Exhausted, Renee finally understood how helpless a parent would be when their children reached the rebellious stage. The current Quinton acted like a rebellious child. The different thing was, a rebellious child would at most talk back. Quinton, on the other hand, would put them into action. It was a dilemma."I think… Is it because of Stefan?" Quinton watched Renee's expression, and hit the nail on the head.Stunned, Renee pursed her lips and pretended to be ignorant. "What… What do you mean?""You're so eager to settle that issue. I guess it's not only because of Joanne and me. You're afraid of burdening Stefan, aren't you?" Quinton continued pointing out the reason she wanted to go to the school. Besides, he knew that his guess was right based on Renee's reaction. He was an impulsive man who was prone to anger, but he was no fool. When Renee spoke up, he would know her thoughts. Besides, they were twins who were very close to each other. "No, I'm not!" Renee smoothed her
The crowd was agitated, and kept rebuking and slandering Stefan."So, it was the president of Hunt Enterprise who pulled strings here! No wonder the principal made such a bold move!""Tsk! Rumor has it that Stefan's the local tyrant. He can do whatever he wants. Well, that's not wrong…""We can't have a guy like that in Beach City! He must answer to the law!""I heard he's always cruel and heartless. He even targeted his first wife and abandoned his family just because of his mistress. What a scumbag!"Renee covered her face when she heard their rebukes. She was afraid of being burdened when others recognized her. "Excuse me!" She took a deep breath, and tried to walk forward among the agitated parents. She even became worried about Stefan. The issue seemed trivial, but it created a domino effect. One single mistake caused a lot of consequences. During the recent two years, the image of Hunt Enterprise suffered a great blow because of Stefan and Renee's divorce, the resentme
Surprised, the secretary asked, "I heard Ms. Garcia has no family. Isn't that right?""No, I'm her family. I can call her right now if you don't believe me." Renee fished her phone out to prove herself."That's unnecessary." At that time, the principal's voice came from the office. "Harmony, let her in."Harmony Cyan, the secretary, nodded and replied, "Okay, Mr. Porter." Then, she let Renee into the office.Renee smoothed her looks, and took a deep breath. She politely knocked on the door of the office before entering it carefully.Dale Porter, the principal, was working hard in the office, his head lowered. Although he was in his fifties and had gray hair, he looked energetic and was in good spirits.Renee walked to the office desk, and gently introduced herself to Dale. "Mr. Porter, hello. I'm Joanne's sister, Renee Everheart." "Renee?" Dale frowned and tried to recall who that was. Suddenly, he looked up and asked in surprise, "So you're Mrs. Hunt?""No!" Renee hurriedly w
"No, you got me wrong!" Renee immediately denied it. She looked awkward, as if she had been seen through. "I just want to minimize the negative impact. I'll still do this even if this issue has nothing to do with Stefan." "Fine." Dale nodded without getting to the bottom of it. "I wanted to take full responsibility for this. After all, I'm going to retire. But since you're willing to step forward, I won't reject your offer. My pension is very important, too. If this issue gets bigger, my family will be humiliated. Plus, I might not retire peacefully. It's horrible just thinking of it.""I'm sorry, Mr. Porter. In short, I should be held responsible for this. Thank you for giving Joanne this working opportunity too. She cherished this very much, and kept saying that being a teacher was like a second chance in life," Renee apologized to Dale sincerely, and thanked him. She knew the issue wouldn't be that serious if not for Quinton's craziness. Hence, she felt that she should step for
Dale broke out in a cold sweat, as Renee's attitude had changed all of a sudden. She was telling a different story now.Renee kept a gloomy face, and wanted to leave once she was done. However, Stefan gripped her wrist. "No rush, since you're already here.""I came to do my business, and so did you. We don't have to get our issues mixed up." Renee kept a cold attitude, and insisted on leaving. But… It seemed like she was just trying to run away."Are you that afraid of me?" Stefan watched her with an intense but complicated gaze. There was even some disdain gleaming in his eyes as the more superior one.Certainly, Renee couldn't accept to be inferior. She immediately became competitive. She gnashed her teeth and swung off his hand. "No, I'm not. Let's talk, then."She looked at Dale, and suggested, "Mr. Porter, didn't you book a private room in The Crane? Stop standing there. Let's go now. I'm hungry.""Okay, let's not waste time. We'll take a special path," Dale suggested eage
Stefan snorted. "Did I say something wrong? You should know what kind of man your brother is." Like Renee, Stefan felt guilty toward Joanne too. If Joanne hadn't told him about some flaws in Carmine Pawnshop, he wouldn't have defeated Quinton so quickly. Hunt Enterprise would not have made rapid progress, either.Unfortunately, Joanne was burdened because of that affair. She led a miserable life for many years, and was insulted by others. In short, Stefan was responsible for it too. Hence, he tried all means to compensate her and hoped that she could lead a normal and stable life.However, Joanne's stable life lasted briefly before the crazy Quinton ruined it. Naturally, Stefan was furious. But he didn't find fault with Quinton, given the relationship between Renee and Quinton."No, you got it wrong!" Renee eagerly tried to explain it for her and Quinton's sake. "I sincerely take Joanne as my friend. I feel sorry for her to see her lead a bad life. I'm also doing my best to comp
