For a moment, the atmosphere in the class became tense."Fine! I'll go!" Quinton snarled, flying into a rage. He couldn't understand the meaning of wasting his time there. Besides, he didn't want to recall his past self from Joanne's words. It was heartbreaking.In the past, he was weak as he endured all the grievance and unfairness. He was too timid to resist the Garcia family from oppressing him. Joanne probably saw him as bright, wonderful, and pure, but it was humiliating for him. Now that he had experienced power and superiority, he would never recall the past fondly. All he wanted was to erase his past."Study on your own. I must've gone crazy these days to stay here like a clown. I won't come again!" Then, Quinton got up to leave the class.Renee leaned on the railing, playing a mobile game to kill time. A bad premonition rose in her when she saw Quinton walk out of the class in a fit of anger."What's wrong?" "Nothing!" Quinton looked grumpy. "I'm such a fool. I want
"Leroy found an ancient tomb there with a lot of treasure. The local Cultural Relics Bureau has been alerted, and they're negotiating at the moment. I need to rush there to see if a compromise is possible."Quinton had delayed his business while acting as Joanne's study buddy.Leroy Hollis had informed him about the ancient tomb a week ago, but he was too focused on his studies and didn't pay too much attention to that news. Consequently, the news leaked that week, and the Cultural Relics Bureau was alerted. They wanted all the treasures, or Leroy would be punished severely.Based on the photos sent by Chase, it was clear the tomb came with a long history and was an authentic royal tomb. Any item found in there would cost a fortune. If all the treasures were confiscated by the bureau, it would be a great loss for Carmine Pawnshop. Besides, Leroy had worked for Carmine Pawnshop for many years. If he was arrested and implicated Carmine Pawnshop, it would be very troublesome. If Qu
Joanne looked at the test paper on the table and was silent for a long time. Then, she said thoughtfully, "Instead of making him be my study buddy, I hoped to see his past self. Isn't it ridiculous?"In the past, she liked Quinton very much. She liked the man the TV station would interview because he was charming, wise, and bright. She preferred the days when he was bright and optimistic.If they could return to the night before her college entrance examination, she might choose to hide the incident that caused her pain. If she did so, Quinton wouldn't try to seek justice for her and fall out with her family. Their lives might be different.Unfortunately, there was no time machine. After all, it had happened. The past couldn't be reversed.Renee grabbed the chance to sound out Joanne's thoughts. "You still care about him, don't you? You don't hate him, so you can't cut off from him. Am I right?" She felt that both Joanne and Quinton were insincere. They claimed that they hate
Renee shook her head. "I've experienced a lot of pain, but they're bygones now. They're like the scars on my hands. Slowly, they don't hurt anymore. For example, seeing your parents jump off a tall building and fall in front of you in a pool of blood. Then, your beloved man ignored and betrayed you… There are so many examples. Pain is individual and can't be compared or quantified.""I think I understand." Joanne took a deep breath as if she was suddenly enlightened. "I always thought that my life was dark and dull," she said gloomily. "My destiny was miserable. But when I think about it, I feel that it isn't easy for everyone. Everyone's bound to have some regrets in their lives. I shouldn't dwell on my past and keep using it to punish my current self.""That's right. It's what I want to tell you." Renee felt better because Joanne was finally enlightened.They continued with their lesson. When Joanne resumed studying, she was more attentive than ever. Her messy thoughts no lo
"What do you want to know?" Joanne had turned serious. She was curious about what Renee wanted to ask."I can affirm your parents wouldn't adopt an unrelated boy for no reason, given their character," Renee said. "Probably, they might even sell him to another person. But they adopted him, which was unprecedented. Although they weren't nice to him, they fed and raised him. So, I wanted to know…"After a pause, she continued, "How did they adopt my brother? Or did someone let them have him?""I'm not sure about that." Joanne frowned, trying hard to recall it. "He's only three years older than me. When I was old enough to remember things, he was already living at my home. But at that time, my family openly said he wasn't blood-related to us. So, I knew from the start that he wasn't my biological brother."But there was something quite special. My parents and biological brother had always been lazy. However, my family conditions were okay. They didn't work, but we had money for food an
"I know my family caused your brother's tragedy. I can't calmly make peace with him as if nothing has happened. My guilt doesn't allow me to do that. Plus, my hatred didn't drive me away from him. It's because of my selfishness. I wanted to get away from the situation where I kept punishing myself. I'm so sorry!"Joanne's eyes were red as she sobbed and confessed everything to Renee.Her family had been torturing Quinton, turning him into a gloomy and vicious demon when in fact, he was God's favored child. However, Renee let bygones be bygones and kept helping Joanne. She pulled Joanne out of her abyss and kept teaching Joanne, leading Joanne into a normal path. It filled Joanne with shame."Don't say sorry to me. You and your family are different. You're my brother's light. I should thank you instead," Renee said. She took a deep breath as resentment gleamed in her eyes. "The mastermind hidden behind your family is the worst!"She had no way of knowing the past between tha
For the subsequent few days, Renee gave Joanne lessons while investigating the Garcia family's adoption of Quinton.However, the seemingly clear lead suddenly broke, as though someone deliberately and secretly stopped her. After several attempts, Renee grew more determined. She was certain there must be something fishy in it. One ordinary weekend, she took the two children hiking. The spot she chose was a wild mountain around 60 miles away from Beach City. Leia, her best friend, tagged along.Leia and Xavier had talked things out recently, and were quite lovey-dovey.The two children hiked quickly and steadily. Renee and Leia followed them calmly while chatting."Are you going to get married to Xavier soon?" Renee asked. "Oh, stop that! We're the kind of people who don't get married. We'll just enjoy our relationship," Leia said, gasping as she leaned on the hiking stick. She sounded quite casual. "Oh, so you guys won't get married?" "What's so great about getting marrie
Leia cleared her throat awkwardly. "Yes, he had rather advanced thoughts before. But honestly, the texts he sent me lately show that he has abandoned those ideas.""What do you mean?" Renee asked curiously.She hadn't gotten in touch with Liam lately, but he had sent her a letter inquiring about her affairs some time ago. However, he rarely brought up his situation. He just mentioned that he was doing very well, and told her to not worry about him. Even so, Renee would of course worry about him. Liam had sacrificed himself to help Renee and Joanne escape that hellish place. Renee had no idea how he was doing lately. She had wanted to visit him many times, but real-life circumstances kept her from doing so. "Is he doing fine? Is he having any problems?" Renee asked Leia eagerly."I guess…he's doing fine," Leia stammered.Finally, she failed to hold back the truth from Renee. "Actually, he texted me a few days ago and told me that he's going to marry the daughter of the mas
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