"Mr. Osborne, what should I do about these people?" a dignified-looking man asked Liam softly as the latter walked away quickly. He should be the leader of the team."Catch them and get rid of them. And…burn down this tribe!" Liam instructed solemnly.Renee found it unacceptable. "Get rid of them? How are you going to do that? Is it what I'm thinking of? And this tribe isn't small. There are old people and kids. What should they do if you burn this tribe down?""They nearly roasted and ate you. I've already gone easy on them since I didn't roast them." Liam looked solemn and serious. He didn't find his actions outrageous at all. "They roasted me because it was the norm for them. They weren't taught by the society, but you want to exterminate them. It's too cruel!" she argued."No, it's not. It's a crime. It was you today, and it might be someone else tomorrow. The superiors wanted to handle this, but failed. I'll take it upon myself to eliminate their worries forever!" Liam said
Helpless, Liam got into another car.Amber sat close to Renee and bowed to check Renee's foot, which had been injured by a beast trap. Feeling sorry for Renee, she tried to blow at the injury. "This tribe is used to hurting and roasting people. I'm sure you're in a lot of pain.""I'm fine." Renee looked calm, feeling as though her previous experience was a dream. "I'm tough. Plus, I've run into more ridiculous things and suffered more serious injuries. This isn't a big deal."Leia listened nearby, and muttered, "You can't compare it that way Those were old injuries. And you're injured now, regardless of how big or small it is. It'll bring you pain no matter what. You can't quantify them like that."She felt very sorry for Renee, so she didn't try to stop Liam when the latter declared that he wanted to burn the tribe down. She herself wanted to massacre the entire tribe. They were siblings as well as Renee's loyal friends. They would make anyone who mistreated Renee pay a heavy
"Does Liam act like a child?" Amber bandaged Renee's wound with a beautiful ribbon, indicating her girlish nature. She yearned to see the kind of man Renee had described."He's a mature older guy, and he's been with me for such a long time. I've never seen him act immature. Though, I'd like to see that!" She shook her head self-deprecatingly. "But I don't think I'll get the chance to see that. I heard that men would only show their childish side in front of the women they truly loved. He probably likes you so much, he behaved like a child around you.""No, you've misunderstood again," Renee said quickly.She intended to get rid of Amber's misunderstanding, but only succeeded in complicating her relationship with Liam even further. She hurriedly explained, "He just sees me as his friend! I don't feel anything for him. There's nothing indecent about us. Really, we're just close friends.""Nah, that's not true," Leia intervened. She ignored her future sister-in-law's feelings
The car ride was bumpy. At last, they arrived at Benjamin's fort. Liam quickly got out of the car and eagerly opened the door where Renee was. "Don't move. I'll carry you inside."Without hesitation, he carried Renee in his arms and instructed his subordinate, "Get Dr. Holmes. Hurry!""Liam, put me down! I can walk," Renee protested.She patted Liam's shoulders, awkward. She didn't care if she could walk or not, for she found it very inappropriate for him to carry her that way. She felt she should keep some distance from him, regardless if it was for her or Amber's sake."No, I'm sure you can't walk unless you want to give your legs up," Liam said, ignoring Renee's words. He carried her and walked straight ahead, leaving Amber and Leia behind.Speechlessness overcame Renee. Amber watched Liam's hurried figure from afar and quietly clenched her fists. She looked downcast. Although she was generous, seeing it still saddened her.Leia didn't care about Amber, and even hated the
Liam was unstable and couldn't be considered a good man. He was unsuited to be one's husband. "I know he dislikes being bound. That's what I like about him, so I never intended to control him," Amber said. She kept looking at Liam ahead of her. However, her smile grew fainter. "Liam and I have different lives. I grew up in this fort. I spent all my life here, and I rarely went out. Sometimes I found myself a pet kept by my dad. I don't have my own life."After I got to know Liam, I learned for the first time that people could lead their lives freely. At that time, Dad occasionally saved him. He was recuperating here. I sometimes helped take care of him and he would tell me stories about himself. He told me about the things he learned while traveling the world. He even told me that he liked a beautiful woman very much."I wondered what kind of woman she was to make such a carefree man like him fall for her. Then, I got to meet her. She was brave and smart. She stood against ever