"The legendary Midnight Demon is just like a crazy dog. Of course, it's hard to pick on him. I just hope that you can control him well and not let him harm Joanne again. Is that wrong?" Stefan retorted.He was very stubborn on that affair, all because of his pity and guilt toward Joanne."Watch your tongue! He was once your brother-in-law. Have you ever considered my feelings when you said that?" Renee started taking action, and punched his shoulders. "Plus, he's changed now. If you want the best for Joanne, why don't you give Quinton a chance? But no, you're unwilling to forgive him. You're so annoying! You can always drive me mad!" At that time, Renee stopped pretending and regarded him as her family. When her ex-husband drove her mad, she instinctively wanted to beat him up.Consequently, her punch made their atmosphere between them less hostile. Stefan even grinned in a way that escaped his notice. Regardless of how they argued with each other and wanted to break up with eac
Flabbergasted, Stefan's eyes widened and leaned against the seat. He was struck dumb as he watched the woman who suddenly took the initiative to kiss him. At the same time, the parents who had surrounded the car and stared into the car window covered their eyes when they saw a lovey-dovey young couple. Then, they left.When the car drove out of from the parents' sight, Renee pulled away from Stefan. However, the kiss seemed to have raised the feelings they had for each other.Stefan quickly held Renee's waist, and said hoarsely, "You want to run away after taking advantage of me?""No, I didn't!" Renee blushed shyly. "I was worried the parents would find fault with you, so I covered you. But you're heartless. If I knew, I wouldn't have helped you. I should have let the parents scold you instead!" She had come up with that idea in a moment of desperation. If the parents found Stefan in the car, they would confirm that he did bribe the principal. It would make a bad impact on Hu
Austin was telling the truth."Of course, children will always stay with their mothers. Home is wherever their mother is. You'd better ask about Ren's opinion instead of making a scene here."Austin glanced at the gilded ancient clock above the hall, his eyes sharp."The engagement ceremony of my grandson and Ren is about to start in ten minutes. You can ask her opinion when she's here.""Really?"Francine was delightedly surprised. For the first time, she felt that Austin was not as horrible as legend had it. He was reasonable. She tried to reconfirm with him. "So, you're saying that I can ask Ren to come home with me when she's out, and you'll let her go if she says yes?" "No, you're wrong." Austin shook his head. "She came here willingly. Of course, it's not as if you need to ask me to let her go.""It's fine. That's not important as long as you remember what you said." Francine was confident and eager. She then said smugly to Austin and the others, "Wait and see! I have w
When things became awful, an old but awe-inspiring voice came from behind them."What are you doing?" Undeniably, it was the powerful Austin who also enjoyed the highest status in North City.Instantly, the onlookers retreated and held their breaths.They knew how horrifyingly powerful Austin was because he owned military power. It would be very normal if he asked his army to shoot them to death if they fell out with him.Francine and the others, who were engaged in a fight, stopped too."Old Master Baldwin, nice to meet you."Francine nodded at Austin but didn't let go of Sophia. The scene was tense, but her actions looked amusing. "Dad, hurry up and catch these two! They're being unreasonable!"Sophia's pinned hair was messy because Francine kept scratching at it. If she wasn't mentally strong enough, she might have cried. She had imagined endless ways how the Hunt family would make a scene—except for the most primitive way. Francine made a scene like a three-year-old ki
Francine went berserk again and gripped Sophia's neck. "I'm going to count to three! Get my grandkids here! I'm going to take them home! If not, I'll break your neck!" she yelled. She couldn't stop Renee from marrying someone else, but she couldn't tolerate her two grandchildren relying on others' charity like Renee.It wasn't only about her dignity, but more about the children's growth and mental health. She couldn't be careless."You're out of your mind! Drive them out of here!"Sophia was a decent woman who couldn't allow herself to go berserk. Although she had a glib tongue, she found herself unable to handle a figure like Francine. Francine was never too harsh and would only make a scene. But now, she was out of control and was screaming nonstop. "Talk it out with them. Don't use violence. We're parents. It's humiliating to be violent," Alexander interrupted.Alexander tried to make Francine calm down and behave herself. Even so, he didn't act accordingly and pushed Ja
