn't upset even though Adie ignored her. She tried to make funny faces at him to make him laugh."I told you I don't want to. You're annoying. Get lost!" Adie looked more unhappy and pushed Abby away. Renee happened to see that scene when she opened the door, and immediately shouted at Adie, "What are you doing, Adie? You're her elder brother!" She walked to Abby and hugged Abby, trying to pacify her. "Are you hurt? It's okay, I'm here now." "No, I'm not." Abby shook her head and whispered, "Adie is just playing. I'm sure he's scared because someone bullied him, that's why he's not smiling." "I'm not scared!"
Adie's expression became pitiful when he heard that, and he shook his head. "No, I'm not. I like you the most, Mommy. You're the best in the world. I won't be mad at you no matter what happens.""Then, why didn't you want to come back? You've always been very sensible, so you should have known that everyone was worried about you, right?" Renee asked in frustration. She didn't mind him being naughty sometimes or having his own opinions, but he shouldn't play around with his life or trouble people who loved him."I didn't come back because I thought that maybe… you didn't want me to!" Adie finally admitted. "I'm sure you love Abby and Daddy more than me, and I'm not that important to you either. You won't be sad even if I'm gone.""What are you talking about, Adie?" Renee asked in surprise, not expecting her open-minded son to be so delicate. "You're my child. Of course, I love you. I would risk my life for you!" The one thing that mattered most to her was her children's safety. Her c
Renee sincerely apologized to Adie, hoping he would give her another chance. "You know, this is my first time being a mom, so I'm quite inexperienced. If you think I'm wrong, you should tell me, and I'll try to rectify it.""Mommy, don't do this..." Adie got scared seeing Renee being so gentle with him. "You're not acting like yourself. It's like you're possessed…" Renee was stunned, and she tried to suppress her urge to grab a feather duster and hit him. She forced a smile onto her face. "What do you mean? It's still me… but gentler. I'm usually very tender but I've got to be strict sometimes so you both will listen to me. Since you don't think that's good, I'll be sweeter to you. What do you think? Is a gentle mommy the kind of mommy you like?" Her whole face was stiff trying to maintain her smile. She hoped she could be the kind of mother Adie wanted."No, Mommy, please act normal. I was wrong to ask for too much—your past self was already good," Adie begged. Renee was never thi
"W-What did you say?" Renee's smile immediately disappeared, and her expression turned fierce. "I'm not sure I heard you. Be clear.""Mommy, you said you wouldn't get mad or hit me." Adie knew Renee was about to lose her temper, and calmly continued, "If you're mad, I'll stop. You can hit me too if you want, you don't have to hold yourself back.""Hey, no. I'm not mad!" Renee touched Adie's head forcefully, almost hurting him. She gritted her teeth and said, "I promised that I wouldn't get mad. I won't break my promise!""Okay!" Adie nodded and started explaining his plan. "Honestly, I'm not happy here in Beach City. I loved the free life we lived on Sun Island. I miss the ocean, the beach, the manta ray I fed, and my mysterious small house… Beach City is so boring, and the kindergarten is so childish. I've already learned the entire elementary school syllabus, and everything is so boring. What's the difference between staying in a classroom every day and going to jail?" Adie had wa
It was not the first time Adie had wanted to return to Sun Island. He had seriously considered the pros and cons of living there, and felt like it wouldn't be too difficult at all. "I can buy the things I want at the market, and if I really miss being around people, I'll come back on a plane. But I don't really like crowds." Although he could get along with people, he preferred being alone. It took so much effort to socialize, and it wasn't even fun at all. He preferred being in a quiet environment doing whatever he wanted to do, which was why he was best friends with Tiffany."Do you want to go back there?" Renee asked hesitantly. Since Adie had considered a lot of things, it was clear that this was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. "It's possible for you to go back there."Adie's eyes lit up. "Really? Are you willing to let me go back to Sun Island?" Adie didn't expect to get Renee's approval at all—in fact, he had been prepared to get beaten up by her."Yeah!" Renee nodded casua
"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