"That's none of your business." Liam's gaze turned icy as he stared at Mateo's outstretched hand. He added fiercely, "Let me repeat—get out of the way!""Then, I'll repeat too—you can go in, but you can't carry her!" Mateo barked. He had no intention to withdraw his hand, and refused to yield.The two fell into a stalemate. Although they were a few feet apart, Renee could sense their intense wrath. She felt like she was roasted above a fire, like she had been when she was with the cannibals. In fact, this was even more torturous. She hurriedly moved and tried her best to jump out of Liam's arms. "It's fine. I can go into the room on my own. One of my feet is clamped, but the other is fine. I can walk."Then, she bent her clamped feet in front of them and hopped into the room."Boss!" Liam blurted out, wanting to support her. He felt very sorry for her."Stop!" Mateo grabbed Liam's arm and watched Leia and Amber, who were slowly walking over. He gnashed his teeth and hissed, "S
"What's wrong, Matt?" Amber was confused. She looked at the room where Renee was. "I want to see Ms. Everheart. She's a guest. Plus, she got hurt because she wanted to attend my wedding with Liam. I have to take care of her.""Oh, please!" Mateo felt sorry for Amber. At the same time, he was angry because of how uncompetitive she was. "Do you know how much Liam cares about her? How could you agree to let her come to your house? You're inviting your enemy. Don't you know that?""No, you're wrong." Amber shook her head. "Ms. Everheart and Liam know each other. Plus, he liked her long ago. My dad just forced him to marry me. It's normal if he doesn't like me and is still in love with Ms. Everheart. I'm the one to be blamed because I'm selfish. I know that he doesn't like me, but I manipulated my father to get together with Liam.""What are you talking about, silly girl?" Mateo clutched his chest, furious. "He was the one who suggested the marriage to Master! It proves that he wants to
Liam stood rooted to the spot, and didn't even move his head away. The teacup hit him squarely on the head, and the wound started to bleed. Despite that, he said calmly and expressionlessly, "It's your call, Mr. Jenkins. I'll support you unconditionally.""Humph! Unconditionally?" Benjamin glared at him, furious. He said icily, "Mr. Waddell wants us to help him eliminate the ruffians at Southsand. Can you do that?""If you need me to do it, I won't say no," Liam replied, his composure unruffled. No one could tell what he was feeling.Grayson Waddell looked at Liam, and nodded with satisfaction. "Ben, you've got a lot of foster sons, but I prefer Liam best. No wonder you picked him as your future son-in-law. I'm sure he won't have any problems inheriting your work.""Quit praising him. Out of everyone, I despise him the most." Benjamin glared disdainfully at Liam. "He won my heart in the past, but he's getting more rebellious lately. He gets hostile easily, as if someone's forcing
"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
Time passed by. Gradually, the pain knocked some sense into Justin. He no longer wanted to take advantage of Renee."Let me get you some water." Renee had no idea what she could do for Justin. After some contemplation, she got to her feet and poured him a glass of water.Finally, she studied the room closely and found that it was a wedding room as Justin had mentioned. Everything was set up according to her preferences, which she had occasionally mentioned to Justin. For example, she loved keeping some ceramic ornaments on the bedside cabinet and hanging some seashell wind chimes at the windows. The entire room was painted in beige and green, which were her favorites, too. Beige gave a sense of warmth, while green gave a sense of gloominess. All of those details became the perfect wedding room for Renee.If everything went on smoothly, she would spend most of her time there, and he would be her life companion. Unfortunately, there were no ifs in the world.Renee handed the gla
Renee covered her lips, her tone filled with disbelief. "I…cut myself." Justin leaned against the corner and frowned deeply. He was in deep pain."Why did you cut yourself?" Renee was scared out of her wits and grew more sober. In her panic, she threw herself at him and tried to stop his bleeding.Justin reacted aggressively as he waved his dagger and warned fiercely, "Get away from me! Don't touch me!" "I…" Renee paused, too afraid to act recklessly. She pointed at his wound and said, "I'm just worried about you. You're bleeding. It must hurt a lot. Why did you hurt yourself?" "It's better to be in pain!" Justin gnashed his teeth and said in agony, "The pain will knock some sense into me, so I won't act like an animal and lose control of myself.""I see…" Stunned, Renee was moved to tears. She understood why he cut himself. Surprisingly, he wanted to stay sober and not be controlled by the drug in the wine.He could have used her to satisfy his desire, and she would never b
"You're playing with fire!" Justin leaned close to Renee's ears and said fiercely, "What do you think there is in the wine? Maybe I'm not someone who will take liberty on women, but I can't promise that the wine won't make me so." "So, you're saying that the wine…" Suddenly, Renee realized the wine was not as simple as she thought. She also understood why Rose had behaved in such a mysterious manner. "Stay…away from me!" Suddenly, she became frightened and wanted to keep some distance from Justin. She knew that people could not be trusted completely, especially under the effects of chemical reactions. Things would certainly get out of control. Justin probably did not want to do anything to her, but both of them would lose their minds under the effect of the wine and do something that would fill them with regret. The only way to prevent such an incident was to avoid each other."You want to stay away from me, but it's too late now. I'm no saint. I'm just a normal guy!"Just
