"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
"So?" Renee looked ahead, keeping an aloof face. She even appeared unfeeling. "You know my thoughts, but you recklessly hurt me. What are you trying to say? That you're very charming, and that I'm very stupid? Is that how you satisfy your superiority? Yeah, I'd feel great and successful if I were you, since I was always loyal toward you regardless of how you harmed or humiliated me!" "I didn't mean that." Stefan realized his words might have hurt her self-esteem. A long sigh escaped him. "I just want to tell you that I'm very happy to see you care about me.""Humph! Are you still trying to pretend that you're affectionate?" Renee turned around, and shot Stefan a disdainful gaze. Suddenly, she found him a hypocritical stranger. "We've already ended up this way. You don't have to pretend anymore. So what if I have feelings for you? It won't change our relationship.""You're right." Stefan looked gloomy, as if Renee had reminded him about something. He put away his true feelings,
Renee and Stefan entered the private room one after another, but sat quite far from each other. That deliberate distance made their unclear relationship extremely amorous instead.Dale looked at Renee before turning to Stefan. He subconsciously smiled, then stood up while raising his glass at them. "Come. It's a great day today. I'm honored to dine with you guys. Let me toast to you.""No, you're wrong." Similarly, Renee raised her glass and stood up. She added guiltily, "I should toast to you instead. You kindly helped my sister and offered her a job, but my brother made a scene and caused your school trouble. Let me drink this as a form of apology." She sounded sincere, and refused to give Dale the chance to stand on ceremony. She gulped the drink down.Since it was white wine, it was rather strong despite being just a small glass.When Stefan saw that, he frowned and said icily, "Stop acting tough if you can't drink."Annoyed, Renee said to Stefan, "Humph! How dare you say
Dale suffered the most in that affair. He had to hire an inexperienced person like Joanne because of pressure from Stefan. When things were exposed, he had to bear the blame alone. He was too miserable. "Stefan, how could you make an old man who's going to retire soon to toast to you? You're the one who caused him the trouble. Why did it become his fault instead?" Renee sounded displeased. At the same time, she pitied Dale. She started criticizing Stefan. She had never felt that he was that arrogant and inhumane. "It's okay. No worries." Dale immediately tried to pacify Renee. "Ms. Everheart, you're ignorant about something. Many years ago, Mr. Hunt did me a great favor before I became the principal. I couldn't have achieved this without his help. I just didn't manage this issue well. If not, it wouldn't turn out to be such a big issue. Don't blame Mr. Hunt. He's the most innocent one who's being implicated.""What did he help you with?" Renee was suspicious. "A cruel and heartles
"I'm sorry, Ms. Everheart. This is a major issue, so I have to be honest with Mr. Hunt," Dale said.Facing Stefan's extreme oppression, Dale raised the glass of wine and chose to stand against Renee. He decided to tell the truth.Firstly, he drank a glass of wine to boost his courage. Then, he told Stefan, "Ms. Everheart came to me before you did and proposed something. She wanted me to announce to the media that it was she who threatened me, which was why I made the exception to allow Ms. Garcia to teach in my school. In short, she wants to bear all the blame.""What?" Stefan frowned, surprised. He had thought that Quinton must have instructed Renee to purposely make things worse and burden Hunt Enterprise. Unexpectedly, she…"I must say something as an outsider, Mr. Hunt. Ms. Everheart is very kind, and is very much worried about you. She'd rather bear the blame than see you get burdened. She's so wonderful and saintly. She keeps her kind deeds from others…"Dale must have been
Renee's sudden wrath seemed to have arisen out of shame from being exposed. Angry, she poured herself another glass of white wine and gulped it down. Then, she turned to Dale. "I told you my resolution, Mr. Porter. I have some errands to run, so I'll leave now. Enjoy your meal." With that, she got up to leave."Oh, Ms. Everheart! You haven't eaten. Why are you leaving?" Dale immediately tried to stop her and persuade her kindly. "Relax. We need to discuss how to resolve this issue. I believe Mr. Hunt has considered it too. Perhaps he can come up with a win-win solution.""Well, I'll leave you gentlemen to it. Honestly, I can't get along with him. I get furious when I see him!" Renee's face was icy, and she finally left. "Uh…" Dale watched Renee leave before he turned to Stefan, who stayed where he was. After some consideration, he decided to remain with Stefan. "Mr. Hunt, what do you think…we should do now?" "What should we do? I've made it clear to you before." Stefan stood
