"Let's go!" Xavier yanked Leia and said seriously, "The probability of us beating this is higher if we separate. Once we've gotten enough clues, we can regroup and figure it out.""You're right." Leia agreed after thinking about it. All of them quickly ran off, with Xavier and Leia going upstairs while Justin and Jeffrey went downstairs. Renee was left in the registration lobby with the dark figure. The figure chuckled maliciously. "What a pathetic display of human nature! All your friends just left you and ran away.""What's pathetic about it? We're just working in different groups for now. Each of us has our own strengths." Renee tried to figure out how to escape, but the figure was always watching her and blocking her path. She figured the escape room management was paying him well. "You're too naive. I'll teach you the cruelty of this world today…" The dark figure continued, "You have two choices—complete my task and leave, or give the iron hook to me and leave. Pick one.""
"For example, I can fight you one-on-one. If I win, I'll get to leave. What do you think?" Renee asked seriously. It had been her plan from the beginning since she was a professional fighter, having once been the top assassin."No, we can't do that!" The lips of the dark figure twitched in annoyance. "The first rule in the handbook is that you can't beat up the actors. If you do, you'll be disqualified.""Fine!" Renee nodded. After some contemplation, she said reluctantly, "Okay, I'll do the task. How should we hug? Hurry up, I need to keep playing." She found the game rather interesting and didn't want to be disqualified so fast. She couldn't give up the iron hook either, so she had to make some sacrifices and complete the task. After all, it was just a hug. "Okay, you promised." The dark figure sounded satisfied with Renee's choice. He laughed wildly, then threw off his black robe and giant hat. Renee's eyes widened in horror, and she felt nauseous as she stumbled back. "Ugh, w
The dark figure was about to pounce on Renee when Stefan dashed out from a corner and grabbed Renee's wrist. "Let's go!""What are you doing here?" Renee looked up in surprise, but let Stefan pull her to her feet. They quickly ran towards the basement, and the light grew dimmer. Luckily, they were fast, and the figure couldn't go past the lobby. When they ran downstairs, the dark figure stopped chasing them."I'm exhausted! Let me rest for a bit." Renee gasped, shaking off Stefan's hand as she bent over with her hands on her knees. She kept taking in deep breaths. "Take this." Once Renee had calmed down, Stefan quietly handed a drink to her. Renee took the drink and immediately gulped it down, then looked at the cup in her hand. "Wait… Where did you get this drink? It isn't poisoned, is it?" She looked up and asked Stefan suspiciously. "I bought it from the vending machine just now, how could it be poisoned?" Stefan scoffed in disbelief. While the others were stuck in the net,
"Boyfriend..." Stefan stood up. The dim light in the basement made it hard to see his expression, but his stiff figure filled Renee with coldness. He slid his hands into his pockets and asked Renee calmly, "Are you being serious?""I'm always serious because I'm not like certain people. I've always been serious and loyal in my love life—I have no intention of playing with people's hearts. I don't believe in giving people false hope," Renee said critically to Stefan's back."Hmph!" Stefan chuckled bitterly. "I didn't expect you to think so badly of me...""I wasn't talking about you, but you admitted it." Renee didn't want to argue with him, she had just been telling the truth. She felt that there was no right or wrong to how their relationship ended, and she didn't want to let it affect her. She thought it best to just regard him as a stranger who was once her most loved person; She would not let him have the luxury of her feelings. However, she was still human, and she couldn't con
Renee felt unspeakable satisfaction when she heard the envy in Stefan's voice. She lifted her head high and said, "Maybe I don't quite understand what soulmates are, but I know very well what resentment in a relationship means. I want nothing but happiness now, so I'll be with people who make me happy and avoid those who bring me pain.""So, you're saying that Justin can make you happy?" Stefan slowly approached Renee, his expression blank. "I'm curious what kind of happiness he can bring you."Renee stepped back and frowned when her back hit the wall. "That's none of your business, and I'm not obligated to tell you either.""Yes, you're not, but I have the right to ask, don't I?" Stefan caged her against the wall, gripping her wrist to pull her closer. "After all, you're the mother of my kids, so it's natural to be concerned about your life. I need to make sure you're not faking it, because my kids will only be happy if you are.""You're out of your mind! That's unreasonable!" Ren