Francine's obvious provocation made others draw in a cold breath, let alone Justin's parents.No wonder she was one of the Four Princesses of Beach City. She was much too impulsive. Justin's parents looked very hideous. However, Sophia wasn't so soft. After taking a few deep breaths, she faced Francine with the same fake smile. "Don't worry. I'll take Adie and Abby back home. Since Ren is marrying Justin, my family will treat the kids as ours. We'll be their grandparents. In a few years, my son and Ren will have more kids to be their siblings. Then, we'll be one family!""What? Do you want to take the kids back home?" Fury instantly gripped Francine. She ignored all decency and demanded fiercely, "What do you want to do to my grandkids? They're still young! How could you target them?" "You must be mistaken. Ren is going to be a part of my family, so naturally, her kids are going to come with her. I'm sure there isn't anything wrong with that." Sophia snorted. "You're their bi
Leia couldn't understand it. Both Renee and Stefan once loved each other passionately. They had soldiered through a lot of difficulties. But when everything became better, they stopped seeing each other. Such separation brought a fatal blow to her views on love. Suddenly, she found herself too timid to give up her heart. After all, it was nothing. People could break up with each other easily."No wonder Xavier refused to come. If he was here, I would have hated him because of Stefan. I'd beat the crap out of him!" Leia was furious, but she couldn't find someone to vent her anger on.The Stuart family was invited to the party too, but Xavier refused to come. He claimed that he would have betrayed Stefan if he had come to the party.However, Stefan was the greatest betrayal of his romance since he remained silent and indifferent. While Leia was still angry, everyone in the hall suddenly fell silent. They stretched their heads to look at the entrance of the hall."The Hunt famil
"I… I don't know what you're talking about," Liam muttered guiltily, avoiding Leia's scrutinizing gaze. "You must know what I'm talking about!" Leia refused to let Liam go and went straight to the point. "Look! Because of such a bind, you probably fell in love with Amber, who isn't related to you. Why can't Ren fall in love with Justin after spending a long time with him?""So, what's your point?" Liam didn't refute Leia. He was curious about what she was trying to say. Leia reasonably explained her opinion, "I'm trying to tell you that things might not be as bad as you imagine. Even if you take Ren away and stop this ceremony, things might not be better either."She was too timid to tell Liam that she regarded Renee and Justin's marriage in a favorable light because she found them similar. Similar people could at least lead a stable life though it might not be very passionate and exciting.After leading a wandering life for such a long time, Renee needed steady happiness. It
Liam was impressed while looking at Justin's calm expression. He had always thought that Justin was cunning and full of schemes. He was even worried that Justin might plot against Renee in the future.However, Justin was quite open and generous. He was considering things from Renee's angle. He could be Renee's haven, but if he stepped down, he could willingly grant Renee's wish to be with the one she loved. It seemed that Justin was selfless, and Liam felt that he was worse than Justin. No wonder Renee would choose to spend the rest of her life with Justin. It seemed like he was a reliable man.Justin pocketed his hands and asked casually, "Is there any other problem now?""Not at the moment." Liam frowned in defeat. Since Justin had made such a big compromise, he would seem like a fool if he was too arrogant and refused to give up. A long sigh escaped him as he let go of Renee's hand, but he was still hopeful. He boasted to Justin, "Wait and see! I'll make Stefan appear.""Go
"Let go of her!" Justin turned cold and grabbed Renee's other hand. He said darkly to Liam, "You don't have the right to take her with you!""Hmph! I don't have the right to take her with me? Well, you don't have the right to marry her. I must take her with me today. Worst comes to worst, I'll fight your family!"Though he was too weak to fight the powerful Baldwin family, Liam was never a coward. He would fight the whole world alone for the sake of Renee's happy and stable life."Calm down…"In comparison, Justin was calmer. He was probably more confident since it was his territory and he could affirm Renee would not leave with Liam. He started mocking Liam. "I'm not the kind of person who will force others to do things they refuse to do. If Ren wants to leave, I'll let her go even if my family disowns me. But I know that she won't leave. At the very least, she won't leave with you.""What do you mean?" Liam could tell that Justin was mocking him, and it annoyed him. "Why are
Liam felt that his situation at the fort was almost the same as Renee's current situation. He had thought that the marriage was just for show. If he was unhappy, he could get a divorce. Even then, things were not that easy when he wanted to get out of that mess. If Amber had not protected him, Benjamin would have long gotten him killed. He knew better than anyone else how unfair it was for the other party when one tolerated and went through with the marriage.Amber was naive and was willing to be treated unfairly, but Justin was no fool. He would not be able to take it if it lasted for a long time. It was easy to imagine what Renee would face when Justin stopped taking her side."Let's go! I'm not afraid. You don't have to be afraid, either." Liam made up his mind to support Renee, who was standing behind him.Renee bit her lips and started to waver; not because she did not want to be with Justin, but simply because she was not confident in herself. She was afraid she would neve