Stefan walked to Renee. He felt very sorry for her, and kept his head low as he looked at her. However, he had to keep his feelings hidden…"Hey, how are you?" Stefan's low voice came from above Renee. It sounded surreal, like a dream in the vacant corridor."Who are you…?" Feeling dizzy, Renee kept her posture without raising her head. She was slurring her words. At first, she didn't feel much after gulping down glass after glass of white wine. However, it began to take effect and turned her dizzy after a while. She felt like her body and soul were separated. Honestly, she liked this kind of feeling. She rarely got so drunk after becoming a mother because she had to be a role model for her children."I'm your destiny…" Stefan replied. Since Renee was drunk, he stopped pretending to be aloof and distant. He sat down beside her, and faked a smile. "Can you share your thoughts with me?""My destiny?" Finally, Renee looked up and blinked at him. "What do you mean?""Well…" Afte
Adie was still a child, but he acted like a smart person and could see through a lot of things. He could guess why Austin took them to the Baldwin residence. He had also heard the servants of the Baldwin family rebuking Renee in secret. After combining various situations, he learned about what had happened between Renee and Justin. Despite everything, Justin could forgive Renee under such circumstances. He also treated Adie and Abby nicely. It proved that he was a very compassionate man. A small regret gripped Adie. He wondered why Renee didn't date Justin right from the start. If Renee were with such a kind man, she might be very happy. She wouldn't have to suffer through so many hardships either. "No, you don't know me. I always sweat the small stuff."Justin was displeased since Adie had claimed that he was a good guy, like Renee had. He heaved a long sigh and said, "But it's useless even if I sweat the small stuff, so I stop trying. It all comes down to fate. We can't forc
Renee turned and found Jovan unscathed. Relief washed over her. She said grumpily, "It's none of your business!""Tsk! How cruel!" Jovan clutched his chest and pretended to be in deep pain. At the same time, he teased, "I know. Your soulmate is better. I'm so jealous of him, though he's still a fallback guy.""Go to hell, Jovan!" Jovan's nasty words drove Renee mad. She grabbed a piece of napkin, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it at his face. "If I knew you'd talk so badly, I wouldn't be bothered to save you. Maybe you'll get reborn in Ulria. Then, you have to watch your tongue!""Hey! Yeah, I was wrong. You don't have to curse me like that!" Jovan raised his hands to surrender, but felt quite moved. He poured himself a glass of milk and devotedly toasted to her. "Thank you for caring about me and trying your best to save me. I'll toast to you. And you can do whatever you want.""You're so childish." Renee rolled her eyes and was amused.Justin was quite jealous to see them
"What's that?" Justin frowned and said with disdain, "That's something to fool naive women like you. Only lovestruck fools will believe that." As a materialistic person, he never believed in things like horoscopes and fortune-telling. At most, they were mixed with some psychology. They weren't trustworthy at all.If Renee wanted to use those things to talk about their relationships and destinies, it would seem very childish. "Don't be so extreme. Those things are real and logical." Renee acted like an experienced salesperson and gradually eliminated Justin's prejudice. She said patiently, "If you believe those things, they can guide you and help you to see things through. If not, you can use them to kill time. Just try to get to know them. Isn't that nice?"Finally, Justin was convinced. He had some milk and asked her leisurely, "Fine. Tell me what kind of relationship we have based on those things." "I learned that our relationship is a declining friendship based on our birt
"I…" Renee paused. For a moment, she had no idea how to answer that question."Don't put yourself in a difficult position. Just follow your heart," Justin said calmly. "If you want to stay, my family will still welcome you readily. If you want to leave, I'll come up with a way to help you leave smoothly."After listening to Justin, Renee answered honestly, "Maybe it's better for me to leave, though I know this choice will hurt you."She could choose to stay to protect Justin's dignity and give Austin a good explanation. It would be more relaxing and steadier for her. However, Renee knew that it could only last briefly. She would cause Justin greater harm. She might as well be decisive and stop the damage in time. "Don't say that." Justin cracked a bitter smile and said with relief, "I've stopped taking things too seriously. If you like me, you won't stop loving me even if we're apart. Similarly, you'll think about another man if you don't like me, even though you're always b
