Liam hit the nail on the head. "If you informed Xavier to join the rescue, you must be lying. It's illogical! But it's weirder if it's the other way around. He should have informed his buddy to come to the rescue instead of the guy's rival in love. Am I right?"Justin leaned against the seat and said calmly, "How strange. Why is it illogical if I informed Xavier to come here?""If you learn that your beloved woman is in danger, you'll come to her rescue immediately instead of wasting time with your rival's buddy. Telling your rival is risky, too. He might even snatch the chance to save the damsel in distress. Am I right?" Liam analyzed logically, his logic irrefutable. Justin spread his hands helplessly. "No wonder you've been Phoenix's lackey for so many years. You're meticulous. Yes, I found out from Xavier. He hoped I could come with my men to fight the fort. He knows that among many families, only mine could acquire such a powerful rescue team."In the past, among the thre
"He's not afraid of getting killed," Renee said calmly, facing Liam and Justin's mockery with a poker face.Stefan was disloyal or heartless, but she knew that he was never afraid of getting killed. If he were, he would not have risked his life to save her repeatedly. Liam hated how Renee defended Stefan without any boundaries. He frowned and refuted, "If he wasn't, why didn't he come himself?" After some contemplation, Renee laughed in self-mockery. "Maybe… He might want to avoid suspicion." After all, he was dating someone new. If he risked his life to save his ex-lover, it would be very impudent of him."Uh…" Liam opened his mouth, wanting to say something nasty, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Renee's words seemed more hurtful… In a while, the car reached the fort. Naturally, Benjamin was alerted since there was such a big scene. All the armed forces of the fort were dispatched. The whole fort was brightly lit though it was late at night. Everyone was fully ar
It was sarcastic. Amber admired her father, but he never took her seriously. At most, he regarded her as an inferior woman who could only support her husband and brought no value.Amber suddenly realized that her pathetic life wasn't the outcome of her character or someone else's fault. Her fate was long decided since she grew up in such a family with such a male chauvinist as her father."Mr. Jenkins, you can't say that!" Liam snapped.He understood Amber. She looked delicate but had unique thoughts and ambitions. However, she did not have the chance to show herself.Finally, Liam raised her self-awareness. She could boldly express herself and realize her true self. She had yet to do anything, so it was infuriating to see Benjamin put her down."Stop being so old-fashioned! Men and women are the same. You kept praising me, saying I was smart and good at doing business. But Renee is more awesome than me. We established Azure Group together, and she spent a lot of effort on it. I
Two men grabbed Amber and tied her up. They hung her on the pillar at the entrance of the fort."Stop!" Liam yelled, anxious. He rushed to Benjamin and roared, "Are you out of your mind? She's your daughter! Why do you have to torture her like this?!""I can't see her be this ungrateful because she's my daughter." Benjamin was frosty, his disappointment in Amber apparent.Then he instructed the two men who were responsible for hanging Amber. "Pull her higher! Tighten the rope!""Ah!" Amber was lifted in the air. The pull almost tore her apart, making her cry out in pain."Put her down now! We can talk it out!" Liam yelled, nervous. He kept rebuking Benjamin as he ran to the entrance, and tried to carry Amber to reduce her pain.However, she was raised too high. Though he was standing on tiptoe, he could only hold her ankles. He couldn't relieve her pain at all. Both Renee and Justin were shocked by what they had seen."You guys said he had no weakness, but I didn't believe you
"What?! Master, how could you?" Mateo looked at Benjamin in disbelief. He didn't expect Benjamin to say that."What? Are you going to say no?" Benjamin looked at Mateo condescendingly with a hollow smile. "I know you want my position. At first, I tried to choose between you and Liam. I wanted to see which of you could win my daughter's heart."Then, I figured something out. Women are always too passionate. They'd cause delays and might fall for the wrong guy. The business I worked so hard for my whole life would end up in the traitor's hand. I might as well get rid of her to stop wasting my time and effort."It sounded like Amber had broken Benjamin's heart, so he decided to get rid of that annoying daughter of his.That kind of idea might sound illogical to other fathers, but it was reasonable for Benjamin since he was already a crazy demon who had killed many people.Mateo swallowed and said shakily, "Master, Gem's your most beloved daughter. It's okay if you punish her if you'r
"Is it…not serious?" Justin looked at Benjamin, who had gone berserk. He said helplessly, "Don't you think he's as crazy as Macsen? These people can do anything if they're crazy! He doesn't even want his daughter. I think he might kill all of us!""I don't think so." Renee was quite calm. "He isn't a fool even though he's crazy. It won't do him any good if he kills us.""Fine. You're calm."Justin sighed and said carefully, "You turned down my suggestion to ask for assistance. It's not because you're confident that we can escape. You just don't want to meet Stefan, do you?" He felt that he knew Renee—she acted tough and indifferent, but she cared about that very much. She would rather fight Benjamin with a slim chance to win instead of owning Stefan a favor. It meant that she had yet to forget about him. "Yes, I don't want to meet him, especially in such a way," Renee confessed, flexing her fingers. She smiled helplessly and added, "I owe him a great deal. It's best if we don'
"None of you did anything wrong," Benjamin said icily, "but I want to know your stand. If you kill her, you don't have any worry. I'll know you're someone who can do something big."If you can't do it, it means that you aren't suited to take over my position because your sentiments will get in the way sooner or later. They'll make you an indecisive coward!""But I…" Mateo held the shiny knife and bent forward. He looked at Benjamin and Amber, then hung his head in defeat. "I can't do that.""What can't you do?" Benjamin narrowed his eyes and looked at the collapsed Mateo coldly."I can't kill Gem…" Mateo staggered and sobbed. "I grew up with her. She's kind and delicate. I'd long sworn to protect her my whole life. I can't watch her get hurt! But now, you're asking me to kill her. I can't do it… I'd rather kill myself!""Hmph! You can't even do that. If someone catches her and threatens you to betray me one day, you'll do that without hesitation. So, my worry is logical," Benjamin
"No!"Unexpectedly, the seemingly desperate Mateo who insisted that he couldn't do it actually tried to stab Amber.At that critical moment, Liam roared and subconsciously stood in front of Amber. The sharp knife pierced his heart. For a moment, blood gushed out. "Liam!" Amber's eyes widened as her mind went blank. She watched him fall in front of her though he was initially hugging her."Liam!" Both Leia and Xavier's car arrived later than the others. When Leia got out of the car, she witnessed that scene and almost blacked out."Be careful!" Xavier held her in a hurry, anxious for her. He couldn't believe what he had seen."Liam!" Renee rushed over immediately. She inspected Liam's chest and tried to stop the bleeding for him."I'm going to kill you!" Leia went berserk. She staggered toward Mateo and pounced on him, trying to strangle him."I… I didn't mean it…" When Mateo saw the knife in Liam's chest, he instantly regained his wits. He kept shaking his head and retreating.
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
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