"I'm so thirsty!" The burning sensation of the wine made Renee thirsty. She wanted to drink some water.In the dark, she heard some rustling. The next second, something was on her lips. It seemed to be someone else's lips. She wondered if someone had secretly kissed her."Who are you?" Renee grabbed the person in front of her and interrogated angrily, "How dare you kiss me without my permission! Do you know who I am? I'll cut off your lips!""Let's see if you can do that or not." The man sounded dull and drunk, but he was also overbearing.Although Renee was drunk, she could discern who it was. She called out in the dark and tried to confirm her doubt. "Haze…?" "Yeah, it's me," Justin admitted, but he did not plan to let her go. He used a more overbearing manner and trapped her between him and the door."What do you want?" Renee panicked. She wanted to kick him away, but she did not resist when she learned that it was Justin. After she had done so many things to hurt him, s
The servant walked forward with trepidation and helped Justin back to his room. Austin's eyes were dark. He whispered to his assistant, who nodded and immediately carried out his order.After two glasses of strong wine, Renee felt dizzy and could not stand steadily. "It's weird. Is this wine this strong? I just had two glasses of it, but I feel quite dizzy." It was hard for her to exit the hall. She could not stand properly, so she supported herself against the wall."Ms. Everheart, you didn't seem well. Let me help you to get some rest." Austin's assistant caught up to her and stood behind her. He even sounded respectful. "It's… fine. I can go back to my room." Renee waved; she didn't want to trouble others. Besides, she did not want others to see how miserable she was. She had assumed that she was good at drinking and would not get drunk, but it seemed like she had overestimated herself. After two glasses of wine, she became quite drowsy. She would not easily leave if s
Renee blinked and smiled brightly at Justin, asking him, "Are you worried about me?" "No, I'm not worried about you!" Justin said angrily. "I don't want you to get killed here. I can't explain it to your brother and kids. It's hard to handle the three of them."He was not lying. Although he had befriended Quinton, Adie and Abby might make a scene there if they realized that Renee had drunk so much wine at the party. They were witty, always full of ideas.Hence, it was better not to cause trouble. Before they could make a scene and things get out of control, Justin must stop Renee. He wasn't worried about her at all. "So, you're not worried about me?" Renee's gaze turned dull as she sighed. "It looks like you didn't forgive me. So, I must drink this glass of wine." Something was wrong with Renee, or perhaps she just wanted to torture herself. It seemed like she insisted on drinking the wine. She swung off Justin's hand and gulped down the wine."You're out of your mind!" Justi
The aged white wine was strong. Ordinary people would find it hard to drink a glass of it. Yet, Renee had drunk two glasses of it consecutively. It was a little dangerous. Everyone at the dining table was initially watching the fun, but they showed Renee some pity after she drank two glasses of wine consecutively. After wiping her lips clean, Renee staggered and said to Justin, "Let me toast to you now. I've wronged you the most." Justin, sitting there, said with a poker face, "You don't have to say sorry to me. We don't hold each other any grudge. After all, we can't make others fall in love with us.""No, I must apologize to you. It's for my sake." After that, Renee used a bigger glass and filled it with wine."Whatever!" Justin frowned and ignored Renee. He had no idea what was wrong with her. He had yielded and let her off, but she stubbornly wanted to keep drinking the wine.He wondered if she had forgotten the fact that she had just recovered from a serious illness. She
Suddenly, Justin became mature and stopped making jokes. He talked steadily and was no longer emotional. It filled Austin with worry because it made him feel like Justin was an emotionless robot.In comparison, he liked Justin's previous self better. At that time, Justin was simple and sentimental. He was the grandson Austin doted on the most.Sophia grinned and commented, "Dad, you don't have to worry about Justin. Men will change. Previously, he was just a childish kid even though he was in his twenties. He didn't know how to see through people's pretense. But he's all grown up now. He knows what's right or wrong. That's a great thing!" As a mother, she naturally did not want her son to get hurt. Although she favored Renee and wanted the latter to be her daughter-in-law, she would give up since Renee had let her son down and harmed him. All she wanted was to see Renee get away from her son."Yes, you're right. People need to grow up. He has grown up a lot lately, but the price