"Nonsense!" Austin valued that fountain pen the most, so Quinton's words were humiliating for him. "My soulmate got this present for me. How could he lie to me?" The fountain pen was not a big deal, but if Austin found out that he was cheated, it would be very disheartening."If you don't trust me, I can ask my subordinate to airship the real fountain pen I keep. You'll know which is real by comparing both." Quinton sounded confident."Fine!" Austin was enthusiastic. He waved and added, "Get your subordinate to deliver the item here. If my fountain pen is fake, I'll demand an explanation from my soulmate!"Quinton didn't hesitate. He quickly fished his phone out and texted Chase. When he got the reply, he snapped his fingers and said, "Just wait. The thing will get here tomorrow morning at the earliest." "Well, I like the way you handle things. You're fast and decisive. You don't hesitate at all. You look just like Maurice. I admire you for that." Looking at Quinton, Austin coul
Austin hurriedly explained, "I did think that way at first. But after conversing with him, I changed my mind right away. I think he's an outstanding young man with a unique mind, but he was forced to take the wrong path at first by the difficulties in life. It isn't a big deal. We can remedy that.""Uh, is that true?" Renee didn't expect Austin's attitude to change that fast. She glanced at Quinton and wondered about his charms. She wondered how he could easily win the old man over with a few words in such a short time. "Okay, we've cleared things up. Since your family is here, we can discuss the arrangement of your engagement ceremony with Justin."Austin was delighted.He promised, "Quinton, you're Ren's family. Just tell us what you want. I'm sure my family is good enough to fulfill your request.""Grandpa Baldwin, that's unnecessary…" Renee hurriedly tried to turn him down. "Justin and I got together because of love. I don't want anything or formality. Plus, you gave me an
Austin was sincere. His wedding gift represented a great sum of wealth and a form of security for Renee's future."No, that's too valuable! I can't take it." Renee wanted to make a simple request, but had yet to come up with a suitable one. Unexpectedly, Austin offered such a valuable gift. She found herself unworthy of that. "I want to give you that, so you don't have to care about anything else. Everything belonging to my family will be yours and your husband's in the future. Of course, it isn't a big deal for you to manage a piece of land in advance," Austin said straightforwardly. He sincerely regarded her as his family. Since he regarded her as his family, he would favor anyone related to her and be tolerant toward Quinton. He would also want the best for her. Renee understood how the Baldwin family valued her, especially Austin. It warmed her, but she couldn't accept such a gift as she stammered, "Yes… You're right, but…" "Okay, Renee. Let me handle it for you."Quinton
Austin wanted to help when the Everheart family was down and out, but he could not bring himself to do so because he was trying to save face.He had thought that the Everhearts could soldier through since they were strong and had support from the Hunt family. Then, he learned about how serious the issue was when he read about the news of Renee's parents killing themselves. However, it was already too late when he wanted to help them at that time…"No, it's not too late," Quinton said coldly. "I've been investigating the families who attacked my family that year and got a shocking list. My family is still not strong at the moment and is too weak to take revenge on them. So, I want to…""No, that's not what you want." Renee could guess his request and immediately interrupted him. "We can't rush if we want to take revenge. Plus, this concerns our family. We can discuss it between us. And our family is still weak. We'll do it once we get stronger."She knew Quinton hoped to get the B
Renee wasn't expecting anything when she heard about the surprise. On the contrary, she was scared and wondered what kind of shock it would give her. She knew the Baldwin family's favor and tolerance toward her was more than she could accept. Things might get troublesome if she failed to give a fair response for such kindness… She walked out of the mansion with Quinton, who could tell that she was uneasy. "Renee, why do you look this anxious?""Do I?" Renee snapped back to reality and forced a smile. "I'm pretty happy. I'm not anxious at all." Quinton looked at Renee while shaking his head and sighing. "You might have fooled others but not me. You're unhappy."They were twins who shared a telepathic connection, and Renee looked displeased. Of course, Quinton could tell.Renee stopped pretending since they reached a rather quiet spot. She exposed her true feelings and said, "No, I'm not. I just feel ill at ease."She knew Quinton was the only one she could show her true feelin
Quinton couldn't understand why Renee would be so obstinate when she was generally straightforward and casual."You don't know." Renee sighed and kept her past with the Baldwin family from him. She stood Justin up back then and ran away from the Baldwin family. When Austin learned about that, he nearly made her pay a heavy price for it.At that time, she learned about how dangerous Austin was. When he was happy, he could give all kinds of rewards and make one feel superior. But if he got unhappy and was provoked, he would make one pay a heavy price."Forget it. Let's not talk about that." Renee looked ahead and said curiously, "I wonder what kind of surprise he got me. I hope it's not too much.""I know what it is." Quinton raised his chin and smiled. It looked like he was aware of what the surprise was. "What is it?""Let's go. You'll know when you reach there." Austin asked Renee to head to the West Chamber because the surprise was there. When she reached, she opened the d
Abby blinked and felt that Adie was right, so she stopped resisting it. "Adie, you're right. I think Mr. Baldwin is a pretty good guy though he's not as handsome, mature, charming, and capable as Daddy…"Abby couldn't stop talking. She compared Justin to Stefan and mentioned endless aspects where Justin was worse than Stefan.Coincidentally, Justin came with a lot of local delicacies for Adie, Abby, and Margaret when he learned that they had come. He happened to witness that scene. "Mr. Baldwin isn't as smart as Daddy. Plus, his voice isn't as pleasant as Daddy's. Sometimes he's more childish than us though he's an adult…""Ahem, ahem!" Renee noticed Justin's arrival and immediately cleared her throat to try to stop Abby from commenting on Justin. Unfortunately, Abby didn't stop. It was unknown if she did it on purpose or if she admired Stefan too much."But…" Abby finally stopped talking about Justin's weaknesses.A sigh of relief soon escaped Renee. She knew Abby was abou
If they fell out with each other at that time, Adie could casually make a few viruses. He couldn't fight them head-on, but he could at least make the properties under the Baldwin family plummet."Same with me," Quinton chimed in, shooting Justin a cold and threatening glare. "If you guys are lovey-dovey, I'll sincerely give you my blessings. If you let her down, I'll ruin your family."The air grew fierce because of Adie and Quinton's warning. "Uh…" Justin was clueless about how he should respond to them. Feeling awkward, he raised the food. "Let's eat something.""This is a serious moment, and I'm still waiting for your reply. I don't want to eat anything!" Quinton kept his solemn face, his tone far from joking."Yeah, say something!" Adie urged Justin and hoped to get a reply."I…" For the first time, Justin felt stressed. Both Quinton and Adie were difficult to handle. Undeniably, Renee's family was powerful."Okay, stop it! What are you doing? How could you bully the host h
"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
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