Others might misunderstand Stefan, but he knew very well that Renee was the only woman he had been with. "What did you say?" Renee's voice was louder than his, so she hadn't heard him.Stefan took a deep breath and shook his head sadly. "Nothing... I just hope that nobody else touches your hands, lips, and body." Unfortunately, he couldn't stop himself from being possessive.Renee was speechless. She had no idea about Stefan's struggles, and found his words ridiculous. "Stefan, don't flatter yourself. You abandoned me and your kids, and now when I'm finally ready to start again, you want me to avoid all men? Do you think you're a king? You can't just send someone away and expect them to keep waiting for you! I never expected such a ridiculous statement from you!" When she was his wife back then, she didn't mind his possessiveness, but they were separated now. Saying something like that was too shameless!"I'm sorry," Stefan said miserably, "I did lose control of myself. It's my fa
Hence, they temporarily forgot about their resentment and focused on clearing the levels. They were currently in the hospital's basement, and the lighting was dim and there were many corners. A ghost or monster could rush out at any point."Did you find any clues in the lobby just now?" Stefan turned around to ask Renee."An iron hook." Renee held onto that iron hook and walked behind Stefan. "Did you find anything strange just now?" Stefan had been standing outside the hospital and had escaped being trapped under the net. Logically, he should have found a lot of clues. "No, I didn't," Stefan answered honestly. "I just went to buy drinks, and when I came back, I saw that dark figure chasing you. I didn't have the time to find any clues.""How useless!" Renee scoffed, "I thought you stayed behind to do something useful, but I got more clues than you." "Tell me what clues you got." Stefan paused and looked at her calmly. "Didn't I tell you? This iron hook is the clue. Plus, it's
Renee looked in the same direction and saw the doors. Heart pounding, she moved closer to Stefan. "What... What's in there?""What do you think?" Stefan calmly replied."We're at the hospital, and this is the basement, so I guess... it should be the morgue." Renee swallowed, getting goosebumps on her skin."Yeah, this should be the morgue." Stefan smirked at her. "Do you want to check it out?""The morgue?" Renee cleared her throat and pretended to be calm. "Well, I don't mind since I'm pretty fearless, but you're delicate. You've never experienced hardships before. What if you see a corpse and faint?" "It's just a dead body... I think I can handle it," Stefan scoffed."Maybe corpses are okay, but if this place used to be a hospital, then I'm sure there are a lot of unhappy spirits and ghosts here. If we bump into them, it'll be unlucky.""Are you scared?" Stefan raised his brows. "If you're scared, we don't have to go in. It's just a game anyway.""No, I'm not! Ghosts are not
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
"Uh…" Amber looked like she was being put in a difficult position. She found it impudent for a man and a woman to be alone in the dense orchard at night. "What's wrong? Is it inconvenient?" Liam frowned, puzzled. He felt that Amber was purposely avoiding him after expressing her desire not to marry him and making Mateo her groom instead.Before, she would always put on her favorite dress and stand at the entrance of the fort, looking eager no matter how late Liam and Benjamin returned from their work.Usually, she would carry a small bamboo basket containing the tea she brewed and dessert or food she had painstakingly prepared. When Liam returned, she would excitedly welcome him and inquire after him. Lately, she no longer did that. When Liam occasionally ran into her in the fort, she would bow indifferently at him and quickly brush past him as if they were merely acquaintances. They seemed distant.Honestly, Liam found it unfamiliar. He couldn't get used to the fact that Amber
"I don't know. Why don't you ask the guards to get us some fried chicken and French fries? Didn't Mateo say that we can ask the guards for food?" Renee said.Leia's anxiety eased as she relaxed. She turned around and got out of bed, then gestured at the guard and ordered quite a lot of food. Meanwhile, Liam accompanied Benjamin to West River in the morning for a negotiation that yielded a good result. Benjamin's attitude had improved. He didn't demand an explanation from Liam about the affairs between Liam and Amber, and didn't ask about Renee or Leia either. Liam was delighted. He carried the unique desserts he had bought at the local market for Renee and Leia to enjoy. Upon arrival, he found that they were not in the room. "Weird. Where did they go?" Liam looked around, but found no sign of Renee and Leia. He casually asked a servant, but the servant stammered and insisted on not knowing anything. Anxious, Liam kept looking for them in the fort. Coincidentally, he ran into