Austin was having breakfast in the dining room. When he saw Justin and Renee walk over intimately, he finally believed that they had slept together. They seemed like a real couple."Good morning, Grandpa Baldwin!" Renee obediently greeted Austin just like before. She acted normally."Good morning." Austin nodded, unable to suppress his smile. After sizing them up, he calmly said to Renee, "We know how apologetic you are after you toasted to us last night. We'll forget about the past. You're still a part of my family." "Grandpa!" Justin interrupted Austin; he was very protective of Renee. "She's a woman, and we're not married yet. Please don't say that. A woman's reputation is the most important thing.""You…" Austin wanted to refute Justin, but their conflict was just resolved so it would be bad to pressure them more. He shook his head and said, "Fine. You two always have a bland romance. Finally, you've made some progress. I'll let you two decide what to do next.""Got it, Gr
"Hey, Haze! What are you doing? Get off of me!" Renee struggled in confusion."Hush!" Justin gestured and stopped her.In a while, someone unlocked the door of the room."Mr. Baldwin, let me help you and Ms. Everheart change your clothes." A kind middle-aged woman walked into the room casually. When she found them sleeping together intimately, relief washed over her. "Oh, you guys are still sleeping… Fine, I'll leave you be." Then, the woman exited the room.After that, Justin stopped hovering above Renee, looking awkward. "I'm sorry. It happened all of a sudden. If I hadn't done that, they wouldn't let us go. I just did a small thing to resolve the issue." Justin was fully aware of Austin's thoughts. Although Austin was still angry at Renee, he was satisfied with her and wanted to see her get into a real intimate relationship with Justin. If that did not happen, Austin might tie them up together since the drug had failed. Justin could only act with Renee to avoid the in
Renee grinned, satisfied after a long rest. "Why didn't you sleep a bit longer? This bed is comfortable and fluffy." While talking, she behaved like a fish as she extended her limbs and rolled around in bed childishly. In comparison to her calmness and ease, Justin behaved gingerly and did not dare to move as he lay in bed."Do you have any idea what had happened? We aren't dreaming. We're lying in the same bed," Justin said.He was certain that Renee was not fully awake. It explained why she was that composed. Otherwise, any normal woman would get out of bed with a start and keep screaming if they found herself lying in a man's bed."I know!" Renee said. After having a great time rolling around, Renee faced Justin with her head on her arm while lying on her side. "I wanted to drink wine to say sorry to you guys last night, but your family drugged the wine. You drank the same wine when you tried to stop me. We were controlled by the drug and were locked up in this room. T
Renee instantly understood what Justin meant by that. It turned out that the incident was just a part of the Baldwin family's plan. If she left, the Baldwin family would not easily let her off the hook.Justin still cared about her at a time like that, which moved her. "Thank you. You're great." Renee cried; she had no idea how to repay him. "You don't have to thank me. I'm not so great, either. I just hate that they always pester me." Justin purposely sounded relaxed. He finally calmed himself down as he casually grabbed some bandages to bandage his wound. Then, he lay in bed.He slept on one side of the bed and said to Renee, "It's late. You should rest early. This bed is large enough. If you don't mind, you can lie in bed too."The bed was large. It was more than enough even if Renee and Justin lay there."I…" Renee hesitated briefly before she finally got in bed. She trusted Justin. If he wanted to do something indecent to her, he would have long done that. He would no
"I don't know how to tell you. I'm sure you can understand." Renee could not bring herself to say more because it was a humiliating privacy. She might as well keep it to herself."Let me guess…" Justin's gaze grew sharp as he went straight to the point. "The man in your story is Stefan, isn't it?" Silence washed over Renee as she kept her head bowed. It was a silent approval.Justin burst into reckless laughter, which was scary. He looked down at his cut wound and laughed pathetically. "This is why he could make you fall in love with him, and I couldn't. I'm too cultured compared to him.""Don't say that, Haze!"Seeing how defeated Justin was, Renee became uneasy. "It isn't written in the stars for us. Plus, I've fallen in love with Stefan a long time ago before I even got to know you. I also rely on him physically and psychologically. I can't control my feelings. It's not something we can change. We…" "Stop!" Heartbroken, Justin pushed away everything in front of him and s